Introduction

Topics covered in this chapter

• Prerequisites and text books
• Scalar, vector and tensor fields
• Curves, surfaces, and volumes
• Coordinate systems
• Units
• Continuum approximation
• Densities, potential gradients, and fluxes
• Velocity: a measure of flux by convection
• Density
• Species concentration
• Energy (heat)
• Porous media
• Momentum
• Electricity and Magnetism

Introduction

This course is designed as a first level graduate course in transport phenomena. Undergraduate courses generally start with simple example problems and lead to more complex problems. With this approach, the student must learn the fundamental principles by induction. The approach used here is to teach the fundamental principles and then deduce the analysis for example problems. The example problems are classical problems that should be familiar to all Ph.D. Chemical Engineering graduates. These problems will be presented not only as an exercise with analytical or numerical solutions but also as simulated experiments which are to be interpreted and graphically displayed for presentation.

Prerequisites and text books

Students in this class are expected to have a background corresponding to a BS degree in Chemical Engineering. This includes a course in multivariable calculus, which covers the algebra and calculus of vectors fields on volumes, surfaces, and curves of 3-D space and time. Courses in ordinary and partial differential equations are a prerequisite. Some elementary understanding of fluid mechanics is expected from a course in transport phenomena, fluid mechanics, or physics. It is assumed that not all students have the prerequisite background. Thus, material such as vector algebra and calculus will be briefly reviewed and exercise problems assigned that will require more reading from the student if they are not already familiar with the material.

The two required textbooks for this course are R. Aris, Vectors, Tensors, and the Basic Equations of Fluid Mechanics and Bird, Stewart, and Lightfoot, Transport Phenomena . Several of the classical problems are from S. W. Churchill, Viscous Flows, The Practical Use of Theory . The classical textbook, Feyman, Leighton, and Sands, The Feyman Lectures on Physics, Volume II is highly recommended for its clarity of presentation of vector fields and physical phenomena. The students are expected to be competent in MATLAB, FORTRAN, and EXCEL and have access to Numerical Recipes in FORTRAN .

The following table is a suggested book list for independent studies in transport phenomena.