Analysis of Transport Phenomena: Convection

Analysis of Transport Phenomena is a series of the following nine MOOC modules:

• 10.50.CH01x Models
• 10.50.CH02x Mathematical Formulation
• 10.50.CH03x Scaling
• 10.50.CH04x Asymptotics
• 10.50.CH05x Series Expansions
• 10.50.CH06x Fluid Mechanics
• 10.50.CH07x Convection
• 10.50.CH08x Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics
• 10.50.CH09x Electrochemical Transport

In these MOOCs, you will learn to formulate mathematical models of transport phenomena based on partial differential equations and to solve them by pencil and paper. You will also learn the art of approximation—how to obtain useful solutions by simplifying a model without sacrificing the key physics. Applications include heat and mass transfer, fluid flow, waves, hydrodynamic instabilities, convection, phase transformations and electrochemical transport.

At MIT, 10.50 is a required subject for all first-year graduate students in chemical engineering, but it also attracts students from other departments. This online course is suitable for anyone interested in learning the principles of continuum modeling. Although the examples are mostly from chemical engineering, no prior knowledge is assumed, beyond basic undergraduate applied mathematics.

The engineering applications and mathematical methods you learn in this course will advance your career in industry or academics. While your friends and co-workers may be able to run an experiment or computer simulation, you will also be able to formulate models, make scaling estimates, and derive simple analytical approximations. There is growing demand for such mathematical skills in most technical careers and graduate programs today.