Irreversible Thermodynamics of James Watt ()
ABSTRACT
James Watt’s thermodynamic works belong to the field
of irreversible thermodynamics. In order to reduce heat dissipation from the
steam engine to the environment, he devised and applied a method that
essentially enabled reversible heat transfer. With this idea Watt paved the way
for the next generations of scientists, but he is not credited in the
literature as its creator. In recent papers the author has presented the James
Watt’s formulation of the first law of thermodynamics. An inspection of the
energy conversion equation according to the first law shows that Watt
simultaneously formulated also the second law. His results claim that heat
cannot be fully converted into work.
Share and Cite:
Mitrovic, J. (2022) Irreversible Thermodynamics of James Watt.
Advances in Historical Studies,
11, 119-128. doi:
10.4236/ahs.2022.113011.
Cited by
No relevant information.