What is the useful energy in a Sankey diagram?

What is the useful energy in a Sankey diagram?

The arrow in a Sankey diagram represents the transfer of energy: The end of the arrow pointing to the right represents the energy that ends up in the desired store (the useful energy output) The end(s) that point(s) down represents the wasted energy.

How does a Sankey diagram show conservation of energy?

Whenever an arrow splits in a Sankey Diagram, it means that energy has transferred to different forms. The widths of the new arrows (new energy forms) must add up to the width of the starting arrow. This is the Law of Conservation of Energy in action.

How do Sankey diagrams relate to efficiency?

Sankey diagrams summarise all the energy transfers taking place in a process. The thicker the line or arrow, the greater the amount of energy involved. This Sankey diagram for an electric lamp shows that most of the electrical energy is transferred as heat rather than light.

What happens when energy is wasted?

Wasted energy is energy that is not usefully transferred or transformed. Energy cannot be made or destroyed. Energy is transformed into a different form that can be used. When energy is transformed or transferred only part of it can be usefully transformed or transferred.

What is the most efficient energy transfer?

In theory, direct chemical to electrical energy offers the highest efficiency: it can deliver arbitrarily close to 100% efficiency.

Can energy be transferred?

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be transferred and transformed. There are a number of different ways energy can be changed, such as when potential energy becomes kinetic energy or when one object moves another object.

What energy is not useful?

This means that some of the electrical energy has been transferred to the surroundings as sound and thermal energy. This is energy that has been “wasted” because the sound and thermal energy are not useful to us.

How can we reduce wasted energy?

6 ways to cut big waste in our energy system

  1. Switch to renewable energy.
  2. Reduce methane leaks.
  3. Pick power sources that use less water.
  4. Minimize energy loss along wires.
  5. Give people only the voltage they need.
  6. Boost energy-saving tools for homes.
  7. Help launch these solutions.

What factors affect energy transfer?

The rate at which an object transfers energy by heating depends on: the surface area, volume and material of the object and the nature of the surface with which the object is in contact. The bigger the temperature difference between a body and its surroundings, the faster the rate at which heat is transferred.

How do you calculate power wasted?

Power wasted in the cable = I2R = 20 x 20 x 100 = 40 000 W. Power wasted in the cable = I2R = 2 x 2 x 100 = 400 W.

How is electricity wasted?

You leave your appliances plugged in when you’re not using them. It might seem like a chore to plug in your microwave every time you need to heat up some leftovers then unplug it when you’re done, but leaving your gadgets connected to power at all times wastes electricity.

How can you increase the efficiency of energy transfer?

For systems that are designed to transfer thermal energy, the efficiency can be improved by reducing the wasteful dissipation of thermal energy to the surroundings, for example by using insulation.

What is the output power of a Sankey diagram?

1 square of a Sankey diagram should always represent 1 watt or 1 joule. Sankey diagrams can only be used for energy, not power. The two output arrows both represent 20 W, but they are of different widths. The total output power is not equal to the total input power.

How many joules are in a Sankey diagram?

1 square of a Sankey diagram should always represent 1 watt or 1 joule. Sankey diagrams can only be used for energy, not power. The two output arrows both represent 20 W, but they are of different widths.

Is the Sankey diagram in German?

The Sankey diagram is in German and from the quality of the image I assume it is a scan from a printed publication. This seems to be a comparison of power plant technologies (‘Kondensationskraftwerk’ vs. ‘Heizkraftwerk’).

What is the base situation in a 1970s power plant?

The base situation (A) in the power plant built in the 1970ies is shown in this Sankey diagram: And the situation in one of the six refurbishment scenarios (B to G) for the power plant: In the refurbishment scenario gas turbines (GT) are being installed. Exhaust gas is recovered and used in a heat recovery steam generation (HRSG).