Engineering & Design
  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    The pumps widely used in industry and by commercial buildings and municipalities, can almost all be classified as either centrifugal pumps or positive displacement pumps. The general components and operating characteristics of these two types of pumps are covered in this course, along with discussion of corrective and preventive measures for various pumping problems.

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, environmental, and industrial engineers, as well as anyone who works with fluids and pumps. An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about centrifugal and positive displacement pumps.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the Department of Energy Fundamentals Handbook, DOE-HDBK-1018/1-93, "Mechanical Science Module 3 - Pumps"

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of fifteen (15) questions to earn 3 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with the functions of the following centrifugal pump components: impeller, volute, diffuser, packing, lantern ring, and wearing ring
    • Be familiar with the causes, symptoms and corrective measures for cavitation in a centrifugal pump
    • Be familiar with the meaning of and measures to prevent gas binding, deadheading, and pump runout for centrifugal pumps
    • Be familiar with the differences in operating characteristics between centrifugal and positive displacement pumps
    • Know the general nature of operating curves for centrifugal and positive displacement pumps.
    • Know the meaning of the term slippage as applied to positive displacement pumps
    • Know the different types of positive displacement pumps
    • Know how positive displacement pumps are protected against overpressurization

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    This course is about measurement of the flow rate of a fluid flowing under pressure in a closed conduit. The closed conduit is often circular, but also may be square or rectangular (such as a heating duct) or any other shape. The other major category of flow is open channel flow, which is the flow of a liquid with a free surface open to atmospheric pressure. Measurement of the flow rate of a fluid flowing under pressure, is carried out for a variety of purposes, such as billing for water supply to homes or businesses or, for monitoring or process control of a wide variety of industrial processes, which involve flowing fluids. Several categories of pipe flow measurement devices will be described and discussed, including associated calculations.

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, and environmental engineers, as well as anyone who works with fluids flowing in pipes. Someone completing this course will gain knowledge about twelve different types of meters for measuring fluid flow rate in a closed conduit. They will learn about typical calculations for differential pressure meters and pitot tubes. They will learn the general principles of operation for each type and general advantages and disadvantages of each.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the pdf file, "Flow Measurement in Pipes and Ducts."

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of fifteen (15) questions to earn 3 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be able to calculate flow rate from measured pressure difference, fluid properties, and meter parameters, using the provided equations for venturi, orifice, and flow nozzle meters.
    • Be able to determine which type of ISO standard pressure tap locations are being used for a given orifice meter
    • Be able to calculate the orifice coefficient, Co, for specified orifice and pipe diameters, pressure tap locations and fluid properties
    • Be able to estimate the density of a specified gas at specified temperature and pressure using the Ideal Gas Law
    • Be able to calculate the velocity of a fluid for given pitot tube reading and fluid density
    • Know the general configuration and principles of operation of rotameters and positive displacement, electromagnetic, target, turbine, vortex, and ultrasonic meters
    • Know recommended applications for each of the types of flow meters discussed in this course
    • Be familiar with the general characteristics of the types of flow meters discussed in this course, as summarized in Table 2 of the course content

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Fluid flow is an important part of many industrial processes. This course cover fundamental approaches to fluid flow calculations and analysis, with emphasis on fluid flow in piping systems and the use of pumps in those systems. the course includes coverage of the continuity equation, laminar & turbulent flow, Bernoulli's equation, head loss, natural circulation, two-phase fluid flow, and centrifugal pumps

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, environmental, and industrial engineers, as well as anyone who works with fluids flowing in pipes. An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about fundamental fluid flow principles and calculations.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the file, "Fundamentals of Fluid Flow", which is composed of Volume 3: Fluid Flow, of the U.S. DOE Fundamentals Handbook: DOE-HDBK-1012/3-92.

