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Michigan State University
Michigan State University

College of Engineering
College of Engineering > About > Academic departments > Chemical Engineering and Materials Science > Continuing education >

ChE 806

ChE 806 Overview

Fall 2025

August 25, 2025 - December 12, 2025

3 Semester credit hours

Check out the academic calendar for details

Carl Lira (Control)
(517) 355-9731
lira@msu.edu

R Mark Worden (Design)
(517) 353-9015
worden@.msu.edu

Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Engineering Building, Room 2100
428 S. Shaw Ln
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1226
FAX: (517) 432-1105

ChE 804 Foundations of Chemical Engineering I and ChE 805 Foundations of Chemical Engineering II, or equivalent background approved by instructors.

Practical Process Control using Loop-Pro Software, Cooper, Douglas J., Control Station, Manchester, CT, USA, 2020. This is a pdf text that will be provided to students enrolled in the course, and no external purchase is necessary. Additional resources will be provided during the course.

Chemical Engineering Design, 3rd Ed., Towler, Gavin; Sinott, Ray, Butterworth-Heinemann, Cambridge, MA, USA, 2022. This text can be accessed electronically via the MSU library by students enrolled in the course, and separate purchase is not required.

Quizzes/final exam are closed book with an equation/resource sheet provided by the instructors. Students may also use one sheet of paper (both sides) with their own notes.

The course objectives are to develop competence in practical process control equipment and tuning, process dynamics, process design and economics.

Control Strategies, Controller Tuning, Process Dynamics, Linearization of Dynamics, Process Design and Economics.

General: Both ChE 804 and ChE 805 should be completed prior to ChE 806. The course is delivered through a 15 week semester. A course calendar is followed.

Homework: Daily assignments are given. Homework is collected approximately weekly.
Grading: All homework(20%), quizzes(55%), and final exam(25%) required. The course grade appears on the MSU transcript.

Examinations: Biweekly quizzes. In addition, one final exam. A scientific calculator with trigonometric functions, logarithms, etc. is required. No computers, tablets, cell phones, communication electronics, photography or internet browsing are permitted during quizzes/exams.

Computer Facilities: Access to Excel, Control Station software and Aspen process design software will be provided via remote login.

This course will enable students to

  1. Implement basic block diagrams and feedback control schemes
  2. Tune controllers and implement controller design in simulators
  3. Design safe control solutions
  4. Derive models for dynamic system responses
  5. Characterize system stability
  6. Conceptually design and optimize a chemical or biological process or product
  7. Apply previous knowledge from fluid mechanics, heat transfer, separations, and reaction kinetics to develop process concepts
  8. Apply process simulators (ASPEN) and other software to solve process material and energy balances, develop process flow diagrams, and specify/size process equipment
  9. Assess the viability of a process concept based on economics, safety, environmental sustainability, ethical considerations
  10. Communicate technical results written and graphical formats

Outline of major topics:

  1. Block diagrams for control systems, process control loops
  2. Hardware selection for process measurements
  3. Controller models—selection and tuning
  4. Process dynamics, mathematical modeling
  5. Stability analysis
  6. Process flowsheet development, heat and power integration, and optimization
  7. Cost estimation, time value of money, and profitability analysis
  8. Simulation of unit operations and integrated chemical processes
  9. Process safety, hazard, and operability analysis
  10. Chemical Engineering professional skills, ethics, and contemporary issues

Additional Information: program philosophy, methods to enroll in the course, and the costs.

Please see the information on enrollment and course setup page.
The three courses ChE 804, ChE 805, and ChE 806 constitute a transcriptable, MSU Graduate Certificate Program. Either ChE 804 or ChE 805 can be taken first, but both courses are prerequisites for ChE 806. The goal of this Graduate Certificate Program is to provide non-chemical engineers with a credential showing they have been trained in the foundational principles and calculations of chemical engineering. Students earning at a grade of at least 3.0/4.0 in all three courses are awarded an MSU Graduate Certificate credential entitled ‘Foundations in Chemical Engineering,’ on their transcripts.

Chemical Engineering and Materials Science (ChEMS)