Biothermodynamics

General characterization

Prerequisites

Prior approval in Mathematical Analysis II C and Biophysics is recommended.

Bibliography

A   Termodinâmica Aplicada, E.G. Azevedo, 4ª Ed., 2018, Escolar Editora.

B  Modern thermodynamics: from heat engines to dissipative structures, D. Kondepudi, I. Prigogine, 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

C  Biothermodynamics: The Role of Thermodynamics in Biochemical Engineering, Edited by Urs von Stockar, 2013 EPFL Press.

D  Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics For Engineers, S.Kjelstrup, J. Gross e E. Johannessen, 2ª Ed., 2017, World Scientific Publishing Ltd.

Teaching method

The BioThermodynamics curricular unit is divided into the following components: Theoretical (T); Theoretical-Practical (TP) ; and a practical component (P). Theoretical classes, T, have a duration of 2.5 hours per week (1 hour + 1:30 hours) and TP classes last 1.5 h per week. The P classes have a workload of two hours every two weeks.

The T classes serve to introduce students to the structural content of the Thermodynamics as a fundamental area. In TP classes, a discussion and resolution of exercises apply the concepts exposed in the Ts. In P laboratory classes, experimental work is carried out with the aim of verifying physical phenomena or processes described in the theoretical-practical classes and to develop laboratorial skills as well as handling relevant equipment.

General information about this discipline, such as rules, important dates, evaluation notes and other complementary information are available on the course''''''''s page in the CLIP. Documentation necessary for the realization of practical classes should be consulted in the CLIP in the folder “Protocols”. Contents and Bibliography, are also available on CLIP.

Evaluation method

Article 1 - Theoretical Component - T
1. Active participation in class requires enrollment in the theoretical shift, T.
2. The assessment of this component is carried out through a knowledge test or exam.
3. Within the scope of continuous assessment, 2 tests will be carried out throughout the semester.
4. The T component classification (CT) is the arithmetic mean, rounded to the nearest unit, of the marks obtained in the tests or the final exam classification.
5. The student who obtains a CT classification equal to or greater than 10 values obtain approval in the theoretical component.

Article 2 - Theoretical-Practical Component - TP
1. Theoretical-practical classes are mandatory, with registration of attendance, for all students who did not frequency in the previous year .
2. Justification for fortuitous absences is not accepted. Each student must manage the possibility of not attending 1/3 of the classes, due to occasional commitments or imponderable situations, including specific situations of illness.
3. Students with frequency are excluded from TP classes.
4. In these classes, problems will be discussed and solved on the subject taught in the theoretical classes.
5. The evaluation of the theoretical-practical component (CTP) is the arithmetic mean, rounded to the nearest unit, of the two best classifications obtained in the mini-tests that will be given randomly in the theoretical-practical classes. Absences from mini-tests correspond to a grade equal to zero.

Article 3 - Practical Component - P
1. Practical classes are mandatory for frequency. Students with frequency are excluded from this component.
2. Practical classes last 2 hours and will work every other week; except for the first class which works simultaneously for both shifts.
3. In the first practical class of each shift, laboratory work groups are formed (2 students per group); a review of the analysis of results is carried out; and the planning of practical classes is presented.
4. The execution of each laboratory work and respective mini-report is classified from 0 to 20 points. Absence from class or non-delivery of report is scored with zero values.
5. The student who obtains an average grade in the mini-reports, MR, rounded to the nearest unit, greater than or equal to ten values, is approved in the laboratory component.
6. Students approved in the laboratory component have access to a practical test, Tp, at the end of the semester, individually and without consultation, which may involve questions from all the work planned for their group and the contents related to the analysis of results.
7. The practical component grade, CP, rounded to the nearest unit, is 70% of the MR grade plus 30% of the grade obtained in Tp.

Article 4 - Frenquency
1. Students who participate in at least 2/3 of the TP classes and obtain a CP grade equal to or greater than ten in the practical component, obtain frequency.
3. The list of students with frequency in previous years will be on CLIP under "Support Documentation > Others, until the end of the first week of classes.

Article 5 - Approval
1. The student with frequency and who obtains a CT grade greater than or equal to ten values, obtain approval in this UC.

Article 6 - Final Classification
1. The final classification (CF) in this UC is the result of applying one of the following expressions, approximated to the unit:
CF = CT×0.6 + CTP×0.1 + CP×0.3 # for students who obtain attendance in 2023-2024
CF = CT×0.7 + CP×0.3 # for students attending before 2023-2024
2. If the final grade is higher than 16, the student is admitted to an additional test (eg oral).
3. In the additional test, the student can raise or lower his classification, with a guarantee of a minimum grade of 16 values.
4. The absence of the additional test translates the acceptance by the student of the final grade of 16 values..

Article 7 - Grade Improvement
1. The student who intends to improve his grade must fulfill, for this purpose, the legal formalities of registration.
2. The student who obtains a final grade, by improvement, greater than 16 values is subject to the conditions described in points 2, 3 and 4 of Article 6.

