GEOS 24705 / ENST 24705. Energy: Science, Technology, and Human Usage

Prof: Liz Moyer

TAs: Eric Stutz, Michael Glotter

Field trip coordinator: Grant Wilder

Info (see documents below for more)

The course meets Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:30-3:00 PM in Rosenwald 301. Course requirements include attendance at three or more field trips and at least four labs. Lab sections will be held in Hinds Geophysical Laboratory 361, Tuesdays 10:30-11:30 AM and 3:30-4:30 PM (just after class). TA office hours are Michael (Hinds 489), Mondays 10:30-11:30 and Eric (Hinds 481), Thursdays 3-4 PM. Liz's office hours are tentatively Wed. at 5 PM in Hinds 405 (may change week to week, check for announcements on Tuesday). Note that Hinds is locked at 5:30 PM.

Field trips will generally leave on Friday mornings. All pickups by bus are from Chicago Booth, 5807 South Woodlawn Avenue. Check the syllabus and website for times, dates, and signup protocol for each trip. Because field trip information may change, be sure to check the week of each trip.

Course description is here (including course requirements and instructions on requesting enrollment).

Syllabus (with schedule of field trips and labs) is here.

There is no textbook to purchase for this class, as there is no single book that is appropriate for the range of material and we don't want to ask you to buy several books. Instead we will assign readings to be done before certain lectures and will post those on this site in pdf form. People coming in without college-level physics may want to prepare by reading the initial chapters of a book by Prof. David McKay of the University of Cambridge (U.K.) that is available for free download in pdf format. (Renewable Energy: Without the Hot Air). For a broad perspective I also recommend any of the many books by Vaclav Smil (e.g. Energy at the Crossroads, Energy in World History, or Energy Transitions: History, Requirements, Prospects).

Course notes, materials, and assignments

Lecture 1: Energy flows on Earth

Lecture 1 slides and notes from Michael.

Lecture 2: Energy flows on Earth II

Lecture 2 slides, class notes from Michael.

Problem set 2. (We'll start with #2 to make the PS number match the lecture number). And answers.

Lecture 3: Pre-industrial energy use

Diderot and d'Alembert, L'Encyclopedie, 1769-1772.

Reading for Lecture 3. Pre-Industrial-Revolution growth in human energy use (15th-18th centuries): a chapter from "The Structures of Everyday Life", by the historian Fernand Braudel. If you can, read before lecture on Tues. April 5, otherwise read the concluding remarks on p. 371-372 now and the rest just after (you will need this for the problem set).

Read this to get a feel for humans' appetite for labor-enhancing devices over history, the rise in humans' need for energy even before the Industrial Revolution, and the extent to which the European economies were primed to explode if only certain technological improvements could be made (cf p. 371). Note various resource crises, including especially the gradual depletion of wood in Europe. Get a feel for what the mix of energy sources was for Europeans at the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Note how much technological change took place even before the widespread use of fossil fuels.

NOTE: This is mandatory reading, but read for the ideas rather than the numbers. You don't need to memorize/learn/remember specific numbers Braudel cites; you can skim (and skim very lightly over the long section on animal power). Read the concluding remarks (p. 371-372) very carefully.

Lecture 3 slides and class notes from Michael.

Problem set 3. Due Thursday April 7. And answers.

Lecture 4: The pre-industrial energy crisis / The steam engine

From a 1781 patent application by Jonathan Hornblower for a compound steam engine.

Optional pre-reading: For more on the energy crisis in preindustrial Europe and the depletion of wood and surface coal in Britain, there are very readable chapters in an 1882 book called "The History of Coal Mining in Great Britain", by Robert Galloway, available (with a CNet ID) online in digital form here. Read Chapter III ("The increasing scarcity of wood causes coal to come into general use for domestic purposes. First difficulties in the mines") and perhaps also Chapter VI ("Increase in mining difficulties. Improvements in mining appliances. Invention of Railways"), which is good background for the MOSI steam locomotives. For some background on steam engines (in case you want a head start; we'll cover in class), a good source is this page by a Michigan State professor. Galloway also has a seminal book ("The steam engine and its inventors") but it's not available as an e-book.

