Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 3.3 Sankey diagram for the conversion of heat into work
A graphical representation of what happens in a thermal machine can be made
using a Sankey diagram (
Figure 3.3
).
Sankey diagrams are named after Irish Captain Matthew Henry Phineas Riall
Sankey, who is considered to have been the first to use this type of diagram. He
used one in 1898 in a publication on the energy efficiency of a steam engine.
Presently they are used very widely to visualize fluxes of energy from primary
energy sources, through conversion to electricity and heat, and then to final energy
uses.
Figure 3.4
shows a simplified energy matrix for the United States.
