Design Project

Code

CHEE3006

School

Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Level

3

Credits

40

Semesters

Full Year UK

Summary

Students undertaking this module will complete a team design project focused on system-level process plant design. In semester 1, teams will develop a conceptual design based on a client brief, and justify that design. Students will draw on knowledge and skills developed previously, e.g. using AutoCAD to produce process drawings that communicate a design, conducting heat and mass balances, HAZID and evaluating process economics and sustainability.  Students will also develop new skills, including developing your own basis of design and using tools to evaluate and select between different design concepts. In semester 2, teams develop their design concept into a comprehensive Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) along with an EPC delivery schedule for the process. This will include developing specifications for major process equipment, designing piping, instrumentation and control systems, and applying project management and HAZOP methodologies to evaluate designs.

Target Students

Students registered in the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering only.

Assessment

• 30% Coursework 1: Group work
• 70% Coursework 2: Group work
• Coursework 3: Showcase event in ESLC Atrium. Mandatory Pass

Assessed by end of spring semester

Educational Aims

Learning Outcomes

A2 Chemical Engineering Principles: 

• A2.1.7, Students must acquire the knowledge and ability to handle broader implications of work as a chemical engineer. These include: Sustainability aspects 

• A2.1.8, Students must acquire the knowledge and ability to handle broader implications of work as a chemical engineer. These include: Process safety, health, environmental and other professional issues including ethics, risk, security, diversity, inclusion, societal, commercial and economic considerations etc. 

• A2.5.2 Understand systems thinking, including the interdependence of elements of a complex system, being able to synthesise a conceptual multi-step process and apply analysis techniques to it.

• A2.6.1 Be able to identify the principal hazard sources in chemical and related processes (including biological hazards).

• A2.6.2 Understand the principles of safety and loss prevention, and their application to inherently safe design.

• A2.6.3 Understand the principles of risk assessment and of safety management, and be able to apply techniques for the assessment and abatement of process and product hazards. 

• A2.6.4 Be able to apply systematic methods for identifying process hazards (eg HAZOP), and for assessing the range of consequences (eg impact on people, environmental reputation, financial, security).

• A2.6.5 Be aware of specialist aspects of safety and environmental issues, such as noise, hazardous area classification, relief and blowdown, fault tree analysis.

• A2.6.6 Have knowledge of the local legislative framework and how it is applied to the management of safety, health and environment in practice and in the workplace, from the perspectives of all involved, including operators, designers, contractors, researchers, visitors and the public. 

• A2.7.1 Understand and be able to apply the principles of sustainability (environmental, social, economic) and the ability to apply techniques for analysing the interaction of process, product and plant with the environment and minimising adverse impacts.

• A2.7.2 Be able to apply the principles of process, plant and project economics. 

• A2.7.3 Understand the need for high ethical and professional standards and understand how they are applied to issues facing engineers. 

• A2.7.4 Be able to adopt an inclusive approach to engineering practice and recognise the responsibilities, benefits and importance of supporting equality, diversity and inclusion.

• A2.7.5 Understand that: an effective ethics culture includes how sustainability, economics, health and safety, equality, diversity and inclusion and professionalism are informed by and influence the ethical reasoning and behaviour of the professional engineer.

A3 Chemical Engineering Practice: 

• A3.2.1 Understand the commercial, economic and social context of engineering processes

• A3.2.3 Adopt an inclusive approach to engineering practice, recognising the responsibilities, benefits and importance of supporting equality, diversity and inclusion 

• A3.2.4 Be aware of relevant legal requirements, codes or practice, and industry standards governing engineering activities, including personnel, health and safety, contracts, intellectual property rights, product safety and liability issues, and be aware that these may differ internationally. 

• A3.2.5 Understand and be able to apply knowledge of engineering management principles and techniques, including project and change management, and understand their limitations.

• A3.2.7 Be aware of quality assurance issues and their application to continuous improvement.

A4 Chemical Engineering Design: 

• A4.1.1 Develop an integrated approach to chemical engineering.

• A4.1.2 Encourage the application of chemical engineering principles to problems of current and future industrial relevance including sustainable development, safety, and environmental issues. 

• A4.1.3 Encourage students to develop and demonstrate creative and critical powers by requiring choices and decisions to be made in areas of uncertainty.

• A4.1.4 Encourage students to take a broad view when confronted with complexity arising from the interaction and integration of the different parts of a process or system. 

• A4.1.5 Encourage the development of transferable skills such as communication and team working.

• A4.1.6 Give students confidence in their ability to apply their technical knowledge to real problems.

• A4.1.7 Process design – synthesis of unit operations into a manufacturing process to meet a specification. 

• A4.1.8 Process troubleshooting/debottlenecking – analysis of problems for an existing process for which the solutions require innovative process or equipment changes. 

• A4.1.11 Product troubleshooting – analysis of problems for an existing product for which innovative solutions are required. 

• A4.1.9 Equipment design – the design of specific and complex equipment items to deliver a process or product objective, e.g. extruder, distillation column, etc.

• A4.1.12 System design – where creativity, broad range thinking, and systems integration are needed to design a system to meet a specification, e.g. manufacturing supply chain, effluent handling system, transportation system, safety auditing system, recycling system, site utility system, product distribution system. 

• A4.2.1 Understand the importance of identifying the objectives and context of the design in terms of: the business requirements; the technical requirements; sustainable development; safety, health and environmental issues; appreciation of public perception and concerns. 

• A4.2.2 Understand that design is an open-ended process, lacking a pre-determined solution, which requires: synthesis, innovation and creativity; choices on the basis of incomplete and contradictory information; decision making; working with constraints and multiple objectives; justification of the choices and decisions taken.

• A4.2.3 Be able to deploy chemical engineering knowledge using rigorous calculation and results analysis to develop a design and with appropriate checks on feasibility and practicality.

• A4.2.4 Be able to take a systems approach to design appreciating: complexity; interaction; integration

• A4.2.5 Be able to evaluate the effectiveness of their design, including its immediate and life cycle environmental impacts 

• A4.2.6 Be able to work in a team and understand and manage the processes of: peer challenge; planning, prioritising and organising team activity; the discipline of mutual dependency.

• A4.2.7 Be able to communicate effectively to: acquire input information; present the outcomes of the design clearly, concisely and with the appropriate amount of detail, including flowsheets and stream data; explain and defend chosen design options and decisions take. 

• A4.2.8 Have a comprehensive understanding of design processes and methodologies and an ability to apply and adapt them in unfamiliar situations. 

• A4.2.9 Be able to work with information that may be incomplete or uncertain, quantify the effect of this on the design and, where appropriate, use theory or experimental research to mitigate deficiencies.  

• A4.2.10, Have the ability to generate an innovative design for processes, systems and products to fulfil new needs. 

Have achieved within the design project(s) some of the Level F outcomes in Section A2, such as: 

• A4.2.11.1, Detailed design of control systems based on process dynamics; 

• A4.2.11.2, Design and operation aspects of start-up and shut-down; 

• A4.2.11.4, Evaluation of financial and other risks.

A5 Embedded Learning: 

• A5.2.4 Recognise the importance of leadership skills and have had some opportunity to acquire these.

• A5.2.7 Recognise the importance of project planning and time management and have acquired a range of experience in achieving these. 

Conveners

• Dr Becca Ferrari