Let’s face it, a lot of Chemical Engineering is based on empirical data. The behaviour of gases and particles and chemical reactions is simply too stochastic to create a new physical model for. I attempt to reduce the amount of tedious work required to solve problems by creating a network of MATLAB scripts and data files. CheMATLAB is a personal project that seeks to make getting through a chemical engineering degree just a little bit easier.
Storage of thermodynamic data in structures
I attempted to make the information as easy to navigate as possible, by sorting the data into structures. Each structure represents one compound, and the properties (i.e. heat capacity coefficients, enthalpy of vapourization, etc.) are all stored within each compound. For easy access, the corresponding reverse structures also exist. There is a Cp structure that stores the heat capacities of each compound. While this is redundant, it allows for easy access.
Scripts to solve basic processes
I have created several scripts that run based on the structural data I have stored. These scripts are designed to calculate common values, such as “enthalpy of reaction” or “adiabatic reaction temperature” that are abundant in Chemical engineering.