Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

This subject comprehensively covers the thermodynamics of chemical and physical systems of relevance to chemical engineers. The laws of thermodynamics, which govern energy and the direction of energy flow, are amongst the most important fundamentals of chemical engineering that students learn during their course. This subject revises and expands the students’ understanding of the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics, from both classical and statistical perspectives. Students learn about the concepts of entropy and equilibrium in detail, which form the basis for the topics of phase equilibrium, mixture properties, mixture equilibrium, reaction equilibrium and interfacial equilibrium. The concepts covered by this subject provide the fundamental basis for chemical and process engineering and are utilised throughout all sectors of industry by engineers. This subject provides students with the ability to perform detailed calculations of complex systems to predict the performance of process unit operations, to aid in their design and operation.

• 1Describe the relationship between pressure, volume, and temperature in real fluids.
• 2Apply the laws of thermodynamics to closed and open systems.
• 3Analyse the physical properties of gases and liquids, including heat capacity and isothermal compressibility, and describe them in terms of entropy and the thermodynamic identity.
• 4Assess the equilibrium position and stability of multiphase systems.
• 5Estimate the physical properties of mixtures, especially non-ideal mixtures.
• 6Predict the equilibria of chemical reactions.