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Principles of Chemical Engineering

Module description

In this module you will be introduced to the basic principles underpinning chemical engineering, from the units and variables to the processes. You will gain an understanding of the principles of mass and energy conservation within the quantitative framework of material and energy balances that govern the development and deployment of chemical processes. This includes both batch and continuous processes, steady and unsteady states, multiphase systems, and systems with and without chemical reactions. Mass and energy flow analysis will be applied to a variety of unit operations and separation processes, such as distillation columns, from both a modelling and experimental perspective. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module will cover fundamental aspects of chemical engineering, namely the calculation of mass and energy balances for different types of systems operating under different conditions. It will inform your ENS2008 Chemical Engineering Challenge Project, introducing you to unit operations and basic equipment. Running across both teaching terms, it also complements ENG2007 Introduction to Fluid Dynamics and ENG3016 Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer, which you will be taking alongside it. You will have a chance to undertake an experimental activity and develop your lab skills, both in terms of health and safety and in analysing and communicating your results.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand the principles of material and energy balances and apply them to chemical engineering problems with different systems and conditions
• 2. Understand the principles of momentum, heat and mass transfer and application to problems involving fluids and multiple phases

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Understand the most widely used unit operations of separation and mixing and equipment sizing and the principles on which processing equipment operates
• 4. Understand the principles of equilibrium and chemical thermodynamics, and application to phase behaviour, to systems with chemical reaction and to processes with heat and work transfer

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Have a knowledge and understanding of laboratory practice and ability to operate chemical engineering equipment while showing ability to find and apply, with judgement, information from technical literature and other sources, and critically interpret, analyse and report on experimental data.
• 6. Identify the principal hazard sources and understand the principles sustainability, safety and loss prevention, risk and hazard assessment, while recognising the importance of working inclusively and effectively and ethically.

Syllabus plan

Indicative content:

Introduction
- mass, moles, density
- kinetics, equilibrium, reactions

Units and processes
- units and dimensions, systems of units, unit conversion and dimensional analysis
- processes and process variables, flowsheets and degrees of freedom

Material balances
- balances and calculations, multiple-unit processes
- steady and non-steady state, non-reactive systems
- reactive systems, chemical reaction stoichiometry, combustion reactions
- single-phase and multi-phase systems

Energy balances
- kinetic and potential energy, closed systems and open systems at steady-state
- nonreactive processes, changes in conditions
- reactive processes, heats of reactions, formation, combustion
- transient processes
- humidity charts

Chemical Engineering focus
- fluid dynamics in context
- thermodynamics and heat transfer in context

Unit operations and basic equipment
- mass transfer (distillation, filtration, extraction, etc).
- fluid transfer (mixers, pumps, valves, etc)
- heat transfer (heat exchangers, condensers, etc.)

Introduction to control
- control strategies
- instrumentation

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

If the student has been referred/deferred for one of both of the partial exams tests, they will be able to retake that test or both tests by sitting the written examination in the Ref/Def period. If the student has been referred/deferred for the lab report, they will be able to resubmit as early as possible. Where assessments for part of the module are referred, the whole module must be capped at 40%. For deferred candidates, the module mark will be uncapped. Where a student fails part of the assessment on the module, but passes the module as a whole, the module will be deemed to have been passed and referral will not be applicable. If the student fails the module overall, they can choose to retain marks of completed module assessment components with a passing mark (>40%). Alternatively, they can all chose to complete re-assessments for all module assessment components.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• R. M. Felder, R. W. Rousseau, L. G. Bullard, Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes, 4th Edition, Wiley, 2018.
• D. M. Himmelblau, J. B. Riggs, Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering, 9th Edition, Pearson, 2024.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE

Key words search

chemical engineering, process, mass balance, energy balance, unit operation