CBE 141

Course Number: CBE 141

Course Name: Thermodynamics

Units: 4

Offered: SPRING

Requirement Satisfied: CORE

Concentration(s):

Past Professors: Rui Wang, Shekhar

Summary: An introductory course to chemical engineering thermodynamics, building upon the knowledge taught in CHEM 4A, PHYSICS 7B, and CBE 140. Class starts as a refresher, but very quickly gets more challenging as the course deviates from ideal assumptions. Material covered includes the thermodynamic behaviour of pure substances and mixtures, properties of solutions, Vapour Liquid Equilibrium (VLE), thermodynamic cycles, chemical equilibria for homogenous and heterogeneous systmes. In this course you will finally learn what fugacity is.

Official Prerequisites: CBE 140, E7

“Legit” Prerequisites: CBE 140, E7

Topics Covered: 1. Concepts and definitions

2. First and second laws of thermodynamics

3. Fundamental equations of thermodynamics

4. Applications of the first and second laws to closed and open (steady and unsteady state) systems 5. Maxwell relations and other relations among properties

6. Volumetric properties and equations of state of pure fluids

7. Correlations of the thermal and volumetric properties of real fluids

8. Phase equilibrium in single-component systems

9. Power cycles; refrigeration cycles, and liquefaction of gases

10. Thermodynamics of fluid mixtures

11. Ideal and non-ideal mixtures

12. Chemical potential; fugacity and its calculation

13. Binary phase equilibria: vapor-liquid, liquid-liquid, vapor-liquid-liquid, and solid-liquid

14. Thermodynamics of chemical reactions

15. Third law of thermodynamics and its significance

Workload: Varies with professors, with Professor Landry: Weekly problem sets (problems from textbooks). 1 midterms, and 1 final.

When to take: Semester directly after 140 (Sophomore Spring)

"What’s next" Courses: CBE 150B, CBE 142

Usefulness for research / internships: The understanding of thermodynamics is crucial for the fundamental understanding of any chemical process in research or an engineering job. However, this class alone is not enough to give you any real applicable skills - knowledge must be combined with further chemical engineering upper division classes and only then will application be evident.

Added Comments or Tips: Lectures can be confusing at times. Professor Wang lectures on black board so his note might or might not be posted. Take good note yourself. It is very likely the material will not make sense the first time around, a lot of studying needed for the understanding to sink in. Discussions are very helpful in this course and attendance is encouraged.