Chemical Engineering with a Year in Industry MEng

Core modules:

Mathematics (Chemical)

This module is part of a series designed for particular groups of Engineers (see module title). Each module aims to reinforce students' previous knowledge and to develop new basic mathematical techniques needed to support the engineering subjects taken at levels 1 and 2. They also provide a foundation for the level 2 mathematics courses in the appropriate engineering department.

20 credits

Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

This unit covers the principles of thermodynamics with applications in chemical engineering. The basic concepts are revisited and the first and second laws of thermodynamics are discussed in detail. Thermodynamic cycles and property relations are investigated. The requirements for chemical and physical equilibria are examined, and their response to changes in composition, temperature and pressure.

15 credits

Chemical Principles

An introduction will be provided to the key concepts from physics and chemistry that are fundamental to an understanding of the way chemical processes and systems operate. Key topics include stoichiometry, physical chemistry, equilibria and kinetics, organic chemistry, units and dimensions, statics, kinetics, electricity and energy. Emphasis throughout is placed on application of concepts, to prepare students for core chemical engineering courses.

15 credits

Fluid and Particle Mechanics

This unit aims to introduce basic fundamentals of fluid and particle mechanics. It includes the properties of fluids, ideal flow and flow measurement, laminar and turbulent flow, boundary layer development and pipe flow, both with and without particles in fluids. Dimensional analysis will be included for characterising flow regimes. Material is illustrated using problems associated with chemical engineering practice.

15 credits

Heat Transfer

This module aims to provide a comprehensive background into the study of heat transfer for chemical engineers. Students will develop skills in the design of practical heat transfer equipment with emphasis on chemical processes.

15 credits

Principles of Chemical Engineering 1

This course aims to develop knowledge and expertise in basic principles of chemical engineering design. It begins with developing and applying process synthesis method to design a chemical process and get familiar with flow sheeting over a range of equipment and processes encountered in industry. This is then extended to the development of material balances as applied to a wide range of chemical processes such as crystallisation, distillation columns, evaporators, reactors and boilers.

15 credits

Principles of Chemical Engineering 2

This course aims to develop knowledge and expertise in basic principles of chemical engineering design. In the Spring semester, the module is extended to the development of energy balances as applied to a wide range of chemical processes such as mixers, distillation columns, evaporators and reactors. The module also provides elementary techniques for the evaluation of vapour-liquid and liquid-liquid equilibria, and gives an introduction to the unit operation - distillation.

15 credits

Engineering with Living Systems 1

This module is an introduction to biological engineering covering the basics of host cell systems (bakers yeast, E. coli) exploited within the biomanufacturing industry i.e. cell types, structure, function. The working of the cell will be introduced; cell chemistry (biochemistry) and cell structure (macromolecules). These will be described in terms of products (e.g. protein biopharmaceuticals, fatty acid fuels), cell cultivation (basic and industrial microbiology, fermentation) and methods to improve cell productivities e.g. metabolic engineering, synthetic biology. Modelling of fermentation processes will be expanded through enzyme catalysis and Michelis Menten kinetics and linked to applications e.g. departmental relevant research.

10 credits

Global Engineering Challenge Week

The Faculty-wide Global Engineering Challenge Week is a compulsory part of the first-year programme, and the project has been designed to develop student academic, transferable and employability skills as well as widen their horizons as global citizens. Working in multi-disciplinary groups of six, for a full week, all students in the Faculty choose from a number of projects arranged under a range of themes including Water, ICT, Waste Management and Energy with scenarios set in a developing country. Some projects are based on the Engineers Without Borders Challenge* and other projects have been suggested by an academic at the University of Makerere in Uganda (who is involved in developing solutions using IT systems for health, agriculture and resource problems in developing countries). Students are assessed on a number of aspects of being a professional engineer both by Faculty alumni and a number of local industrial engineers.*The EWB Challenge is a design program coordinated internationally by Engineers Without Borders Australia and delivered in Australian, New Zealand, British and Irish universities. It provides students with the opportunity to learn about design, teamwork and communication through real, inspiring, sustainable and cross-cultural development projects. By participating in the EWB Challenge students are presented with a fantastic opportunity to design creative solutions to problems identified by real EWB projects. Each year, the EWB Challenge design brief is based on a set of sustainable development projects identified by EWB with its community-based partner organisations. http://www.ewb-uk.org/ewbchallenge

Skills for Employability - Level 1

This module is designed to help students in planning their career development, and to equip them with the essential knowledge, know-how and practical skills needed to succeed in the recruitment process and be competitive in the job market.The information in this form applies to all three levels of the Skills for Employability module.

