Teaching Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics Simultaneously through Pipeline Flow Experiments
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada
Fluids 2019, 4(2), 103; https://doi.org/10.3390/fluids4020103
Received: 12 May 2019 / Revised: 26 May 2019 / Accepted: 28 May 2019 / Published: 1 June 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Teaching and Learning of Fluid Mechanics)
Entropy and entropy generation are abstract and illusive concepts for undergraduate students. In general, students find it difficult to visualize entropy generation in real (irreversible) processes, especially at a mechanistic level. Fluid mechanics laboratory can assist students in making the concepts of entropy and entropy generation more tangible. In flow of real fluids, dissipation of mechanical energy takes place due to friction in fluids. The dissipation of mechanical energy in pipeline flow is reflected in loss of pressure of fluid. The degradation of high quality mechanical energy into low quality frictional heat (internal energy) is simultaneously reflected in the generation of entropy. Thus, experiments involving measurements of pressure gradient as a function of flow rate in pipes offer an opportunity for students to visualize and quantify entropy generation in real processes. In this article, the background in fluid mechanics and thermodynamics relevant to the concepts of mechanical energy dissipation, entropy and entropy generation are reviewed briefly. The link between entropy generation and mechanical energy dissipation in pipe flow experiments is demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally. The rate of entropy generation in pipeline flow of Newtonian fluids is quantified through measurements of pressure gradient as a function of flow rate for a number of test fluids. The factors affecting the rate of entropy generation in pipeline flows are discussed.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
undergraduate education; fluid mechanics; pipeline flow; non-equilibrium thermodynamics; entropy generation; pressure loss; experimental studies
▼
Show Figures
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Pal, R. Teaching Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics Simultaneously through Pipeline Flow Experiments. Fluids 2019, 4, 103.
AMA Style
Pal R. Teaching Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics Simultaneously through Pipeline Flow Experiments. Fluids. 2019; 4(2):103.
Chicago/Turabian StylePal, Rajinder. 2019. "Teaching Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics Simultaneously through Pipeline Flow Experiments" Fluids 4, no. 2: 103.
Find Other Styles
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.