Chemical Principles for

Environmental Engineering
Introduction and units
Instructor: Wen-Che Hou ()
Date: 2/22/2016

Chemical Principles for Environmental Engineering

Attendance: encourage to attend every lecture

Course work:
4-5 homework assignments (20%), two exams (70%),
presentation and term paper (10 %)
Homework and exam policy:
Late homework -20 points/day
Cheating/copy homework or exam
Major textbooks: Water Chemistry, by Snoeyink&Jenkins
References: Aquatic Chemistry: Chemical Equilibria and Rates
in Natural Waters, by Stumm and Morgan, 3rd Ed., Wiley. Water
Chemistry, by Brezonik and Arnold, 1st Ed., Oxford.

Class Outline and Schedule

Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

Date
2/22, 26
3/4
3/7, 11
3/14, 18
3/21, 25
3/28
4/8
4/11, 15
4/18, 22
4/25, 29
5/2, 6

12

5/9, 13

13
14
15
16
17
18

5/16, 20
5/23, 27
5/30, 6/3
6/6
6/13, 17
6/20, 24

Topic
Introduction and Units
Chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics
Thermodynamics
Acid and base
Acid and base
Dissolved CO2
Atmosphere-Water Interaction
Coordination chemistry
Coordination chemistry
Precipitation and dissolution
Water Chemistry software
(visual MINTEQ)
Oxidation and dissolution
Oxidation and dissolution
Photochemistry
Presentation
Presentation
Final exam

Note
2/29 Mon. holiday

4/1 Fri. spring break

4/4 Mon. spring break
Mid-term exam

6/10 Fri. holiday

Introduction
This course covers the chemical equilibria/reactions in the
aquatic environments (i.e., water chemistry) including
natural and engineered systems.
Focus on the chemical processes (e.g., acid and base
reactions) that control the constituents (e.g., metal and
organic pollutant removal, pH, etc.) of the waters.

Water distribution on earth

Water quality-seawater

Water quality-rain and snow

Water quality-surface and ground water

Water quality-tap to wastewater effluent

Units - review
In engineering and regulation practice, mg/L (ppm) or
g/L (ppb) is the typical unit of use.

In contrast, in chemistry (reaction rate and equilibrium

calculation) the common unit is molarity (mole/L) or
molar concentration.
Therefore, it is important to be familiar with the
conversion between mg/L (or g/L) and mole/L.

Example
What is the molar concentration of 360 mg/L NH4+? If
this amount of NH4+ is completely oxidized to NO3-,
determine the molar concentration of NO3-?

Equivalent () and normal concentration (or

normality )
Equivalent # (n ) = the ion charge, or the # of H+ or OHtransferred (for an acid-base reaction), or # of electron
transferred (for a redox reaction) of a chemical species. In
other words, n is reaction dependent.

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent (eq) = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n

Example 1
60 mg/L CO32- (MW=60 g/mol), in a precipitation reaction:
Ca2+ + CO32- CaCO3(s)

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent (eq) = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n

Example 2
155 mg/L Ca3(PO4)2 (MW=310 g/mol) in a dissolution reaction:
Ca3(PO4)2(s) 3 Ca2+ + 2 PO43-

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n

Example 3
36.5 mg/L HCl (MW=36.5 g/mole) with respect to:
HCl + NaOH NaCl + H2O

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n

Example 4
49 mg/L H3PO4 (MW=98 g/mole) with respect to:
H3PO4 2 H+ + HPO42-

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n

Example 5
32 mg/L O2 (MW=32 g/mole) with respect to:
O2 + 4 H+ + 4 e- 2 H2O

Equivalent weight = molecular weight/ n

Equivalent = molecular weight/equivalent weight

Normality = mass per liter/equivalent weight = molarity n