ENCH 440 Chemical Engineering Kinetics

Syllabus

ENCH 440
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING KINETICS
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY
Course Syllabus Spring 2015
Lecture: Tu-Th 7:00 8:15 AM; Sherman Hall 003
Discussion1: Tu 10:00-11:15; Sherman Hall 015
Discussion2: Tu 11:30-12:45; Information Technology 231
INSTRUCTOR:

Dr. Mark R. Marten (marten@umbc.edu)

Office: TRC 321
Phone: 410-455-3439
EMAIL: marten@umbc.edu
Office Hours: TU 10-11:30, or by appointment

TEACHING FELLOWS:

Mr. Olabobola (Bob) Shobayo (olabobo1@umbc.edu)

Mr. Stephen Vicchio (vicchio1@umbc.edu)

PREREQUISITES: ENCH 300, ENCH 425, CHEM 301 (or CHEM 303 Co-Requisite)
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
Competency in the Discipline
Critical Thinking
Cooperation
Communication
Capacity for Life-long Learning
The goals of this course are to provide you with the tools necessary to design reactors and to analyze
reaction rate data and elucidate reaction mechanisms. You will learn how to combine the various
tools acquired in transport classes, thermodynamics, chemistry and this class to design reaction
schemes for a variety of processes. Specifically, you will learn basic concepts of chemical kinetics,
reactor design and analysis. You will interpret data taken from isothermal homogeneous reactions
in batch, plug flow and perfectly mixed reactors. You will also analyze and interpret data taken
from multiple reactions. You will design and analyze isothermal and nonisothermal reactors,
simultaneously performing mass and energy balances as needed. By the end of the course, you will
understand principles of heterogeneous catalysis and will design reactors for heterogeneous
processes. You will also utilize MATLAB and Polymath as tools to assist in design, modeling and
interpretation of data. Homework and a project will be assigned to help develop these capabilities.
Exams will cover all the material assigned.
REQUIRED TEXTS:

REFERENCES:

Fogler, Essentials of Chemical Reaction Engineering, Prentice Hall,

NJ, 2011. We will be using the accompanying CD extensively.

Hill, Elements of Chemical Engineering Kinetics and Reactor Design

Levenspiel, Chemical Reaction Engineering

ENCH 440 Chemical Engineering Kinetics

Syllabus

CLASS POLICIES:
Attendance:
Students are expected to attend all lectures and will be held responsible for all material
discussed or assigned.
Often, exam material will come directly from discussions during class. So if you miss class
you may not be able to solve the related problem on the exam.
Classroom Etiquette:
Students are expected to arrive to class on time because tardiness is disruptive to the learning
environment. Regularly walking in after class has started is considered unacceptable
behavior.
The use of cellular telephones or other communication devices is prohibited during class
time.
Bringing food/drink to class is acceptable so long as it does not disturb other students or
disrupt class. But dont eat an entire meal in the front row it will be hard for me not to
want to share.
Reading Assignments:
Reading assignments are listed on the tentative course schedule. I will lecture assuming that
students have read the required material prior to class.
You will reap the greatest benefit from lecture if you complete all reading assignments prior
to class.
Homework Assignments:
Homework problems are due back at the beginning of the class period on the due date.
When you hand in your homework, include a cover page that contains only the following:
your name, due date (month, day, year), course number, homework number, and problems in
the assignment.
Homework must be done on high quality paper, one-sided, be neat/organized and stapled
together. Paper torn from a spiral notebook is unacceptable. Write neatly and legibly.
Homework not following these guidelines will be returned ungraded.
You are encouraged to discuss the homework problems in small groups. However, you are
expected to have mastered all of the material covered in the homework. Therefore, it is in
your best interest to fully participate in the learning process. Each student must turn in
his/her own unique solution for grading. Evidence of copying will be handled in
accordance with the Academic Integrity guidelines at UMBC. Late homework submissions
will not be accepted.
Examinations & Quizzes:
To encourage students to read the text before class, Ill give a quiz on every chapter before
we begin discussing that chapter.
These quizzes will focus on the main topics in the chapter.
Quizzes are CLOSED BOOK.
Ill drop the lowest quiz grade.
There will be three exams for this class.
Exams are open book, CLOSED NOTES.
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ENCH 440 Chemical Engineering Kinetics

Syllabus

Miss an exam or quiz without a valid excuse and you get a zero.
Exams questions will be similar in nature to HW problems and problem that are discussed in
class thus it is imperative that a student attend class and do the HW.
Requests for re-grades must be made within 72 hours of exam. Requests for regrading a
homework assignment or exam must be made in writing within 3 business days following
the return of the papers. Requests to re-tally points (in the case of an addition error) need not
be in writing and may be made at any time.
There will be no early or make-up exams except in the case of serious emergencies. In the
case of an emergency, every effort should be made to notify Dr. Marten prior to the class
period to be missed. Decisions on allowing make-up exams will be based on the validity
and verifiability of the excuse.

Grading:
The final grade for the course will be determined as follows:
Homework Assignments
10%
3 Exams (each)
22.5%
Quizzes (average)
22.5%
The following grading scale will be used to assign final course grades.
90% - 100% A
80% - 89%
B
70% - 79%
C
60% - 69%
D
<60%
F
Questions about homework, quizzes, exams, etc.:
Well use the BlackBoard Discussion Board for all questions. This way, everyone in the
class gets to see both your question and my answer. So everyone gets the benefit of the help.
You should Subscribe to the Discussion Board, ENCH440 Forum (click the name of the
Forum ENCH440 then click the blue button near the top that says Subscribe. This way,
youll get an email every time someone posts a question, or I post an answer.
Please dont email me homework questions Ill simply point you back to the Discussion
Board.
Honesty:
University policies on academic integrity will be STRICTLY enforced. There is no tolerance of
cheating of any kind. You are expressly prohibited from accessing/using old homework, lab
reports, programs and test files from previous years. Adequate samples will be provided in class if
needed/requested. Anyone who violates this policy is in automatic violation of Chemical,
Biochemical and Environmental Engineerings policy and the faculty will treat this as a case of
academic misconduct.