Module overview
Linked modules
Pre-requisite: FEEG1003
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge and Understanding
Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:
- Environmental and economic factors driving energy technology.
- Current technologies for improving the performance of auto- and aero-engines, power generation, and refrigeration plant.
- Thermodynamic properties of real fluids – including liquid-vapour systems, mixtures, and nonideal gases – and their use in engineering calculations.
- Fundamentals of combustion.
- Theoretical and practical constraints on the performance of internal combustion engines, gas turbines, steam and vapour cycles, and combined cycles.
Transferable and Generic Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Communicate in a clear, structured and efficient manner.
- Analyse experimental data and summarise findings.
- Use a computer to perform parametric design studies.
- Devise appropriate plots for analysis, communication, and justification of design decisions.
Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Design machines for improved efficiency using thermodynamic reasoning.
- Compute changes in thermodynamic properties due to: mixing, throttling, compression, expansion, heat exchange, and combustion.
- Determine operating conditions for thermodynamic cycles in order to optimise power or efficiency.
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- C1 M1 All assignments require students to apply thermodynamic principles to solve complex mathematical problems relating to machinery in current regular usage in the real world, e.g. spark ignition engines, gas turbines, steam turbines, combined cycle power plants, air conditioning systems, heat pumps. C2/M2 In both the engine and refrigerator practicals students must obtain their own data, then numerically analyse that data to reach conclusions on the performance of the systems. They must discuss their results in the context of their wider thermodynamics knowledge, and how practice differs from theory. C3 Students must select appropriate models and/or equations and use them to solve thermodynamics problems in final exam and the engine and refrigerator practicals. Within these students must address expected differences between theory and “real world” results .Computational methods are also used in the “power plant analysis” coursework. C12/M12 In engine practical students must use various measurements to quantify engine performance and determine whether the engine is performing consistently with theory. C13/M13 Questions within the final exam and “Power plant analysis project” coursework explores limitations of engines relating to material properties (e.g. max temperatures for steam turbines). C6 When analysing air conditioning units or combined cycle power plants (both assessed in final exam) students must apply knowledge of how different thermodynamic processes work together. C7 Engine practical includes questions on how to minimise local pollution via use of catalytic convertors and how engine operation (e.g. lean vs rich) affects their operation.
Subject Specific Practical Skills
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Undertake experimental evaluation of thermal plant and energy systems.
- Evaluate fluid properties manually and computationally, by using the equation-of-state, property tables, or charts.
Syllabus
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Revision | 16 |
Tutorial | 5 |
Completion of assessment task | 25 |
Wider reading or practice | 60 |
Supervised time in studio/workshop | 8 |
Lecture | 36 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
General Resources
Software requirements. The Power Plant Analysis Project makes use of Matlab software (available on University work stations) and additional power plant analysis software provided via blackboard
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Continuous Assessment | 30% |
Final Assessment | 70% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Set Task | 100% |
Repeat
An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Set Task | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External