Core modules:

Mass Transfer and Separation Processes

The course introduces the fundamental principles equilibrium and kinetics in multicomponent systems and applies these principles to analysis and design of separation process. Thermodynamics concepts from Year 1 are extended to non-ideal, multicomponent mixtures and applied to phase equilibria. Kinetics of mass transfer are introduced beginning with molecular diffusion in gases, liquids and solids, including the kinetic theory of gases. Links are made between the transport of momentum, heat and mass. Convective mass transfer is also covered and the mass transfer coefficient is introduced. Correlations and their role in predicting mass transfer coefficients are introduced. This then leads to the analysis and design of mass transfer over various systems.

20 credits

Engineering with Living Systems 2

This module will investigate the manufacture of fermented food and beverages using an example like yogurt production. It will then look at the future challenge of manufacturing chemicals using sustainable feed stocks. Metabolism will be introduced along with bioreactor design.

15 credits

Experimental Investigation

Much of engineering involves designing, undertaking and analysing the results from experimental studies. This module gives students a chance to do so using the Diamond Pilot Plant and other unit operations experiments as the test bed. Core to the design and analysis is a sound grounding in applied statistics which will be covered as part of this module. Student teams will be given open ended laboratory investigations. They will design experiments and visit the lab on several occasions to collect data for analysis. Results will be presented as both written and oral reports.

15 credits

Introduction to Pharmaceutical Engineering

This module introduces pharmaceutical manufacturing using antibiotic manufacturing as the key example. Regulatory affairs and quality management regarding pharmaceutical manufacturing will be introduced. Protein synthesis is taught along with cell culture reactor design and manufacturing using mammalian cells.

15 credits

Process Control

Process control is the study of regulating the conditions of a process in order to obtain a stable process and to generate high quality products efficiently, economically and safely. This module covers modelling and analysing various control system behaviours, including first order and higher order systems, with closed and open loops. The application of control systems to various chemical processes and units will be included.

15 credits

Process and Product Design

The unit covers the selection and design of process equipment found on a chemical plant, including aspects of control, scale-up methods and short cut design procedures. Students are introduced to product design including various techniques necessary for the selection of ideas and screening of alternatives, as well as the details of manufacturing and economic considerations. The unit also provides an introduction to process safety and loss prevention from industrial processes and will enable students, with further experience in industry, to carry out activities involved in the safety review of proposed and existing plants.

15 credits

Reaction Engineering 1

Reaction engineering deals with the holistic design of reactions and appropriate reactors, using the concepts of materials and energy balances, kinetics and chemical thermodynamics. These concepts apply across all sectors of chemical engineering, from petrochemicals to food; from pollution control to biotechnology. This module will cover reactor design including reactor volume, reaction or residence time and operating temperature; and in particular how to optimise both reactor design and reactor type alongside operating conditions for different chemical processes. Application of this knowledge to open ended problems and tools to model any idealised reaction system will be covered.

15 credits

Mathematics III (Chemical)

This module is part of a series of second-level modules designed for the particular group of engineers shown in brackets in the module title. Each module consolidates previous mathematical knowledge and develops new mathematical techniques relevant to the particular engineering discipline. AMA248 includes Fourier Series, Vector Calculus, Partial Differential Equations and Optimization.

10 credits

Engineering - You're Hired

The Faculty-wide Engineering - You're Hired Week is a compulsory part of the second year programme, and the week has been designed to develop student academic, transferable and employability skills. Working in multi-disciplinary groups of about six, students will work in interdisciplinary teams on a real world problem over an intensive week-long project.The projects are based on problems provided by industrial partners, and students will come up with ideas to solve them and proposals for a project to develop these ideas further.

Skills for Employability - Level 2

This module is designed to help students in planning their career development, and to equip them with the essential knowledge, know-how and practical skills needed to succeed in the recruitment process and be competitive in the job market.The information in this form applies to all three levels of the Skills for Employability module.

