Name: gas cooling and heating in throttling
Uploaded: 2025-05-22T09:05:59.000Z
Duration: 1 min 21 s
Channel: JoVE

K12 Standards

Florida Department of Education

High School

Physical Science

SC.912.P.10

SC.912.P.10.2

Joule-Thomson Effect

The Joule-Thomson effect demonstrates that in an adiabatic system, if a gas kept at high pressure is forced to pass through a porous plug into a low-pressure region, it expands and occupies a larger volume, changing its temperature and, as a result, it&#39;s internal energy.
In this adiabatic process, the change in the internal energy of gas must equal the work done on the gas minus the work done by the gas. Rearranging the terms show that enthalpy is conserved.
The change in temperature with pressure at constant enthalpy is defined as the Joule-Thomson coefficient. Using the reciprocity theorem and substituting heat capacity relation, the Joule-Thomson coefficient is expressed in terms of the partial derivative of enthalpy with pressure.
Expressing the partial derivative in terms of entropy and using Maxwell&#39;s relation gives the Joule-Thomson coefficient as a function of temperature.
A positive coefficient value indicates cooling, while a negative value indicates heating of gas during expansion.
For an ideal gas, the Joule-Thomson coefficient is zero as its temperature remains the same on passing to the low-pressure region.

joule-thomson effect

The Joule-Thomson effect, also known as the Joule-Kelvin effect, describes the temperature change of a fluid when it is forced through a valve or porous plug while keeping it in a thermally insulated environment. This experiment is called a throttling process. This is an important effect widely used in refrigeration and the liquefaction of gases.
This experiment forces high-pressure gas through a throttle valve or a porous plug to a lower-pressure region. The gas expands as it passes through to the low-pressure region and occupies the volume, which is larger than the initial volume. Work is done on the gas when gas is forced through a throttle valve. However, when it expands, work is done by the gas on the surroundings. The temperature of the gas varies in this process; hence, it attains a new internal energy. The change in internal energy of the gas must be equal to the work done on the gas minus the work done by the gas. It is found that enthalpy is conserved (isenthalpic) in this flow process.
The change in temperature of the gas when pressure is reduced at constant enthalpy is given by the Joule-Thomson coefficient:
<img alt="Mass spectrometry diagram, peptide fragmentation via collision-induced dissociation (CID), scientific analysis." src="/files/ftp_upload/14174/14174_Equation_1.png" style="text-align: center; height: 42px;" data-altupdatedat="1754904545000" data-alt="Thermometer schematic diagram showing constant-volume gas thermometer pressure-temperature relationship.">
Since the temperature of the gas varies, the Joule-Thomson coefficient can take either sign, depending on whether the gas becomes heated or cooled. The inversion curve in the T-p plane explains the heating and cooling of gas during the throttling process.
<img alt="Isenthalpic process diagram showing inversion curve; thermodynamics; cooling, heating transitions." src="/files/ftp_upload/14174/14174_Figure_1.png" data-altupdatedat="1754904545000" data-alt="Joule-Thomson effect diagram with isenthalps, inversion curve showing cooling and heating phases.">
The inversion curve separates the region of heating from the region of cooling. The maxima of the different isenthalps lie on the inversion curve. Note that an isenthalp is the locus of the end points of different throttling processes, starting at the same initial state. Depending on where the initial and final points are chosen, both heating and cooling effects can be produced during the throttling process.
The Joule-Thomson coefficient is zero for an ideal gas, indicating there is no temperature change when an ideal gas undergoes a throttling process. The coefficient is negative for real gases at extremely high and extremely low temperatures.

The Joule-Thomson effect, also known as the Joule-Kelvin effect, describes the temperature change of a fluid when it is forced through a valve or porous ...

Education

JoVE Core

Physics

Unit 1

The First Law of Thermodynamics

KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

gas cooling and heating in throttling

Gas cooling and heating in throttling is explained by the Joule-Thomson effect, also called the Joule-Kelvin effect. It describes how a fluid changes temperature when it passes through a valve or porous plug in a thermally insulated system. This type of flow is called a throttling process.

