ChE 210: Chemical Process Calculations I
Fall 2017
Instructor:Dr. Ron Gabbard
Office:N/A
Phone:732-335-2415 (@ IFF)
e-mail: or
Office Hours:Before class by appointment
(Please notify me in advance so I can arrive early)
Teaching Assistant:Quang Long Pham
Office:TBD
Phone:TBD
Office Hours:
Class:6:00-9:00 PM, MondayRoom: 117 Kupfrian Hall
Workshop:TBD
Text:Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 4thEdition (2015), R. M. Felder and R. W. Rousseau, John Wiley &Sons, 2005.
(Yes you need the book!)
Catalog Description:
ChE 210 – Chemical Process Calculations I
Prerequisites:Chem 126 (or Chem 122)
Co-requisite:Math 112, CS 115
Analysis of chemical processes is introduced, emphasizing steady and unsteady-state mass and species balances. This course uses primarily chemistry and algebra to determine, for a wide variety of processes and applications, the flow and concentrations of different chemical species.
Attendance:Required for all students
Classroom Policy:Eating and the use of telecommunication devices including texting for any reason are not allowed during class.
Grading:There will be a total of 1000 points possible throughout the course of the semester. The following point totals will be assigned:
Homework:100
Term Project:150
Exam 1:225
Exam 2:225
Final300
Homework: Homework will be assigned each week and will be due at the beginning of class the following week. Each homework problem will be assigned a score of 1, complete and correct, 0.5, for a good try, or 0 for missed badly or not done. A total of 100 problems will be graded throughout the semester adding up to the 100 points. Each week, the homework set will include a number of problems that will be graded and a number that will not. Students will not know which problems are being graded and therefore are encouraged to work diligently on all the problems assigned. The best way to pass this class is to work as many problems as possible, even problems not assigned. The more you practice the better you will do!
Term Project: All students must hand in the term project. Failure to hand in the term project will result in a failing grade for the course. In addition, late projects will incur a deduction of 10% (15 points) per day up to 5 days (75 points). After 5 days, the project will be assigned a zero and a failing grade for the class will result.
Exams: All exams are open textbook / open personal notes; sharing of notes is not allowed. Students must bring a calculator to all exams. Personal computers and telecommunication devices may not be substituted for calculators. All exams are comprehensive and will include material that had been covered in class up to the prior week. Exams may not be missed without a valid reason. The student may be asked to provide documentation (i.e. doctors’ note) for the instructor to consider giving a make-up exam. The student must notify the instructor prior to start of the exam (phone/voice mail, or email). Any exams missed without prior approval will be assigned a grade of zero. One comprehensive make-up exam will be given on the reading day (date TBD) for any students who have missed an exam with documented legitimate reasons. Finally students who miss the first exam are cautioned to continue the class at their own risk as there will not be a way to judge their performance prior to the withdrawal date.
Final Exam: The date of the final exam will be determined during the semester. It will be open book / open personal notes (sharing of notes is not allowed) and comprehensive covering all the course material. Students missing the final exam without a documented serious excuse will fail the course. Students missing the final exam with a documented reason will receive an incomplete. The incomplete will be removed after the student takes the final exam administered for the course in the Spring of 2018. If the course is not offered, a special make-up final will be scheduled early in the Spring 2018.
Disputing a grade on tests/assignments: If a student has questions about the grade he/she has received on an exam, homework, or term project he/she must talk to the instructorwithin a week after the graded assignment has been returned to students. No grade change will be made after the one week period.
Grading Policy: A student’s grade for the course will be determined based on the total number of points the student has accumulated during the semester. While specific point totals needed to achieve specific grades will be determined based on class performance, the following guidelines are offered as typical scores:
>850 points:A
810-849 points:B+
750-809 pointsB
710-749 pointsC+
650-709 pointsC
600-649 pointsD
<599 pointsF
NJIT HONOR CODE: The NJIT honor code is being upheld on all issues related to the course. Students are expected to be familiar with the code and conduct themselves accordingly.
Other Important dates:
- Course withdraw deadline is November 6, 2017.
- Grades are due on December 23, 2017
Course Content:The material covered in the course can be found in Chapters 1 through 6 and Chapter 10 in the book. In addition, material not in the book will also presented so it is important to keep good notes.
TentativeSchedule:
Week / Date / Content / Notes1 / Sept 11 /
- Course Intro, (Chapter 1)
- Units and Dimensions (Chapter 2; 2.1-2.4)
- Engineering calculations (Chapter 2; 2.5
2 / Sept 18 /
- Engineering calculations (Chapter 2; 2.5-2.8)
3 / Sept 25 /
- Process and process variables (Chapter 3)
4 / Oct 2 /
- Fundamentals of material balances (Chapter 4; 4.0-4.3)
5 / Oct 9 /
- Material balances on non-reactive systems (Chapter 4; 4.4-4.5)
6 / Oct 16 /
- Exam 1
7 / Oct 23 /
- Material balances on non-reactive systems (Chapter 4; 4.4-4.5)
- Material balances on reactive systems (Chapter 4; 4.6-4.10)
8 / Oct 30 /
- Material balances on reactive systems (Chapter 4; 4.6-4.10)
9 / Nov 6 /
- Material balances on reactive systems (Chapter 4; 4.6-4.10)
10 / Nov 13 /
- Single phase systems (Chapter 5; 5.0-5.2)
- Last day to withdraw from class
11 / Nov 20 /
- Exam 2
12 / Nov 27 /
- Single phase systems (Chapter 5; 5.0-5.4)
- Multiphase systems (Chapter 6; 6.0-6.3)
13 / Dec 4 /
- Multiphase systems (Chapter 6; 6.0-6.3)
14 / Dec 11 /
- Balances on Transient Process (Chapter 10; 10.0-10.2)
15 / Dec 18 /
- TBD
Learning Objectives: By the end of the course, students should be able to do the following things:
- Basic engineering calculations: Convert quantities from one set of units to another; define, calculate, and estimate properties of process materials including fluid density, flow rate, chemical composition variables (mass and mole fractions, concentrations), fluid pressure, and temperature.
- Material balance calculations: Draw and label process flowcharts from verbal process descriptions; carry out degree of freedom analyses; write and solve material balance equations for single- and multiple-unit processes, processes with recycle and bypass, and processes involving chemical reactions.
- Use applied physical chemistry: Perform pressure-volume-temperature calculations for ideal and non-ideal gases. Perform vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations for systems containing one condensable component and for ideal multi-component solutions. Incorporate the results of these calculations into process material calculations.