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Chemical Engineering Science Program
The Curriculum
The undergraduate curriculum has been systematically revised over the years to reflect the emergence of chemical engineering as a modern discipline and its changing role in society. The modern curriculum includes such diverse topics as process control, chemical plant design, with electives in diverse areas such as biochemical engineering, air pollution, desalination, and wastewater treatment.
The chemical engineering department offers a four-year program which is sufficiently general to prepare the graduate for all phases of the chemical industry, whether in development or research. The aim of the first two years is to provide the necessary background in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and engineering subjects such as electrical engineering, fluid mechanics, materials science, and chemical engineering. The third and fourth years are taken almost entirely within the department; the curriculum is designed around the core topics of mass, heat and momentum transfer, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, separation processes, and process control.
Because of the wide scope of chemical engineering training and the industrial boom in Saudi Arabia, graduates can seek employment in many fields. Some may follow a career in university teaching and research. Still others find employment in petroleum, petrochemical, food metals, and chemical industries, or in government ministries.
The electives in the department are subdivided into five categories: (i) Reactor Design and Catalysis, (ii) Mathematical Analysis and Control, (iii) Petroleum and Petrochemical Industries, (iv) Environment, and (v) General Topics. These areas are of particular interest to the present industrial development of the Kingdom. Students can thus avail themselves of the opportunity to specialize in any one of these fields by choosing appropriate courses for the three chemical engineering electives shown in the present chemical engineering curriculum guide.
B.S. Degree Requirements
Each student majoring in Chemical Engineering Science must complete the following courses:
Chemical Engineering Science Curriculum
Course Description
CHE 201 Introduction to Chemical Engineering (3-0-3)
The basic principles and techniques used for calculations of material balances in chemical engineering processes are introduced. The material covered involves fundamental engineering concepts, formulation and solution of increasingly complex chemical engineering process problems and familiarization with physical properties and behavior of ideal and real gases. Problem solving sessions.
Prerequisites: CHEM 102, PHYS 102
CHE 203 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics I (3-0-3)
The first and second laws of thermodynamics are studied in detail. Material covered includes concepts of energy, enthalpy, heat effects, conservation of energy, interaction between heat transfer, mechanical work, and chemical energy liberation, equations of state, behavior of gases and liquids, standard heats of reaction, formation and combustion and entropy. Study of combined mass and energy balances.
Prerequisites: CHE 201, MATH 201, ICS 101 or ICS 102 or ICS 103
CHE 204 Transport Phenomena I (3-0-3)
An introductory treatment of practical fluid dynamics covering both laminar and turbulent flow is given. Mass, energy, and momentum balances are derived, and the techniques of dimensional analysis are introduced. The principles and operation of fluid meters are developed and their characteristics are described, together with flow analysis of typical piping systems. Flow of particulates is also covered.
Corequisites: MATH 202; CHE 203 or ME 203, ICS 101 or ICS 102 or ICS 103
CHE 300 Transport Phenomena II (3-0-3)
Modes of heat transfer. Differential equations of energy transport. Steady and transient heat conduction. Free and forced convection in laminar and turbulent flows. Momentum and heat transfer analogies. Boiling and condensation. Radiation heat transfer. Application to the design of process heat transfer equipment.
Prerequisite: CHE 204
CHE 303 Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics II (3-0-3)
Review of 1st and 2nd laws. Thermodynamic relations. PVT properties. Thermodynamic diagrams. Properties of mixtures. Ideal and real mixtures. Phase equilibria, calculation concepts. The concept of fugacity and activity in liquid phase models. Chemical reaction equilibria concepts and criteria. The steam power plant.
Prerequisites: MATH 202, CHE 203
CHE 304 Transport Phenomena III (3-0-3)
Fundamentals of mass transfer. Differential equations of mass transfer. Steady-state and unsteady-state molecular diffusion. Convective mass transfer. Interface mass transfer. Mass transfer theories. Mass transfer equipment. Absorption and humidification operations.
Prerequisite: CHE 204
Corequisite: CHE 300
CHE 306 Stagewise Operations (3-0-3)
Review of vapor-liquid equilibria. Differential and flash distillation. Binary distillation. McCabe-Thiele and Ponchon-Savarit methods. Introduction to multicomponent distillation. Liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction.
Prerequisites: CHE 303, CHE 304
CHE 309 Chemical Engineering Laboratory I (0-6-2)
This laboratory emphasizes concepts presented in the transport phenomena courses. A safety session is given at the commencement of the course. Safe practices are strictly adhered to throughout the course. Students carry out selected experiments in fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermodynamics and diffusional mass transfer. Data collected are analyzed and compared to applicable theories.
Prerequisites: CHE 300, ENGL 214
Corequisite: CHE 304
CHE 311 Chemical Process Industries (3-0-3)
Flow sheets and process calculations are described for major chemical industries now operating in Saudi Arabia or likely to be developed in the future. Examples are industrial gases, cement, aluminum, glass, fertilizers, detergents, sulfur industry, petrochemicals, petroleum refining, pulp and paper industry etc.
