Evaluation of reference exergies for the elements

In this paper emphasis is placed on the exergy flow analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics. A new thermodynamic function, [`]reference exergy,' is proposed, and it is shown that the reference exergy of a compound is calculated from the reference exergies of elements with the aid of the Gibbs energy of formation of the compound. Then, a systematic method for the evaluation of reference exergies of elements is introduced and the results for elements and representative inorganic--as well as organic--compounds are tabulated.