In the experiment, a high-pressure gas is forced through a throttle valve or porous plug into a lower-pressure region. The gas expands as it moves into the larger volume. Work is done on the gas as it is pushed through the valve. After expansion, the gas also does work on the surroundings.

Because the temperature changes during the process, the gas reaches a new internal energy state. The change in internal energy equals the work done on the gas minus the work done by the gas. In this flow process, enthalpy stays constant, so the process is isenthalpic. The Joule-Thomson coefficient gives the temperature change when pressure drops at constant enthalpy.

The gas may either warm up or cool down, so the Joule-Thomson coefficient can be positive or negative. The inversion curve on a temperature-pressure diagram shows where heating changes to cooling. It separates the heating region from the cooling region, and the peaks of different isenthalps lie on this curve. An isenthalp is the set of end points for throttling processes that start from the same initial state.

Depending on the starting and ending points, throttling can produce either heating or cooling. For an ideal gas, the Joule-Thomson coefficient is zero, so no temperature change occurs during throttling. For real gases, the coefficient is negative at extremely high and extremely low temperatures. This effect is important in refrigeration and in the liquefaction of gases.

Gas Cooling and Heating in Throttling

thermodynamic systems

Open, Closed, and Isolated Systems

A thermodynamic system is the part of the world that scientists study for its heat and energy behavior. It sits inside a surrounding environment, or surroundings. The system and the surroundings can exchange heat and do work across the boundary that separates them. The immediate surroundings affect the system most strongly because they interact with it directly. A kettle of boiling tea shows how this works in everyday life. The tea and the kettle together form the system. If the lid is open,...

work done during volume change

Gas Work in a Piston Cylinder

Gas work in a piston cylinder describes how pressure and volume change are related in thermodynamics. In mechanics, work happens when a force moves an object. In thermodynamics, work done on a system can be estimated when the system changes volume during a process. A gas can be trapped in a cylinder with a movable piston at one end. When the gas expands from volume V1 to volume V2, it pushes on the piston and moves it by a small distance dr. If the pressure on the piston face is p and the...

path between thermodynamics states

Path Dependence in Gas Work

Work done by an ideal gas can depend on the path it takes between two thermodynamic states. The transcript compares two routes from state A to state C for the same gas. In both cases, the gas expands from volume V1 to volume V2, but the work is not the same. Along path AC, the gas stays at constant temperature T. It expands from V1 to V2. The work done by the gas is found from the pressure-volume relation for an ideal gas. After substituting pressure as nRT/V and integrating, the work for this...

heat and free expansion

Two Gas Paths to the Same Volume

Heat added to a thermodynamic system can lead to the same final state through different paths. The path matters because work and heat depend not only on the initial and final states, but also on the steps in between. In this topic, an ideal gas is used to show two different ways to reach the same volume. In the first case, the gas is in a cylinder with a piston and is heated at a constant temperature. As the gas molecules absorb energy, the gas expands slowly in a controlled isothermal process.

internal energy

How Internal Energy Changes in Gas Systems

Internal energy is the energy stored inside a thermodynamic system. It is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of the molecules or other particles in the system. Molecular kinetic energy includes translational motion, rotation, and vibration. Molecular potential energy comes from interactions between molecules. A system’s location and overall motion do not affect its internal energy. For an ideal monatomic gas, each particle is a single atom. That means there is no rotational or...

first law of thermodynamics

Heat, Work, and Internal Energy

Heat, work, and internal energy are linked by the first law of thermodynamics. This law is a generalized form of energy conservation. It explains how energy changes when heat is added to or removed from a system, and when the system does work or has work done on it. The change in internal energy equals the heat transferred into the system minus the work done by the system. Added heat increases internal energy. For that reason, heat is taken as positive when it enters the system and negative...

