The course consists of two major sections; section one provides advanced thermodynamics (including chemical thermodynamics) pertinent to the analysis of non-renewable and renewable energy systems. In section two, the principles and applications of some thermal and thermo-chemical energy technologies for bioenergy production are introduced. These include the basics of biomass, the principles of pyrolysis and gasification technologies and the applications and developments of end-products.

2 lectures per week

None

None

Written Exam 100%

The aims of this course are to:

■ encourage the acquisition of advanced scientific background related to energy systems with an emphasis on thermal and thermo-chemical energy technologies;

■ provide a familiarity with a number of energy technologies at different levels of maturity.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ apply the concept of exergy and its essential differences with energy;

■ conduct exergy analysis on certain engineering problems;

■ describe basic chemical thermodynamics such as gas mixtures, chemical and phase equilibria;

■ explain the concept of chemical exergy;

■ describe the processes and principles of typical thermochemical technologies;

■ explain the properties of biomass;

■ analyse the influences of process conditions on typical thermochemical technologies.

Students must attend the degree examination and submit at least 75% by weight of the other components of the course's summative assessment.