ChE Graduate Student Handbook

Graduate Course Offerings

• Penn State graduate bulletin (White Book) course descriptions web site.



• Ch E 501, Bioengineering Transport Phenomena (3)
  Application of the equations of mass, energy, and momentum conservation to physiological phenomena and to the design of artificial organs.
  Note: Ch E 501 can be taken in place of Ch E 546 to satisfy the Department's requirement for an advanced transport course.


• Ch E 503, Fluid Mechanics of Bioengineering Systems (3)
  Cardiovascular system and blood flow, non-Newtonian fluid description, vessel flows, unsteady flows and wave motion, windkessel theory, transmission line theory.


• Ch E 507, Simulation and Modeling (3)
  Synthesis of subsystem and system models, emphasizing the generality of the principles for application to diverse physical and chemical processes.


• Ch E 509, Heat Transfer Applications (3)
  Advanced treatment of steady-state and transient conduction, convection, and radiation, with emphasis on numerical methods and design techniques.
  Prerequisite: an undergraduate course in heat transfer.


• Ch E 516, Methods of Process Design (3)
  Survey of mathematical techniques of chemical process design, with emphasis on economic choice and optimal decision making.


• Ch E 524, Chemical Engineering Applications of Thermodynamics (3) - Required
  Thermodynamics of pure fluids and fluid mixtures with emphasis on applications to phase equilibria calculations of importance in Chemical Engineering.


• Ch E 528, Colloidal Forces and Thermodynamics (3)
  Unified treatment of formation, growth and stability of colloids based on principles of intermolecular and colloidal forces and thermodynamics.
  Prerequisite: CHEM 451, Ch E 320 or an equivalent background in chemical thermodynamics.
  
  Ch E 528 Chemical Engineering course description.


• Ch E 535, Chemical Reaction Engineering (3) - Required
  Optimal design of batch and continuous chemical reactors and reactor batteries; effect of mixing on reactor operation.


• Ch E 536, Heterogeneous Catalysis (3)
  Thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption and reactions on solid surfaces, heat and mass transfer effects, theory and correlations in catalysis.
  Prerequisite: CHEM 450, CHEM 452.


• Ch E 544, General Transport Phenomena (3) - Required
  Formulation and solution of transport problems involving momentum, heat, and mass transfer, with chemical engineering applications.
  Prerequisites: CH E 330, CH E 350, or CH E 410.


• Ch E 545, Transport Phenomena I (3)
  Momentum transport, laminar and turbulent flow, boundary layer analysis, non-Newtonian flow, mechanical energy balance, chemical engineering applications.


• Ch E 546, Transport Phenomena II (3) - Required
  Heat and mass transfer, steady and unsteady state, coupling, molecular diffusion, moving boundaries, transfer coefficients, chemical engineering applications.


• Ch E 548, Multistage Mass Transfer Operations (3)
  Rigorous solution of complex problems in distillation, extraction, and absorption, including computer methods.
  Prerequisite: an undergraduate course in mass transfer.


• Ch E 550, Dynamics of Chemical Systems (3)
  Systems models; steady-state multiplicity; linear and nonlinear stability; oscillatory and chaotic states; multivariable and optimal; non-equilibrium thermodynamic stability.
  Prerequisite: CH E 450.


• Ch E 576, Environmental Transport Processes (3)
  Fundamentals of chemical transport in engineered environments, such as biofilm reactors, and natural systems including aquifers and rivers.
  Prerequisite: C E 475.


• Ch E 590, Colloquium (1 - 3) - Required
  Continuing seminars which consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers.


• Ch E 596, Individual Studies (1-9)


• Ch E 597, Special Topics (1-9)
  Some recent course offerings include:
  
  
  • Advanced Polymer Processing
    Application of principles of heat, mass, and momentum transfer to analysis of polymer processing.
  
  
  • Polymer Solution Thermodynamics
    Fundamental and applied aspects of modeling solution properties of polymers.
  
  
  • Bioprocess Engineering
    Principles of engineering applied to biochemical production, with emphasis on biochemical separations, microbial growth kinetics, and enzyme catalysis.
  
  
  • Numerical Methods in Chemical Engineering
    Application of numerical analysis and computational methods to the solution of algebraic and differential equations of relevance to chemical engineering.
  
  
  • Math
    Advanced analytical methods involving vectors and tensors with applications to transport processes.
  
  
  • Non-Linear Optimization: Fundamental and Applications
    Fundamentals of optimization and applications in Chemical Engineering.
  
  
  • Environmental Transport Processes
    (co-listed as C E 576 taught by Professor Logan)
    Fundamentals of mass transport of chemicals between air, water, soil and biota. Note: This course does not satisfy the Department's core transport requirement.
  
  
  • Surfactant Self-Assembly
    The course discusses quantitative, predictive theories for diverse self-assembly phenomena such as micellization, solubilization, micro-emulsification, and surfactant-polymer interactions developed on the basis of molecular thermodynamic methods.

Updated 12/04/07