Preface
The first semester of the undergraduate chemical engineering program at the University of Idaho features two courses in chemical engineering: Introduction to Chemical Engineering and Computations in Chemical Engineering. The first of these courses provides the students a comprehensive exposure to the nature of the chemical engineering field as well as to the wide variety of career opportunities available to them upon completion of their chemical engineering education. The students get a glimpse into the types of activities that comprise the responsibilities of different positions in the chemical engineering field. The second course gives them a flavor of the types of engineering calculations they will be expected to deal with during both their studies and their professional careers as chemical engineers. For the students, the value of these courses comes from understanding their possible career paths, discovering their abilities and competencies, and overall being in a better position to make an informed decision regarding their career choice early in their college education. The students also get to interact with the chemical engineering faculty and know them from the very first semester of their college education. The faculty, too, get to know and develop relationships with the students practically from their first day of college. These courses help the faculty assess the interest and aptitude of an individual to succeed as a chemical engineer, identify and assist individuals needing extra attention, as well as encourage, nurture, and mentor the truly gifted ones. Such introductory courses having these objectives are becoming a norm for the chemical engineering programs leading to a baccalaureate degree.
This book has grown out of the need for a text that accomplishes the objectives of these introductory courses and lays the foundation for students’ success not only in their studies but also in their careers. The motivation was to create a book that gives freshman chemical engineering students an excellent idea about what it takes to get a baccalaureate degree in chemical engineering, the nature and scope of the industries where they most likely will be employed, typical responsibilities in various positions, and possible computations they would perform in their jobs as chemical engineers.
Who Should Read This Book
This book has been developed for freshman chemical engineering students entering the first year of the undergraduate degree program. These students, with a few exceptions, are high school graduates who have a basic knowledge of mathematics and science at varying levels but no exposure to engineering concepts. The book assumes no specific preparation on the part of students other than graduation from high school with basic science (physics, chemistry) and mathematics knowledge. It is also assumed that a typical student has rudimentary computer skills, including email and basic operations (launching programs, editing, saving documents, etc.), with a software program. However, no advanced skills, such as data manipulation, are needed.
The book also serves as a handy, quick reference for chemical engineering fundamentals as well as information on chemical industry for anyone engaged in chemical engineering activities, including educators and industry professionals.
How This Book Is Organized
The book is structured to provide to students, through the first three chapters, an introduction to the chemical engineering profession, chemical and allied industries, and their progression through a typical four-year undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum. The remaining chapters deal with the computational problems in chemical engineering, arranged closely according to the chronological order of subjects students will encounter in the undergraduate curriculum.
Chapter 1, “The Chemical Engineering Profession,” presents a brief introduction to the engineering field and the position of chemical engineering in the broader engineering profession. The role and nature of typical job functions of a chemical engineer in different types of jobs are also described. Chapter 2, “Chemical and Allied Industries,” focuses on the significance of the chemical and allied industries in the nation’s economy, with an exposure to the largest chemical companies and the chemical products. Chapter 3, “Making of a Chemical Engineer,” outlines a typical chemical engineering curriculum with brief descriptions of advanced undergraduate chemical engineering courses, the engineering science courses that prepare students for these advanced courses, and the science and mathematics courses that provide the foundation for studying engineering. The role of humanities and social science courses is also described.
The importance of computations and use of computational tools in chemical engineering is presented in Chapter 4, “Introduction to Computations in Chemical Engineering.” The classification of problems on the basis of their mathematical nature is also described in this chapter. Chapters 5 through 9 deal with typical problems in chemical engineering, with each chapter dealing with one specific area. Chapter 5, “Computations in Fluid Flow,” describes the fundamental fluid flow phenomena and presents associated computational problems in practical systems. Chapter 6, “Material Balance Computations,” discusses the basic principles of material balance computations with example problems, while the concepts of energy balance are covered in Chapter 7, “Energy Balance Computations.” Chapter 8, “Computations in Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics,” and Chapter 9, “Computations in Chemical Engineering Kinetics,” discuss fundamental principles of chemical engineering thermodynamics and kinetics, respectively, with selected problems in different topical areas.
Each chapter is arranged to provide a context to the type of problems in the particular field followed by a discussion of essential theoretical fundamentals. Representative example problems are presented and their solutions discussed in detail. Alternative solution techniques for most of the problems are demonstrated using two different, distinct software tools—a spreadsheet program (Excel) and Mathcad. Exercise problems are included at the end of each chapter to provide students an opportunity to practice and gain mastery over the solution techniques. Many of the example as well as practice problems in later chapters are linked to the problems in earlier chapters to emphasize the integrated nature of the practical systems and problems. A brief introduction to the world of software, including commercial process simulation software, is presented in the appendixes, primarily to make the students aware of the various alternative, powerful computational tools that are available to perform complex calculations on a very large scale.
A typical student enrolled in the introductory courses is an incoming freshman student, a recent high school graduate, who is also invariably concurrently enrolled in the first college chemistry and calculus courses. This creates a student body that exhibits a wide range of familiarity with basic concepts in mathematics and chemistry, depending on the rigor of their preparation in high school. This wide discrepancy in the student backgrounds was simultaneously a challenge and an opportunity for innovative thinking in creating the text. The material presented in the book accounts for the variance in student preparation and seeks to provide enough background for those who have not been exposed to the relevant topics in chemistry and calculus and yet to avoid making it too basic for those who have had such exposure. In light of the student preparation (or lack thereof) in calculus courses, the book has also steered clear of in-depth discussion of differential equations while presenting clear solution techniques for them in easily understandable language. The book is designed to offer an instructor maximum flexibility to explore and delve into topics at any depth appropriate for the class.
Graduation is the most significant event for high school students all over the world. For many, it is a finish-line marking the end of the “student phase” of their lives. It signifies for them the conclusion of their formal education and their readiness to enter the “real world.” For many others, however, it is merely an important milestone marking the conclusion of one and beginning of another educational journey, this time in a college or a university. It is my hope and expectation that this book will serve as an illuminating guide for those who are choosing the path of chemical engineering for this journey.