Lecture 4 slides as both pdf and Powerpoint so that you can see the animations.

Problem set 4. Due Tuesday April 12. This background reading on the physics of steam might be useful (especially for the optional problems on PS4). And answers.

Field trip, Fri. April 8th Museum of Science and Industry for steam locomotives (also cogeneration). Meet in lobby of MOSI at 8 AM.

Lecture 5: Ideal engines and the Carnot efficiency limit

Required pre-reading for Lecture 5: Do some pre-reading about the fundamental theory behind heat-to-work, first laid out by Carnot, before lecture. You can get your information from any of these three sources - choose whatever works best for you.
- Carnot's original 1825 paper. A section from Carnot's "Reflections on the Motive Power of Fire and on Machines Fitted to Develop that Power". Read with decreasing focus as the paper goes on. Mostly make sure you understand all the sentences in bold-face (Carnot's original emphasis). When you read, remember that at the time Carnot is writing, in 1825, steam engines have been in existence for 125 years, in broad use for 50, and have been undergoing steady improvement, but no one has yet deduced the fundamental physics of how they work. Also note that Carnot still does not know what heat is; he thinks it is a fluid called "caloric". Which surprisingly, doesn't stand in his way at all of basically inventing engineering thermodynamics. Pages 1-5 are very clear and worth reading by everyone.
- A summary of Carnot's contributions, written by a physicist.
- A summary in more colloquial language, from a great book called "The Refrigerator and the Universe". I highly recommend this for people in class who last had physics in high school. I'm posting a 35 page chapter but the most important part is just up to p. 123.
Pre-thinking: If it's been awhile since you had any physics, dust off your memory of the ideal gas law and of adiabatic expansion or compression. What happens if you compress air, as in a piston? What happens if you open the vent on a cylinder of compressed air and let the air expand into the room?

Lecture 5 notes and slides. (For animations see Lecture 4 slides).

Problem set 5. Due Thursday April 14. And answers.

Lecture 6: The Industrial Revolution and the transition to the modern energy system

Note: this lecture will be held on Tuesday April 12th at 3:15 PM in Hinds 5th floor conference room + given again by TAs on Thursday at the normal time and location. No labs this week.

Child workers in in the Bibb Mill in Macon, GA., between 1908-1912. Photo: Lewis Hine

Pre-lecture readings on the Industrial Revolution and the growth of energy use, for Lecture 6. This is a summary page describing the history with links to primary-source readings (that is, things written at the time of the Industial Revolution). Read the summary and at minimum skim all the primary-source readings, reading at least one in depth to get a flavor for the times. I recommend reading them all carefully, actually - they're fun and a fast read. The essay by Henry Adams on his confusion and awe before the generators at the 1900 exposition is quite famous and the seminal statement of our energy system becoming something that ordinary untrained people no longer understood intuitively. "No more relation could he discover between the steam and the electric current than between the Cross and the cathedral."

Lecture 6 notes and slides.

Problem set 6, and the conversion grid to fill in, in .pdf and .doc form. Due Tuesday April 19. And answers.

Lecture 7: The modern energy system, electricity generation I

U.S. energy system, 2005, from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Readings. Pre-lecture reading on electricity and the basics of electrical generation for those who haven't had physics lately. For those who are ready for more, there's not much out there that is in between either too basic or too specialized, but this chapter from Klempner and Kerszenbaum's "Operation and Maintenance of Large Turbo-Generators", is OK.

Lecture 7 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 7. Due Thursday April 21.

Lecture 8: Electricity generation II

Coal-fired power plant, diagram from Tennesse Valley Authority.

For the field trip to Fisk (and for Thursday's lecture if you can make it), everyone should read the relevant part of chapter 5: "Power Plants" from a great book called "Infrastructure: A Field Guide to the Industrial Landscape" by Brian Hayes. Read from the beginning (p. 186) to the top of p. 199 (or to p. 201 to do gas turbines as well as the steam turbines we'll see at Fisk).

