ABSTRACT
This chapter briefly outlines the principles of thermodynamics, which often involves processes that are in equilibrium. The four laws of thermodynamics are essential to understanding chemical and physical processes. The principles of thermodynamics, together with mass and energy balances, can often predict the ultimate outcome of a chemical and/or physical processing step. This is very useful in the design and analysis of chemical processes. For example, the laws of thermodynamics also predict that perpetual motion machines are impossible.
This chapter also briefly describes rate processes and transport phenomena. While thermodynamics can predict the ultimate equilibrium state of a process system, it cannot predict how long it will take to reach that final state. This is where transport phenomena and chemical kinetics, along with mass and energy balances, can help predict the rates of chemical and physical processes. Knowing the rates of these processes, chemical engineers can determine critical information such as the required size of process equipment to produce desired chemical and physical changes of state in a reasonable length of time.
