THERMAL ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
The Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee has undertaken a project to incorporate hands-on laboratory experiences into the undergraduate courses ME 301: Basic Engineering Thermodynamics, ME 321: Basic Heat Transfer, and ME 402: Thermo-Fluid Engineering. Due to the common themes running through these thermal science courses, the laboratory experiments will all be considered part of the Thermal Engineering Technology Laboratory.
ME 301 and ME 321 are required courses for Mechanical Engineering Students, while ME 402 is an elective course. In the two required courses, it is planned to have 7 experiments in each course by the Fall 2004 semester, while ME 402 will have fewer experiments. These experiments will focus on fundamental aspects of thermodynamics and heat transfer. The experimental apparatus will often be designed around an actual, working engineered object. In addition, when feasible, the same object will be used in lab exercises for the different courses, with the focus of the exercise changing to meet the needs to the students in each class.
The best example of this idea is the heat exchanger. For these experiments, we will have small, bench-sized heat exchangers. In ME 301, the experiment will focus on a global energy balance around the heat exchanger, demonstrating the first law of thermodynamics for an open system with multiple inlets and outlets. In ME 321, the experiment will focus on the effectiveness of the heat exchanger, augmenting the lectures on heat exchangers. In ME 402, the experiment will focus on adjusting the design of the heat exchanger. In this way, the same equipment is used throughout the curriculum, to help tie together the principles taught in the different courses.
In other words, by using the same equipment for different experiments throughout the curriculum, we are enhancing the vertical integration of the curriculum.
The experimental data will be acquired using modern data acquisition units, PCs and sensors. For each experiment, there will be five duplicate apparatuses. Groups of 3 students will work on each apparatus, enabling all of the students to gain experience using the equipment.
Planned Time Line of Project:
Summer 2002: Initial 3 experiments are designed and constructed for ME 301 and ME 321.
Fall 2002: Initial experiments are integrated into the ME 321 course.
Spring 2003: Initial experiments are integrated into the ME 301 course.
Summer 2003: Next 2 experiments are designed and constructed for ME 301 and ME 321, and modifications are made to initial experiments.
Summer 2004: Final experiments are constructed, and any modifications to the previous experiments are performed.
Personnel:
PIs: Dr. John R. Reisel
e-mail: reisel@uwm.edu
Principle Responsibility: ME 301: Basic Engineering Thermodynamics
Dr. Kevin J. Renken
e-mail: renken@uwm.edu
Principle Responsibility: ME 321: Basic Heat Transfer
Prof. B. Andrew Price
e-mail: baprice@uwm.edu
Principle Responsibility: ME 402: Thermo-Fluid Engineering
Dr. Tracy J. Posnanski
e-mail: tjp@uwm.edu
Principle Responsibility: Evaluation of Experiment Effectiveness
Students: Ms. Colleen J. Bell
Ms. Christina E. Wisler
Funding:
Funding for this project has been provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through a Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) Program grant.
Details:
ME 301: Basic Engineering Thermodynamics
To begin the process, we have created three simple descriptions for the initial experiments to be created for ME 301. Links to these documents are found below.
Experiment 1: Liquid-Vapor Transition
Experiment 3: 1st Law of Thermodynamics-Closed System
Experiment 5: 1st Law of Thermodynamics-Open System (Multiple Inlets/Outlets): Heat Exchanger