Undergraduate Labs | Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

Thermo Fluid Dynamics

The Thermo-Fluids laboratory was designed and developed by Brian Corcoran in conjunction with Michael Tyrrell and Micheal May of the school of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. The primary function of this facility is to offer practical support to undergraduate students taking modules MM131 (Thermo-Fluids 1) and MM231 (Thermo-Fluids 2).

The laboratory is home to a range of thermodynamics equipment including refrigeration, heat pumps, double pipe heat exchangers and conduction equipment. The fluid mechanics equipment includes friction rigs, pump rigs, flowmeters, pressure measurement and pipe network equipment. In recent years a number of final year projects have taken place within the laboratory. These include analysis and control of an air conditioning unit, flow visualisation studies and analysis of refrigeration and heat pump units. The recent introduction of Computational Fluid Dynamics software (FLUENT, FIDAP and MIXSIM) into final year undergraduate courses has encouraged students

to validate their models using the thermo-fluid equipment available Research students have also found the range of equipment useful during their studies. Ongoing research projects include:

CFD analysis of Pharmaceutical Pipe Tee Junctions
Fouling of Double Pipe Heat Exchangers
Bio-film formation on pipe walls
Simulation of Combined Heat and Power Plants

This Laboratory is one of the best equiped labs within the school and will continue to be a key resourse to students interested in this field. For future developments watch this space!

For further information about laboratory Equipment contact Michael May

Experimental Equipment & Apparatus