ChE 321 - Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers
INSTRUCTOR:
Dr. Ali Elkamel
Office: DWE 2506
e-mail: aelkamel@ uwaterloo.ca
Telephone: (519)888-4567 ext. 37157
OFFICE HOURS:
Tuesday: 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Thursday: 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
TEACHING ASSISTANT:
Mr. Juan Rosendo Diaz Mendoza (PhD candidate)
Office: DWE 2531
Telephone: (519)888-4567 ext. 35675
e-mail: jrdiazme@engmail.uwaterloo.ca
Office Hour: will be announced later
CLASS SCHEDULE:
Tuesday:
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. DWE 2529
Tuesday :
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. DWE 2529
Thursday:
1:30 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. RCH 309
Thursday:
2:30 p.m. - 3:20 p.m. RCH 308 or DWE 1507 (Chemcad)
ONLINE COMMUNICATION:
Information for the course can be accessed at:
https://uwangel.uwaterloo.ca/uwangel/frames.aspx
UW-ACE will be used to maintain course communication. Virtually all assignments and
handouts will be posted there.
If you need help outside of office hours, please send an email with the question or with a
request to schedule an appointment. Your questions along with answers by your
instructor will be posted on UW-ACE for every student to benefit from.
TEXTBOOK:
“Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB”
Steven C. Chapra
Second Edition 2007
McGraw-Hill Book Company
USEFUL REFERENCES:
1. “Numerical Methods for Engineers”, Steven C. Chapra, Raymond P. Canale, Fourth
Edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company.
2. “Numerical Methods for Engineers and Scientists” (1993), Joe Hoffman, McGrawHill Book Company.
3. “Numerical Methods for Engineers” (1996), Bilal Ayyub and Richard McCuen,
Printice Hall
4. “Numerical Methods Using MATLAB” (1995), G. Lindfield and J. Penny, Ellis
Horwood.
5. “MATLAB for Engineers” (1995), Adrian Biran and Moshe Breiner, AddisonWesley.
6. “Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers with MATLAB Applications”, Alkis
Constantinides and Navid Mostoufi, Printice Hall
7. “An Introduction to Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers”, James B. Riggs,
Texas Tech University Press.
8. “Applied Numerical Methods for Engineers”, Robert J. Schilling and Sandra L.
Harris, Brooks/Cole.
HOMEWORK:
Homework is an essential element in learning the type of material being taught in this
course. Problems will be assigned regularly. To maximize your learning in this course,
you are urged to solve all problems prior to their due date; after which the solutions will
be posted on the course web site.
READING ASSIGNMENTS:
For each lecture you should plan to spend two hours of reading your notes, handouts, and
books. The best time to study is the same day as the lecture, so that no unclear points
remain. Not keeping up is a sure way of failing to meet the course objectives.
SHORT QUIZZES:
Announced and unannounced quizzes will be often given during the lecture or tutorial
sessions. If you are absent (with or without an excuse) you will receive a zero on that
quiz. Your lowest score will, however, be dropped.
EXAMS:
All exams will be closed books, closed notes, unless otherwise indicated. Remember that
according to university regulations the penalty for dishonesty is severe: at least failure of
the course (not just the exam). Make-up exams will not be given. Any student who
cannot take an exam as scheduled must make special arrangements with Dr. Elkamel
before the exam is given.
The midterm exam is scheduled to be in class on March 1, 2007. The final examination
will cover all material in the course, including any new material since the last hour exam.
The final exam date and location will be announced later.
PROJECT:
The project will be solved in groups of 2 or 3 students. Take a chemical engineering
problem from the literature (that involves ODEs or PDEs and was solved numerically)
and re-derive all solutions and results (by writing an appropriate computer program in
MATLAB). More details will be given later in the term.
COURSE GRADING:
Quizzes
Project(s)
Midterm
Final
:
:
:
:
10%
10%
35%
45%
Grades will be assigned on the basis of the final class average. I do not use a
predetermined scale.
In grading quizzes and examinations, the emphasis will be on a correct approach to the
problem. A numerically correct answer derived from an unsound approach will receive
little credit.
Remember …..The teacher’s job is to serve the student. If something is unclear to
you, please ask.
“To ask is a moment of shame, not to ask is an eternity of shame” – A Japanese
Proverb.
TENTATIVE COURSE OUTLINE (other Topics will be added if time permits)
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Topic
Introduction
Computers and Software
Round-off Errors
Truncation Errors and Taylor Series
Finite Differences
Bisection/False Position
Newton-Raphson/Secant
Nonlinear Systems Overview
Roots of polynomials / Case Studies
Matrices
Gauss Elimination
Matrix Inversion/Condition
Special Matrices
Special Matrices
Gauss-Seidel
Case Studies/Trade-Offs
Statistics/Simple Linear Regression
Polynomial/multiple regression
Nonlinear Regression Overview
Interpolating Polynomials
Splines
Fourier Analysis Overview
Case Studies/Trade-Offs
Newton-Cotes Integration Formulas
Romberg Integration
Gauss Quadrature
Improper Integrals/Differentiation
Case Studies/Trade-Offs
ODEs/Euler’s Method
Improved Euler/2nd Order RK Methods
4th Order RK
Systems of ODEs
Case Studies/Trade-Offs
Boundary-Value ODEs (Shooting Method)
Boundary-Value ODEs (Finite Difference)
Eigenvalue Overview
PDEs: Elliptic
PDEs: Elliptic Boundary Conditions
PDEs: Parabolic/FE Overview
Case Studies/Trade-Offs
Classroom Etiquette:
Visit this web site and read the section on cheating.
http://www.eng.uwaterloo.ca/~ugoffice/course_responsibilities.html
In addition, let me offer you an explanation of what I consider a disruptive behavior?
Disruptive behavior is defined as repeated, continuous, and/or multiple student
behaviors that hamper the ability of instructors to teach and students to learn. Common
examples of disruptive behaviors include, but are not limited to:

Eating in class

Monopolizing classroom discussions

Failing to respect the rights of other students to express their viewpoints

Talking when the instructor or others are speaking

Constant questions or interruptions which interfere with the instructor's
presentation

Overt inattentiveness (e.g., sleeping or reading the paper in class)

Creating excessive noise with papers, book bags, etc.

Entering class late or leaving early

Use of pagers or cell phones in the classroom

Inordinate or inappropriate demands for time and attention

Poor personal hygiene (e.g., noticeably offensive body odor)
More extreme examples of disruptive behavior include, but are not limited to:

Use of profanity or pejorative language

Intoxication

Verbal abuse (e.g., taunting, badgering, intimidation)

Harassment (e.g., use of "fighting words," stalking)

Threats to harm oneself or others

Physical violence (e.g., shoving, grabbing, assault, use of weapons)