MEE 181: Introduction to

Mechanical Engineering
Md. Shafiqul Islam
Lecturer, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering,
SUST, Sylhet
• Forms of energy
• Sources of energy
• Conventional and renewable energy
• Energy conversion and management
• Environmental pollution

Reference Book: Energy and the Environment–

by James A. Fay & Dan S. Golomb

Content
• 1 Credit: 1 Class/week
• 1 Term Test (20 Marks)
• Late entry to the class will be counted as half attendance
• Students having less than 50% attendance won’t be able
to sit for TERM FINAL EXAMINATION.

Miscellaneous
 The beginning is the
most important part of
the work - Plato

So, Let's begin…

• A very layman definition is that Energy is the capacity of a
physical system to perform work.

• We know from the Law of Conservation of Energy, that energy

can neither be created nor destroyed but merely converted
from one form to another.

• For example, Water falling from a height and rotating a turbine

utilizes the initial potential energy of the water to kinetic
energy of the turbine. The turbine then rotates a generator
converting its kinetic energy to electrical energy which then
reaches our home and used in numerous ways as we wish.

What is energy?
Classification of Energy
• Energy is also broadly classified into six categories based on
the form of energy.

• Mechanical Energy: Perhaps the most commonly faced form

of energy, it can be defined as the energy acquired by the
objects upon which work is done. In other words, the energy
that is possessed by an object due to its motion or due to its
position. Its transitional form is work and can be stored as
potential energy(as in water tanks) or as kinetic energy(as in
flywheels).
• Chemical Energy: It is the energy stored in the bonds of
chemical compounds (atoms and molecules) and released
during a chemical reaction, usually accompanied by heat.
Batteries, petroleum and natural gas are examples of stored
chemical energy and a transitional form does not exist.

Classification of Energy
• Electrical Energy: This energy is associated with the
accumulation or flow of electrons. The transitional form of
electrical energy is electron flow, usually through a conductor
of some kind. Electrical energy may be stored as either
electrostatic-field energy (electric field produced by the
accumulation of charge on the plates of a capacitor) or as
inductive-field energy (magnetic field established by the flow
of electrons through an induction coil).

• Nuclear Energy: Just like chemical energy, nuclear energy is

a kind of stored energy and is released during reactions
occurring within the nucleus of various atoms. Examples
include nuclear fission and fusion.

Classification of Energy
• Electromagnetic Energy: Being associated with
electromagnetic radiation, this is a pure mass-less form of
energy. This radiation exists as only transitional energy
travelling at the speed of light, c.

• Thermal Energy: It is the internal energy of an object due to

the kinetic energy of its atoms and is dependent on the
temperature of the body. Its transitional form is heat while its
stored form is internal energy in the form of sensible heat or
latent heat.

The 2nd law of thermodynamics states that any other form of

energy can be completely converted to thermal energy but thermal
energy can never be completely converted to other forms.

Classification of Energy
Classification of Energy
Fossil Fuels
Fossil Fuel
Refining
Petroleum refining refers to the process of converting crude oil into
useful products. Crude oil is composed of hundreds of different
hydrocarbon molecules, which are separated through the process of
refining. The process is divided into three basic steps: separation,
conversion, and treatment.
Separation
Separation refers to the process of distillation. Crude oil is heated in
a furnace so that hydrocarbons can be separated via their boiling
point. Inside large towers, heated petroleum vapors are separated
into fractions according to weight and boiling point. The lightest
fractions, which include gasoline, rise to the top of the tower before
they condense back to liquids. The heaviest fractions will settle at
the bottom because they condense early.
Fossil Fuels (Contd.)
Solar energy
What is Solar Energy?
• The incident of solar energy flux on the earth’s surface is large. The energy flux
that strikes the top of the earth’s atmosphere is referred to as the solar constant
and has a value of 1353 W/m2
• Depending on the time of day and month of year as well as local weather and
latitude of a particular location, the amount of insolation that actually reaches
the surface will vary from essentially 0 to about 1050 W/m2.
• On average, about half of the energy incident on the earth’s upper atmosphere
makes it to the surface.
• About 21% of the solar flux reaches as direct radiation and about 29% as
scattered or diffuse radiation.
• Even with these losses, the amount of solar energy reaches us is significant. For
example, over 40,000EJ of solar energy incident on the US each year, which is
more than 400 times the total primary energy consumed during all of 2002.
• Energy reaching the earth is incredible. By one calculation, 30 days of sunshine
striking the Earth have the energy equivalent of the total of all the planet’s
fossil fuels, both used and unused!!!!!!!

Energy from the sun

Advantages
• All chemical and radioactive polluting byproducts of the
thermonuclear reactions remain behind on the sun, while only
pure radiant energy reaches the Earth.
• Energy source is significantly big.

Disadvantages
• Sun does not shine consistently.
• Solar energy is a diffuse source. To harness it, we must
concentrate it into an amount and form that we can use, such as
heat and electricity.
• Addressed by approaching the problem through: 1)
collection, 2) conversion, 3) storage

Advantages and Disadvantages

Solar Thermal Energy
Solar Thermal Energy (Contd.)
Solar Thermal Energy (Contd.)
Hydroelectric Energy
Nuclear Energy
Nuclear Energy
BWR
Nuclear Energy
PWR
PWR
PWR
Wind Energy
Wind Energy
Wind Energy
Ocean Thermal Energy
Geothermal Energy
Geothermal Energy
Tidal Energy
Energy from Biomass
Energy from Biomass
Fuels
Fuels