SEGi University

KOTA DAMANSARA
EXAMINATIONS DEPARTMENT

BEng (Hons) Mechanical Engineering

In Collaboration with the University of Sunderland

NOV 2017 ASSIGNMENT

THERMODYNAMICS & HEAT TRANSFER

SUBJECT CODE: EME 3233

TIME ALLOWED: 4 WEEKS

DEADLINE: 08-DEC-2017

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

I. This is a group assignment.

II. Get into a group of 3 and write a report on the assigned topic.
III. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. ZERO marks will be given for plagiarised work.
IV. Late submission will not be entertained.

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Question 1
Water flows through a shower head steadily at a rate of 8 kg/min. The water is heated in
an electric water heater from 15C to 45C. In an attempt to conserve energy, it is
proposed to pass the drained warm water at a temperature of 38C through a heat
exchanger to preheat the incoming cold water. Design a heat exchanger that is suitable
for this task, and discuss the potential savings in energy and money for your area.

Question 2
A house with 200 m2 floor space is to be heated with geothermal water flowing through
piping system laid in the ground under the floor. The walls of the house are 4 m high, and
there are 10 single-paned windows in the house that are 1.2 m wide and 1.8 m high. The
house has R-19 (in h ft2 F/Btu) insulation in the walls and R-30 on the ceiling. The
floor temperature is not to exceed 40C. Hot geothermal water is available at 90C, and
the inner and outer diameter of the pipes to be used are 2.4 cm and 3.0 cm. Design such a
heating system for this house in your area.

Question 3
Find out about the wall construction of the cabins of large commercial airplanes, the
range of ambient conditions under which they operate, typical heat transfer coefficients
on the inner and outer surfaces of the wall (including windows), and the heat generation
rates inside. Determine the size of the heating and air-conditioning system that will be
able to maintain the cabin at 20C at all times for an airplane capable of carrying 400
people.

Question 4
An old refrigerator using R-12 as the working fluid keeps the refrigerated space at -15C
in an environment at 30C. You are tasked to redesign this refrigerator by replacing
R-12 with the ozone-friendly R-134a. What changes in the pressure levels would you
suggest in the new system? How do you think the COP of the new system will compare
to the COP of the old system?

Question 5
Consider a solar pond power plant operating on a closed Rankine cycle. Using
refrigerant-134a as the working fluid, specify the operating temperatures and pressures in
the cycle, and estimate the required mass flow rate of refrigerant- 134a for a net power
output of 50 kW. Also, estimate the surface area of the pond for this level of continuous
power production. Assume that the solar energy is incident on the pond at a rate of 500 W

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per m2 of pond area at noontime, and that the pond is capable of storing 15 percent of the
incident solar energy in the storage zone.

Assessment Method:
Your report will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
a) Introduction & background of study (10 marks)

b) Engineering analysis, justification, & quality of data. (30 marks)

c) Results & discussions (25 marks)

d) Conclusions & recommendations (15 marks)

e) Quality of references cited (5 marks)

f) Structure of report & quality of writing (5 marks)

g) Peer review (10 marks)

(Total 100 marks)

Acknowledgement
All questions are taken and modified from the following textbooks:
1. Y.A. Cengel & M.A. Boles. Thermodynamics: An Engineering Approach. 5th ED.
2. Y.A. Cengel. Heat Transfer: A Practical Approach. 2nd ED.