Transport Phenomena

Offered By: Delft University of Technology via edX

Course Description

Overview

The transport of mass, momentum and energy are key aspects of nature and in our daily life. These phenomena are therefore the cornerstone of almost all (if not all) process industries, from traditional mechanical and chemical engineering through state-of-the-art or future energy industries such as semiconductor production or wind-turbine manufacture. Anyone embarking on a career in these industries, will have to be adept at:

recognizing the fundamental elements in existing industry processes
analyzing these processes in a mathematical way
improving these processes by redesigning them

This program offers the chance for the participant to understand the fundamental transport processes, learn how to model these processes and apply the knowledge gained from this modeling to new examples/cases.

The program starts by demonstrating the role of balance equations in capturing a dynamic transport process. Subsequently, macro-scale processes are analyzed and modeled using the balance equations. Examples are drawn from mass transport, heat transfer and momentum transfer. Following this, a new type of balance equation, called micro-balance, is introduced to cover the most fundamental laws of transport phenomena. The program will also include many case studies of applications of these methods in various industries, including a heat exchanger in chemical process industry, and, dissolution time of a tablet in water from the pharmaceutical industry.

The content taught in this program is structured in a particular way so that:

the physical example or principle is taught first
it is then converted to a mathematical formulation
the mathematical equation is solved
the physical significance of the result is interpreted from the solution.

The learner will benefit because of the dual perspective of the program: learning the fundamentals as well as making practical applications. In both the academic world and in industry, mastering one aspect is not enough, as it is usually necessary to model both fundamentals and applications.

Syllabus

Courses under this program:
Course 1: The Basics of Transport Phenomena

Learn the basic framework to work on a broad spectrum of engineering problems concerning transfer of heat, mass and momentum. Learn through examples of everyday processes at home, in the lab and in industry.

Course 2: Advanced Transport Phenomena

Learn how to tackle complex mass and heat transfer problems and apply the results in your own environment.

Courses

1 review
7 weeks, 6-8 hours a week, 6-8 hours a week
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Have you ever wondered why ventilation helps to cool down your hot chocolate? Do you know why a surfing suit keeps you warm? Why iron feels cold, while wood feels warm at room temperature? Or how air is transferred into aqueous liquids in a water treatment plant? How can we sterilize milk with the least amount of energy? How does medicine spread in our tissue? Or how do we design a new cooling tower of a power plant? All these are phenomena that involve heat transfer, mass transfer or fluid flow.

Transport Phenomena investigates such questions and many others, exploring a wide variety of applications ranging from industrial processes to environmental engineering, to transport processes in our own body and even simple daily life problems

In this course we will look into the underlying concepts of these processes, that often take place simultaneously, and will teach you how to apply them to a variety of real-life problems. You will learn how to model the processes and make quantitative statements.
1 review
6 weeks, 8-10 hours a week, 8-10 hours a week
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How can you reduce the energy loss of your home? What is the underlying science of energy loss in pipes? Which heat and mass transfer problems do we have to tackle to make consumer products?

In this engineering course, you will learn about the engineering principles that play an important role in all of these and more phenomena. You will learn about microbalances, radiation, convection, diffusion and more and their applications in everyday life.

This advanced course is for engineers who want to refresh their knowledge, engineering students who are eager to learn more about heat/mass transport and for all who have fun in explaining the science of phenomena in nature.

Taught by

Bijoy Bera, Robert Mudde and Peter Hamersma