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Chemical Engineering Challenge Project

Module description

This problem-based learning module builds on the chemistry and chemical engineering knowledge from other modules with the aim of designing a process related with the chemical engineering industry. You will undertake an already established lab experiment that mimics a known chemical engineering process, and you will learn the principles of chemical engineering design and the implications of health and safety, sustainability, and ethics. The module will cover data collection and how to treat errors, along with a range of experimental and characterisation techniques to inform your design. You will have a range of topics to choose from, and you will work in groups to design a scalable multi-step process to a set of specifications in a systems approach, make decisions in a technical context, produce the necessary documentation, and select the appropriate experimental and characterisation techniques to operationalise it.

Module aims - intentions of the module

In this module you will learn how to consider safety, health and environment, and conduct risk assessment (safety data sheets, control of substances hazardous to health - COSHH) in a chemical lab environment, before, during, and after an experiment. You will be introduced to a wide range of experimental techniques and laboratory equipment, and you gain an understanding of how to critically interpret and rigorously analyse experimental data. You will undertake a multi-step experiment in groups, and you will be expected to produce all the documentation and a laboratory report related with this experiment.

You will learn the basic principles of engineering design and systematic methods to hazard assessment (e.g. hazard and operability analysis, HAZOP) and apply them in designing an inherently safe multi-step process in a group activity. You will also be introduced to computer modelling for process simulation.

There will be a choice of topics related with the chemical engineering industry with stipulated specifications and constraints. You will use ‘flowsheeting’, units and dimensions, and material and energy balances, which you will learn in tandem in ENS2003 Principles of Chemical Engineering. Your proposed design will show awareness of industry and ethical standards, quality assurance and sustainability, while minimising any risks and adverse impacts. At the end of the module, your group will present the final design (product, process, business and technical requirements, equipment, effectiveness, life cycle, environmental impacts, etc.).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

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

• 1. Understand laboratory practice, ability to operate bench scale equipment, while performing hazard identification and risk assessment.
• 2. Design, plan and undertake experimental work and critically interpret, analyse and report on experimental data.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

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

• 3. Understand the importance of identifying the objectives and context of design and that design is an open-ended process, often with incomplete and contradictory information, constraints and multiple objectives.
• 4. Deploy chemical engineering knowledge using rigorous calculations and results analysis to develop a design and with appropriate checks for feasibility and practicability.

ILO: Personal and key skills

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

• 5. Work in a team and understand and manage the processes of: peer challenge; planning, prioritising and organising team activity; the discipline of mutual dependency; while working inclusively and effectively and recognising the importance of (and developing) leadership skills.
• 6. Communicate effectively to: acquire input information; present outcomes of the design clearly, concisely, and with the appropriate amount of detail, including flowsheets and stream data; explain and defend chosen design options and decisions taken.

Syllabus plan

Students will be working in teams to produce a design to the specifications given. There will be a practical laboratory activity in term one, workshops on simulation software in term two, and project-based learning (PBL) support sessions with guidance during both terms. The lectures will introduce core concepts and provide examples through the analysis of case studies.

Indicative content:

Laboratory practice
- safety, health and environment – safety data sheets, COSSH forms, risk assessment
- conventional experimental techniques, instrumentation, and characterisation equipment

Chemical engineering design
- introduction to process design, documentation, codes and standards
- design factors, units and optimisation
- introduction to flowsheeting
- safety and loss prevention – hazard and operability analysis
- equipment selection, sizing, and specification
- case studies – applying material and energy balances, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics to known processes

Process simulation
- introduction to relevant software

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

Reassessment will be by a single piece of coursework worth 100% of the module only, to be submitted in the Ref/Def period. 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. For referred candidates, the module mark will be capped at 40%. For deferred candidates, the module mark will be uncapped.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• G. Towler, R. Sinnot, Chemical Engineering Design: Principles, Practice and Economics of Plant and Process Design, 3rd edition, Elsevier 2021 (or 6th edition, Butterworth-Heinemann 2020)
• W. D. Seider, D. R. Lewin, J. D. Seader, S. Widagdo, R. Gani, K. M. Ng, Product and Process Design Principles: Synthesis, Analysis and Evaluation, 4th edition, Wiley 2016

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE

Key words search

chemical engineering, design, chemistry, laboratory, experimental