Abstract:

The introductory course in thermodynamics within an undergraduate mechanical engineering curriculum aims to teach students thermodynamic principles, laws of physics, and the application of principles in solving problems. For undergraduate students, solving thermodynamic problems trains them to understand and appreciate the science of energy and enhances their critical thinking skills. As thermodynamic problems grow more realistic and complex, the analysis also becomes complex and tedious as there can be a sizable number of equations that must be derived, and many variables to determine. When analyzing steady state and steady flow systems, for example, the derived mass, energy, entropy balance and other equations may result in linear or non-linear equations depending on the problem parameters. While introducing this concept to Thermodynamic students, it can be beneficial to employ a software tool such as MATLAB to aid in the understanding and solving of large sets of thermodynamic equations. This approach would promote higher learning by employing scaffolding and advanced problem-solving teaching techniques.

In this paper, a demonstration of the use of MATLAB for teaching and learning Thermodynamics is reported. Following a review of the literature, a methodology in the form of a flow chart to guide in the solution process is described in detail. An example problem is proposed in which the governing process equations are derived just as would be done by students in a homework assignment. The large number of equations derived are assembled in a standard mathematical linear algebra format in MATLAB. As the equations involve thermodynamic properties, a link to an external property table (XSteam, for example) is made as part of the program coding in MATLAB. To have confidence in the results obtained “residuals” as in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are calculated to ensure that they meet an acceptable level of less than 10-6. A benefit of the approach enumerated in the paper is to allow students to perform sensitivity studies of the influence of key parameters on the design of a thermodynamic system. Therefore, the utility of the approach described and demonstrated in the paper will be useful to enhance students' understanding of both Thermodynamics principles and the enhancement of learning with the use of a numerical solver such as MATLAB. Additionally, the approach can also be used by industry practitioners who are regularly involved in the design of large-scale energy systems.

Keywords:

Thermodynamics, teaching, learning, MATLAB.