Article 8 - Conduct in Class
1. In order for everyone to benefit from the learning experience, every student is required to respect the following in class:
The. Punctuality: Must be present in the classroom at the start of class. The teacher may prevent entry for delays greater than 5 minutes;
B. Class preparation and participation in discussions: Active participation requires each student to prepare the material presented and discussed in class, and to contribute positively to the scientific discussions of the topics.

Article 9 - Moment of evaluation - Tests or Exam
1. Each assessment test will cover essentially all the material taught in the Theoretical classes up to the previous class.
2. Despite the assessment in the tests not being cumulative, and due to the nature of the subjects covered in this UC, it is not excluded that an element of evaluation uses knowledge regarding the subject evaluated in previous element(s).
3. The schedule and rooms for the tests or exams will be published in CLIP, on the day of the test.
4. Each student can only have with them during the assessment test:
a) Pen/ballpoint pen;
b) Identification document with photograph;
c) Scientific, non-programmable and non-graphic calculating machine.
5. During the exams, it is not allowed to consult any personal elements or those of others, in addition to the personal form, which can occupy a maximum of one page.
6. It is not allowed to unclip the sheets of the statements.
7. The race will be canceled if paragraphs 4, 5 or 6 are not satisfied.
8. Situations of fraud, at any time of evaluation, will be treated as indicated in the knowledge evaluation regulation of this Faculty.

Article 10 - Other
1. When contacting any teacher by email, the following information must be indicated in the “Subject”: “BioT - Name – Student number – Subject”.
2. Only questions are answered for which the answer is not contained in the Assessment Methods or on the CLIP page. If there are several questions of the same type, the answer may be included in the notices in the CLIP.

Subject matter

1. Concepts of Thermodynamics
System, boundary, states and their thermodynamic properties. Processes and equation of state. Thermoelastic properties. State of balance. Equation of State. Phase equilibrium diagram and thermodynamic components. Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics. Introduction to the 1st Law; 2nd Law and 3rd Law. Thermodynamic potentials. Introduction to thermodynamics of living organisms (bio); open systems and systems out of equilibrium.

2. First Law
Forms of energy and internal energy. Heat, calorimetry and specific heats of gases. Configuration work. Other forms of work: magnetic work; electrical work; surface work. First Law. Enthalpy and Latent Heat. Influence of pressure and temperature on enthalpy. Kirchhoff''s Law. Enthalpy change of a reaction. Internal energy equations. Poisson equation and Mayer relation. Adiabatic versus isothermal process. Application in bio system.

3. Heat Transfer Processes
Conduction – Fourier''''s Law. Convection – Newton''''s Law of Cooling. Radiation – Stefan-Boltzmann Law. Metabolism and thermoregulation of bio systems. 

4. Irreversibility and Second Law
Spontaneous process. Measure of irreversibility – Entropy. Reversible process. entropy calculation. Classic entropy statements. Properties of heat engines: Carnot engine. Carnot''s theorem. Thermodynamic temperature scale. Ts diagram. Clausius inequality. Maximum work. Fundamental relationship of thermodynamics. Tds equations and other energy equations. Influence of pressure and temperature on entropy Maximum work. Entropy and equilibrium criterion. Statistical interpretation of entropy. Microstates and entropy configurations. Boltzmann distribution. Application in bio systems.

5. Power and Cooling Devices
Carnot and Sterling machines. Rankine cycle. Heat Pump and Refrigeration Machine

6. Thermodynamic Potentials
Internal energy, enthalpy, Helmholtz energy and Gibbs energy in a non-cyclic reversible process. hT and gT diagrams. Application in closed system with alteration of composition. Maxwell relations. Gibbs-Duhem equation. Gibbs-Helmholtz equation.

7. Thermodynamics Processes and Third Law
Dulong-Petit Law. Einstein Model. Debye''''s Law. Enthalpy variation with temperature – Kirchhoff''''s Law. Pressure effect on enthalpy. Gibbs energy and entropy of the process. Third Law.

8. Equilibrium Thermodynamics - Simple and compound system
Gas, liquid, solid and phase transition analysis; graphic representation. 1st order phase transition and others. Gibbs phase equilibrium rule. Clausius-Clapeyron equation. Simple system thermodynamics and mixtures. Gibbs energy and heat capacity at constant pressure. Simple ideal gas properties and mixtures. Dalton''s Law. Non-ideal gases - equations of state. Van der Walls fluid. Formation of liquid mixture: Raoult''s Law and Henry''s Law. Variation in thermodynamic properties in the liquid mixture. Intersection method. Regular mixture.

9. Kinetic Theory of Gases and Diffusion
Bernoulli Equation – Pressure. Average kinetic energy – Temperature. Energy Equipartition Theorem. Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution. Free average route. Fluid. Archimedes and Pascal''''s Principles. Stationary flow. Continuity equation. Flow Bernoulli equation. Flow measurement. Diffusion and osmosis phenomena. Application to bio systems.

10. Biothermodynamics - Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics
Flow equations. Flow-force coupling in an out-of-equilibrium system. Onsager Relations. Lost work and entropy production. Local equilibrium in simple systems. Balance equations. Total heat flow and measurable heat flow. Prigogine''s theorem. Model for Bio system description and its parameterization.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: