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CHE611A: Transport Phenomena

Course Description

The course aims to provide a unified view of the three fundamental transport processes from Chemical Engineering perspective. These are dealt in three closely related topics

  • Fluid dynamics: involves transport of momentum,
  • Heat transfer: deals with transport of energy, and
  • Mass transfer: concerned with transport of mass.

These three transport processes need to be studied together as they usually occur simultaneously (and rarely alone) in many industrial and natural phenomena. Starting from the basic mechanisms of the transport of each of the three properties (momentum, energy and mass), we will study the shell balance methods and derive the equations of change for these properties and use them to solve simple analytical problems and get distribution of velocity, temperature and concentration.

Course Content

The outline of the course is as follows.

  • Viscosity and mechanism of Momentum Transport, Newton's law of viscosity
  • Shell momentum balances and velocity distribution in laminar flow
  • Equations of continuity and linear momentum balance for Isothermal systems; Solving steady state flow problems using these equations
  • Thermal conductivity and mechanism of Energy Transport, Fourier's law of conductionShell energy balances and temperature distributions in solids and laminar flow
  • Energy balance equation and its special forms for non-isothermal systems;  Solving steady state problems using these equations
  • Velocity and temperature distributions with more than one independent variables
  • Diffusivity and mechanism of Mass Transport, Fick's law of diffusion
  • Shell mass balances and concentration distributions in solids and laminar flow

Course Audience

The course is intended for PG students of Department of Chemical Engineering, I.I.T. Kanpur.

P.G. students from other departments will be considered on case to case basis.

Unfortunately, U.G. students are not permitted (my apologies) to register for the course this semester. A dedicated elective course with same title is offered next semester for U.G. students.

Outcomes of this Course

After doing this course you should be able to

  • Identify the transport processes involved in some simple situations.
  • Write down the equations of change for mass, momentum and energy for the system.
  • Write down the boundary conditions for each equation of change.
  • Make suitable assumptions and approximations at different steps for simplifying the problem with only one (or two) independent variable.
  • Solve the simplified problem analytically.
  • Grasp the physical significance of the solution obtained.
  • Understand the limitations of the solution and other possible scenarios that you have neglected in the analysis.