AME-430 Thermal Systems Design (28772,

and 29072)
Term: Fall 2023 Units: 3.0
Course Syllabus (Rev 0)
Lecture: Mon 07:00 - 9:40 pm
Location: GFS 104
Instructor: Dr. Zuhair Ibrahim

Office Hours:
Thursdays: 5:00- 6:30 pm (via zoom) or by appointment.

Contact Info:
[email protected] (urgent: [email protected])

Catalog Description Design methodology for thermal systems; boilers, condensers, air conditioning, power
generation, air pollution control, combustion and alternative fuels. Prerequisite: AME 331; recommended
preparation: AME 312.
Instructors’ Description Following a brief review of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer, plus a
brief introduction to combustion, students will engage in a step-by-step design effort for one of three projects
(wood-waste fueled lumber kiln; landfill gas combustion turbine; earth-coupled heat pump). The goal is to produce
a Process Design Package, including: Heat and Material Balance, Process Flow Diagram, Piping & Instrumentation
Diagram, and Equipment Data Sheets.
Recommended Preparation The course material presented assumes the student has attained competency in
calculus, physics, chemistry, engineering thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. The format will be
lectures plus required design team meetings. There is no lab.
Prerequisite(s): AME 331 Co-Requisite (s): none Concurrent Enrollment: none

Required Textbook:
Thermal Systems Design: Fundamentals and Projects, 2nd Edition, ISBN: 978-1-119-80347-8
https://www.wiley.com/en-
us/Thermal+Systems+Design%3A+Fundamentals+and+Projects%2C+2nd+Edition-p-
9781119803478
Course Notes
Homework: A total of 11 homework assignments will be given (see schedule below). Each homework assignment is
worth 50 points. Homework is submitted electronically on blackboard and is due 5 PM on the Tuesday after the
following lecture, (listed in the course schedule). Students are responsible for ensuring their homework papers are
submitted electronically via blackboard. Emails of homework are not permissible. Homework submitted past the
deadline is docked 30% - no exceptions.
Design Deliverables: Each team will receive a “Request for Proposal” from their “client” that sets forth the scope of
work the design team is expected to deliver. Each student is individually responsible for “DRAFT” versions of the

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PFD drawings (points included in homework assignment totals above). Time will often be available at the end of
class for groups to work on their designs together, and to interact with the instructor if they have questions.
Instructor will require teams to provide verbal progress reports at the end of most lectures.
Final Presentation AND Design Package: Each group will have an opportunity to communicate their thermal system
design to their classmates with an oral presentation and design package, worth 250 points per student. Each team
member is required to deliver a portion of the group’s final presentation to the class and respond to questions
from students and the instructor. The presentation should include content that focuses on (a) unique aspects of
the design, (b) energy cost savings for the customer, and (c) benefits to the environment or local economy.
Individual scores will be based in part on the group’s work product and in part on the student’s individual
contribution to the design package and presentation.
Final Exam: A final exam, worth 200 points, will be given on the scheduled date. The exam will cover all subjects
covered in the lectures and assigned reading. The exam will focus on concepts rather than calculations, although
modest analysis will be necessary to answer some of the questions.
Grading: Students earn points (1000 possible) by successfully completing the following assignments:
• Homework 550 (fewer than 1 per week, graded)
• Design Project 250 (individual and group submission and presentation)
• Final Exam 200 (given on scheduled date for final exam)

Final course grades are based on absolute scores and calibrated against a normal distribution to ensure fairest
treatment for each student. See course schedule for reading and homework assignments.
A (920+), A- (880+) (mastered essentially all the material)
B+ (850+), B (820+), B- (780+) (mastered the majority of the material)
C+ (750+), C (720+), C- (680+) (understood a moderate amount of the material)
D (600+) (only grasped minimum content; consider re-taking course)
F (599 and below) (failed to grasp the material; must re-take course)

Software Resources: The final exam is open-book, open-notes but closed-smartphone and closed-laptop. Students
are expected to bring and use a hand calculator for the exam and bring their own copy of the textbook. Accessing
computers/internet is not allowed during any quiz or exam. The group project will require design calculations that
are best performed using a mathematical software application (e.g, Matlab, Mathcad, or Excel) to obtain
intermediate and final solutions. Some homework assignments may benefit from the use of these same software
applications as well. Students are expected to provide their own software and submit printouts with their HW
assignment(s).

