Separations

Separations
Stage operations, distillation, extraction, and absorption; design applications.
CH EN
476
 Hours3.0 Credit, 3.0 Lecture, 0.0 Lab
 PrerequisitesCH EN 373 & CH EN 376
 NoteCollege Lecture attendance required.
 TaughtFall
 ProgramsContaining CH EN 476
Course Outcomes

Operating Lines

Students will be able to solve steady-state material and energy balances as they relate to operating lines and multi-stage separation units.

Mixture Phase Diagrams

Students will be able to read mixture phase diagrams (solid solubility, liquid-liquid, VLE) and construct mass balances from them using the lever rule, tie lines, etc.

Mass Transfer Coefficients

Students will be able to estimate mass transfer coefficients and use them to determine mass transfer rates across phase boundaries.

Phase Equilibrium

Students will be able to apply solution thermodynamics fundamentals to solve VLE, LLE, SLE, and GLE problems including bubble point, dew point and flash calculations.

Solution Thermodynamics Basics

Students will understand the fundamental concepts of solution thermodynamics including chemical potential, fugacity, activity, partial molar properties, ideal solutions, and excess properties.

Graphical Data

Students will demonstrate effective interpretation of graphical data.

Process Simulator

Students will be able to use a process simulator to design separation columns.

Solve Engineering Problems

Students will demonstrate an ability to solve engineering problems.

Solve Engineering Problems

Students will be able to integrate topics from various Chemical Engineering courses to solve realistic problems.

Critical Thinking

Students will exhibit critical and creative thinking skills for analysis and evaluation of problems and cause-effect relationships.

Engineering Intuition

Students will be able to rationalize units, make order of magnitude estimates, assess reasonableness of solutions, and select appropriate levels of solution sophistication.

Safety

Students will understand and have a basic knowledge of how safety considerations are incorporated into engineering problem solving.

Environment

Students will understand and have a basic knowledge of how environmental considerations are incorporated into engineering problem solving.

Basic Separation Techniques

Students will have an overall understanding of basic separation techniques used in industry, the principles upon which they are based, and their limitations and assets.

Flash Calculations

Students will be able to set up and solve single-stage flash calculations.

Tray-type Columns

Students will be able to design tray-type columns (e.g., number of trays, tray efficiency, column height, column diameter, product specs) and packed columns (e.g., height of column, packing material, column diameter, flooding velocity).

Liquid-Liquid Extraction

Students will be able to find the number of stages required for liquid-liquid extraction from ternary phase diagrams.

Batch Distillation

Students will be able to solve binary batch distillation design problems with and without rectifying stages.

Non-ideal Phase Behavior

Students should understand the implications of non-ideal phase behavior (e.g., azeotropes and partial miscibility) and the practical constraints of pressure, temperature, and available utilities on distillation column design.

Technical Material

Students will demonstrate effective reading of technical material.