Chemical Engineering Syllabi & Exam Descriptions
2016 Edition
Group A
Compulsory Exams (six required)
16-Chem-A1 Process Balances and Chemical Thermodynamics
The analysis of industrial and chemical processes; mass conservation and energy conservation; thermochemistry; properties of pure substances; properties of solutions; energy and the first law of thermodynamics; the second law of thermodynamics and entropy; applications of the laws of thermodynamics to problems in the behaviour of fluids, flow processes, power cycles, refrigeration and heat pumps, phase equilibria and chemical reaction equilibria.
16-Chem-A2 Unit Operations and Separation Processes (formerly Mechanical and Thermal Operations)
Incompressible and compressible fluid flow. Flow through packed beds, fluidization. Particle size distribution. Mechanical operations such as mixing and blending, filtration and sedimentation. Thermal operations such as evaporation and crystallization. Application of equilibrium theory and rate considerations for absorption, adsorption, distillation, drying, extraction, membrane separation, leaching.
16-Chem-A3 Heat and Mass Transfer
Theory and practice of conductive, convective, and radiative heat transfer; design of heat exchangers; heat transfer involving phase change. Diffusion and permeability; mass transfer through stagnant and moving films; the concept of equilibrium stages; estimation and use of overall heat and mass transfer coefficients in the design of process equipment.
16-Chem-A4 Chemical Reactor Engineering
Application of the principles of chemical kinetics and other rate phenomena to the design of chemical reactors. Dynamics in chemical systems, including chemical kinetics, catalysis and transport processes. Theory of idealized isothermal reactors including batch, plug flow, and continuous stirred tank reactors for single and multiple reactions. Residence time distributions and their effect on conversion. Simple adiabatic and non-isothermal reactors with homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions; thermal run-away reactions.
16-Chem-A5 Chemical Plant Design and Economics
Structure of chemical process systems and systematic methods for capital and operating cost calculations. Economic factors in design, economic balances, capital and operating cost estimation techniques, assessment of alternative investments and replacements, and application of compound interest calculations. Simple optimization theory. Evaluation of process alternatives. Equipment and materials selection. Factors such as energy, safety, hygiene, and environmental protection. Familiarity with computer process simulation. Intrinsically safe design. Risk analysis. The use of heuristics in design of chemical processes.
16-Chem-A6 Process Dynamics and Control
Concept of transfer functions. Response of simple chemical processes to step, ramp, and sinusoidal inputs. Transient response of interacting elements in series. Frequency response analysis of simple systems. On-off control, cascade control, ratio control, proportional, integral, derivative, and combinations of these control actions, single-input/single-output control and multiple-input/multiple-output control. Closed-loop response. Feedback and feedforward control. Controller tuning and algorithms. Simple stability analysis. Dynamics and control of common chemical process units such as heat exchangers, simple reactors, and agitated vessels. Hardware implementation, analog and digital, of simple control algorithms and designs.
Group B
Elective Exams (three required)
16-Chem-B1 Transport Phenomena
The application of integral and differential techniques for solving problems involving mass, energy and/or momentum transport through solids and within fluids. Steady and unsteady state processes. Molecular transport. Convective transfer of heat and mass involving laminar and turbulent fluid flows.
16-Chem-B2 Environmental Engineering
Engineering aspects of air and water pollution abatement and effluent treatment. Characterization of water contaminants and their measurement, biological oxygen demand, sedimentation, flotation, aeration, and activated sludge processes, pH control, ion exchange, oxidation-reduction, electrodialysis, reverse osmosis. Sources and dispersion of atmospheric pollutants. Control methods for particulates, gases, and vapours. Photochemical reactions, noxious pollutants, and odour control. Contaminated soil remediation. Measurement techniques.
16-Chem-B3 Simulation, Modelling, and Optimization
The analysis and modelling of chemical processes using either a mechanistic or an empirical input/output approach. Subsystem modelling to reduce complex processes to simpler component parts. Linearization of non-linear processes. Optimization methods; direct search, climbing and elimination techniques, linear and non-linear programming.
16-Chem-B4 Biochemical Engineering
Basic microbiology and chemistry of cells, biochemical kinetics, enzymes, metabolic pathways, energetics, transport phenomena and reactor design as applied to biochemical reactors, scale-up, fermentation technology.
16-Chem-B5 Pulp and Paper Technology
Papermaking raw materials: wood anatomy and chemistry. Pulping processes: mechanical pulping, chemi-thermo-mechanical processes, chemical pulping (sulphite, Kraft). Pulp treatment: refining and bleaching. Papermaking equipment and processes. Environmental protection. Structure and properties of paper and paperboard.
16-Chem-B6 Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals
The composition and classification of petroleum. Crude oil evaluation in relation to product quality. Refinery products: properties, specifications, and testing. The petroleum refinery: crude oil distillation, catalytic cracking, alkylation, hydrogen production, catalytic reforming, hydrotreating, amine processes, sulphur production, isomerization, polymerization, oxygen compounds. Lubricating oil and asphalt manufacturing. Synthesis of primary products; ethylene, methanol, glycols, aromatics.
16-Chem-B7 Extractive Metallurgy
Thermodynamics and reaction kinetics of extractive metallurgical processes. Electrolytic reduction of molten salts. Metal refining processes. Heat transfer, mass transfer, and materials preparation in the metallurgical industry. Comparison of processes. Equipment selection and operation.
16-Chem-B8 Polymer Engineering
Basic polymer structures and characterization of polymer physical, chemical, and mechanical properties. Polymerization reactions and kinetics; chain formation and co-polymerization. Polymerization processes: bulk, suspension, solution, and emulsion polymerizations. Polymer flow behaviour describing non-Newtonian and visco-elastic effects. Polymer processing including extrusion, moulding and film production. Polymer systems: additives, blends, composites, and fibre reinforcement.
16-Chem-B9 Advanced Materials
Properties, production of and uses of composites, engineered plastics, biopolymers, special coatings, and nanostuctured materials with emphasis on structure property relationships.
16-Chem-B10 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
Concepts of life cycle assessment. Applications to energy utilization, environment, sustainable development and process analysis and optimisation.
16-Chem-B11 Nuclear and Nuclear Chemical Processes
The properties of actinides; radioactivity; processes of mining, refining and enrichment of uranium; reactor materials and design; reprocessing chemistry; waste management.
16-Chem-B12 Petroleum Production Operations – (98-Pet-A5)
Overall view of important steps involved in Petroleum Production Engineering. Inflow performance relationships. Two-phase vertical flow. Decline curve analysis. Other steps include importance of reservoir description, role of effective communication between the reservoir and the well bore, oil and gas separation, well bore damage, fluid movements and vigor of excluding undesirable fluids, workover and stimulation methods, oil well cementing and through tubing logging. Surface facility: storage, separators, emulsions, flow measurement and gas hydrates.
16-Chem-B13 Fundamental Reservoir Engineering – (98-Pet-A3)
Physical properties and flow of fluids through porous media. Porosity, fluid saturations, permeability, interfacial tension, wettability, capillary pressure, effective and relative permeability, steady and unsteady state fluid flow. An introduction to oil and gas material balance equations, drive indices. An introduction to performance prediction techniques.