ME 433/AUTO 533-Advanced Energy Systems (W20)
Course description: This course provides an introduction to the challenges of power generation for a global society. The course starts with an overview of the current and future demands for energy, the various methods of power generation including coal and fossil fuels, solar, thermal, wind, and nuclear and the detrimental byproducts associated with these methods. Advanced strategies to improve power densities, reduce pollutant emissions and improve thermal efficiencies, such as advanced combustion cycles, batteries and fuel cells for stationary and mobile power generation; synthetic and bio-renewable fuels; and reconfiguring power plants are presented in terms of fundamental thermodynamics. The course discusses methods to improve energy efficiencies in the transportation sector such as energy storage and advanced combustion strategies. Additional topics include the advantages and technical difficulties associated with a hydrogen economy including production, transport, storage and application. The emphasis is on the application of thermodynamic analysis to understand the basic operating principles and the inherent limitations of the technologies involved. This course is targeted to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students.
Topics covered: Energy resources and concerns, thermodynamic conservation principles, fundamentals of combustion, power generation for the transportation sector, vehicle emissions, petroleum resources, high power density & low emission engine strategies, bio-fuels and hydrogen, coal, stationary power generation, process heating & manufacturing, batteries, hybrid electric vehicles & the grid, fuel cells, solar energy (thermal and direct conversion), nuclear energy, and geothermal energy.
ME 320-Fluid Mechanics I (F20, W22)
Course description: This is an introductory course in fluid mechanics which is ubiquitous both in nature and industry. The motion of fluids and the forces they exert are of key importance across disciplines, including microfluidics, transportation (for example, fuel injection in vehicles), nuclear and chemical reactors, wind farms, transport of atmospheric pollutants, weather/climate forecasting, noise pollution due to air crafts, and geological events such as the formation of stars and galaxies. This course provides an introduction to the basic principles necessary to analyze and predict flow fields in the aforementioned application areas.
Topics covered: Pressure, hydrostatics, buoyancy, Bernoulli’s equation, buoyancy, inviscid flow, control volume analysis (moving and deforming), differential analysis of fluid flow, viscous fluid flow, Navier-Stokes equation, lubrication theory, viscous flow in pipes and head loss, flow over immersed bodies, and dimensional analysis.
ME 530-Advanced Heat and Mass Transfer (W21, W23, W24)
Course description: This course is an advanced treatment of fundamental aspects of heat and mass transport processes. The course covers topics such as diffusion kinetics, conservation laws, energy transport, conduction, laminar and turbulent convection, mass transfer including phase change, and fundamentals of thermal radiation. Problems and examples include theory and applications drawn from a spectrum of engineering topics.
Topics covered: Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy, conduction, laminar boundary layer, laminar internal flow, natural and forced convection, turbulence, condensation, boiling, fundamentals of radiation, fundamentals of mass transfer.
ME335-Intermediate Heat Transfer (F21, F22, F23)
Course description: Heat transfer by conduction, convection, radiation; heat storage, energy conservation; steady-state/transient conduction heat transfer; thermal circuit modeling; multidimensional conduction; surface radiation properties, enclosure radiation exchange; surface convection/fluid streams over objects, non-dimensional numbers, laminar, turbulent, thermo-buoyant flow, boiling and condensation; heat exchangers; design of thermal systems.
Topics covered: Heat conduction in one or more dimensions, steady conduction in multidimensional configurations, forced convection in laminar and turbulent flows; natural convection in internal and external configurations; heat transfer during condensation and boiling; mass transfer at low rates, evaporation; thermal radiation, black bodies, grey radiation networks, spectral and solar radiation. Problems and examples will emphasize modelling of complex systems drawn from manufacturing, electronics, consumer products, and energy systems.