Core modules:

Process Design Project

A design project is carried out over two semesters. In the first semester a series of laboratory and/or computer based practical activities introduces the students to the concepts of the design of a process. In the second semester elements of the degree course are brought together and applied to the solution of a typical process industry problem. Students work in teams of about five with an academic staff member as supervisor, but an identifiable individual contribution is required. Each student writes a dissertation containing a report on the laboratory project and detailed design of the process. Creative and critical powers are evoked by decision making in areas of uncertainty. Flexibility and planning in the balance of activities is necessary, depending on the nature of the particular project.

45 credits

Reaction Engineering 2

This module provides in depth analysis of complex reactions and design of realistic reactors. It builds from the reaction engineering-1 module and covers non-ideal system (reactors and reactions) and modelling and optimisation. The module further covers the aspects pertaining to catalytic reactions such as designs of catalysts and catalytic reactors.

15 credits

Systems for Sustainability

This module introduces sustainability relevant to the environmental impact of chemical processes and industry. The module covers the concepts of systems analysis by introducing systems-level thinking. Tools to examine process sustainability will be included such as life cycle analysis.

15 credits

Transport Phenomena

Transport Phenomena considers balance equations for heat and mass transfer and their solution as illustrated on several unit operations. The aim is to introduce humidification and drying, allowing students to understand the principles of mass and heat transfer. It then goes into fundamental solutions to the underlying PDEs. The relevance of real world problems is given. The solution in a number of limiting cases is given. Process heat integration in plants is introduced, and Pinch analysis is covered.

15 credits

Skills for Employability - Level 3

This module is designed to help students in planning their career development, and to equip them with the essential knowledge, know-how and practical skills needed to succeed in the recruitment process and be competitive in the job market.The information in this form applies to all three levels of the Skills for Employability module.

Optional modules:

Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing

This module focuses on the principles and practices behind the key unit operations used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing including fermentation, homogenisation, centrifugation, filtration and chromatography. The functional models will be applied to assess and validate performance of each unit operation. Finally the module will focus on the design of the biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

15 credits

Environmental Engineering

The course will have three main focus areas: Air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution. The module will prepare students for tacking pollution problems, both in terms of methods for preventing the pollution from occurring in the first place and with methods for remediation of polluted sites in the environment. The module will contain lectures, tutorials and group work as well as laboratory experiments.

15 credits

Introduction to Fuels and Energy

The module covers the following topics:-Introduction to energy: sources, history, classifications, units-Primary energy - Introduction to coal-Primary energy - Introduction to oil and natural gas-Primary energy conversion - heat to power-Introduction to electrical systems and energy carriers-Primary electricity - nuclear-Energy end use - transport-Introduction to combustion processes I-Introduction to combustion processes II-Energy futures

15 credits

Science of Formulated Products

The module aims to cover various topics in particle technology including; Micromeritics, Particle motion, Particle microstructure and Deformation mechanism. The unit will also introduce the engineering concepts of various particle processing systems such as mixing, pneumatic transport, granulation, and tableting.

15 credits

Core module:

Year in Industry

This module enables students to spend their penultimate year working in a chemical engineering related company. This provides them with wide-ranging experiences and opportunities that put their academic studies into context and improve their skills and employability. Students benefit from experiencing the culture in industry, making contacts and preparation for subsequent employment.

120 credits

Core modules:

Research Project

Research Projects are intended for Fourth Year MEng students. The projects are carried out in four broad departmental research themes: Energy and Environment, Process Fluidics, Biological and Environmental Systems and Particle Products. A project makes a self-consistent part of a current research programme in any of these groups. As such, a project is usually supported through a research council programme or an industrially based programme. The key purpose of this module is to introduce a student to basic principles of research work, and its academic and commercial importance. A student achieves this through the following stages:a)A clear definition of the problem of a project and its main objectivesb)A related literature reviewc)A choice of research strategy for achieving the research objectivesd)Data acquisition and analysise)A critical consideration of research achievements with respect to its commercial applicationf)Opening of new research avenues

45 credits

Advanced Process Modelling, Simulation and Optimisation

The module provides in-depth study on process modelling, simulation, and economics. The module also includes practical aspects on process analysis of various designs. The module contains theory and computer lab sessions using computer packager (e.g. HySYS, Aspen or gPROMS)The module also covers a case study of post-combustion carbon capture based on chemical absorption

15 credits

Computational Modelling

This module will cover the numerical methods required to solve complex chemical engineering problems that are typically encountered in design and assessment of unit operations and processes. Further, the module includes ways to model selected systems and introduces to optimisation of models. Tools for mathematical analysis and modelling will be covered e.g. Matlab, Mathematica and/or python.

