Chemical Engineering

ACTIVE STREAM

Optimize reactions, design plants, and synthesize new materials.

Projects

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Project 1: The Coffee Extraction Engine

Master mass transfer, diffusion, and kinetics by building a physics-based coffee brewing simulator.

1.1 Mass Transfer Basics

1.1.1 What is Extraction?1.1.2 The Driving Force1.1.3 Equilibrium1.1.4 Conservation of Mass1.1.5 Coding the Basics

1.2 Solubility & Temperature

1.2.1 Solubility Curves1.2.2 Arrhenius Equation1.2.3 The Energy Balance1.2.4 Modeling Temperature Profiles1.2.5 Coding the Temperature Model

1.3 Particle Geometry (The Grind)

1.3.1 Surface Area1.3.2 Particle Size Distribution1.3.3 Diffusion (Fick\1.3.4 The Shrinking Core Model1.3.5 Coding the Particle Model

1.4 Dynamics of Extraction

1.4.1 Differential Equations1.4.2 Euler\1.4.3 Flow: Immersion vs Pour-over1.4.4 Channeling & Efficiency1.4.5 Coding the Dynamic Simulator

1.5 Optimization (The Perfect Brew)

1.5.1 Defining "Good" Coffee1.5.2 The Coffee Control Chart1.5.3 Parameter Sweeps1.5.4 Finding the Sweet Spot1.5.5 Capstone: The Auto-Barista
2

Project 2: Rocket Fuel Plant Designer

Design a Sabatier reactor system to produce methane fuel on Mars using stoichiometry and yield calculations.

2.1 The Reaction (Stoichiometry)

2.1.1 The Sabatier Process2.1.2 From Moles to Mass2.1.3 Limiting Reactant2.1.4 Conversion & Yield2.1.5 Coding the Reaction Class

2.2 The Reactor (Design)

2.2.1 Space Velocity2.2.2 Catalyst Loading2.2.3 Pressure Drop (Ergun Equation)2.2.4 Thermal Management2.2.5 Coding the Reactor Simulator

2.3 The Separation (Water Removal)

2.3.1 The Condenser2.3.2 Membrane Separation2.3.3 The Recycle Concept2.3.4 Overall vs Single-Pass Conversion2.3.5 Coding the Separator

2.4 The Full Plant Simulation

2.4.1 Iterative Solvers2.4.2 Convergence Criteria2.4.3 Mass Balance Check2.4.4 The Purge2.4.5 Coding the Full Plant

2.5 Storage & Safety

2.5.1 Liquefaction2.5.2 Tank Sizing2.5.3 Boil-off2.5.4 HAZOP Analysis2.5.5 Capstone: Mission Go/No-Go
3

Project 3: The Ideal Gas Refinery

Build a flash separator simulator to split hydrocarbon mixtures using thermodynamics and phase equilibria.

3.1 Thermodynamics Basics

3.1.1 The Ideal Gas Law3.1.2 Partial Pressure3.1.3 Phase Diagrams3.1.4 Vapor Pressure (Antoine)3.1.5 Coding the Component Class

3.2 Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE)

3.2.1 Raoult's Law3.2.2 Bubble Point Calculation3.2.3 Dew Point Calculation3.2.4 Flash Calculation (Rachford-Rice)3.2.5 Coding the Flash Solver

3.3 Equations of State (EOS)

3.3.1 Why Ideal Gas Fails3.3.2 Peng-Robinson EOS3.3.3 Fugacity3.3.4 Coding the Cubic Solver3.3.5 Using an EOS Library

3.4 The Refinery Simulation

3.4.1 The Feed Stream3.4.2 The Flash Drum3.4.3 Dew Point Control3.4.4 Optimizing Pressure3.4.5 Capstone: The Full PFD
4

Project 4: Bio-Reactor Simulator

Model bacterial growth and optimize ethanol production using the Monod equation and chemostat dynamics.

4.1 Microbial Growth

4.1.1 Exponential Growth4.1.2 The Monod Equation4.1.3 Yield Coefficients4.1.4 Batch Simulation4.1.5 Coding the Bioreactor Class

4.2 The Chemostat

4.2.1 Continuous Culture4.2.2 Washout4.2.3 Productivity4.2.4 Product Formation (Ethanol)4.2.5 Capstone: Optimization
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Project 5: Distillation Column Commander

Design a binary distillation column using the McCabe-Thiele method to separate ethanol and water.

5.1 VLE Curves

5.1.1 The x-y Diagram5.1.2 Azeotropes

5.2 Operating Lines

5.2.1 Rectifying Section (Top)5.2.2 Stripping Section (Bottom)

5.3 McCabe-Thiele Method

5.3.1 Stepping Off Stages5.3.2 The Feed Tray

5.4 Efficiency & Real Trays

5.4.1 Murphree Efficiency

5.5 Capstone: Column Designer

5.5.1 Full Column Design
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Project 6: Heat Exchanger Network

Design heat exchangers and optimize energy recovery networks using Pinch Analysis.

6.1 Heat Transfer Basics

6.1.1 Conduction (Fourier's Law)6.1.2 Convection (Newton's Law)

6.2 Double Pipe Exchanger

6.2.1 Counter vs Parallel Flow

6.3 LMTD Method

6.3.1 Log Mean Temp Difference

6.5 Network Synthesis (Pinch)

6.5.1 Composite Curves
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Project 7: Pipeline Flow Solver

Calculate pressure drops and size pumps for complex piping networks using fluid mechanics.

7.1 Fluid Basics

7.1.1 Reynolds Number

7.3 Friction Losses

7.3.1 Darcy-Weisbach Equation

7.4 Pump Sizing

7.4.1 Pump Power
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Project 8: Chemical Equilibrium Solver

Predict the final composition of reacting mixtures by minimizing Gibbs Free Energy.

8.1 Gibbs Free Energy

8.1.1 Delta G

8.2 Equilibrium Constant

8.2.1 Calculating Keq

8.3 Extent of Reaction

8.3.1 Solving for Extent
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Project 9: Process Control PID Tuner

Simulate dynamic systems and tune PID controllers to maintain stable operation.

9.1 Process Dynamics

9.1.1 First Order Systems

9.3 PID Controller

9.3.1 The PID Algorithm

9.4 Tuning

9.4.1 Ziegler-Nichols
10

Project 10: Plant Economics Analyzer

Evaluate the financial viability of chemical plants using CAPEX, OPEX, and NPV analysis.

10.1 Capital Cost (CAPEX)

10.1.1 Equipment Costing10.1.2 Lang Factor

10.2 Operating Cost (OPEX)

10.2.1 Utilities & Labor

10.3 Profitability Analysis

10.3.1 Net Present Value (NPV)

10.4 Sensitivity Analysis

10.4.1 Monte Carlo Simulation

Total Projects

10

Estimated Time

40+ hrs

Difficulty Range

BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced

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