Department of Hydrodynamic Systems

The Department of Hydrodynamic Systems is part of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. The Department was founded by Professor Donát Bánki in 1899, the inventor of the carburettor and the cross-flow water turbine. The actual head of the department is Prof. György Paál since 2008. The three main profiles of the Department are education, research, and industrial R&D projects. Education focuses on fluid dynamics for mechanical engineering (BSc/MSc/PhD) and chemical engineering (BSc) students across different courses, e.g., Fluid Machinery, Fluid Flow Stability, Theoretical Acoustics, CFD, Unsteady Flows in Pipe Networks, Hemodynamics and Volumetric Pumps & Compressors. Furthermore, our academics also teach general engineering courses such as Analysis of Technical and Economical Data or Introduction to Mechanical Engineering. The main research areas are related to fluid machinery, non-Newtonian fluid flows, sonochemistry and bubble dynamics, pressure relief valves, hemodynamics, hydraulic analysis of large-scale pipeline systems, flow stability, optimisation, and deep learning. Our industrial R&D projects connect to our main research areas. The previously shown activities are based on analytical, CFD calculations (open and closed sources codes) and experimental laboratory measurements. Our Department proudly runs a large laboratory (approximately 1000 m2), including water channels of different sizes (open and closed), pump and fan characteristic curve measurement setups, pneumatic and hydraulic systems and many other custom-built research test rigs. The laboratory is also equipped with different sizes of pressure sensors, CTW and LDV systems. These test rigs are designed, built and maintained by our own laboratory workshop.