Lecture 8 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 8. Due Tuesday April 26. And answers.

Field trip, Fri. April 22nd Fisk coal-fired power plant. Meet in front of Booth at 7:15 AM for bus departure 7:30 AM. Leather shoes and non-synthetic clothing only. Bring your IDs for security check.

Lecture 9: Electricity generation III, electric motors

660 MW generator, stator end windings (photo lifted from referenced website).

Required reading: This handout on electric motors (read before electric motors lab on Tuesday).

Optional reading: To round out the Edison/Tesla dispute, see this article from the New York Times reporting the shut-down of the last DC power generation from Edison's original New York system (in 2007!). There is also a link to the orginal 1882 article describing the first Edison plant's opening and the first electric lights in the Times building.

Lecture 9 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 9. Due Thursday April 28. And answers.

Field trip, Th. April 28th University of Chicago steam plant. Meet at 7:55 AM at the West entrance of the West Campus Central Utility Plant (see map of UChicago to find this). More details to follow.

Lecture 10: Steam and gas turbines, nuclear power

A. Fukushima nuclear plant damaged in 2011 Japan earthquake. Photo: Reuters.
B. Steam turbine CAD drawing, from Mechanical Engineer's Weblog.

Required reading: A short letter from Nikola Tesla in 1892 describing his enthusiasm for new turbines that would serve well to drive AC power and be a further advantage to AC as a standard: "It is gratifying to note from his tests that the turbines are being rapidly improved. Though I am aware that the majority of engineers do not favor their adoption. I do not hesitate to say that I believe in their success. I think their principle uses, in no distant future, will be in connection with alternate current motors, by means of which it is easy to obtain a constant and, in any desired ratio, reduced speed. There are objections to their employment for driving direct current generators, as the commutators must be a source of some loss and trouble, on account of the very great speed; but with an alternator there is no objectionable feature whatever".

Optional reading: For those who want to know more about the history of the steam turbine, see this reproduction of a 1942 book about Sir Charles Parsons, its inventor (in 1884), with good text and old photos.

Lecture 10 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 10. Due Tuesday May 3.

Field trip, Fri. April 29th Dresden Nuclear Generating Station. Details to follow.

Lecture 11: Mechanical energy -> mechanical energy I: hydro

inlet scroll, Francis turbine, Grand Coulee Dam

Inlet scroll of one of the Francis turbines of the Grand Coulee Dam, during construction.

Pre-reading for Lectures 11 and 12: the hydro (Tuesday) and wind (Thursday) sections of Hayes chapter 5: "Power Plants". Read from p. 212 to p. 221. There's a nuclear section too, for those who want more information on nuclear power plants.

Lecture 11 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 11. Due Thursday May 5. And answers.

Lecture 12: Mechanical energy -> mechanical energy II: wind

Growth of wind turbines over last 25 years (Vestas)

Pre-reading for Lecture 12: the wind section of Hayes Ch. 5 (above).

Optional additional readings on wind: A very readable tutorial (Pao and Johnston), covers the basics of wind power: turbines, generation, control, and even wind farm design. For a narrower and more technical discussion of turbine aerodynamics alone, including a derivation of Betz' law, see this chapter of the book "Wind Energy Explained" (J. Manwell, J. McGowan, and A. Rogers). For specifications for some representative wind turbines, here is a brochure for GE's 1.5 MW turbine, one of the most widely used, and a brochure for the new Clipper Liberty variable-speed wind turbine.

Lecture 12 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 12. Due Tuesday May 10. If you are doing problem 2.1, here is the brochure on the turbines for the Gilgel Gibe hydro project, and a relatively balanced review of African dam issues from the Economist that mentions Gilgel Gibe. If you are doing problem 2.2, you may want to read this review of velocities in rotating systems. The hints for 2.2 #A are at hint 1 and hint 2.

And answers.

Field trip, Fri. May 6th Grand Ridge Wind Farm. Meet at Booth at 7 AM. Bring your waiver form. The bus ride is long, be warned - bring work/reading material/etc.

