Kouji Maeda
Professor | Ph.D. in Engineering
Applied Chemistry Course
Field of Applied Chemistry
For first-year students, Professor Kouji Maeda provides an introduction to chemical engineering through the course Introduction to Chemical Engineering II. In the second year, he helps students build a clear understanding of chemical engineering and physical chemistry II, equipping them to address a wide range of engineering problems. Third-year students, through lectures and exercises, acquire the ability to tackle practical plant-construction challenges that draw on physical chemistry, fluid dynamics, and the mechanics of materials. In the graduation research project, he guides students in how to conduct research and helps cultivate the kind of thinking needed to address issues in environmental and energy engineering.
Physical Properties in Chemical Engineering and High-Pressure Technology
What students can learn
Separating and purifying valuable substances dissolved in solution is a universal technology, and through this theme students pursue an understanding of the underlying principles of separation phenomena.
His work involves measuring the fundamental physical properties of systems ranging from organic mixtures to inorganic aqueous solutions and modeling them from the resulting data. He also views high-pressure technology as holding a key to more sustainable production methods, and he aims to develop process operations based on pressure rather than relying solely on temperature or concentration.
Industrial Crystallization and the Development of Biofuel Production Technologies and High-Pressure Secondary Batteries
What students can learn
Students explore ways to make the various unit operations of chemical engineering more energy-efficient and consider what form renewable energy should take.
Producing a crystal is straightforward, but reproducing exactly the same crystal every time is as difficult as reproducing a living organism—this is why crystallization is sometimes described as an art. Building on chemical engineering grounded in solution thermodynamics, high-pressure science, and transport phenomena, he develops technologies for controlling crystal formation. This work is applied, in particular, to methods for producing biofuels and to the development of high-pressure batteries.