Prerequisites: CHEM 201, CHE 203
CHE 312 Surface Petroleum Operations (3-0-3)
Processing of crude oil and the associated natural gas of the wellhead into stabilized crude oil, pipeline quality natural gas, natural gas liquids and sulfur. Gas-oil separation, crude oil desalting, gas sweetening and dehydration, recovery and fractionation of natural gas liquids, sulfur production and crude oil stabilization. Computer simulation of major oil field processes. Thermodynamics and phase equilibria of multi-component hydrocarbon mixtures. Gas compression, refrigeration and two-phase flow.
Corequisite: CHE 306
CHE 325 Chemical Engineering Computing Laboratory (1-3-2)
Programming chemical engineering calculations and problem solving. Data acquisition and processing, computer assisted design and simulation of chemical engineering problems using appropriate commercial software packages.
Corequisite: CHE 306
CHE 351 Applied Chemical Engineering Cooperative Work (0-0-9)
In this course the student will spend a period of 28 weeks of industrial employment in industry. Students are required to write a detailed formal report on their experience. Evaluation by the employer will be counted towards the grade given for this course.
Prerequisites: CHE 309, ENGL 214, Approval of the Department (85crs). (Registration in this course is limited to students in the College of Applied Engineering)
CHE 399 Summer Industrial Training (0-0-0)
A period of 12 weeks of industrial employment in appropriate industries or firms. Students are evaluated on their performance, and are required to submit a report and offer a seminar about their experience before receiving a grade of Pass or Fail for the course.
Prerequisite: Junior Standing
CHE 401 Process Dynamics and Control (3-0-3)
Dynamics and simulation of linear systems. Transfer functions for 1st and 2nd order. General Transfer functions. Linearization. Modes of control; Block diagram representataion, open and closed loop transfer functions, stability studies, parameter tuning, frequency response analysis, Nyquist and Bode diagrams. Case studies.
Prerequisites: CHE 306, SE 301
[May not be taken for credit if credit already awarded for SE 302 or EE 380]
CHE 402 Kinetics and Reactor Design (3-0-3)
Theory of chemical kinetic mechanisms and derivation of overall rate expressions. Interpretation of constant volume, variable volume batch reactor data and its application to the design of ideal backmix and plug flow reactors. Comparison of reactor performance including series, parallel, and multiple reactions. Nonisothermal reactor operation. Basic heterogeneous reactions and nonideal reactors performance.
Prerequisites: CHE 303, CHEM 311, Senior Standing
CHE 409 Chemical Engineering Laboratory II (0-6-2)
A laboratory to complement the theoretical derivations in stagewise operations, process dynamics and control, and kinetics and reactor design. A safety session is given at the commencement of the course. Safe practices are strictly adhered to throughout the course. Two environmental engineering reaction experiments are included. Students carry out selected experiments, analyze data collected referring to applicable theories and present their findings in formal reports.
Prerequisites: CHE 306, CHE 309
Corequisites: CHE 401, CHE 402
CHE 422 Properties of Fluids (3-0-3)
Study on several methods for the estimation of physical, thermodynamic and transport properties of fluids commonly used in industry. Study of literature sources where property information is available. Application of these properties to process design is emphasized to give the students a complete picture of the use and importance of good property estimation.
Prerequisite: CHE 303
CHE 425 Engineering Economics and Design Principles (3-0-3)
Process economic analysis of chemical plants with particular emphasis on cost estimation, interest calculations, depreciation, profitability, methods for decision-making among alternatives and capital budgeting.
Process flow diagram analysis, design of flow systems, design and integration of process equipment such as chemical reactors, separators, pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, absorbers, etc., into a chemical process. Development of the general principles of process design including materials selection, transfer and handling, plant location, plant layout, waste disposal, safety considerations, etc. Application of software packages such as Aspen Plus and Chemshare.
Prerequisite: CHE 306
Corequisite: CHE 402
CHE 430 Separation Processes (3-0-3)
Separation techniques of interest in the chemical industry, primarily diffusional, are covered. Emphasis will be on the unit operations of multicomponent gas absorption, humidification, adsorption and ion exchange, reverse osmosis, permeation, dialysis, electrophoresis, foam fractionation, chromatographic separations, sublimation and electrodialysis.
Prerequisite: CHE 306
CHE 432 Principles of Heat Exchanger Design (3-0-3)
Description and applications of different heat exchangers in process industries. Design of double pipe heat exchanger (including extended surfaces). Detailed design procedures for shell and tube heat exchanger for single phase flow. Detailed design procedures for air coolers. Selection criteria for heat exchangers. Descriptive discussion of condensers, evaporators and reboilers, novel heat exchangers and other types of heat exchangers.
Prerequisite: CHE 300
CHE 440 Catalysis & Catalytic Processes (3-0-3)
Basic definition and classification of catalysts, nature and mechanism of catalytic reactions, adsorption processes, catalyst preparation and catalyst characterization. Mass and heat transport effects in catalysis. Catalyst deactivation Basic design principles of heterogeneous catalytic reactors such as fixed bed and fluidized bed reactors. Industrial catalytic processes with emphasis on existing processes in Saudi Arabia.
