Department of Chemical and Département de génie chimique

Biological Engineering et biologique

CHG8191D – APPLICATION OF THE FINITE VOLUME NUMERICAL METHOD TO CHEMICAL

ENGINEERING OPERATIONS (3 UNITS)

Fall 2023

Instructor Dr. David G. Taylor

Teams Contact Info @David Taylor

1 – COURSE DESCRIPTION
Fluid dynamic and transport processes described mathematically by partial differential equations often involve nonlinearities that
demand numerical solution procedures. This course focuses on one such technique, the Finite Volume Method, that can be used
to solve a variety of transport problems common to engineering.
The course will illustrate the application of the Finite Volume Method using Excel and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Through
their use of VBA, students will extend the utility of Excel to produce powerful, customized tools for solving numerical problems.
The techniques and programming structure used here can easily ported to other languages such as C++, Python and Java;
however, as we shall see in this course, the latest versions of VBA for Excel provide an excellent programming environment for
solving a vast number of complex engineering problems.

2 – COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

Upon completion of this course, students will have developed a strong grounding in the Finite Volume Method and will have
enhanced their Excel programming skills – it can be expected that this latter skill will prove useful in the solution of other
engineering-related problems.

3 – PREREQUISITES

It is expected that students will already have some background in programming and numerical methods, either as part of their
undergraduate degree or through independent study, and that they have a working knowledge of Excel and introductory skills
in VBA.

4 – LECTURE SCHEDULE

This course will be delivered online through MS Teams.

Course Time Slots: Tues (4:00 PM – 5:30 PM); Thu (2:30 PM – 4:00 PM)
T

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5 – COURSE FORMAT
The content of CHG 8191D will be delivered using an online format and will consist of synchronous lectures and Q&A sessions,
timed tests (in person or online), student presentations and independent learning activities.
The online component of the course is managed through the Microsoft Team “CHG 8191D 2023 Course Hub”. Lectures and
Q&A sessions will be offered via the hub – please see SECTION 13 for details.
The various examinations will be written in person. Details will be provided in each case closer to each examination date.
Note: All course-related communications between the professor and students will take place through the chat facility and posts
forum in Teams – email is to be avoided.
Please note that all materials provided to students in this course including course notes, videos, quizzes and solutions,
assignments and solutions, exams and solutions are copyrighted material. Any material provided to you is done so for your
exclusive and private use and is not to be distributed in any form.

6 – TEXTBOOK

The course will use Suhas Patankar’s seminal 1980 textbook on the topic: “Numerical Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow”, which is
freely available online through the University Library system. A digital copy of the textbook is also provided in the Teams course
hub.

7 – ADDITIONAL READING

Any additional reading materials will be posted through the Teams course hub, as appropriate.

8 – PROJECT

As part of this course, each student will complete a computational project in which they apply the Finite Volume Method to a
problem of their choosing, following topic approval by the professor.

9 – EXAMS
As part of the course, students will complete two written examinations during the semester (see SECTION 10 – GRADING SCHEME
below).

10 – GRADING SCHEME

Section Exams (2 exams of equal value) 50%

Project 40%

Participation in Assignments 10%

11 – PASSING GRADE

The passing grade for this course is 65% (C+).

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12 – REMINDERS

All components of the must be fulfilled, otherwise students may receive an EIN as a final mark (equivalent to an F).
Information on academic fraud can be found at this link:
https://www.uottawa.ca/vice-president-academic/academic-regulations-explained/academic-fraud.
Students are to become familiar with the Faculty of Engineering rules and regulations: https://www.uottawa.ca/administration-
and-governance/policies-and-regulations.
Students are to familiarize themselves with the University of Ottawa’s policy on plagiarism
(http://web5.uottawa.ca/mcs-smc/academicintegrity/home.php). This policy will be strictly enforced in this course.
Important dates and deadlines for the academic year can be found at the following link:
http://www.registrar.uottawa.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=2671.

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13 – TOPICS AND TENTATIVE SCHEDULE†

Session Topic
Week 00
W00-01 Course Introduction and Approach
Week 01
W01-01 Introduction/Discretization
W01-02
Week 02
W02-01 Discretization/Conduction I
W02-02
Week 03
W03-01 Conduction I
W03-02
Week 04
W04-01 Conduction II
W04-02
Week 05
W05-01 Conduction II/Diffusion and Convection I
W05-02
Week 06
W06-01 General Review
W06-02
Reading Week
Week 07
W07-01 Exam 1
W07-02 Term Project Proposals
Week 08
W08-01 Diffusion and Convection I
W08-02
Week 09
W09-01 Diffusion and Convection II
W09-02
Week 10
W10-01 Term Project Consultations (No Lectures)
W10-02
Week 11
W11-01 Final Review
W11-02
Week 12
W12-01 Exam 2
W12-02

†
schedule may vary from time to time from this published list: please turn to accompanying Teams notices in such cases
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