| Semester 1, 2023 Toowoomba On-campus | |
| Units : | 1 |
| School or Department : | School of Engineering |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
| Course fee schedule : | /current-students/administration/fees/fee-schedules |
Staffing
Course Coordinator:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: (MEC3107 & ENM2600 & ENG3104) or Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MENS or MEPR or GCNS or GDNS or GEPR
Students cannot enrol in MEC4108 if they have successfully completed, or are currently enrolled in, MEC4103
Overview
Thermofluids is the study of fluids (liquids and gasses) and their interaction with the environment. Engineers take advantage of the ability to perform tasks by changing the temperature of fluids or forcing them to flow. Through an understanding of how these processes occur, engineers are able to refine current practices and devise new systems which perform more efficiently, which is beneficial to the environment and the economy. This course builds upon MEC3107 Thermofluids by studying more complex systems and introducing more advanced analysis techniques to investigate the performance of individual components.
The analysis of thermofluids is based around forces and energy: this is how fluids interact with other fluids and solids as part of their environment. Complex heat transfer behaviour is explored, with its impact on power generation, refrigeration and air conditioning. Multi-dimensional fluid dynamics and the effects of compressibility on fluid flow are examined.
Course learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course students should be able to:
- discriminate between methods for predicting the heat transfer in a range of systems;
- assess the performance of power generation, refrigeration and air-conditioning systems;
- evaluate the behaviour of fluid flow for complex systems;
- analyse and compare the results of experimental and theoretical analyses;
- critically evaluate the results of experiments.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Introduction | 4.00 |
| 2. | Transient heat conduction | 18.00 |
| 3. | Natural convection | 8.00 |
| 4. | Radiation heat transfer | 10.00 |
| 5. | Heat exchangers | 8.00 |
| 6. | Rankine cycle | 8.00 |
| 7. | Refrigeration and air conditioning | 16.00 |
| 8. | Fluid flow conservation laws and differential formulation | 8.00 |
| 9. | Boundary Layer | 8.00 |
| 10. | Compressible flow | 12.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
Cengel, YA. Ghajar, AJ 2014, Heat and Mass Transfer (SI Units), 5th edn, McGraw Hill Higher Education..
Student workload expectations
To do well in this subject, students are expected to commit approximately 10 hours per week including class contact hours, independent study, and all assessment tasks. If you are undertaking additional activities, which may include placements and residential schools, the weekly workload hours may vary.
Assessment details
| Description | Group Assessment |
Weighting (%) | Course learning outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Report | No | 10 | 1 |
| Problem Solving 1 | No | 20 | 1,2 |
| Problem Solving 2 | No | 35 | 1,2,3,4,5 |
| Problem Solving 3 | No | 35 | 3,4,5 |