Major
Chemical Systems
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What will I study?
Overview
In this major you’ll build on a foundation of fundamental science, then integrate and apply this knowledge to chemical processing systems.
You’ll also hone your analytical and problem-solving skills through computer modelling of chemical systems. And you’ll learn how to conduct laboratory experiments to solve chemical systems problems.
Your major structure
You’ll complete this major as part of a Bachelor of Science degree. You can study engineering subjects from your first year with us, and you’ll have plenty of flexibility to explore other interests too.
In your first and second years you’ll complete subjects that are prerequisites for your major, including mathematics, chemistry and foundational engineering subjects.
In your third year, you will complete 50 points (four subjects) of deep and specialised study in chemical systems.
Throughout your degree you will also take science elective subjects and breadth (non-science) subjects, in addition to your major subjects and prerequisites.
Sample course plan
View some sample course plans to help you select subjects that will meet the requirements for this major.
If you did not achieve a study score of at least 29 in VCE Specialist Mathematics 3/4, you may need to enrol in MAST10005 Calculus 1 in your first semester. If you achieved a study score of at least 36 in VCE Specialist Mathematics 3/4 or equivalent, you can enrol in MAST10021 Calculus 2: Advanced and MAST10022 Linear Algebra: Advanced instead of MAST10006 Calculus 2 and MAST10007 Linear Algebra. If you have not undertaken VCE Units 3/4 Chemistry previously, you may first need to enrol in CHEM10007 Fundamentals of Chemistry in your first semester.
Year 1
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
Year 2
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
Year 3
100 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
If you did not achieve a study score of at least 29 in VCE Specialist Mathematics 3/4, you may need to enrol in MAST10005 Calculus 1 in your first semester. If you achieved a study score of at least 36 in VCE Specialist Mathematics 3/4 or equivalent, you can enrol in MAST10021 Calculus 2: Advanced and MAST10022 Linear Algebra: Advanced instead of MAST10006 Calculus 2 and MAST10007 Linear Algebra. If you have not undertaken VCE Units 3/4 Chemistry previously, you may first need to enrol in CHEM10007 Fundamentals of Chemistry in your first semester.
Year 1
125 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
- Summer 25 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
Year 2
125 pts
- Semester 2 50 pts
- Summer 25 pts
breadth
12.5 pts
- Semester 1 50 pts
Explore this major
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this major.
- 12.5 ptsReactor Engineering
AIMS
This subject introduces students to aspects of reactor system design. Chemical reactors are at the heart of any major chemical process design. Chemical reaction engineering is concerned with the exploitation of chemical reactions on a commercial scale. Chemical reaction engineering aims at studying and optimizing chemical reactions in order to define the best reactor design. Hence, the interactions of flow phenomena, mass transfer, heat transfer, and reaction kinetics are of prime importance in order to relate reactor performance to feed composition and operating conditions.
This subject is one of the key parts of the chemical and biochemical engineering curriculum upon which a lot of later year material is built.
INDICATIVE CONTENT
- Overview of design of single ideal reactors
- Multiple reactor systems
- Other design reactors (recycle reactors and temperature effects)
- Basics of non-ideal flow
- Models for reactors
- Conversion in Non-ideal Systems
- Rate controlling mechanisms
- Kinetic regimes for fluid-fluid and gas-fluid reactions
- Catalytic reactor systems
- 12.5 ptsHeat and Mass Transport Processes
AIMS
This subject aims to extend the fundamental concepts of heat transfer from that covered in CHEN20009 Transport Processes to include natural and forced convection and two phase systems. Mass transfer concepts are extended to unsteady state mass transfer and Fick's Second Law, prediction of diffusivity and of mass transfer coefficients. These fundamental concepts are then applied to the design of processes and equipment including shell and tube, air-cooled and plate heat exchangers, evaporator systems, membrane devices, binary distillation systems, gas absorbers and cooling towers. Experience in the use of appropriate simulation packages such as HYSYS for exchanger and distillation column design are included. This simulation work builds on the skills developed in CHEN20011 Chemical Process Analysis .