first law of thermodynamics: problem-solving

first-law-of-thermodynamics-problem-solving

First Law of Thermodynamics: Solving Problems

The first law of thermodynamics links internal energy, heat, and work. It states that the change in internal energy of a system equals the net heat transfer into the system minus the net work done by the system. This is a general form of energy conservation, and it can be used for any thermodynamic process. To solve a first-law problem, start by identifying the thermodynamic system. Then list the initial and final states of the process. Next, identify the known and unknown quantities. It is...

cyclic processes and isolated systems

Net Work in a Cyclic Thermodynamic Process

A cyclic thermodynamic process returns a system to its initial state. In a cycle, the change in internal energy is zero. An isolated system is different because it has zero heat exchange and zero work, so its internal energy stays constant. For a non-isolated system, the internal energy change is zero only when the process is cyclic. The first law of thermodynamics relates internal energy, heat transfer, and work. It states that the change in internal energy is the difference between the net...

isothermal processes

Isothermal Expansion and Heat Transfer

An isothermal process is a thermodynamic process that happens at constant temperature. During the process, heat slowly flows into the system or out of the system so thermal equilibrium is maintained. Phase changes are common examples of isothermal processes. Water can evaporate into steam at a constant temperature, and water can also freeze into ice at a constant temperature. An ideal gas can also undergo isothermal expansion or compression. Here, an ideal gas in an isolated cylinder expands...

isochoric and isobaric processes

Constant Volume and Pressure in Thermodynamics

Thermodynamic processes can happen at constant volume or at constant pressure. An isochoric process is a constant-volume process. In this case, the volume does not change, so the work done by the system is zero. The first law of thermodynamics still applies, so any heat added or removed changes the internal energy of the system only. A simple example is heating 1000 g of water from 40 degrees celsius to 70 degrees celsius at constant volume. Because the process is isochoric, no work is done by...

heat capacities of an ideal gas i

Ideal Gas Heat Capacity at Constant Pressure

Heat capacity describes how much heat a substance absorbs for a given change in temperature. It is also called thermal capacity, and its SI unit is J/K. Specific heat capacity is the heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by 1 K, and its SI unit is J/kg·K. The video also explains molar heat capacity. This is the amount of heat added or removed to change the temperature of 1 mole of a substance by 1 K. It can be measured at constant volume or constant pressure, and it is...

heat capacities of an ideal gas ii

Ideal Gas Heat Capacity Differences

Ideal gas heat capacities depend on whether the gas is heated at constant volume or constant pressure. At constant volume, the heat absorbed only raises the internal energy of the system. No work is done in this case. At constant pressure, the situation is different. The heat absorbed increases the internal energy and also does work. Molar heat capacity is the heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 mole of gas by 1 unit. Because some of the added heat goes into work, more heat is needed at...

heat capacities of an ideal gas iii

Ideal Gas Heat Capacity and Degrees of Freedom

Ideal gas heat capacity depends on degrees of freedom, which are the independent ways a gas molecule can move, rotate, and vibrate. If d is the number of degrees of freedom, the molar heat capacity at constant volume can be written in terms of d. The molar heat capacity at constant pressure can also be written using the relationship between the two heat capacities. The ratio of molar heat capacity at constant pressure to molar heat capacity at constant volume is called the ratio of heat...

adiabatic processes for an ideal gas

Gas Temperature Changes in Adiabatic Processes

Adiabatic processes change the temperature of an ideal gas without heat transfer. In an adiabatic compression, no heat is added, but work is done on the gas. That work raises the gas temperature. In an adiabatic expansion, the gas does work and its temperature drops. A common example is the compression of a gas-air mixture inside a car engine cylinder. The compression happens so quickly that there is no time for heat to move between the mixture and its surroundings. Even so, the work done on...

pressure and volume in an adiabatic process

pressure-and-volume-in-an-adiabatic-process

Free Expansion: Pressure, Volume, and Temperature

Free expansion shows how pressure, volume, and temperature behave when a gas expands without doing work. It is an adiabatic process, but it is not the same as adiabatic expansion. In free expansion, no work is done and the internal energy does not change. In adiabatic expansion, work is done and the internal energy changes. For an adiabatic process, the pressure-volume relation comes from the adiabatic condition. That relation does not apply to free expansion, even though the expansion is...

