lnterfacial Phenomena in Engineering Applications

3 credits

This general engineering graduate course describes the interfacial phenomena and their important engineering applications. It starts with the engineering thermodynamics (TD) by reviewing the TD laws and equations of state (EOS). The subsequent analytical TD applies the TD laws to study a fluid system in the gravity/centrifugal/electric field. Moreover, the Laplace equation of capillarity and the Young equation are introduced to study various interfacial phenomena, including the capillary pressure, interfacial/surface tension, contact angle and wettability measurements. Furthermore, it details several key applications of the interfacial and capillary phenomena in some industrial and environmental processes, e.g., fluids (water, oil and CO2, etc.) flow in the underground water, oil reservoirs and saline aquifers. As an example, it shows what important roles the interfacial and capillary phenomena play in the petroleum recovery processes. In summary, this graduate course is developed to be especially suitable for MENG, MASc. and Ph.D. students in the petroleum, environmental and industrial systems engineering. *Note: Students may receive credit for one of ENGG 880AF or ENPE 801.*