Learning Objectives
After completing this course, students will be able to:
1. Select a suitable diameter for a pipe or duct for given length and flow.
2. Select a suitable blower or pump to overcome friction pressure drop for a given pipe or duct flow.
3. Prepare a Heat and Material Balance table.
4. Utilize a commercial CAD program to convey process information in a Piping & Instrument Diagram.
5. Estimate adiabatic combustion temperature using JANAF Tables or equilibrium software package.
6. Determine design parameters (e.g., size, temperature) for a thermal oxidizer.
7. Determine design parameters for a shell-tube heat exchanger.
8. Determine design parameters for a Brayton Cycle turbine power generation system.
9. Determine design parameters for an air-coupled heat-pump system.
10. Determine design parameters for a waste heat recovery boiler.
11. Select instruments and final control elements to perform process control and safety control.
12. Select refractory and/or insulation materials to line hot and cold vessels and pipes.
13. Understand concepts such as “deviation”, “likelihood”, “severity” in a Process Hazard Analysis.

Academic Conduct
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Plagiarism – presenting someone else’s ideas as your own, either verbatim or recast in your own words – is a
serious academic offense with serious consequences. Please familiarize yourself with the discussion of plagiarism
in SCampus in Section 11, Behavior Violating University Standards https://scampus.usc.edu/1100-behavior-
violating-university-standards-and-appropriate-sanctions. Other forms of academic dishonesty are equally
unacceptable. See additional information in SCampus and university policies on scientific misconduct,
http://policy.usc.edu/scientific-misconduct.
Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report
any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu or to the Department of Public Safety
http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us. This is important for the
safety of the whole USC community. Another member of the university community – such as a friend, classmate,
advisor, or faculty member – can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person.
The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support,
and the sexual assault resource center webpage http://sarc.usc.edu describes reporting options and other
resources.
Support Systems
A number of USC’s schools provide support for students who need help with scholarly writing. Check with your
advisor or program staff to find out more. Students whose primary language is not English should check with the
American Language Institute http://dornsife.usc.edu/ali, which sponsors courses and workshops specifically for
international graduate students. The Office of Disability Services and Programs
http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html provides certification for students
with disabilities and helps arrange the relevant accommodations. If an officially declared emergency makes travel
to campus infeasible, USC Emergency Information http://emergency.usc.edu will provide safety and other updates,
including ways in which instruction will be continued by means of blackboard, teleconferencing, and other
technology.

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 HW
ASSIGNED READING WORK
WEEK Assignment(due
DATE SUBJECT (Text - Thermal PRODUCT POINTS
NO. Tuesday after
Systems Design) DUE
lecture)
Thermodynamics Chapter 1 - <Lecture
1 8-21 <None>
Fundamentals Thermodynamics Only>
2 8-28 Fluid Flow Fundamentals Chapter 2 - Fluid Mechanics Homework #1 8/30 50
Labor Day
3 9-4
Holiday
Heat Transfer
4 9-11 Chapter 3 - Heat Transfer Homework #2 9/13 50
Fundamentals
Combustion Chapter 4 - Intro to
5 9-18 Combustion
Homework #3 9/20 50
Fundamentals
Heat and Material
Chapter 5 - Process Flow
6 9-25 Balance, PFD, Customer Diagrams
Homework #4 9/27 50
RFP
Recuperators , Burners,
Chapter 6 - Thermodynamic Design of Equipment Chapter 7 - Duct, Pipe
VOC Destruction,
7 10-2 Network Design + Chapter 8 - Heat Exchanger Design Chapter 9 - Refractory, <None>
ThermOx, Insulation Thermal Insulation
Pumps
Homework #5 -
DRAFT PFD
Chapter 10 – Boilers
Boilers (individual
8 10-9 Chapter 11 - Combustion 10/11 100
Combustion Turbines Turbines submission)
+ Homework
#6
Refrigeration Systems;
9 10-16 Chapter 12 - Refrigeration Homework #7 10/18 50
Transient Heat Flow
Compressors, Pumps and
10 10-23 Chapter 10-12 Homework #8 10/25 50
Blowers
Instrumentation, P&ID, Chapter 13 - Piping &
Instrumentation Diagram
11 10-30 Equipment Specs. Chapter 14 - Control of
Homework #9 - 11/1 50
Thermal Systems
Homework #10
Valves, Actuators, (P&ID
Chapter 15 - Process Safety
12 11-6 Process Control, Safety Chapter 16 - Process Quality
Individual 11/8 50
Control submissions)

Process Hazard Chapter 17 - Design for

Homework #11
13 11-13 Assessment, Product Construction, Operation, 11/15 50
Quality, O&M Manual Maintenance
GROUP - Oral
Presentation all
Group
14 11-20 Project Presentations <none> Team Members 250
Presentations
talk; Submit PPT,
Design Pkg
15 11-27 Review Zoom
INDIVIDUAL
16 12-6 Final Exam GFS 104 Final Exam 200
STUDENT - Exam
FINAL 1000
TOTAL POINTS