CHE 717 Chemical Reaction Engineering
3 Credit Hours
Rates and mechanisms of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions. Design, analysis and scale-up of batch and continuous chemical reactors.
Prerequisites
- An undergraduate course in chemical kinetics/reactor design that covered, in detail: Ideal reactors (batch, plug flow, perfectly mixed), application of these three reactors to single and multiple reactions for isothermal operation, analysis of kinetic data, and derivation of rate equations from sequences of elementary reactions.
- Ability to solve coupled ordinary differential equations (ODEs), either analytically or numerically.
Course Objectives
The intent of this course is to help the student master several advanced concepts in chemical reaction engineering, notably:
- advanced reactor design, including consideration of the energy balance;
- chemical reaction mechanisms and rate theories;
- transport effects in reactive systems;
- biomolecular applications of chemical kinetics.
On completion of the course, the student should be able to design/analyze a variety of complex reacting systems in both traditional and non-traditional areas of chemical engineering.
Course Requirements
HOMEWORK: Six problem sets, completed individually, collectively worth 15% of the total grade.
EXAMS: Three midterm Tests, collectively worth 85% of the total grade. These are open book/notes and cumulative in coverage.
Textbook
Rawlings, James B. and Ekerdt, John G. Chemical Reactor Analysis and Design Fundamentals, Second Edition. Nob Hill Publishing (2012). ISBN: 978-0975937778
https://sites.engineering.ucsb.edu/~jbraw/chemreacfun/
Software Requirements
Excel with the Solver add-in and MATLAB™ (or any comparable mathematical programming software).
MATLAB is available for free download to College of Engineering students at:
https://it.engr.ncsu.edu/software/catalog/matlab/.
Updated: 7/7/2025
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