Chemical Engineering
 

ChemE 435 - ChemE 435 Transport Processes III

Course Description

 Credits: 4. Mass transfer, basic principles, and applications to equipment design. Physical separation processes. Offered: A.

Designation

 Required.

Prerequisites

CHEM E 326 - Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics;
CHEM E 340 - Chemical Engineering Transport Processes II (Heat Transfer).

Textbook

Separation Process Principles, J. D. Seader and E. J. Henley, Wiley, 2006.

Course Objectives

 A general goal of this course is to develop the principles of mass transfer and then to apply them (and principles from other chemical engineering courses) to the design of separation process equipment. This course and Reactor Design are probably the first exposure for the students to the application or translation of textbook ideas and concepts to the operation of equipment for chemical processing.
  1. You will understand the significance of separation science and be able to classify a wide variety of separation processes by the underlying mechanism of separation. You will also learn to use the accepted symbols to represent these processes in your process flow diagrams.
  2. You will understand the concepts of diffusion and flux and be able to use them as tools to help you understand separation processes.
  3. You will understand the role of boundary layers in inter-phase mass transfer. You will also understand the origin and applications of mass transfer coefficients and overall mass transfer coefficients.
  4. You will understand the principles of phase equilibrium that underpin many industrially significant separation processes.
  5. You will understand the nature and purpose of separation cascades. You will be able to analyze cascade processes based on absorption and stripping, distillation, liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) and adsorption.
  6. You will be familiar with the design of absorption and stripping equipment. You will be able to analyze absorption and stripping processes involving dilute solutions in both packed and tray towers.
  7. You will be familiar with the design of continuous distillation equipment. You will be able to apply the McCabe-Thiele Analysis Method to binary systems. You will also be able to determine the appropriate feed stage location and minimum reflux ratio for binary systems.
  8. You will understand how to apply rate-based methods for the analysis of packed distillation columns in order to determine the height of a transfer unit HTU) and the height equivalent of a theoretical plate (HETP).
  9. You will understand the usefulness of approximate methods for analyzing multistage separation processes. You will also be able to use the Fenske-Underwood-Gilliland Method for distillation and the Kremser Group Method for absorption, stripping and liquid-liquid extraction.
  10. You will be able to use the results of approximate methods like the Fenske-Underwood-Gilliland Method to design a distillation system using the process simulator ASPEN.
  11. You will understand how to analyze and scale-up chromatographic separation processes.
  12. You will understand the principles behind electrophoretic separation processes and be able to interpret the results.

Topics Covered
  1. Diffusion
  2. Mass Transfer Coefficients
  3. Equilibrium Stage Separation Processes
  4. Absorption
  5. Binary & Batch Distillation
  6. Multi-component Distillation
  7. Adsorption & Chromatography
  8. Liquid-Liquid Extraction
  9. Filtration & Membrane Processes
  10. Electrophoresis
Class schedule:

M-W-Th-F, 50 minute class meeting each

Contributions of Course to meeting the Professional Component:
Engineering
Design content
Relationship of Course to Program Outcomes:

(a)   An ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering to mass transfer.

(c) The graduate should have an ability to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within realistic constraints such as economic, environmental, social, political, ethical, health and safety, manufacturability, and sustainability.

(e)   An ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems related to continuous and staged separations.

(k)   An ability to use the techniques, skills and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice.
Prepared by:

William B. Baratuci , Date: May 17, 2007