2.4 The Microscopic Mass Balance Equations in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics

2.4 The Microscopic Mass Balance Equations in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics CD2.
4-1
2.4 THE MICROSCOPIC MASS BALANCE EQUATIONS

IN THERMODYNAMICS AND FLUID MECHANICS1
The balance equations we have developed so far are those commonly used in engineer-
ing thermodynamics. An important characteristic of these equations is that they are
balances for large, black-box systems2 and therefore yield information only about the
total mass or the rate of change of mass in the system. Frequently it is useful to have
information not about the total mass, but about the mass density at each point in the
system. To get a balance equation for mass density at any point in the system, we must
start with a system of microscopic (or differential) size. There is some advantage to
developing the microscopic balance equations here. First, it exposes the essential simi-
larity between thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, and, second, these equations will
be of use in the following chapters. However, since the formulation of these equations
requires a greater degree of mathematical complexity than has been used heretofore,
and since these equations are of only peripheral interest in our development of thermo-
dynamics, you may wish to proceed directly to Chapter 3.
To obtain the microscopic equations of fluid mechanics and thermodynamics, we
apply the general balance equation, Eq. 2.1-4, to the small stationary volume element
of Fig 2.4-1. This volume element, of dimensions x, y, and z, is part of a much
larger fluid system, so the boundaries are not physical boundaries and mass can flow
across each of its faces. Finally, since this volume element is of infinitesimal size (our
interest is in the case in which x, y, and z simultaneously go to zero), the prop-
erties within it can be assumed to be uniform. Thus the mass contained within the
volume element is ρ x y z, where ρ is the mass density within the infinitesimal
volume element. With this introduction we can now make the following identifications
in Eq. 2.1-4:

Rate of change of mass in ∂ρ
= x y z (2.4-1a)
the volume element ∂t
 
Net rate at which
 mass enters the  = ρv x y z|x − ρv x y z|x+x
volume element + ρv y x z| y − ρv y x z| y+y
+ ρv z x y|z − ρv z x y|z+z (2.4-1b)
where x, y, and z are the rectangular coordinate directions and vi is the fluid velocity
in the ith coordinate direction. The interpretation of the terms in Eq. 2.4-1b is as fol-
lows. The mass flow into the volume element across the face of the volume element
perpendicular to the x-axis at x is
ρv x y z|x
where y z is the area of the face and ρv x is the flow rate in the x direction per unit
area. Similarly, the term
−ρv x y z|x+x
1 This section is optional—only for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

2 Here the term black box is being used to indicate that we did not consider the exact details of what was inside
the box or system for which we were writing the balance equation. That is, we were concerned only with the total
mass in the system, not the details of how it was distributed within the system or the mass density at every point.
CD2.4-2 Chapter 2: Conservation of Mass
∆z
∆y
∆x
x
Figure 2.4-1 Volume element for a microscopic

y balance equation.
is the mass flow out of the volume element at the face perpendicular to the x-axis at
x + x and therefore has a negative sign. The remaining terms in Eq. 2.4-1b represent
the mass flows into and out of the other faces of the volume element.
Using Eqs. 2.4-1 in Eq. 2.1-4 yields
∂ρ
x y z = ρv x y z|x − ρv x y z|x+x + ρv y x z| y − ρv y x z| y+y
∂t
+ ρv z x y|z − ρv z x y|z+z
Now, dividing by x y z and taking the limit as x, y, and z go to zero gives
∂ρ ρv x |x − ρv x |x+x ρv y | y − ρv y | y+y ρv z |z − ρv z |z+z

= lim + lim + lim
∂t x→0 x y→0 y z→0 z
(2.4-2)
Finally, using the definition of the partial derivative, that is,
∂ F(x, t) F(x + x, t) − F(x, t)
= lim (2.4-3)
∂x x→0 x
we obtain
∂ρ ∂(ρv x ) ∂(ρv y ) ∂(ρv z )
=− − −
∂t ∂x ∂y ∂z
or, in vector notation,
∂ρ
Continuity equation = −∇ · (ρv) (2.4-4)
∂t
Equation 2.4-4 is the mass conservation equation for a stationary differential volume
element; in fluid mechanics it is called the continuity equation. This equation can be
rearranged to yield
∂ρ
= −ρ∇ · v − v · ∇ρ
∂t
or
∂ρ Dρ
+ v · ∇ρ ≡ = −ρ∇ · v (2.4-5)
∂t Dt
2.4 The Microscopic Mass Balance Equations in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics CD2.4-3
v∆ t
r
r + ∆r = r + v∆t
x
Figure 2.4-2 Positions of a moving volume ele-

y ment at t and at t + t.
Here we have introduced the notation D/Dt = ∂/∂t + v · ∇, where D/Dt is the
convected derivative; it is the derivative with respect to time in a volume element mov-
ing with fluid velocity v. To see this, consider the moving volume element shown in
Fig. 2.4-2. The position vector of the center of this volume element is r at time t, and
r + r at time t + t, where r = vt. The time derivative of any function F taken
in this moving differential volume, D F/Dt, is defined, in analogy with Eq. 2.4-3, as

DF F(r + r, t + t) − F(r, t)
= lim
Dt t→0 t

F(r + r, t + t) − F(r + r, t) F(r + r, t) − F(r, t)
= lim +
t→0 t t

F(r + r, t + t) − F(r + r, t) r F(r + r, t) − F(r, t)
= lim + ·
t→0 t t r
or
DF ∂F
= + v · ∇F (2.4-6)
Dt ∂t
where we have used the fact that limt→0 r/t = v, and r → 0 as t → 0.
Equation 2.4-4 can be integrated over a finite volume element to obtain Eq. 2.2-1b.
Since this requires the use of certain mathematical theorems that may be unfamiliar to
you, this integration will not be pursued here except to point out that for a stationary
system (v = 0) we can integrate the left side of Eq. 2.4-4 over the volume V to obtain

∂ρ d dM
dV = ρ dV =
∂t dt dt
which is equal to the left side of Eq. 2.2-1b. A similar correspondence exists between
the right sides of Eqs. 2.2-1b and 2.4-4, but this is more difficult to prove. This analysis
does establish a very important general relationship; the black-box thermodynamic
equations developed in Sec. 2.2 can be obtained by an integration over volume of the
more detailed microscopic equations.
At this point, it is useful to reflect on the three levels of description used in this
book. The microscopic equations, of which the mass conservation equation developed
here is only the first, require detailed information about the internal structure and in-
ternal flows in any macroscopic system in order to be of use. Next, by integration over a
CD2.4-4 Chapter 2: Conservation of Mass
finite volume element these microscopic equations result in an equation for the time
rate of change for the black-box description of the system. For these equations to be
of use, only information about flow rates into and out of the system as a function of
time is needed. Finally, by integration over time of the time rate-of-change equations,
we obtain equations for the change over an interval of time of various properties of the
black-box system. For these last equations to be useful, one merely needs information
about the total flows into and out of the system over the time interval, and not a history
of how these flow rates varied with time.

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2.4 The Microscopic Mass Balance Equations in Thermodynamics and Fluid Mechanics CD2.

2.4 THE MICROSCOPIC MASS BALANCE EQUATIONS

1 This section is optional—only for graduate and advanced undergraduate students.

Figure 2.4-1 Volume element for a microscopic

∂ρ ρv x |x − ρv x |x+x ρv y | y − ρv y | y+y ρv z |z − ρv z |z+z

Figure 2.4-2 Positions of a moving volume ele-

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