Corequisite: CHE 402
CHE 449 Biochemical Engineering (3-0-3)
Descriptive treatment of key concepts on biochemistry. The kinetics of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and its applications. Kinetics of substrate utilization, transport phenomena in microbial systems. Design and analysis of biological reactors. Analysis of multiple interacting microbial populations in applications.
Prerequisite: CHE 304
Corequisite: CHE 402
CHE 453 Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering (3-0-3)
The selection, construction, solution, and interpretation of mathematical models applicable to the study of chemical engineering. Analytical, numerical, and approximate methods for solving algebraic, ordinary, and partial differential equations arising in chemical engineering systems. Relationships of lumped and distributed parameter systems are also developed.
Prerequisites: Senior Standing
CHE 455 Chemical Process Simulation (3-0-3)
Systems analysis as applied to the mathematical modeling and computer aided simulation of chemical processes. Students will learn how to simulate various process units, process areas, and what is in the black box of a simulator program. Each student will be assigned an individual process to simulate in the latter half of the course.
Prerequisite: CHE 306
CHE 461 Petroleum Refining (3-0-3)
General review of refining processes of crude oil. Shortcut methods for practical design calculations. Design of atmospheric, vacuum, and pressure columns for petroleum fractionation, including auxiliary furnaces and condensers. Recent developments in heavy oil processing.
Prerequisite: CHE 306
CHE 462 Petrochemical Industries (3-0-3)
Process technologies used in petrochemical industries, such as thermal and catalytic cracking will be introduced. Basic, intermediate and final petrochemicals are studied. These include synthesis gas and derivatives, ethylene, propylene, butene, BTX, and their derivatives. Competing technologies will be assessed from the chemical engineering point of view.
Prerequisite: CHE 306
CHE 463 Polymer Technology (3-0-3)
Structure and physical properties of polymers. Homogeneous and heterogeneous polymerization processes. The chemical, mechanical, and engineering properties of polymers as well as polymer processing and rheology are emphasized in this course.
Prerequisite: CHEM 311
CHE 470 Process Air Pollution Control (3-0-3)
Sources and effects of air pollution; air quality, atmospheric reactions and scavenging processes. Meteorological setting for dispersion of air pollutants. Theory of atmospheric dispersion modeling. Air pollution control concepts, selection, evaluation and application of control devices for emission and control from chemical and petrochemical industries.
Prerequisite: Senior Standing or Departmental Approval.
CHE 471 Process Water Pollution Control (3-0-3)
Water quality and pollution, industrial wastewater characterization, classification of wastewater processes. Modeling and design of biological waste treatment processes. Analyses of chemical and physical processes for wastewater treatment in process industries.
Prerequisite: CHE 304
CHE 472 Corrosion (3-0-3)
Study of corrosion mechanisms and techniques used in prevention and control. Electrochemistry and its application to corrosion. Material selection for different environments.
Prerequisite: CHEM 311
CHE 473 Desalination (3-0-3)
Description of methods of water analysis and treatment. Study of properties of water and aqueous solutions. Detailed discussion and analysis of design, maintenance, energy requirements and economics of the major processes of desalination such as distillation, reverse osmosis, and electrodialysis.
Prerequisites: CHE 300, CHE 303
CHE 480 Energy Technology (3-0-3)
Statistics on global energy use, supply and demand of energy, energy generation from fossil and non-fossil fuels. Energy transportation and storage, energy from low-calorific value fuels, energy conservation and economics, and energy management.
Prerequisites: CHE 300, CHE 303
CHE 491 Materials Evaluation and Selection (3-0-3)
This course is designed to acquaint students with the theoretical reasoning and experimental methods used in evaluating both crystalline and non-crystalline materials covering metallic, polymeric and ceramic materials. The principles involved in their selection based on mechanical properties, resistance to degradation, and wear, and special properties are illustrated in the practical examples from process industries.
Prerequisite: ME 205
CHE 495 Integrated Design Course (1-6-3)
Development of general engineering skills and judgment needed in the solution of open-ended problems from a technical-economic viewpoint are the major goals of this course. The design of a project from conception to implementation including preliminary feasibility study, preparation of process, flow diagram, process design, pre-construction cost estimate, equipment sizing (design), selection of materials of construction, and analysis of project.
Applications will be in areas such as petroleum, petrochemicals, emerging chemical industries and water desalination. Design topics will be assigned to teams of students.
Corequisite: CHE 425
CHE 498 Special Topics in Chemical Engineering I (3-0-3)
Selected topics from the broad area of chemical engineering. The specific contents of the course is published one semester in advance.
Prerequisite: Approval of the Department.
CHE 499 Special Topics in Chemical Engineering II (3-0-3)
Selected topics from the broad area of chemical engineering. The specific contents of the course is published one semester in advance.
Prerequisite: Approval of the Department.