- Student Records
Programme & Unit Catalogues

Department of Chemical Engineering, Unit Catalogue 2011/12


CE10167: Chemical engineering principles (conservation, transformation & separation)

Click here for further information Credits: 12
Click here for further information Level: Certificate (FHEQ level 4)
Click here for further information Period: Academic Year
Click here for further information Assessment: CW 15%, EX 85%
Click here for further information Supplementary Assessment: Like-for-like reassessment (where allowed by programme regulations)
Click here for further information Requisites:
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,
* reaction engineering as applied to chemical and biological reactor design, and
* separation processes of relevance to the chemical engineering profession,
including how these subjects are integrated in process design and analysis.

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, by-passes 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;
* Outline the basic features of membrane processes, distillation processes, absorption processes and liquid /liquid extraction processes;
* Select appropriate membrane technologies for a particular separation problem;
* Understand the operation of single and multistage distillation columns;
* Design simple multistage binary distillation columns; and
* Carry out ternary multistage solvent extraction calculations.

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

Content:

* 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 inter-changeability.
* 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.
* Overview of available separation processes.
* Fundamental principles of phase equilibrium relationships.
* Principles of vapour/liquid equilibrium.
* Principles of single stage equilibrium flash.
* Principles of multistage contacting and counter-current contacting.
* Binary phase diagrams.
* Bubble and dew point calculations.
* Binary multistage distillation.
* Reflux ratio; total, minimum and economic ratios.
* Effect of distillation column sidestreams.
* Liquid/liquid equilibria.
* Ternary phase diagrams.
* Classes of synthetic membranes.
* Operation of pressure driven membrane processes.
* Membrane fouling.
* Membrane module design.
Click here for further informationProgramme availability:

CE10167 is a Designated Essential Unit on the following programmes:

Department of Chemical Engineering
  • UECE-AFB03 : BEng (hons) Chemical and Bio Process Engineering (Full-time) - Year 1
  • UECE-AKB03 : BEng (hons) Chemical and Bio Process Engineering (Full-time with Thick Sandwich Placement) - Year 1
  • UECE-AFB05 : BEng (hons) Chemical Engineering (Full-time) - Year 1
  • UECE-AKB05 : BEng (hons) Chemical Engineering (Full-time with Thick Sandwich Placement) - Year 1
  • UECE-AFM01 : MEng (hons) Biochemical Engineering (Full-time) - Year 1
  • UECE-AKM01 : MEng (hons) Biochemical Engineering (Full-time with Thick Sandwich Placement) - Year 1
  • UECE-AFM05 : MEng (hons) Chemical Engineering (Full-time) - Year 1
  • UECE-AKM05 : MEng (hons) Chemical Engineering (Full-time with Thick Sandwich Placement) - Year 1

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