Mechanical Engineering students go head-to-head in heat exchanger competition

By Mike Frontiero
VCU School of Education

About 50 mechanical engineering students teamed up for a high-tech arm-wrestling match that pitted fire against ice in thetranquil courtyard of VCU's School of Engineering.

For their final semester project in thermal systems design, twelve teams of four juniors and seniors designed heat exchangers, or heating and cooling devices, to raise and lower the temperature of a 10-gallon bucket of water. The first team to maintain a temperature above or below 125 degrees Fahrenheit after 10 minutes won the round.

Some of the designs included a radiator from an old car, and an ice chest filled with antifreeze and dry ice. The chilling devices won more often than the heaters.

"The purpose of the competition was to show students that's it's harder to make mechanical devices than they might think, and that all the theory in the world won't help them without experience," said their professor Daniel P. Cook, Ph.D. "Mechanical engineering students often graduate without hands-on experience, relying instead on a magic equation to solve their problem."

The exercise was designed to teach thermodynamics, fluid flow and heat transfer. "Heat exchangers are basic to all mechanical engineering devices," said Cook. "In the working world, mechanical engineers often work with boilers in power plants, radiators in automobiles, and build robots that control those systems."

The project counted towards the students' grades, but losing teams did not flunk the class. Cook was looking to see whether the students made a good effort and were creative with the design of their devices.