Karsten E. Thompson, Asst.
Professor
Gordon A. and Mary Cain
Department of Chemical Engineering
Louisiana State University,
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
(225) 388-3069
(phone) ·
(225) 388-1476 (FAX)
karsten@che.lsu.edu
My teaching interests are in the areas of fluid mechanics, numerical methods, and mathematical modeling. Specific interests for educational development are the use of open-ended problems and the development of in-class demonstration tools for numerical methods and math modeling. These tools are designed to emphasize visual learning in the classroom through the use of interactive graphics.
Classes taught at LSU include the following.
ChE 2176: Mathematical
modeling of chemical engineering systems
ChE 3101: Momentum
transfer
ChE 4162: Unit operations
laboratory
ChE 4296: Development
of mathematical models
ChE 7130: Fundamentals
of transport phenomena
ChE 7532: Advanced
Chemical Engineering Fluid Mechanics
The following MATLAB scripts were developed as part of ChE 4296 and are described in the article "Teaching PDE-based modeling to undergraduates: overcoming conceptual and computational barriers," Chemical Engineering Education, in press. The scripts can be downloaded and run using MATLAB's PDE toolbox.
Annular flow in
a heat exchanger (Poissons equation)
The scripts below
(run heatex.m) simulate laminar flow of coolant in the annulus of a sixteen-fin
heat exchanger. The heat exchanger is used in the junior lab at LSU.
The model predicts a friction factor, which can be compared with experimental
results obtained by the students.
Transient heating
of a fin (heat equation)
The script fintemp.m
models the transient termperature profile in a cooling fin. Parameters
such as boundary temperatures, heat transfer coefficients, and thermal
conductivity can be changed using the GUI in MATLAB's PDE toolbox.
Qualitative model
of seismic exploration (wave equation)
The script seismic.m
can be used to visualize the movement of a wave through a heterogeneous
domain with arbitrary boundaries. This behavior mimics certain techniques
used for subsurface mapping. The simulation is helpful for explaining
qualitative differences between hyperbolic and parablic PDEs.
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