Chemical Engineering

Introduces the discipline of Chemical Engineering and develops fundamental skills of unit conversion and material balancing. Systems of units for parameters such as concentration, flow, pressure and temperature are explained. Skills for solving steady-state material balance problems on reactive and non-reactive systems. An understanding of the chemical engineering discipline is gained through examples of major industries such as petroleum, pulp and paper, mining, power production, etc.

Foundational analogies between fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and mass transfer, and the applications of those analogies to practice; Navier-Stokes, Fourier’s Law, Fick's Law and Chilton-Colburn J-Factor. Turbulence: scaling, dispersion. Techniques for solving unsteady-state systems. Empirical correlations for estimating transport coefficients.

Principles relating the properties and behaviour of engineering materials to their structure; atomic bonding forces and strength of interatomic and intermolecular bonding forces, atomic arrangements in solids, structural imperfections and atom movements in solids; principles of phase diagrams and their application to multiphase materials, with particular reference to the iron-carbon system; mechanical and electrical properties of engineering material; semiconductors, polymers and ceramics; and their relation to internal structure. 

Laboratory experiments are conducted to illustrate behaviour of materials and other concepts covered in CHE 2501.

Introduces principles of chemical process design strategy and decision making. Fundamental Chemical Engineering concepts such as material and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and materials science are integrated into the design process. Flowsheet preparation, chemical process safety, loss prevention and project planning; codes and standards, responsible care and environmental stewardship. Engineering economics and profitability.

A comprehensive first course in heat transfer. Thermal conductivity and unsteady state conduction. Convection heat transfer coefficients: forced convection, free convection. Boiling, evaporation, and condensation. Heat exchanger design. Radiation heat transfer.

Fundamentals of the theory of mass transport; diffusion in gases, liquids, solids, and between phases. Effect of reactions on mass transfer. Mass transfer rates by convection and dispersion.

Numerical methods and their applications to chemical engineering. Root finding techniques, data interpretation, least-squares regression and numerical integration. Modeling of physical and chemical processes in the steady and unsteady states. Analytical and numerical solutions of model equations.

Experiments in heat transfer. Emphasis on interpretation of experimental data, group dynamics, experimental design, and report writing. Students will work under limited supervision.

Experiments in fluid-particle interactions. Emphasis on interpretation of experimental data, group dynamics, safety issues, and report writing. Students will work under minimal supervision. 

Preliminary sizing of equipment, optimization techniques, estimation of capital and operating costs, heat-exchanger networks, pressure vessels, and computer-based process design tools. Students work individually and in teams on process design projects that draw on knowledge gained in previous courses, concepts taught in class and information available in the literature.

Application of principles of chemical kinetics to the design of chemical reactors. Simple idealized isothermal reactors (batch, plug flow, continuous stirred tank reactor) for single and multiple reactions. Catalysis, Adiabatic and non-isothermal reactors. Optimal choice of temperature. Residence time distribution and non-ideal flow systems.

Experiments to characterize feedback control systems, gas absorption columns, chemical reactors, distillation columns and other unit operations, which underlie the practice of chemical engineering, will be conducted. Students will apply their knowledge of interpretation of experimental data, group dynamics, laboratory safety and report writing throughout this course. Experiments will be conducted independently.

Basic polymer concepts. Polymer structural characteristics and properties. Mechanisms, kinetics and reactors for polymerization. Polymer rheology and transport processes. Processing applications and the effects of processing on polymer properties.

Explores generation and use of energy; extraction of raw materials through product production. Includes: survey of known energy reserves, emerging technologies, discusses the thermodynamic and regulatory constraints to energy conversion. Fossil fuels, nuclear power and renewable energy sources are described.

Sources of air pollution; modeling atmospheric dispersions; pollution control in combustion; particulate control methods; control of gaseous emissions; industrial odour control; indoor/in-plant air quality. 

The first part of the course will provide basic information on biochemistry (small biomolecules and macromolecules) and engineering analysis, such as analysis of biological activity and purity. The second part will cover a number of separation techniques, such as extraction, crystallization and drying in a more general way. This emphasis in this part of the course will be on liquid chromatography and absorption.

This course covers corrosion and its costs, corrosion measurement, and general material and environment affects. Students use fundamental principles of thermodynamics and elctrochemistry to study Pourbaix diagrams, electrode kinetics, and mixed potentials with practical applications for corrosion monitoring and testing. The eight main forms of aqueous corrosion are covered: uniform, galvanic, crevice, pitting, intergranular, selective leaching, erosion-corrosion, stress-corrosion, and hydrogen effects. Corrosion in non-aqueous coolants such as liquid metals and molten salts is introduced. High temperature corrosion mechanisms relevant to nuclear power plants are discussed along with corrosion in other industrial environments. 

This course covers radioactive decay, fission, and nuclear interactions (neutron scattering and absorption). Basics of nuclear reactor physics such as neutron diffusion elementary reactor theory, four and six factor formulae, and neutron flux variation are introduced. An overview of Gen III nuclear reactors and select Gen IV designs is provided. Other subjects covered include reactor kinetics, source multiplication, decay heat, reactor start-up and shut down, fuel burnup, fission product poisoning, and refuelling. Students will write basic codes to aid in calculations using programming logic such as loops, branching, etc. This course is intended for senior level students.