work done in an adiabatic process

Adiabatic Compression in an Engine Cylinder

Adiabatic compression in an engine cylinder changes the pressure, temperature, and volume of a gas-air mixture. In this setup, gasoline vapor is injected into the cylinder when the piston is in its expanded position. The mixture starts at 20 °C, 1.00 x 10^5 N/m^2, and 240 cm^3. The mixture is then compressed adiabatically to 40 cm^3. Adiabatic means no heat is exchanged with the surroundings during the process. For this calculation, the compression is treated as quasi-static, even though real...

thermodynamic potentials

Energy Forms in Thermodynamics

Thermodynamic potentials are energy-based state functions used to analyze a thermodynamic system. They help describe how a system changes under different conditions. The four main thermodynamic potentials are internal energy, enthalpy, Helmholtz free energy, and Gibbs free energy. These potentials can be written using two of the variables pressure, volume, temperature, and entropy. In each case, the rate of change of the potential with respect to the other two variables gives useful...

maxwell's thermodynamic relations

Using Maxwell's Relations in Thermodynamics

Maxwell's thermodynamic relations help solve problems in thermodynamics. They connect partial differentials for quantities that are hard to measure in the lab with quantities that are easier to measure. This makes them useful for working with temperature, pressure, volume, and entropy. These relations come from thermodynamic potentials and the symmetry of second derivatives. Thermodynamic potentials are exact differentials, so the order of second differentiation does not change the result.

Gas cooling and heating in throttling is explained by the Joule-Thomson effect, also called the Joule-Kelvin effect. It describes how a fluid changes temperature when it passes through a valve or porous plug in a thermally insulated system. This type of flow is called a throttling process. In the experiment, a high-pressure gas is forced through a throttle valve or porous plug into a lower-pressure region. The gas expands as it moves into the larger volume. Work is done on the gas as it is...

key terms and concepts

Learn how gas temperature changes during throttling, why enthalpy stays constant, and how the inversion curve predicts heating or cooling.

Gas Cooling and Heating in Throttling | JoVE K12

physics

JoVE Core Physics introduces the theory and application of fundamental physics topics, including kinematics, dynamics, fluid mechanics, statics, waves, and acoustics, with concise and easy-to-understand animated videos. Additionally, the scientist-in-action videos demonstrate the application of related concepts in classical and original research experiments performed in today's laboratories worldwide.

Energy Basics

Chemical reactions, such as those that occur when you light a match, involve changes in energy as well as matter.

Chemical changes and their accompanying ...

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy Conservation

Energy can be converted from one form into another, but all of the energy present before a change occurs always exists in some form ...

Internal Energy

The total of all possible kinds of energy present in a substance is called the internal energy (U), sometimes symbolized as E. Suppose a system with ...

Energy

The universe is composed of matter in different forms, and all forms of matter contain energy.&#160; The different forms of energy on Earth originate from ...

Types of Potential Energy

Potential energy is also known as energy at rest or stored energy. Common types of potential energy include the gravitational potential energy stored in ...

Types of Kinetic Energy

The amount of kinetic energy of an object depends on its mass and speed. Consider two balls of different masses rolling down an inclined plane at the same ...

Kinetic Energy - I

It&#8217;s plausible to suppose that the greater the velocity of a body, the greater effect it could have on other bodies. This does not depend on the ...

Kinetic Energy - II

The kinetic energy of a particle is one-half of the product of the particle&#8217;s mass and the square of its speed. Note that just as Newton&#8217;s ...

Work-energy Theorem

According to Newton&#x2019;s second law of motion, the sum of all the forces acting on a particle (net force) determines the rate of change in the ...

Work and Energy for Variable Forces

When an object is acted upon by a variable force, the amount of work done and the change in energy of the object can be more complex to calculate compared ...

/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/14699.jpg

work-energy-theorem-for-motion-along-a-curve

Work-Energy Theorem for Motion Along a Curve

The work-energy theorem can be generalized to the motion of a particle along any curved path. The simple argument here is that the curved path can be ...

