Courses

All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.

555 Energy Conversion and Catalysis
Current and future energy conversion problems, the latter involving the use of heavy oils, coal, oil shale, etc., as energy sources. Fundamentals of catalysis and relation of the application of these fundamental concepts to developing modern catalytic processes. Prerequisite: Senior standing or graduate standing in Chemical Engineering or Chemistry, or consent of instructor.

556 Chemical Technology
Theory and computation of engineering property relations for thermodynamics, kinetics, transport. Correlations based on molecular and transition-state analogies; computational quantum chemistry; molecular simulation. Prerequisite: undergraduate physical chemistry.

592B Introduction to Biochemical Engineering
The application of chemical engineering and biochemistry principles to the design and optimization of processes in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Topics include enzyme catalysis, metabolic engineering and regulation, fermentation, microbial growth, bioreactor design, and product recovery and purification.

621 Thermodynamics I
Review of the fundamental laws of thermodynamics. Prediction and correlation of thermodynamic properties of fluids and fluid mixtures. Stability of thermodynamic systems. Phase equilibrium. Chemical reaction equilibrium.

622 Thermodynamics II
Introduction to the methods of statistical thermodynamics. Method of ensembles. Classical statistical mechanics. Virial expansion and the theory of dense gases. Theory of liquids. Distribution functions. Integral equation methods. Thermodynamic perturbation theory. Applications of statistical thermodynamics to physical property prediction and other problems in chemical engineering. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 621.

623 Thermodynamics III
Equilibrium and stability of fluid mixtures. Theory of phase diagrams, equilibrium displacements, Gibbs-Konovalov Laws. Critical phenomena, nonclassical critical behavior, scaling theories. Kinetics of phase transitions, spinodal decomposition. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 621.

625 Chemical Reactor Design
Analysis of the kinetics of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. The influence of transport and non-ideal fluid behavior on kinetics. The influence of in-homogeneity in temperature and mixing. Design parameters for ideal reactors and changes dictated by non-ideality. Prerequisites: courses in physical chemistry, thermodynamics, and differential calculus.

626 Advanced Kinetics and Reactor Design
Details of complex kinetics. Catalysis as a chemical, transport, thermodynamic, and interfacial phenomenon. The relationship between energetics, thermodynamics and kinetics. Non-steady-state kinetics between steady states and with changes in reactivity, e.g., catalyst deactivation. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 625.

631 Fluid Mechanics
Mathematics of vectors and tensors, continuum hypothesis, Euler’s axioms, Cauchy’s theorem, change of frame, constitutive equations, ideal fluids, vorticity dynamics, potential and viscous flows, boundary conditions, Newtonian fluids. Prototype problems: converging flow, creeping flow, boundary layer, turbulence, macroscopic balances.

632 Heat Transfer
Continuum descriptions, equations of change in multicomponent, single-phase systems. Fourier’s law, multicomponent fluxes, boundary conditions, convective transfer. Prototype problems in energy transfer: forced convection, free convection, unsteady heat conduction, basic solutions of the diffusion equation, moving boundary problems, energy transfer and chemical reactions, combustion boundary layer, transfer coefficients, radiation, macroscopic balances. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 631; advisable co-requisite, CHEM-ENG 633. Credit, 2.

633 Transport Processes
Emphasis on foundation and conceptual understanding of physical phenomena. Focus on prototypes of convective transport and transport processes involving homogeneous and heterogenous reactions; role of boundary conditions including moving boundaries; molecular interpretation of diffusion. Topics may include transport in disordered media and dispersion, coupling between flows and homogeneous reactions, leading to selectivity changes, such as in mixing; e.g., combustion and polymerizations, analysis of processes involving transport in media with time evolving morphologies, coagulation, spinoidal decomposition, transport processes near critical points.

641 Advanced Process Design I
Conceptual design of petrochemical, polymer, solids and bioprocesses, both batch and continuous, with an emphasis on the quick screening of process alternatives and the identification of the dominant economic tradeoff.

661 Advanced Analysis I
Methods of linear analysis for typical chemical engineering systems. Review of linear algebra and eigenproblems. Linear initial-value problems, phase-plane analysis of selected nonlinear systems and some restrictions, elementary numerical methods for initial value problems. Boundary-value problems and eigenfunction expansions for Sturm-Liouville systems, special functions and applications, elementary numerical methods for bound value pde’s. Linear partial differential equations by separation of variables, transform methods and methods of characteristics, elementary numerical methods. Introduction to regular and singular perturbation methods, implications of scaling and stiffness.

662 Advanced Analysis II
Methods of nonlinear analysis for finite dimensional problems in Chemical Engineering. Existence and uniqueness of solutions to nonlinear ordinary differential equations. Phase plane analysis, bifurcation theory, limit cycles and Hopf bifurcations. Direct methods of analysis for nonlinear systems: Liaponnov functions, gradient flows, Hamiltonian systems, etc. Applications in reactor analysis, separation systems and crystallizers.

