In this paper we address the state estimation problem of a particular class of irreversible port Hamiltonian systems (IPHS), which are assumed to be partially observed. Our main contribution consists to design an observer such that the augmented system (plant + observer) is strictly passive. Under some additional assumptions, a Lyapunov function is constructed to ensure the stability of the coupled system. Finally, the proposed methodology is applied to the gas piston system model. Some simulation results are also presented.