PSE-Paper Science and Engineering
Course Descriptions

PSE 132. Orientation Seminar: Paper Science and Engineering (1)
One session per week of lecture, discussion, and/or exercises. Introduction to campus resources available to ensure academic success. Introduction to PSE as a field of inquiry and career path. Fall.

PSE 201. The Art and Early History of Papermaking (3)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of studio per week. This paper-making course provides a historical (Asia – Far East) and artistic per-spective in both lecture and studio formats. History lectures will include the influence of paper art form in non-Western cultures. Studio lessons may vary but generally will include historical papermaking by hand as well as more modern techniques in the creation of paper art forms. Fall.

PSE 300. Introduction to Papermaking (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Historical and commercial consider-ation of the paper industry. Technology of papermaking with emphasis on stock furnish, stock preparation and paper machine operation. Introductory discussions of papermaking materials and formation and reactions of a fibrous web. Fall.

PSE 302. Pulp and Paper Laboratory Skills (1)
Three hours of laboratory per week. Introduction to the laboratory skills necessary for subsequent PSE courses as well as necessary "survival" skills for their summer and co-op work experiences. Skills covered include pulp sampling and analysis, freeness, consistency, handsheet preparation, and physical and optical testing. A demon-stration run of the pilot paper machine is part of this course. Fall.
Pre- or co-requisite: PSE 300 (concurrent registration).

PSE 304. Mill Experience (2)
Twelve weeks full time pulp or paper mill employment approved by the Department between the junior and senior years. The student must submit a comprehensive report to fulfill this requirement. Fall, Spring and Summer. Pre- or co-requisites: PSE 300, PSE 302.

PSE 305. Co-op Experience (2)
One semester full-time pulp or paper mill experience. Work experi-ence as an engineering intern on company-assigned projects. Trad-itionally, the student works for a semester and adjacent summer also taking PSE 304. The student must submit a comprehensive report and give a presentation to fulfill this requirement. Fall and Spring.
Pre- or co-requisites: PSE 300, PSE 302.

PSE 350. Pulping and Bleaching Processes (3)
Three hours of lecture. Technological and chemical consideration of pulping and bleaching of raw materials used in the paper industry. Includes consideration of the pulping and bleaching processes and related chemistry. Discussions of related operations, e.g., chemical recovery, are included. Spring.
Pre- or co-requisites: PSE 300, FCH 221, FCH 223.

PSE 351. Pulping and Bleaching Laboratory (2)
One hour lecture and three hours laboratory per week. Discussion of: pulping and bleaching processes, effect of chemical and physical variables on the wood components and pulp properties, and the chemistry involved. Experiments in pulping, bleaching and pulp evaluation. Spring.
Pre- or co-requisites: FCH 223, FCH 360, PSE 350.

PSE 361. Engineering Thermodynamics (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Principles of classical thermo-dynamics applied to engineering practice. First and second laws; heat effects; property functions and their correlation; physical and chemical equilibrium; solutions and mixtures; power and refrigeration cycles. Thermodynamic analysis of processes and systems via case studies and computer simulation. Spring.
Prerequisites: MAT 296, FCH 152, PHY 211.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 361 and ERE 561.

PSE 370. Principles of Mass and Energy Balance (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Conservation of mass and energy applied to steady-state and dynamic process units and systems. Problem analysis and solution; computational techniques. Thermo-dynamic data and their use; real vs. perfect gases; steam properties; psychrometry. Fall.
Pre- or co-requisite(s): PHY 211, MAT 296 (or concurrent), FCH 152.

PSE 371. Fluid Mechanics (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Fluid statics. Principles of mass, energy and momentum balance. Bernoulli’s equation. Application to pipe flows, flow measurement and porous media. Movement of particles in fluid media. Rheology of fluids and suspensions typical in the pulp and paper industry (pulps, black liquor, etc.). Filtration and sedimen-tation of fibrous and particulate suspensions. Characteristics of pumps. Flow systems with economic considerations. Fall.
Prerequisites: PHY 211, MAT 296, FCH 152.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 371 and ERE 571.

PSE 372. Heat Transfer (3)
Two hours of lecture and/or demonstration per week. The study of heat transfer including conduction, convection, radiation and their applications in industry. Heater and heat exchanger design and selection, and industrial evaporation. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 370, PSE 371.

