Chemical Engineering

This course introduces principles of diffusional separation processes for simple gas-liquid and liquid systems. It includes qualitative and quantitative analysis of binary distillation, absorption and stripping of single solutes between immiscible gas and liquid phases, and liquid-liquid extraction between immiscible phases. Brief consideration is given to the economic viability of separation processes. 

This course equips students with the background knowledge and understanding of concepts that link atomic and molecular physical chemistry to macroscopic behavior of gasses, liquids, and solids.

This course introduces students to Matlab, and consists of a design project and a process engineering project. Students acquire knowledge of basic engineering concepts, computation, practical laboratory skills, and design. 

This six-week summer course provides individual research training through the experience of belonging to a specific laboratory at Tohoku University. Students are assigned to a laboratory research group with Japanese and international students under the supervision of Tohoku University faculty. They participate in various group activities, including seminars, for the purpose of training in research methods and developing teamwork skills. The specific topic studied depends on the instructor in charge of the laboratory to which each student is assigned. The methods of assessment vary with the student's project and laboratory instructor. Students submit an abstract concerning the results of their individual research each semester and present the results near the end of this program.

This course explores the basic equations that govern mass and momentum transfer of incompressible fluids as well as of important modes of heat transfer, for instance by phase-change (including boiling and condensation). By building on the fundamental aspects of the subject, problems are considered for a number of settings relevant to engineering applications.

This course builds upon the knowledge and understanding gained by the students in the Separation Processes 1 course. This is  achieved by both broadening the content to encompass a wider range of separation processes and deepening the student’s understanding of the processes covered in Separation Processes 1. This is primarily achieved by building upon knowledge of distillation and extraction processes and design, introducing more complex variables and via the introduction of new separation processes such as adsorption. 

In this course, students learn and apply core principles and concepts in heterogeneous catalysis. Students learn the most important catalytic materials and how to describe their functions, including important applications of heterogeneous catalysts in sustainable energy conversion. Course topics include the scope of future energy supply and its significance for industry and society as well as the environment and various synthetic methods for the preparation of heterogeneous catalysts using various solid-state, solution-and molecular-based approaches. Students learn how to define crystalline and amorphous materials and thin-film technology and gain a basic understanding of the characterization techniques and systematic evaluation of catalysts/thin films using diffraction, microscopic, and analytics. The course covers fundamentals of electrochemistry and how to correlate and explain activity parameters to differentiate catalyst's performances in catalytic oxidation and reduction processes in the rapidly growing fields of water electrolysis, fuel cells, CO2 activation, biomass reforming, and paired electrolysis. Course readings include relevant scientific literature and key publications of leading female and male scientists of the field.

In this course, students learn to explain the behavior and properties of fluids (static and dynamic), solve problems involving incompressible flows, and apply these basic principles in flow measurements and other flow (e.g. pipe) related problems, and (ii) to develop a basic understanding of conductive, diffusion and convective heat and mass transport, emphasizing first principles analysis, and apply it to a broad range of contexts.

Students apply knowledge of core chemical engineering to the design and evaluation of solutions for industrially relevant problems in an authentic context.  The course enables students to confidently undertake open-ended research in later courses. Students also explore business ethics on 3 levels (the Corporate, the social, and the theoretical) in order to develop an understanding of the moral structure of competing obligations and responsibilities inherent in various situations and issues.

In this course, students develop the skills required to identify hazards, to estimate the magnitude of the consequences (typically fires, explosions and toxic releases) and the probability of such an event occurring. Additionally, a fundamental approach for the systematic assessment and reduction of risk is established. Such an approach is essential to minimize harm, the resulting loss of money and reputation, and to meet national regulatory requirements.