/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/14700.jpg

Conservation of Energy

The terms &#39;conserved quantity&#39;&#160;and &#39;conservation law&#39;&#160;have specific scientific meanings in physics, which differ from the ...

Conservation of Energy: Application

When solving problems using the energy conservation law, the object (system) to be studied should first be identified. Often, in applications of energy ...

Differentiate among the various forms of energy and recognize that they can be transformed from one form to others.

SC.912.P.10.1

Thermodynamic Systems

A thermodynamic system is a set of objects whose thermodynamic properties are of interest. The system is considered to be embedded in its surroundings or ...

Work Done During Volume Change

In mechanics, work is done on an object when the force acting on it displaces the object. In thermodynamics, work done on a system can be estimated when ...

Path Between Thermodynamics States

Consider the two thermodynamic processes involving an ideal gas that are represented by paths AC and ABC in Figure 1:

In the first process for path A to ...

Heat and Free Expansion

The work done by a thermodynamic system depends not only on the initial and final states but also on the intermediate states&#8212;that is, on the path. ...

The internal energy of a thermodynamic system is the sum of the kinetic and potential energies of all the molecules or entities in the system. The kinetic ...

A change in the internal energy of a system depends on the the net heat transfer into the system and the net work done by the system. The first law of ...

First Law Of Thermodynamics: Problem-Solving

The first law of thermodynamics states that the change in internal energy of the system is equal to the net heat transfer into the system minus the net ...

Cyclic Processes And Isolated Systems

A thermodynamic system with zero heat exchange and work is an isolated system. For these systems, the internal energy remains constant.
In the case of a ...

Isothermal Processes

A thermodynamic process that occurs at constant temperature is called an isothermal process. Heat slowly flows into the system or out of the system to ...

Isochoric and Isobaric Processes

A thermodynamic process that occurs at constant volume is called an isochoric process. According to the first law of thermodynamics, heat supplied or ...

Work Done in an Adiabatic Process

Consider the adiabatic compression of an ideal gas in the cylinder of an automobile diesel engine. The gasoline vapor is injected into the cylinder of an ...

Thermodynamic Potentials

Thermodynamic potentials are state functions that are extremely useful in analyzing a thermodynamic system. They have dimensions of energy. The four ...

Maxwell's Thermodynamic Relations

Maxwell&#39;s thermodynamic relations are very useful in solving problems in thermodynamics. Each of Maxwell&#39;s relations relates a partial ...

Explore the Law of Conservation of Energy by differentiating among open, closed, and isolated systems and explain that the total energy in an isolated system is a conserved quantity.

Energy and Work

Source: Ketron Mitchell-Wynne, PhD,&#160;Asantha Cooray, PhD, Department of Physics &#38; Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of ...

Enthalpy

Entropy

Power

The concept of work involves force and displacement; meanwhile, the work-energy theorem relates the net work done on a body to the difference in its ...

Power Expended by a Constant Force

The relationship between work done and the time taken to do it can be explained using the concept of power. For example, several sprinters in a race may ...

Compare and contrast work and power qualitatively and quantitatively.

SC.912.P.10.3

Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I

Just as interesting as the effects of heat transfer on a system are the methods by which the heat transfer occur. Whenever there is a temperature ...

Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II

In convection, thermal energy is carried by the large-scale flow of matter. Ocean currents and large-scale atmospheric circulation, which result from the ...

conduction-convection-and-radiation-problem-solving

Conduction, Convection and Radiation: Problem Solving

There are three methods by which heat transfer can take place: conduction, convection, and radiation. Each method has unique and interesting ...

Radiation: Applications

The average temperature of Earth is the subject of much current discussion. Earth is in radiative contact with both the Sun and dark space; it receives ...

Absorption of Radiation

The rate of heat transfer by emitted radiation is described by the Stefan-Boltzmann law of radiation:

where &#963; is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant, a ...

Describe heat as the energy transferred by convection, conduction, and radiation, and explain the connection of heat to change in temperature or states of matter.

