An undergraduate educational module on Thermodynamic Analysis of Petroleum and Bio-based Fuels in Internal Combustion Engines

This paper describes a newly developed undergraduate educational module on the Thermodynamic Analysis of Petroleum and Bio-based Fuels in Internal Combustion Engines, created as part of an AIChE Grand Energy Challenge Award. The module is designed to introduce undergraduate Chemical Engineering students to the topic of liquid transportation fuels generated from renewable and petroleum based resources from a thermodynamics prospective. Furthermore, the module introduces students to the typical types of internal combustion engines and the thermodynamic principles behind them; provides an overview of the most common petroleum and biobased liquid transportation fuels; and introduces the concept of life cycle assessment as it applies to liquid transportation fuels.