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Department of Chemical Engineering, Unit Catalogue 2011/12


CE50170: Principles of chemical engineering for non-engineers

Click here for further information Credits: 6
Click here for further information Level: Masters UG & PG (FHEQ level 7)
Click here for further information Period: Semester 1
Click here for further information Assessment: CW 100%
Click here for further information Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Click here for further information Requisites: This unit is offered to students with no previous experience/knowledge of chemical engineering or technical chemistry.
Click here for further information Description: Aims:
To introduce the principles and practices of material and energy balancing (both steady state and unsteady state) for non-reacting and reacting systems in chemical and biochemical engineering. To introduce the principles of reaction engineering and their application to chemical and biological reactor design.

Learning Outcomes:
After successfully completing this unit students should be able to:
* Formulate and solve manually material and energy balances for process systems that may include multi-component streams, phase changes, simple reactions, recycles, purges, bypasses and mixing.
* Perform simultaneous material and energy balances on adiabatic, non-adiabatic and isothermal reactors, including equilibrium-controlled reactions.
* Calculate reaction orders, rate constants and half-lives for simple reaction mechanisms. Apply the Arrhenius equation to calculate activation energies.
* Distinguish between various reactor types and explain their applications in chemical and biochemical processes.

Skills:
Analysis and problem solving (taught/facilitated and assessed).

Content:

* Introduction to process systems.
* Units and dimensions; concept of dimensionless numbers.
* Flow rate and concentration (mass, molar, partial pressure).
* Law of conservation of mass.
* Material balances on non-reacting systems, steady and unsteady state (continuous, batch, semi-batch, and batch-fed).
* Synthesis of the process flowsheet; the process flow diagram.
* Material balances on reacting systems (stoichiometry, elemental balances, conversion, yield, recycle, purge, by-pass and mixing).
* Forms of energy and their interchangeability.
* Sensible and latent heats; mixing and solution; multicomponent systems.
* First and second laws of thermodynamics; the general energy equation for closed and open (flow) systems.
* Heats of formation, reaction and combustion; standard and non-standard conditions.
* Energy balances on single and multiphase systems with and without reaction (adiabatic, non-adiabatic and isothermal systems).
* Incomplete conversion, excess reactants, inerts.
* Material and energy balances in combustion.
* Elementary and non-elementary reactions.
* Order of reaction and analysis of rate data.
* Homogeneous and heterogeneous reactions.
* Kinetic rate expressions; rate and equilibrium constants; Arrhenius equation and activation energy; conversion and yield.
* Reactor types and basic design equations.
Click here for further informationProgramme availability:

CE50170 is Optional on the following programmes:

Department of Chemistry
  • RXXX-AFM23 : Integrated PhD Sustainable Chemical Technologies (Full-time)
  • TXXX-AFM14 : MRes Sustainable Chemical Technologies (Full-time)

NB. Programmes and units are subject to change at any time, in accordance with normal University procedures.