Chemical Engineering

Students who choose the chemical engineering concentration will complete 11 engineering courses, one required chemistry course, and one elective upper-level chemistry course, in addition to the general requirements for an engineering degree. This coursework includes at least three additional credit hours of lab work.

• Mechatronics and Instrumentation: An introduction to engineering mechatronics with applications of engineering measurement, data acquisition, instrumentation, sensors, actuators, digital and analog signal fundamentals, automatic control, and other electro-mechanical system interfacing.
• Thermal-Chemical Systems: Engineering thermodynamics applied to chemical, energy, and environmental systems. Students will study cycles and efficiencies, mixtures and solutions, chemical reactions, chemical and phase equilibrium, combustion thermodynamics, availability analysis, gas mixtures and psychrometrics, and thermal-fluid systems analysis. Applications to chemical reactors, combustion systems, emissions measurement, efficiency assessment, and indoor/outdoor air quality will be explored.
• Fluid Mechanics: A comprehensive, introductory course in fluid mechanics covering: hydrostatics; control volume approach to the continuity, momentum, and energy equations; dimensional analysis, similitude, and modeling; introductory boundary layer theory; fluid drag and lift; flow through conduits, pumps and compressors; and hydraulics and open channel flow. All students participate in team design projects involving design of water supply, irrigation, air handling system, or other complex fluid dynamics system.
• Heat Transfer: Studies of the three modes of heat transfer (conduction, convection, and radiation) with application to heat exchangers. Computer methods are used extensively for heat transfer design and analysis. A formal heat exchanger design project is included in this course.
• Thermal-Fluids Lab I: Afluid mechanics and advanced thermodynamics lab with an emphasis on experimental design, the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data, along with technical communication and report writing.
• Thermal-Fluids Lab II: thermal-fluids and heat transfer lab with an emphasis on experimental design, the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data, along with technical communication and report writing.
• Separation Processes and Mass Transfer: A study of equilibrium and non-equilibrium mass transport in chemical engineering applications. Methods for analyzing continuous contacting and multistage separation processes are explored. Mass transfer principles are applied to the design of distillation, gas absorption, extraction, evaporation, and humidification systems.
• Chemical Kinetics and Reactor Design: An introduction to chemical kinetics and the design of chemical reactors. Differential and integral analysis of homogeneous reaction and heterogeneous reactions using kinetic data are explored. Ideal reactor designs, non-isothermal reactor designs, and the design of catalyzed reactors are addressed.
• Engineering Research and Methods: A research course that explores the techniques and knowledge necessary to design and conduct experiments. It will include the nature and scope of a research project, how to conduct literature searches, and how to design methods and protocols for problem solving. In collaboration with a faculty mentor(s), students will choose and conduct a research project. Project results will be presented in a departmental seminar.
• Dynamic Systems and Process Control: A study of the dynamics and automatic control of systems. Topics include dynamic system modeling, feedback, steady-state operation, transient response, root loci, state-space representation, frequency response, stability criteria, and compensation. A variety of system types are modeled and analyzed, including mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, thermal, and chemical systems. Structured modeling approaches using Laplace transform methods and state equations are explored.
• Process Control Lab: A laboratory course in the dynamic modeling and automatic control of thermo-chemical processes.
• Organic Chemistry: Structure and Mechanism: In this foundational organic chemistry course, students will learn the foundational topics and problem-solving skills needed to understand the plethora of chemical reactions that involve compounds containing carbon. A working knowledge and application of topics such as nucleophiles, electrophiles, acids, bases, stereochemistry, mechanism, kinetics, substitution reactions, elimination reactions, carbonyl chemistry, and conformational analysis will be developed. Through a detailed understanding of the chemistry, an honest discussion of ethical implications, and a thoughtful interaction with the material we will develop an understanding of how God reveals himself through his creational structure.
• One 3- or 4-credit course from Chemistry 200 or above

See the course catalog for more information