Chemical Engineering

This course provides an introduction to the broad and vital discipline of chemical engineering including conventional and developing chemical technologies. An introduction is provided to the first principles of chemical engineering, as well as environmental, health, safety and ethical issues in chemical engineering practice. An overview is provided of the chemical engineering profession, career choices, the course of study, and a survey of the chemical industry, e.g., polymer, pharmaceutical, food processing, microelectronic, electrochemical, biotechnology, process control, energy, and petroleum refining. Course activities include guest speakers and plant trips. Recommended for first-year students with a basic knowledge of chemistry.

This first course in chemical engineering is designed to give students the ability to use techniques and solve problems of interest to chemical engineers. Students will learn fundamental material by completing analysis, design, and/or laboratory projects. Topics covered include: material balances and stoichiometry, pressure, volume, and temperature behavior of pure fluids, 1st law of thermodynamics, vapor-liquid equilibria with ideal thermodynamics, and staged separation processes.

This course aims to build a strong foundation in analysis of chemical processes via a project-based approach. Topics covered include analysis and design of stagewise separation processes such as distillation, 1st and 2nd law (of thermodynamics) analysis of power and refrigeration cycles, and application of material and energy balances in industrial chemical processes, including those with recycle and non-ideal systems. Students may not receive credit towards CHE distribution requirements for both CHE 2012 and ES 3000.

This course uses a project-based approach to build confidence and competence in the use of chemical engineering thermodynamics for the analysis and design of chemical processes. Topics covered include extractive separation systems, solution thermodynamics and nonreacting multicomponent mixtures, phase equilibria and property changes on mixing. Students may not receive credit towards CHE distribution requirements for both CHE 2013 and CM 2102.

This course builds on prior work in material and energy balances, chemical engineering thermodynamics, and stagewise separation processes to facilitate student mastery and design of more complex processes. Topics covered include chemical reaction equilibria, material and energy balances for non-steady state systems, combined material and energy balances, humidification, and batch distillation. Students may not receive credit towards CHE distribution requirements for both CHE 2014 and CM 2002. Some sections of this course may be offered as Writing Intensive (WI).

Techniques for experimentally determining rate laws for simple and complex chemical reactions, the mechanisms and theories of chemical reactions, the function of catalysts, and the design of isothermal, adiabatic, batch and flow reactors. The course is intended to provide chemists and chemical engineers with the conceptual base needed to study reactions and perform in the design and analysis of reactors.

This course is an introduction to the chemical engineering principles involved in modern applications of biological engineering. Topics may include: an introduction to biology, biochemistry, physiology, and genomics; biological process engineering including fermentation, mammalian cell culture, biocatalysis, and downstream bioseparations; drug discovery, development, and delivery; environmental biotechnology; and chemical engineering aspects of biomedical devices. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.

The consolidation of the methods of mathematics into a form that can be used for setting up and solving chemical engineering problems. Mathematical formulation of problems corresponding to specific physical situations such as momentum, energy and mass transfer, and chemical reactions. Analytical and numerical techniques for handling the resulting ordinary and partial differential equations and finite difference equations.

The goal of this course is to prepare students for future work in energy-related fields by providing an overview of the challenges related to energy production. Students will study several major energy systems. The details of such energy systems will be examined using engineering principles, particularly focusing on relevant chemical processes. For example, the details and processes of a typical power plant or a refinery will be examined. Students will also become familiar with environmental and economic issues related to energy production. Topics to be covered may include: fossil fuels, the hydrogen economy, biofuels, nuclear energy, fuel cells, batteries, and the electricity grid. Students may not receive credit for both CHE 3702 and CHE 320X. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.

The primary goal of this course is to provide students the necessary understanding and tools to evaluate biochemical and thermochemical biofuel production technologies. The secondary goals include developing understanding of 1) fuel properties, 2) biomass resources, 3) basic enzyme kinetics, 4) biochemical reactor design, 5) the corn ethanol process, 6) challenges to cellulosic ethanol, 7) biomass gasification reactions and thermochemistry, 8) gasification reactor design, and 9) techno economic concepts of biofuel processes. Students may not receive credit for both CHE 372X and CHE 3722. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

In this course, students will learn to make quantitative relationships between human activities and the effects on water, soil, and air in the environment. Students will learn the scientific and engineering principles that are needed to understand how contaminants enter and move in the environment, how compounds react in the environment, how to predict their concentrations in the environment, and how to develop solutions to environmental problems. Topics to be covered may include water quality engineering (including microbial interactions), air quality engineering, and hazardous waste management. This course will be offered in 2022-23, and in alternating years thereafter.

Laboratory-application of fundamental theories to practical chemical engineering operations. Emphasis is on building the student’s understanding and ability to approach the problems of design and operations of large scale chemical processing equipment. The course is a combination of lectures and laboratory projects in the area of unit operations. Laboratory projects include experiments in fluid-flow phenomena through various media such as: friction in conduits, filtration, pressure drop in packed towers, fluidization of solids, and spray drying. Students are expected to carry out the planning and execution of experimental work as well as the analysis and reporting of experimental results in both written and oral format.

Overall format and procedure are essentially the same as in Unit Operations of Chemical Engineering I. Laboratory projects include experiments in heat and mass transfer such as: heat transfer in two heaters and a cooler, climbing film evaporation, multiple effect evaporation, absorption, extraction, distillation and rotary drying of solids.

Design of equipment, systems and plants; discussion of factors important in chemical plant design such as: economics, cost estimation, profitability, process selection, materials of construction, process control, plant location and safety. Introduction to optimization and computer-aided design. Principles are illustrated with short industrial-type problems.

Application of Chemical Engineering design principles to the design of a major chemical plant. Students work in groups to produce a preliminary practical process flowsheet, equipment and plant design, and economic analysis.

This course is intended to provide laboratory application of fundamental principles of chemical process dynamics and feedback control. This includes open-loop dynamics of typical chemical engineering processes such as distillation, fluid flow, chemical reactors and heated stirred tanks. Closed-loop experiments will involve control loop design, controller tuning, multivariable, and computer control. Students will be required to design and execute their own experiments based on supplied objectives. Analysis and presentation of the results will be done through oral and written reports.

Application of chemical engineering design principles to the design of the process safety and environmental controls of a major chemical plant. Students work in groups to produce a preliminary practical flowsheet, equipment design and controls, and economic analysis, all associated with chemical process safety components within a plant. The course will also include an introduction to modeling of off-site impacts. This course meets the requirements for a core course and a Capstone Design course in chemical engineering. Students may not receive core credit for both CHE 4404 and CHE 4410.