Lecture 13: Intro to the grid, electricity markets

High-voltage transmission lines, from NordReg

Background for lab discussion on electricity markets See this summary of some possible energy markets issues for discussion and links therein to further sources of information. This article about transmission planning is from 2001 but still very on-topic.

Lecture 13 slides and notes from Michael.

Problem set 13, and the wind prospectus you need for it. Complete by beginning of class on Thursday so that we can discuss this in class.

Lecture 14: The grid II and beginning of fossil fuels

Distillation column for crude oil refining. From Institute of Petroleum.

Pre-reading for lecture 14 For the physical infrastructure of the grid, another chapter from the Hayes book: Chapter 6: The Grid. This is fairly accessible reading. There is no accessible reading that I know of on grid regulation. For a neat hyperlinked explanation of household wiring click here. (From here, click on "practical circuit concepts" to get a range of electricity tutorials).

Everyone should read the page on crude oil (p. 160) from the oil & gas chapter of the Hayes book. We will pass around some crude oil in class on Thursday, and samples of different crudes in lab next Tuesday. People going to BP Whiting on Friday should read the refinery section of this chapter (p. 169-177), and in fact should print it out to carry with you on the tour. You'll be in a bus and there'll be time to refer back to it to check against what you're seeing out the windows.

Lecture 14 slides.

Problem set 14. Due Tuesday May 17.

Field trip, Fri. May 13th BP Whiting Oil Refinery - where all the gasoline you buy in the Chicago area comes from. Meet at Booth at 6:50 AM for a 7 AM sharp departure.

Lecture 15: The internal combustion engines and ICE-powered transportation

Gas- or petrol-powered car, Karl Benz, 1886.

Preliminary slides on two- and four-stroke engines to review before class, especially for those students coming to the 10:30 AM engines lab before lecture.

Lecture 15 slides.

Problem set 15. Optional do-overs of problems from PS14. Due Thursday May 19.

Lecture 16: ICE-powered transportation II

L: Inline 4-cylinder automobile engine
R: Prius Hybrid Synergy Drive (gasoline engine + electric motor)

Lecture 16 slides.

Problem set 16. Due Tuesday May 24.

Field trip, Fri. May 20th Argonne National Laboratory, to see the Advanced Auto Laboratory and solar photovoltaic development.

Lecture 17: Fossil fuels

L: Pumpjack for oil well. (Image from Casey Financial).
R: Deepwater Horizon oil spill, May 17, 2010. Image: NASA, Terra satellite.

Pre-reading for class: read the oil & gas chapter of the Hayes book.

Lecture 17 slides.

Problem set 17. Due Thursday May 26.

Lecture 18: Fossil fuels II

L: Alberta oil sands. Image: David Dodge / Pembina Inst.
R: Conventional drilling vs. hydraulic fracturing for gas.

Lecture 18 slides.

Problem set 18. Due Tuesday May 31.

Lecture 19: ..... and final summary

L: Power tower, near Seville, Spain. Image: Abengoa
R: Solar PV array, Nellis AFB.

Fill out survey here to state your preferences on final lecture subjects.

The final lab will be on solar photovoltaics. If you are coming to lab, read these notes on PV physics beforehand. You can skim the sections on semiconductor physics, but make sure you understand the I-V diagram and what to expect when you put a load on a PV panel. If it is raining on Tuesday, we'll reschedule the lab to another day.

Field trip, Fri. June 3rd Arcelor Mittal steel processing plant. Private cars for this trip, limited to 10. Sign up here to request a spot.

Grades

Top panel shows total grades (black) and grades for problem sets only (green). If the green dot is below the black, that student's grade was raised by the final report (and vice versa for above/lowered). Bottom panel shows the same rank-ordered grades as the top panel in black, with addition of bonus points now also shown in blue. Bonus points matter for those students near "grade boundaries." Email to request version with your name.

Problem set mean = 84; median = 86

Overall (weighted 70% problem sets, 30% projects):
Mean = 85; median = 86

Curve median = B+

Copyright E. Moyer 2011