Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering. 3 credits, 3 contact hours

Catalog description

Prerequisites: MATH 222 or equivalent undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. This course aims to provide students with advanced knowledge–skills to formulate mathematical models, derive analytical solutions, and find numerical solutions of steady- and unsteady-state problems encountered in chemical engineering systems. First and higher order ordinary differential equations as well as their systems are presented along with applications to dynamic systems. Sturm-Liouville eigenvalue problems, eigenfunction expansion, orthogonality of functions, and Fourier and generalized Fourier series are presented with the dual purpose of solving boundary-value problems and building the foundation needed for solving partial differential equations. Separation of variables is used to solve partial differential equations in 2D-3D steady-state and 1D-3D transient problems that arise in Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates. Laplace transform and similarity transformation are used to solve semi-infinite domain problems. Numerical methods based on finite differences, full or semi-discretization of partial differential equations, accuracy, and error estimates are covered.