CBE 160

Course Number: CBE 160

Course Name: Chemical Process Design

Units: 4

Offered: Fall/Spring

Requirement Satisfied: CORE

Concentration(s): -

Past Professors: Draemel, Wallman

Summary: This class, overall, is an application of all the classes you've taken before. The lectures in recent years have always been at 8 am TuTh. It may seem tempting to skip class since it will be your senior year and most likely last semester of college, but there are occasional pop quizzes that cover the material from lecture. The primary mode of this class is working in groups of 3 or 4 that either are assembled by classmates or, in the case you are alone, are made by the professors. There are usually two projects that are fairly similar, and each group has to present and write reports 3 times.

Official Prerequisites: All ChemE core classes except CBE 162

“Legit” Prerequisites: All ChemE core classes except CBE 162 and CBE 154

Topics Covered: Process design and development, process economics, optimization

Workload: Problem sets (for Spring 2018) have been only 1 question and are spread out throughout the semester (estimating only six during the entire semester). The major source of work is from the group project, which requires at least 3-6 hours of meeting a week (keep in mind Aspen will be essential for your project and its development.

When to take: Spring Senior (ideal) or Fall Senior

"What’s next" Courses: -

Usefulness for research / internships: More useful in the sense of working in industry. ChemE at UC Berkeley shows how energy or chemical companies will develop processes. That is, this will help you develop your process design skills particularly for the oil & gas and chemical industry. The technical reports and written reports will help develop your technical communications, which are essential when entering the workforce.

Added Comments or Tips: Find a group whom you work well with and who have a similar schedule to you. Teamwork is very essential, so not liking your group mates will make this class very difficult. Do not leave work until the last minute because you will be left in the dust and may not be able to recover.