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of thirty (30) questions to earn 6 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with standard terminology used in fluid flow
    • Be able to use the continuity equation in fluid flow calculations
    • Be able to use fluid heads, like velocity head, pressure head, pump head, and frictional loss head, in fluid flow calculations
    • Be able to use the Bernoulli equation in fluid flow calculations
    • Know the difference between natural and forced convection
    • Know the three basic types of two-phase flow
    • Be able to describe the phenomenon of water hammer
    • Be able to describe the effect of changing pump speed on system flow and pump head
    • Be able to describe the effect of adding pumps in parallel on system flow and pump head
    • Be able to describe the effect of adding pumps in series on system flow and pump head
    Preview Course Materials: Fundamentals of Fluid Flow, 6 PDH

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Heat exchangers are used to heat one fluid with a hotter fluid, to cool a fluid with a cooler fluid, to condense a gaseous fluid with a colder fluid, or to boil a liquid with a hotter fluid. In this course you will learn about the basic construction of shell and tube and plate type heat exchangers and about counter flow, parallel flow, and cross flow patterns of flow. The heat transfer equation is introduced along with the log mean temperature difference and the overall heat transfer coefficient. The meaning of multi-pass and regenerative heat exchangers is covered and several common heat exchanger applications are discussed.

    This course is intended primarily for mechanical, chemical, environmental, nuclear and industrial engineers, but would be of interest to any engineer wanting a review of heat exchanger basics. Someone completing this course will gain knowledge about the types and flow patterns of heat exchangers and about some of their applications.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the DOE document, "Fundamentals of Heat Exchangers," which is Module 2 of the DOE Fundamentals Handbook - Mechanical Science (DOE-HDBK-1018/1-93).

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of ten (10) questions to earn 2 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with the parts and general construction of shell and tube and plate type heat exchangers
    • Be able to differentiate among parallel flow, counter flow and cross flow heat exchangers
    • Be able to differentiate between single-pass and multi-pass heat exchangers
    • Be able to differentiate between regenerative and non-regenerative heat exhangers
    • Know the meanings of the terms hotwell and condensate depressions
    Preview Training Material: Fundamentals of Heat Exchangers, 2 PDH

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Heat transfer is of concern across several engineering disciplines. This course provides a review of basic heat transfer principles, including a summary of commonly used heat transfer terms, and a summary of the principles of and calculations used for conduction heat transfer, convection heat transfer, and radiation heat transfer.

    This course is intended primarily for mechanical, chemical, nuclear, and industrial engineers, but would be of interest to any engineer wanting a basic review of heat transfer principles. An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about the general principles and equations used for conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the document, "Basics of Heat Transfer," which is Module 2 of the DOE Fundamentals Handbook - Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow (DOE-HDBK-1012/2-92).

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of fifteen (15) questions to earn 3 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with the common terminology used in the heat transfer field
    • Be able to identify whether a given example of heat transfer is conduction, convection, or radiation heat transfer
    • Be able to use Fourier's law of heat conduction to make calculations for conduction heat transfer in rectangular coordinates
    • Be able to use Fourier's law of heat conduction to make calculations for conduction heat transfer in rectangular coordinates
    • Be able to use Fourier's law of heat conduction to make calculations for conduction heat transfer in cylindrical coordinates
    • Be able to make convection heat transfer calculations
    • Be able to make radiation heat transfer calculations

    The following are required for this training course.

    • Modern computer (PC with windows or MAC) not older than 8 years should do it.
    • Adobe PDF Reader, Windows or MAC: GET IT HERE .
    Preview Course Materials: Fundamentals of Heat Transfer, 3 PDH
  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Several kinds of pipe flow calculations can be made with the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the Moody friction factor. Also, these calculations can be conveniently carried out with an Excel spreadsheet. Many of the calculations require an iterative solution, so they are especially suitable for an Excel spreadsheet solution. This course includes discussion of the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the parameters in that equation, along with the U.S. and S.I. units for each parameter. Example calculations and sample Excel spreadsheets for making the calculations are also presented and discussed.

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, and environmental engineers, as well as anyone who works with fluids flowing in pipes. After completing this course you will be able to make calculations with the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the Moody friction factor equations to calculate several different unknown parameters when sufficient input data is provided. You will also be prepared to use Excel spreadsheets to efficiently make the calculations

    In this course, you need to review the material in the pdf file, "Pipe Flow-Friction Factor Calculations with Excel.

