Advanced process design

In this course we will design a substantial part of a process in fair detail, starting from a laboratory recipe. This design will include various types of reactors, separators and heat exchangers. Various models required for this design with respect to thermodynamic properties, heat and mass transfer, and reaction kinetics will have to be used to come to a proper scale-up. As a modeling tool, AspenPlus will be used, extended with a costing program. Apart from optimizing the process in its major equipment items, special attention will be paid to the selection of operations which require less energy and yield less waste. Additionally, the choices to be made will be placed in an economic perspective, for which NPV and IRR analysis will be used.

Extra information about the assessment

•Assignment(s)in groups of (maximum) 4 students
• Written reports during the course that will be condensed in larger final part of the case
The final report (70% of the final mark) is to cover the following topics:

1. Executive Summary (Short, non-technical summary)
2. Introduction (Technical summary)
3. PFD, Process description, Mass Balance, Energy Balance
4. Equipment design
5. Operating Cost analysis
6. Materials Compatibility Statement
7. Conclusion
8. References

The design is also presented and evaluated (30% of the final mark) during the oral exam or literature review.

Design of a process including :

• Selection and design of the reactor(s) required
• Selection and design of the separation train to obtain the required product purity
• calculation of the dimensions of the separation units (mass balances, kinetics, hydrodynamics) as well as the energy requirements
• costs analysis

Knowledge acquired on e.g., knowledge of unit operations, ability to perform design calculations for equilibrium based separation technologies, ability to perform design calculations for mechanical, rate based and reactive separation technologies, product design & process management.

• E. J. Henley, J. D. Seader, D. K. Roper, Separation Process Principles, 3rd ed., 2011 (ISBN 9780470646113)
• handouts
• slides