663 Advanced Analysis III
Numerical methods for Chemical Engineering analysis. Linear system solutions with emphasis on robustness, speed and conditioning of equations. Applications in finite difference solutions of linear and nonlinear parabolic and elliptic pde’s. Robust methods for initial value problems and Methods of Lines solutions using finite difference discretizations. Weighted residual methods, especially collocation and finite element methods. Nonlinear equation solving by fixed-point and Newton-like methods. Continuation methods for multiple solutions. Applications in chemical reaction engineering, heat and mass transfer, fluid mechanics. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 661 or equivalent, and elementary programming skills in a high-level applications language such as FORTRAN or Pascal.

691 Seminar
A series of invited lectures on a variety of research programs. Required course; may be taken Pass/Fail. Prerequisite: graduate standing. Credit, 1.

699 Master’s Thesis
A theoretical or experimental study of a specific chemical engineering problem. Credit determined by work done, and by agreement with the Graduate Thesis Committee and the faculty. Credit, 6-10.

721 Solid State Chemistry and Materials Science
The analysis of structure, bonding, and conformation in solid materials in terms of local chemical interactions. Introduction to quantum mechanics. Bonding and correlation diagrams. Relation of solid-state to molecular bonding. Crystal structures. Electronic materials. Defects. Catalysis.

731 Advanced Mass Transfer
Mass transfer with emphasis on theory of diffusion. Molecular diffusion, multicomponent diffusion, convective mass transfer diffusion with chemical reaction and chromatographic separations. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 633.

747 Advanced Process Control
Process identification and state estimation using recursive least squares and statistical analysis. Digital control system design using shift operator calculus. Pole assignment, optimal control and spectral factorization. Self-tuning control, the self-tuning principle, and stability results. Practical implementation of adaptive controllers, including a discussion on issues concerning the non-linear dynamics of adaptive control systems. Multistep control policies and robust control.

748 Process Dynamics
Properties of linear interconnected systems and large scale systems theory. Directed graphs and decomposition of interconnected systems. Rigorous and short cut methods. Dynamic analysis and control of interconnected chemical processes. Connections between automata and graph theory. Application to discrete event systems. Dynamics of discrete event systems and supervisory control of flexible, chemical manufacturing systems.

749 Advanced Process Design II
Continuation of CHEM-ENG 641. Emphasis on more complex designs and the uses of mathematical models or optimization techniques in the solution of these design problems. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 641. Credit, 1-3.

755 Combustion Phenomena
Fundamentals of combustion. Combustion thermodynamics, Rankin-Hugoniot relations, propagation of explosions, laminar flames, turbulent flames, detonations, radiation processes, kinetics of combustion. Prerequisites: CHEM-ENG 338 and 420.

757 Polymer Rheology
Definition and measurement of rheological properties, continuum mechanics, and constitutive equations; molecular theories of polymer deformation; correlation and interrelation of material functions. Relations of the various approaches taken in describing the viscous and viscoelastic properties of polymers, and evaluation of these approaches; the role of modern rheology in the characterization and processing of polymers.

758 Polymer Processing
Application of engineering fundamentals, such as fluid-mechanics, heat transfer, etc., and constitutive relations of polymers to the analysis of polymer processing: extrusion, calendaring, coating flows, injection molding, and reaction injection molding, secondary shaping processes (fiber spinning, blow molding, fiber blowing). Specific phenomena as molecular orientation in flow, recovery (extrudate swell) and low Re instabilities. Prerequisites: POLYMER 504, CHEM-ENG 757.

860 Advanced Topics in Chemical Engineering
In-depth exploration of the advanced aspects of an area pertinent to chemical engineering. Credit, 1-3.

861 Advanced Topics in Transport Phenomena
In-depth exploration of a particular aspect of advanced transport phenomena. Prerequisites: CHEM-ENG 632, 633. Credit, 1-3.

862 Advanced Topics in Thermodynamics
Intensive consideration of current literature and research in a particular area of thermodynamics. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 622. Credit, 1-3.

863 Advanced Topics in Kinetics
Heterogenous catalysis and industrial processes. Surface chemistry, interaction between surfaces and reacting species. Experimental techniques: kinetics and spectroscopic analysis. Current understanding of basic catalytic processes. Prerequisite: CHEM-ENG 625. Credit, 1-3.

864 Advanced Topics in Process Dynamics and Control
Topics from current literature, discussed in depth. Consent of instructor required. Credit, 1-3.

865 Advanced Topics in Analysis
For advanced graduate students in Chemical Engineering. Application of mathematics to problems in chemical engineering. Specific topics vary according to instructor and student interests. Prerequisites: CHEM-ENG 661, 662, or consent of instructor. Credit, 1-3.

899 Doctoral Dissertation
A theoretical or experimental study of a chemical engineering problem. Credit determined by work done and by agreement with the Graduate Dissertation Committee and the faculty. Credit, 18.