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of fifteen (15) questions to earn 3 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be able to calculate the Reynolds number for pipe flow with specified flow conditions
    • Be able to determine whether a pipe flow is laminar or turbulent flow for specified flow conditions
    • Be able to calculate the entrance length for pipe flow with specified flow conditions
    • Be able to obtain a value for the Moody friction factor using the Moody diagram for given Re and e/D
    • Be able to calculate a value for the Moody friction factor for specified Re and e/D, using the appropriate Moody friction factor equation(s).
    • Be able to use the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the Moody friction factor equations to calculate the frictional head loss and frictional pressure drop for a given flow rate of a specified fluid through a pipe with known diameter, length, and roughness
    • Be able to use the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the Moody friction factor equations to calculate the required diameter for a given flow rate of a specified fluid through a pipe with known length and roughness, with allowable head loss
    • Be able to use the Darcy-Weisbach equation and the Moody friction factor equations to calculate the fluid flow rate of a given fluid through a pipe with known diameter, length, and roughness, with specified frictional head loss.

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Pumps are widely used in industry for applications such as providing lubrication and cooling service and transferring process fluids. In the commercial sector pumps see widespread use for HVAC systems. Municipalities depend upon pumps in water and wastewater treatment plants. Pumps consume 27% of the electricity used by industrial systems in the manufacturing sector. In view of this widespread use of pumps, any steps taken to improve the efficiency of performance can have a significant effect. Methods of analyzing pumping systems and improving their efficiency are the the subject matter of this courses.

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, environmental, and industrial engineers, as well as anyone who works with pumping systems. An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about methods for analyzing pumping systems and steps for improving their efficiency.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the U.S. DOE, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy publication, DOE/60-102006-2079, "Improving Pumping System Performance - A Sourcebook for Industery."

    Upon completing your review of the course material, you need to take a multiple choice quiz consisting of twenty-five (25) questions to earn 5 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document. 80% correct is required for a quiz passing grade.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with typical pumping system components
    • Know the types of centrifugal pumps and the typical applications for which centrifugal pumps are used
    • Know the types of positive displacement pumps and the typical applications for which positive displacement pumps are used
    • Know the opportune times in the life cycle of a pumping system for assessing pumping system needs to improve performance
    • Be familiar with common pumping system problems
    • Know the common indicators of an over-sized pump in a pumping system
    • Know how to analyze piping configurations to improve pumping system efficiency
    • Be familiar with basic pump maintenance
    • Be familiar with typical multiple pump arrangements and the use of pony pumps
    • Be able to predict the effect of impeller trimming on pump flow rate, head, and brake horsepower
    • Be able to estimate annual cost of electricity for a pump for several types of input information

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE

  • COURSE HIGHLIGHTS

    Valves are widely used in fluid piping systems to shut off or throttle flow, as well as to prevent backflow, reduce pressure or relieve pressure. This course provides information about the basic components of a valve and their function. There is also information about each of the types of valves in common use, the globe, gate, plug, ball, needle, butterfly, diaphragm, pinch, check, safety/relief, and reducing valve. There is a general description of each and relative advantages and disadvantages in comparison with other types of valves.

    This course is intended for civil, mechanical, chemical, environmental and industrial engineers, as well as anyone who works with fluids flowing in pipes. An attendee of this course will gain knowledge about the basic types of valves and their use.

    In this course, you need to review the material in the Department of Energy Fundamentals Handbook, DOE-HDBK-1018/2-93, “Mechanical Science Module 4 – Valves” Once you complete your course review, you need to take a multiple-choice quiz consisting of twenty (20) questions to earn 4 PDH credits. The quiz will be based on the entire document.

    Learning Objectives

    At the conclusion of this course, the student will

    • Be familiar with the basic components of a valve and their function, including the body, bonnet, stem, actuator, packing, seat, and disk.
    • Be familiar with the basic functions of a valve.
    • Be familiar with the gate, globe, plug, ball, needle, butterfly, diaphragm and pinch valves, including their use for shutoff and throttling, and the construction, operation, and relative advantages and disadvantages of each.
    • Be familiar with the general construction and operation of the different types of check valves, including swing, tilting disk, lift, piston, butterfly, and stop check valves.
    • Be familiar with the general construction and operation of reducing valves.
    • Be familiar with the general construction and operation of safety and relief valves, and the differences between them.
    • Be familiar with the construction and principle of operation of manual, electric motor, pneumatic, hydraulic, and solenoid valve actuators.
    Preview Course Material: Valve Fundamentals, 4 PDH

    Course Author Profile: Harlan Bengson, Ph, PE