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Excel in ME: Extending and Refining Ubiquitous Software Tools (Excel Modules for Thermodynamic Properties of Refrigerants R134a and R22 and Compressible Ideal Gas Flow)

Abstract Microsoft Excel is a ubiquitous software tool that provides an excellent electronic format for engineering computation and organization of information. This paper reports on the second year of an NSF CCLI Phase I project to implement a sequence of Excel modules for use in the Thermal Mechanical Engineering Curriculum.

A collection of Excel Add-ins has been developed for use in solving thermodynamics problems. This paper reports on development of three Add-ins to compute properties of refrigerants R134 and R22 and to compute gas dynamics relations for isentropic, Fanno, and Rayleigh flows of ideal gases. All of the Excel Add-ins developed can be downloaded at the project website www.me.ua.edu/ExcelinME.

Intro Under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Curriculum, Classroom, and Laboratory Improvement (CCLI) grant a number of software modules have been developed to facilitate engineering analysis in a computational spreadsheet. The ubiquitous spreadsheet of choice is Microsoft Excel.

In an earlier paper by Chappell, et al. (2008), a Microsoft Excel module called XSteam, developed by Magnus Holmgren (Holmgren 2007), was adapted and extended to compute thermodynamic properties of steam/water from a wide range of input properties. After the successful implementation of these expanded steam Excel modules in the classroom, attention was turned toward adding capability for other substances, in particular the refrigerants R134a and R22. This paper addresses the implementation and testing process of modules to calculate the thermodynamic properties of R134a and R22.

Another topic of interest in thermodynamics is compressible flow of ideal gases. An Excel module has been developed to compute basic functions for this area, including isentropic flow, normal shock, Fanno Flow, and Rayleigh Flow. This paper will also present a summary of this development.

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Mahan, K., & Huguet, J., & Chappell, J., & Woodbury, K., & Taylor, R. (2009, June), Excel In Me: Extending And Refining Ubiquitous Software Tools Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5780