An Introduction to Thermal-Fluid Engineering : The Engine and the Atmosphere

Aimed at beginning engineering students, this book presents the basic ideas of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and combustion by relating the engine to the atmosphere. It also discusses the greenhouse effect and the social implications of engineering in a crowded world with increasing energy demands.

Increasingly, engineering education is responding to concerns about how engineering practice affects the environment. This text provides an integrated introduction to basic engineering topics and the social implications of engineering practice. Aimed at beginning engineering students, the book presents the basic ideas of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and combustion through a real-world engineering situation: it relates the engine to the atmosphere in which it moves and exhausts its waste products. In addition to the traditional thermal-fluid topics, the book includes a chapter on the atmosphere, with a particular focus on the greenhouse effect and atmospheric inversions. The social implications of engineering in a crowded world with increasing energy demands are also addressed. This approach will capture the reader's attention and set the stage for subjects that will be studied later in their degree in greater depth. Students in mechanical, civil, agricultural, environmental, aerospace, and chemical engineering, as well as the physical sciences, will welcome this engaging, well illustrated introduction to thermal-fluid engineering.