Unit Code: PME431

Unit Name: Heat Engines

Description: The purpose of this unit is to enable the development of elementary knowledge and skills required for the maintenance of Heat Engines. This course offers the development of intermediate scientific knowledge and skills for mechanical plant trade trainees. This course will enable students to understand the thermodynamic cycles and technology used in heat engines and power plants. This includes the capability of analyzing the behaviour of thermal engines, turbo machinery, boilers, burners and combustion chambers as components of these systems. This Unit is devoted to describing the fundamentals of how various heat engines work (e.g. an IC engine) Combustion engines are a well-known technology used in automobiles, trucks, construction equipment, marine propulsion, and backup power applications. Combustion engines employ the expansion of hot gases to push a piston within a cylinder, converting the linear movement of the piston into the rotating movement of a crankshaft to generate power. While the steam engines that powered the industrial revolution were driven by externally-produced steam, modern combustion engines used for electric power generation are internal combustion engines in which an air-fuel mixture is compressed by a piston and ignited within a cylinder. Reciprocating internal combustion (IC) engines are characterized by the type of combustion: spark-ignited (SG) or compression-ignited, also known as diesel.

Learning Target Outcomes:

Prerequisite: MER

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 5

Offered In: Quarter 3