15 credits

Optional modules:

Biopharmaceutical Engineering

This module will equip students with a comprehensive understanding of technologies that contribute to manufacture of complex biological products by engineered cells. An emphasis will be placed on (i) core design principles and tools that underpin engineering of genetic vectors, cells and biopharmaceutical products (e.g. proteins, vaccines, gene therapeutics) and (ii) biomanufacturing process design and optimisation. Case histories and exemplars will be provided by invited external experts from bioindustry to reinforce students¿ understanding of core principles.

15 credits

Bioresources and Bioprocessing

This module provides an overview of bioresources and their applications in the bioeconomy. The different types of bioresources, their characteristics and how that affects their applications will be discussed. Technologies, including chemical and biochemical methods, that are used for processing bioresources will be explored. Production of bioenergy from bioresources will be discussed.

15 credits

Continuous Manufacturing Technology: PAT and Process Optimization (MEng)

The module will cover the recent Process Analytical Technology (PAT) used in continuous manufacturing in terms of selecting the suitable PAT tool, PAT data interpretation. Additionally, the module will discuss different approaches used in in process control and optimization.

15 credits

Energy Systems and Management

To provide a broad study of conventional and renewable Energy Systems and an advanced knowledge of selected emerging energy technologies. To develop skills in the design of energy systems with emphasis on sustainability, improving efficiencies and the use of renewable energy sources. Course providing a comprehensive, practical overview of the fundamentals of energy management too.

15 credits

Low Carbon Energy Science and Technology

Low carbon technologies are an essential requirement if the world¿s energy needs are to be met without causing irreversible changes to the planet¿s climate. This module will cover the need for various different technologies that can help to meet the world¿s energy needs without releasing large amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Various different technologies that aim to meet this need will be introduced and then a select number will be studied in more detail. The aim of the module is to enable the student to make a reasoned comparison between the different low carbon technologies backed by sound scientific understanding of their limitations and advantages.

15 credits

Nuclear Reactor Engineering

The module provides a broad base introduction to the theory and practise of nuclear reactors for power production set in the context of the nuclear fuel cycle. This includes those aspects of physics which represent the source of nuclear energy and the factors governing its release as well as the key issues involved in the critical operation of nuclear cores. The relation of the science underlying successful operation with the needs for fuel preparation and engineering designs is emphasised. The unit will cover the techniques used to prepare nuclear fuels and touch on the options available for spent fuel processing to the point of waste form.

15 credits

Particle Design and Processing

Introduction to particle products; Overview of particle and powder characterisation; mathematics of article property distributions; the population balance for particulate processes; Particle design is the production of new particles with specific attributes. Design of unit processes chosen from crystallisation and precipitation; granulation; jet break up and spray drying; aerosol processes; chemical vapour deposition; suspension polymerisation; and grinding. Properties of particulate products including strength, flow, disintegration and dissolution.

15 credits

Petroleum Engineering

This unit gives an overview of the current and future technology for the oil and gas industry. It includes the origins of petroleum and its refining, as well as introduction to biofuels. This module covers -the origins, types and quality of refinery feedstock and products;-detailed analysis of various sections of petroleum processing in refineries;-introduction to advanced topics in petrochemical engineering such as catalyst development, desulphurisation, pollution control and hydrogen production.-details on key biofuels and their strategic importance and the technological challenges of viable large scale production.

15 credits

Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology is: a) The design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems b) The re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes The module seeks to introduce students to the field of synthetic biology, the context (technical and ethical, legal and social issues) and the industrial promise. The module demonstrates the concepts of the engineering design paradigm applied to exploitation of biology. In particular, issues related to standardisation and modularity of biological parts, devices and systems are introduced and examined in light of examples. Concepts related to `creation of life¿ and `deconstruction of life¿ are covered.

15 credits