CHEMICAL PLANTS

Knowledge and Understanding: Knowledge and Understanding: The course introduces students to the most common process of industry plants and equipment (unit operations), providing the fundamentals for selecting and calculating the sizing of the main units used in phase separation operations and their management.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding: At the end of the course, students will be able to determine the technical specifications of each plant within the types studied, critically evaluate design choices to ensure the most complete sustainability of the plant, and evaluate the effects of each choice on the process when changes in design parameters and operating variables occur. 

Making judgments: Students will develop independent judgment through the preparation of design documents (on the sizing of specific plant sections) designed to critically analyze the choices to be made to maximize the overall sustainability of the plant in question, taking into account criteria such as cost-effectiveness, energy savings, reduction of individual emissions and overall impact, and local acceptance of the plant. 

Communication skills: Through the preparation of design documents, initiated through group discussion in the classroom, students will acquire the ability to communicate and convey information, design criteria, and the results obtained, both in written form—through graphs and tables—and orally. 

Learning skills: Completing design documents in a free-form and completely independent manner will develop the ability to approach any further sizing task independently and proactively, while maintaining the ability to engage openly and constructively with colleagues and team leaders.

The course comprises 93 total hours of teaching, including 28 hours of lectures (theoretical lessons) and 65 hours of interactive teaching (numerical exercises, software-based sizing). Interactive teaching activities will focus on design exercises that are preparatory to the preparation of the final reports (sizing of various plant sections). The course may also include one or more seminars led by researchers and designers from industries operating in the chemical plant sector.

If the course is taught in a blended or distance learning format, any necessary changes to the previously stated curriculum may be made in order to comply with the planned program and the syllabus.

PROGRAM 

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE COURSE AND TO THE ISSUES OF CHEMICAL PLANT DESIGN, assessment of cultural skills upon entry

2. SEPARATION THROUGH CHEMICAL TRANSFORMATIONS AND PHYSICAL PROCESSES – (notes from the teacher); 2-1 Introduction; 2-2 Characteristics of the particles to be separated; 2-3 Coagulation theory; 2-4 Sizing the coagulation process; 2-5 Flocculation theory; 2-6 Mixing theory; 2-7 Sizing mixing plants; 2-8 Operation and maintenance; 2.9. Simple gravity separation; 2.10 Improved separation using lamellar packs.

3. REACTORS FOR BIOLOGICAL SUBSTRATE TRANSFORMATION (notes from the teacher) 3.1 Design of a biological reactor with a bi-substrate and population 3.2 Principles of industrial symbiosis between processes for the biological transformation of the substrate and processes with energy production: mass balances, energy balances, and preliminary plant sizing

4. ADSORPTION - C&R, vol. 2 – chap. 17 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The nature of adsorbents 4.3 Equilibrium in adsorption 4.4 Multicomponent adsorption 4.5 Adsorption from gases and liquids 4.6 Equipment and sizing

5. SEPARATION COLUMNS (DISTILLATION, ABSORPTION, AND EXTRACTION) (notes from the teacher) – C&R, vol. 6 – chap. 11 5.1 Introduction and Theoretical Basis of Distillation 5.2 Continuous Distillation: Process Description 5.3 Continuous Distillation: Basic Principles 5.4 Design Variables in the Distillation Process 5.5 Design Methods for Binary Systems 5.6 Multicomponent Distillation: General Considerations 5.7 Multicomponent Distillation: Expeditious Methods for Determining the Number of Stages and Flow Rates 5.8 Multicomponent Systems: Rigorous Solution Procedures (Computer-Based Methods) 5.9 Batch Distillation 5.10 Plate Efficiency 5.11 Rough Column Sizing

6. MEMBRANE SEPARATION PROCESSES – C&R, vol 2 – chap. 8 and lecturer's notes 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Classification of membrane processes 6.3 The nature of synthetic membranes 6.4 General equation for membrane systems 6.5 Microfiltration 6.6 Ultrafiltration 6.7 Reverse osmosis 6.8 Membrane modules and plant configuration 6.9 Membrane fouling 6.10 Electrodialysis 6.11 Reverse osmosis

7. LEACHING - C&R, vol. 2 – chap. 10 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Mass transfer in leaching operations 7.3 Leaching apparatus 7.4 Backwashing of solids 7.5 Calculating the number of stages 7.6 Number of stages for backwashing using graphical methods

1. Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering, vol 6 – Chemical Engineering Design (reference book)

2. Coulson & Richardson's Chemical Engineering, vol 2 - Particle Technology and Separation Processes (reference book)

3. Lecture notes (reference book) Given on pend drive at the first lecture

4. Perry's Chemical Engineers' handbook

Midterm exam: A two-hour midterm written exam covering approximately half the program is required. This exam will be conducted with the aid of a computer and will also be based on the sizing exercises completed by the student up to that date. A successful exam eliminates the need to take the final exam covering the first part of the program. If passed, the exam result is valid for eight months.

Final exam: After the end of the course, a second written exam will be held on the remaining portion of the syllabus (2 hours) for those who have taken the previous midterm exam, or on the entire syllabus (4 hours) for those who have not taken/passed the midterm exam. If the instructor deems the overall assessment of the two exams insufficient, or if the student wishes to improve their assessment, they may request a supplementary oral exam and/or repeat the written exam.

Assessment criteria: relevance of answers to the questions asked, quality of content, ability to connect with other topics covered in the program, ability to provide examples, command of technical language, and the student's overall expressive ability.