Phase and Chemical Equilibria is thermodynamics of mixtures — the half of the subject that matters most to chemical engineers, because real processes are mixtures whose composition changes. The statewide description: application of thermodynamic principles to systems of variable composition, including the study of phase and chemical equilibria.
⚠⚠ This is the course that makes separations possible. Every distillation column, every extraction, every flash drum is designed from phase equilibrium data, and the reason chemical engineering thermodynamics has a difficult reputation — fugacity, activity, excess properties — is concentrated here.
Carried by two Florida public institutions.
Named on the Chemical Engineer career path. Phase equilibrium is the basis of every separation, and in industry the ability to choose and validate a thermodynamic property package in a simulator is a specific and well-paid skill — getting it wrong is one of the commonest causes of a process design that does not work when built.
UF and USF carry ECH4123; FAMU and Florida State do not. The FAMU-FSU college distributes the mixture and phase-equilibrium material through its separations and design sequence rather than giving it a dedicated course.
⚠⚠ Both approaches are legitimate and the consequence is a transfer question, not a quality one. A student moving into UF or USF from the FAMU-FSU college may be asked to show this specific course and will not have it under this number; a student moving the other way will find the material already assumed. Take the topic list, not the transcript line.
UF calls it Phase and Chemical Equilibria; USF calls it Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics II; the state calls it Phase Equilibria. ⚠ Three names, one course. USF’s naming is the more informative if you are planning a sequence and UF’s if you are looking for a topic; neither signals a difference in content.
Chemical engineering is awarded by four Florida public institutions in three cities: the University of Florida (110 bachelor’s degrees a year), the University of South Florida (73), Florida State (27) and Florida A&M (4). Florida State and Florida A&M share the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, a single joint college in Tallahassee, which is why their records for this prefix are identical down to the title.
⚠⚠ So a carrier count in this prefix overstates how many independent programmes exist. A course carried by “FAMU and FSU” is one programme’s course, not two institutions agreeing. Read the hedging on this page accordingly, and treat anything stated about content as a description of a small number of specific curricula rather than a Florida-wide norm.
⚠ Neither UCF nor FIU awards a chemical engineering degree — the two largest universities in the state by enrolment. See the Chemical Engineer career path for what that means if you live in Orlando or Miami.
All four Florida programmes are accredited by ABET’s Engineering Accreditation Commission, which is what employers screen on and what carries the four-year route to Professional Engineer licensure under s. 471.013(1)(a), Florida Statutes. ⚠ Accreditation attaches to a named programme at a named institution, not to a course list — verify the specific programme in ABET’s own search.
Most chemical engineers never license: process plants fall under the industrial exemption. ⚠ The Florida exceptions are environmental and water engineering consulting, where work is sealed for public clients. Sit the FE examination in your final year regardless — the chemical FE is written for the curriculum you have just finished and will never be easier.
Generated September 18, 2026 · Updated September 18, 2026