SC.912.P.10.4

Kinetic Theory of an Ideal Gas

A mole is defined as the amount of any substance that contains as many molecules as there are atoms in exactly 12 grams of carbon-12. An Italian scientist ...

Molecular Kinetic Energy

The word &#34;gas&#34;&#160;comes from the Flemish word meaning &#34;chaos,&#34; first used to describe vapors by the chemist J. B. van Helmont. Consider ...

basic-postulates-kinetic-molecular-theory-particle-size-energy

Basic Postulates of Kinetic Molecular Theory: Particle Size, Energy, and Collision

The ideal-gas equation, which is empirical, describes the behavior of gases by establishing relationships between their macroscopic properties. For ...

kinetic-molecular-theory-gas-laws-explain-properties-gas

Kinetic Molecular Theory and Gas Laws Explain Properties of Gas Molecules

The test of the kinetic molecular theory (KMT) and its postulates is its ability to explain and describe the behavior of a gas. The various gas laws ...

kinetic-molecular-theory-molecular-velocities-temperature-kinetic

Kinetic Molecular Theory: Molecular Velocities, Temperature, and Kinetic Energy

The kinetic molecular theory qualitatively explains the behaviors described by the various gas laws. The postulates of this theory may be applied in a ...

behavior-gas-molecules-molecular-diffusion-mean-free-path

Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion

Although gaseous molecules travel at tremendous speeds (hundreds of meters per second), they collide with other gaseous molecules and travel in many ...

Relate temperature to the average molecular kinetic energy.

SC.912.P.10.5

Chemical Reactions

A balanced chemical equation provides the information of chemical formulas of the reactants and products involved in the chemical change. A ...

Dynamics of Circular Motion

An object undergoing circular motion, like a race car, is accelerating because it is changing the direction of its velocity. This centrally directed ...

Dynamics Of Circular Motion: Applications

Suppose a car moves on flat ground and turns to the left. The centripetal force causing the car to turn in a circular path is due to friction between the ...

Potential Energy due to Gravitation

Since gravitational force is a conservative force, the amount of work done to move an object between two points in the gravitational field in which it ...

the-principle-of-superposition-and-the-gravitational-field

The Principle of Superposition and the Gravitational Field

The principle of superposition applies to gravitational forces of objects that are sufficiently far apart. It states that the net gravitational force on a ...

/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/14754.jpg

Escape Velocity

The escape velocity of an object is defined as the minimum initial velocity that it requires to escape the surface of another object to which it is ...

circular-orbits-and-critical-velocity-for-satellites

Circular Orbits and Critical Velocity for Satellites

The Moon orbits around the Earth. In turn, the Earth (and other planets) orbit the Sun. The space directly above our atmosphere is filled with artificial ...

energy-of-a-satellite-in-a-circular-orbit

Energy of a Satellite in a Circular Orbit

Thousands of artificial satellites orbit the Earth every day at various distances from the Earth. Satellites that orbit the Earth below an altitude of ...

Simple Harmonic Motion

Simple harmonic motion is the name given to oscillatory motion for a system where the net force can be described by Hooke&#39;s law. If the net force can ...

/files/media/science-education/science-education-thumbs/12762.jpg

Create and interpret potential energy diagrams, for example: chemical reactions, orbits around a central body, motion of a pendulum.

SC.912.P.10.6

A. Energy is involved in all physical and chemical processes. It is conserved, and can be transformed from one form to another and into work. At the atomic and nuclear levels energy is not continuous but exists in discrete amounts. Energy and mass are related through Einstein's equation E=mc2.

B. The properties of atomic nuclei are responsible for energy-related phenomena such as radioactivity, fission and fusion.

C. Changes in entropy and energy that accompany chemical reactions influence reaction paths. Chemical reactions result in the release or absorption of energy.

D. The theory of electromagnetism explains that electricity and magnetism are closely related. Electric charges are the source of electric fields. Moving charges generate magnetic fields.

E. Waves are the propagation of a disturbance. They transport energy and momentum but do not transport matter.

Gas Cooling and Heating in Throttling

Description

Transcript

Tags

More videos by Standards