Chemical Engineering Group Design Project

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Gather and synthesise data, contextualise your results, recommend further work, or how work could have been improved
• Assess the social, economic, political, legislative, environmental, cultural, ethical, technical, environmental and commercial aspects of the problem to be solved in order to develop a comprehensive project brief
• Describe any commercial risks [as appropriate]
• Evaluate critically your strategy, processes and output
• Coordinate a creative and innovative design solution with the effective use of appropriate design methodologies
• Design a component, system or process using appropriate design techniques and be able to describe key elements of those processes
• Generate ideas related to designing new or appropriate solutions, systems, components or processes
• Apply appropriate quantitative science and engineering tools to the analysis of unfamiliar problems
• Research information related to a design solution and discuss within the group
• Locate, read, understand and review research papers and be able to describe different research and methodological approaches across disciplines

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Establish a project plan that is efficient and recognises group strengths and the time frame
• Manage your time
• Communicate both orally and in writing
• Record discussions at supervisory and peer based meetings in such a way that they can be effectively referred to in the future
• Plan and meet your own deadlines
• Use (if appropriate) computer based engineering tools and modelling to solve problems
• Prioritise competing demands
• Locate, read, understand and review research papers
• Reflect on group processes and own role in team work
• Demonstrate independence as a learner
• Monitor the progress of your design and the project outcomes

Key milestones are:

• Initial meeting with supervisor(s) and presentation of brief.
• Route Selection Report submitted at the end of the first semester.
• Presentation of Route Selection Report to a panel of academics and industrialists.
• Submission of individual designs before the Easter break.
• Submission of design report and reflective report after the Easter break.
• Presentation of design report to a panel of academics and industrialists.
• Individual vivas.
• Submission of an advanced design report
• Presentation to a panel of academics and industrialists.

This design module consists of groups of 5/6 students working together to produce a report regarding the design of an industrially-relevant chemical process. Where possible, the students will have an industrial supervisor and a brief provided by industry. There is a regular two-hour weekly slot which will be used to deliver lectures related to group design projects (PFDs, ASPEN, etc), deliver Masterclasses from industry (project management, process economics, health and safety and industrial process control), and for progress meetings with the groups.

Throughout the year, there are two summative presentations to a panel of academics and industrialists which are run as realistically as possible (i.e., as in a real professional setting). In addition to this, there are also individual vivas at the end of the project, which are led by one academic and the industrial supervisor.

The project is entirely student lead and consists of an open–ended problem with many possible solutions. The students are given a high-level brief which, over the course of the project, they close down to a single concept and final design through informed decision making, which is facilitated by their own literature research and appropriate questions. There are regular meetings, preferably in the weekly slot, where the students will have the opportunity to discuss and get feedback from the academic and industrial supervisor. Initially, these meetings will be used to define the details of the projects and then to review the progress of the group.

Self-directed study: given the size of the projects, you may be responsible for several sub-tasks. This could include consulting relevant textbooks and researching papers, consulting members of academic staff for technical support, writing computer programs, and liaising with technicians, external companies or ‘clients’.

Reporting: During regular meetings with the supervisors, the students will present their current work. At the end of the first semester, students will need to submit their Route Selection Report, which includes the literature survey of the process and current state-of-the-art technologies, the market analysis and key business drivers, the evaluation of different processes, routes and locations, the project viability and key financial metrics, the process flow diagram for the selected route and the overall balances associated with this. The students will have to submit a report and present to a panel of academics and industrialists. There is then an interim submission at the end of February where students submit their individual designs (the major process units of the process need a detailed design, which is accomplished at this stage). At the end of the year in May, each group will submit the final report, , which should have all the elements they previously submitted (market analysis, key financial drivers, route selection, detailed design of units) and have in addition the safety, health and environmental considerations, the process and instrumentation diagram and the layout and location of the plant. In addition, it should also have the optimisation of the process design (process integration, pinch analysis) and the operability study.

Each student will also submit an individual reflective report, which is a non-technical summary of their experiences of the project. Each group will deliver their final presentation before the end of the year and will have their individual vivas (which assess both individual and group contributions of the student).

The last part of the design project is the advanced design element, in which students will be given a choice of topics, which include control systems, start-up and shutdown, life-cycle assessment and environmental impact, computational fluid dynamics and evaluation of financial risks, and they will select two to apply to their project. They will submit an advanced design report and present this at the end of the semester.

Group-led work: you will have to synthesise and report your work to the other group members to contribute to the discussions and decision making within the group. Team-work will also include organising the project, distributing the tasks between the students and coordinating these .An initial meeting with the students and the project coordinator will help to clarify the objectives and methods of assessment of the projects. The students are supported by masterclasses and seminars, and a site visit (if possible).

The group and individual reports must cover most of the following: Topic 1: Research pre-existing and alternative processes and study any technology transfer information required to develop the specified process.

Topic 2: Develop a conceptual or preliminary process design to use the specified raw materials to produce the specified product.

Topic 3: Prepare a Block Flow Diagram (BFD).

Topic 4: Develop process flowsheets (PFD) with mass & energy balances.

Topic 5: Prepare a description of the plant & process with the basic layout drawing.

Topic 6: Prepare a basic equipment list, motor list & performance data sheets.

Topic 7: Determine utility consumption & power requirements.

Topic 8: Prepare preliminary capital & running cost estimates and undertake an economic assessment of the process taking into account the nature of projects, factors for success, project development, capital cost estimation, Lang factors, recurrent and operating costs, discounting, DCF & NPV, criteria for comparative profitability, project profitability profiles. Sustainability concepts, implications for process design.

Topic 9: Prepare a process and instrument diagram (P&ID) for a section of plant and undertake a HAZOP. Revise the P&ID in line with the HAZOP findings. Covering Process plant control, Statutory safety requirements in design, Safety in process plant operation,Area classification/plant layout, Pressure Hazards, reaction hazards, reaction runaway, Fires/explosions.

Topic 10: Consider start-up and shut-down procedures, including emergency shut-down.

Topic 11: Undertake an environmental and sustainability assessment with reference to local conditions. Assessment of sustainability, IChemE sustainability metrics, Application of IChemE sustainability metrics to process design, generation of design alternatives, GHG emissions, impact of carbon cost (EU Emission Trading Scheme), implication and evaluation of design changes, undertake life cycle assessment.

Topic 12: Prepare a comprehensive report covering all the above tasks, including documentation of the final design. The design project is based on application of prior learning, and acts as a culmination of the students' learning, so it requires a holistic approach to chemical engineering. It is necessary to pass the individual components of this module to fulfil the taught design requirement of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, for further development and registration.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.