XWT-23805 Transport Phenomena in Water Technology

Course

Credits 5.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

The course unit assumes no prior knowledge acquired from previous course units but does require a solid understanding and ability to apply physical and mathematical principles at the level of the final competences for Dutch VWO 'Wiskunde B' and 'Natuurkunde' or equivalent education. As for the mathematics used, students are expected to be familiar with integral and differential calculus, including 1st and 2nd order differential equations and separation of variables.

Continuation courses:

XWT- 33305 Chemical Reactor Design

Contents:

Mass and heat transport phenomena play a key role in on water technology. Therefore, every student Water Technology should be familiar with the basic principles of transport processes. Think of mixing solutions in a reactor tank, pumping fluid from one vessel to another or heat loss to the environment. A typical question students should be able to answer at the end of the course is, for instance, how much power is needed to keep a reactor vessel at a certain temperature given the specific heat capacity of water, the volume of the tank, the heat loss to the environment and the rate at which the tank is perfused with fresh medium of lower temperature. The emphasis of the course is on analyzing a practical problem, translate the process in a model, i.e., mathematical terms, solve the mathematics and interpret the conclusions derived from the calculation.
Specific topics discussed during the course include:
- General Balances (for mass, energy & momentum; micro and macro balances);
- Dimension analysis, (e.g., in up-scaling a process);
- Hydrodynamics & Flow (laminar versus turbulent flow, continuity equation, friction factors, Fanning equation, Bernoulli equation, frictional forces, flow regimes, drag coefficients, Reynolds umber, boundary layer, Prantl number, Schmidt number);
- Heat Transport (stationary and non-stationary conditions, conduction versus convection, Fourier, Newton' s cooling law, heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number);
- Mass transport (stationary and non-stationary conditions, diffusion versus convection, mass transfer coefficient, Sherwood number).

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- understand the theoretical principles of mass and heat transfer;
- analyse a practical problem in sequential process steps;
- translate and to apply the theory to a practical problem in water technology;
- design the basic concepts for a system to solve water technology-related problems;
- calculate the input of a system at any given output and vice versa;
- calculate the requirements of a system, e.g., pressure needed for a certain flux or the isolation needed to prevent freezing.

Activities:

- lectures and tutorials;
- self-study to prepare for the lectures;
- tutorials for practicing problem solving;
- practicing 2 proof (previous) exams;
- question hour a few days prior to the exam.

Examination:

The final exam of the course consists of a closed-book written exam but a formula sheet will be provided. A bonus arrangement applies.

Literature:

ISBN 13 - 9789065623584: Akker, H. van den & Mudde R.F., Transport Phenomena, the art of balancing, 1st ed. 2014, Delft Academic Press.