UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS
B.Sc. DEGREE COURSE IN Physics
SEMESTER SYSTEM WITH CREDITS
(Effective from the Academic Year 2003-2004)

SYLLABUS

Semester V - Application Oriented Subject - Energy Physics

Duration of Examination: 3 hrs
Maximum Marks: 100
Credits: 4

Unit I

Conventional Energy Sources:

World's reserve of commercial energy sources and their availability - various forms of energy - renewable and conventional energy systems - comparison - coal, oil and natural gas - availability - statistical details - applications - merits and demerits.

Unit II

Non-Conventional Energy Sources:

Renewable energy sources - solar energy - nature of solar radiation - components - solar heaters - crop dryers - space cooling - solar ponds, solar cookers - water desalination - photovoltaic generation basics - merits and demerits of solar energy.

Unit III

Biomass energy - classification - photosynthesis - biomass conversion process - gobar gas plants - wood gasification - ethanol from wood - advantages and disadvantages of biomass as energy source

Unit IV

Geothermal energy - wind energy - ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) - energy from waves and tides (Basic ideas, nature, applications, merits and demerits of these).

Unit V

Energy Storage & Impacts of Non-Conventional Energy:

Conversion of energy - patterns of energy consumption in domestic, industrial, transpotation, agricultural sectors - conservation principles in these sectors - energy crisis and possible solutions - energy options for the developing countries - energy storage and hydrogen as a fuel(basics) - impact due to non-conventional energy sources - global warming.

Text Books:

1. Solar Energy by G.D. Rai, Ed. V, 1995.
2. Solar energy by S.P. Sukhatme, Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company, Ed. II, 1997.

Reference Books:

1. Non Conventional Energy Sources, G.D. Rai, 4^th Edition, 1997.

2. Energy Technology by S. Rao and Dr. B.B. Parulekar 2^nd Edition, 1997.

3. Power Plant technology by A.K. Wahil 1993

4. Renewable Energy: Power for a sustainable Future by Godfery Boyle, Alden Oess Ltd., Oxford, 1996.

5. Energy models for 2000 and beyond by Jyoti Parikh, Tata McGraw Hill Publishing Company, New Delhi, 1997.