PSE 436. Pulp and Paper Unit Operations (3)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week. Applications of momentum, heat, and mass transfer to operations in the pulp and paper industry. Topics include pulp flow, heater and heat exchanger design, black liquor evaporation, humidification, steam systems, paper and pulp drying, gas absorption, pulp washing, leaching, and extraction. Laboratory exercises include paper drying, pulp washing and cleaning, heat exchanger operations, and gas absorption for liquor preparation. Spring. Prerequisites: PSE 361, PSE 370, PSE 371, BPE 335.

PSE 456. Management in the Paper Industry (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Provides the student with inter-active contact with active executives in the paper and allied industries. The student will develop and present studies of business cases in discussion forum to the class. An understanding of how general managers operate to manage an entire organization will be presented by visiting experts, class participation, group presentations, written papers and examinations. Spring. Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 456 and ERE 676.

PSE 465. Paper Properties (4)
Three hours of lecture, three hours of laboratory and discussion per week. Evaluation and study of the physical, optical, and chemical properties of paper and the interrelationships existing among paper manufacturing methods, papermaking additives test results and the ultimate properties desired in the finished paper. Fall.
Prerequisite: PSE 300.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 465 and ERE 677.

PSE 466. Paper Coating and Converting (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Evaluation and study of various coating materials and processes used by the paper industry. Intro-duction to polymers and their use in converting operations. Study of materials and equipment used in converting operations, fundamentals and parameters which control their use, effects on final properties of papers. Spring. Prerequisite: PSE 465.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 466 and ERE 678.

PSE 467. Papermaking Wet End Chemistry (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Provides the student with the funda-mental principles of colloid and surface chemistry as they relate to the interaction of papermaking materials and chemical additives in the wet end of a papermachine system. The topics of retention of fine solids and dewatering are addressed in detail. Application of the various topics presented during the course are made during a pilot papermachine trial. Spring.
Prerequisite: Senior status in paper science and engineering program or permission of instructor.

PSE 468. Papermaking Processes (3)
One hour of lecture, six hours of laboratory per week. Laboratory study of the papermaking process, with emphasis on operation of the semi-commercial Fourdrinier paper machine. Emphasis is on the fundamentals of stock preparation, paper machine operation, evaluation of the finished product, and the collection and analysis of data to develop material and energy balances. Results of each paper machine run are evaluated in seminar-type discussions. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 300, PSE 370, PSE 465.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 468 and ERE 679.

PSE 473. Mass Transfer (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. The study of mass transfer, humid-ification, air conditioning, drying, gas absorption, distillation, leaching, washing and extraction. Fall. Prerequisites: PSE 370, PSE 371, PSE 372.

PSE 477. Process Control (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Presents an introduction to the principles of process control. Linear analysis, LaPlace transforms, and nonlinear simulation are presented and applied to feedback, and feedforward control. Examples of process simulation, accuracy and stability of control are drawn from paper industry processes. Fall.
Prerequisite: APM 485 or equivalent.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both PSE 477 and ERE 667.

PSE 480. Engineering Design Economics (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Engineering analysis of modern plant practice in the pulp and paper, chemical and related industries. Operating costs, profitability criteria, optimization techniques and evaluation of alternatives. Modeling and computer simulation of process units and systems; use of typical software. Design exercises and case studies. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 370, MAT 296.

PSE 481. Engineering Design (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Design-project procedure; data sources and development. Application of simulation and computer-aided design to process synthesis and plant layout. Formulation and solution of original design problems. Fall. Prerequisites: PSE 371, PSE 372, PSE 480.
Pre- or co-requisite: PSE 473.

PSE 496. Special Topics (1-3)
Lectures, conferences and discussions. Specialized topics in chemistry, chemical engineering and physics as well as topics pertaining to management as related to the pulp, paper, paperboard and allied industries. Fall and Spring.

PSE 498. Research Problem (1-4)
The student is assigned a research problem in pulping, bleaching, refining, additives, quality control of paper or paper products, or chemical engineering. The student must make a systematic survey
of available literature on the assigned problem. Emphasis is on application of correct research technique rather than on the results of commercial importance. The information obtained from the literature survey, along with the data developed as a result of the investigation, is to be presented as a technical report. Fall, Spring and Summer.