INDICATIVE CONTENT
- Forced Convection: Use of heat transfer correlations to predict coefficients
- Heat Exchange: concept of an overall heat transfer coefficient, fouling factors; determination of the area required for a given heat duty, Heat exchanger design. Use of simulation packages such as HYSYS and ASPEN
- Free convection: discussion and application of Grashof Number and other dimensionless groups
- Condensation and Boiling: Fundamentals. Evaporation: various evaporator types and their advantages and disadvantages (forced circulation, film types); multiple and single effects; backward and forward feed; boiling point elevation; mechanical recompression; evaporator energy balances
- Mass Transfer: Unsteady state mass transfer and Fick's Second Law; prediction of diffusivity; dimensional analysis and equations of change for mass transfer
- Distillation: single-stage separations, equilibrium flash, differential distillation; multistage separations, operating lines, reflux; binary distillation, varying reflux ratio, minimum reflux, total reflux, optimum reflux, feed plate location, side streams, open steam; tray efficiency via overall and Murphree efficiencies. Use of simulation packages such as HYSYS
- Gas absorption: basic mass transfer mechanism; material balances, co-current and countercurrent flow, limiting L/G ratio; multistage absorption and the absorption factor method; continuous contact, transfer units, height of a transfer unit, calculation of number of transfer units. Humidification and cooling tower height calculation
- Membrane Systems: Microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration and reverse osmosis. Gas separation systems. Robeson’s bound. Electrodialysis and pervaporation. Membrane selection.
- 12.5 ptsSafety and Sustainability Case Studies
This subject provides an introduction to process work in process engineering, focusing specifically on process safety and sustainability. Material taught in other chemical engineering subjects will be reinforced via a series of assignments in which ill-defined and open-ended process engineering problems will be tackled. Both hypothetical and real case studies from the process engineering field are used throughout the subject.
Several assessment tasks combine to form a capstone project. Within this project students, in teams of three or four, perform design tasks related to the development of a Chemical Process Engineering facility. This capstone project culminates in an Environmental Effects Statement assignment. Several industry speakers, from the process engineering and environmental areas, talk and provide content to aid with this assignment.
- 12.5 ptsFluid Mechanics
AIMS
This subject concerns the fundamental science of fluid flow relevant to a range of engineering applications, and is essential for specialisations relating to Chemical, Civil and Environmental Engineering.
INDICATIVE CONTENT
Topics covered include - Fluid statics, manometry, derivation of the continuity equation, mechanical energy balance, friction losses in a straight pipe, Newton’s law of viscosity, treatment of pipe roughness, valves and fittings; simple pipe network problems; principles of open channel flow; compressible flow, propagation of pressure wave, isothermal and adiabatic flow equations in a pipe, choked flow. Pumps – pump characteristics, centrifugal pumps, derivation of theoretical head, head losses leading to the actual pump head curve, calculating system head, determining the operating point of a pumping system, throttling for flow control, cavitation and NPSH, affinity laws and pump scale-up, introduction to positive displacement pumps; stirred tanks- radial, axial and tangential flow, type of agitators, vortex elimination, the standard tank configuration, power number and power curve, dynamic and geometric similarity in scale-up; Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, Multi-dimensional fluid flow-momentum flux, development of multi-dimensional equations of continuity and for momentum transfer, Navier-Stokes equations, application to tube flow, Couette flow, Stokes flow.
Option 1
Complete the following subject:
- Engineering Mathematics 12.5 pts
This subject introduces important mathematical methods required in engineering such as manipulating vector differential operators, computing multiple integrals and using integral theorems. A range of ordinary and partial differential equations are solved by a variety of methods and their solution behaviour is interpreted. The subject also introduces sequences and series including the concepts of convergence and divergence.
Topics include: Vector calculus, including Gauss’ and Stokes’ Theorems; sequences and series; Fourier series, Laplace transforms; systems of homogeneous ordinary differential equations, including phase plane and linearization for nonlinear systems; second order partial differential equations and separation of variables.
Option 2
Complete both of the following subjects:
- Vector Calculus 12.5 pts
This subject studies the fundamental concepts of functions of several variables and vector calculus. It develops the manipulation of partial derivatives and vector differential operators. The gradient vector is used to obtain constrained extrema of functions of several variables. Line, surface and volume integrals are evaluated and related by various integral theorems. Vector differential operators are also studied using curvilinear coordinates.
Functions of several variables topics include limits, continuity, differentiability, the chain rule, Jacobian, Taylor polynomials and Lagrange multipliers. Vector calculus topics include vector fields, flow lines, curvature, torsion, gradient, divergence, curl and Laplacian. Integrals over paths and surfaces topics include line, surface and volume integrals; change of variables; applications including averages, moments of inertia, centre of mass; Green's theorem, Divergence theorem in the plane, Gauss' divergence theorem, Stokes' theorem; and curvilinear coordinates.
- Differential Equations 12.5 pts
Differential equations arise as common models in the physical, mathematical, biological and engineering sciences. This subject covers linear differential equations, both ordinary and partial, using concepts from linear algebra to provide the general structure of solutions for ordinary differential equations and linear systems. The differences between initial value problems and boundary value problems are discussed and eigenvalue problems arising from common classes of partial differential equations are introduced. Laplace transform methods are used to solve dynamical models with discontinuous inputs and the separation of variables method is applied to simple second order partial differential equations. Fourier series are derived and used to represent the solutions of the heat and wave equation and Fourier transforms are introduced. The subject balances basic theory with concrete applications.