Chemical Plant & Process Design II: Integrated process design via a major design project.
Ethics and professionalism. Process safety and environmental issues in chemical process design.

Instructor:

Pao C. Chau
Class Time: Tu/Th, 11:00 am - 12:20 pm, EBU2 105 (See the Schedule for further details)
Office hours: Tu/Tu 9-11 am. Additional office hours can be scheduled by appointment.
E-mail: ce124w@ieng6. This is where you should submit the design reports and group evaluations. Questions specific to the design project should be raised during the Tuesday roundtable discussions so the entire class is aware of what are being discussed.

Text:

Analysis, Synthesis, and Design of Chemical Processes; by Richard Turton, Richard C. Bailie, Wallace B. Whiting, and Joseph A. Shaeiwitz, 2nd Ed., Prentice Hall (2003).  (Referred to as "TBWS")

Design Contest Rules:

• Grading breakdown: each of the four progress report is 18 points (4 presentation, 14 written), and the final design is 28 points (4 presentation, 24 written)
• You can choose to reconstitute your group members, but you should do this by Thursday of the first week of class.
• Unless you elect to join the AIChE Contest, there are no rules to forbid communications, but you need to keep in mind that scores in each progress report will be awarded on a competitive basis.
• Each progress presentation, in form of a project briefing, must be under 8 minutes (can be closer to 6). The remaining time is reserved for discussion and self-evaluation. If time runs out, the process will continue the following Tuesday, which is also a good time to ask questions about the next phase of the project.
• About the written progress reports:
  • They are due within an hour of the presentations.
  • Mail only your progress report to the instructor account listed above; your email constitutes the letter of transmittal.
  • On the cover page of each report, identify the author contributions (a la Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).
    Example: let's say the initials of a three-member group are A.C., J.D., and S.Z., you may conceivably have identifications such as
       A.C. and S.Z. designed the process; J.D. did the calculations; A.C. and J.D. wrote the report.
    Or
       A.C., S.Z., and J.D. all made equal contribution to the design and report writing.
    Yes, all members can contribution to the same task or all tasks, and entirely up to you how to categorize and define the task list.
    
  • Beginning with the (4th week) second progress report, put the appendix in a binder in the 176 lab. The binders will be made available for other groups as part of their evaluation.
  • The final design report must follow the AIChE requirements. Add the final report together with the appendix to the binder in the 176 lab for the evaluation by other groups.
• All reports and the evaluation form will be posted on the evaluation page.
  • Your evaluation (as a group) of all presentations and reports must be mailed to the instructor in a week's time (i.e., the Thursday after). Penalty points will be assessed for delays.
  • Your evaluation must be submitted as a group and is consisted of three components: (1) point scores, (2) brief comments to be forwarded to each project group, and if need to, (3) confidential comments to be withheld by the instructor.
  • After each progress report (so this is unlike real life), you can file for intellectual property rights to design features or data that you consider as unique or superior to your classmates. Afterward, if your classmates make use of these features, they must acknowledge your development.
  • Leadership bonus points will be awarded on the basis of being (1) presentation speakers, (2) report lead authors, and (3) participation and contribution during discussions.
    
• Even if you are not making the presentation, you must be present during the project briefings. Otherwise, you lose all the presentation points of your group.
• Equipment design is handled during the design discussions. The structure of the chemical industries is interpersed throughout the quarter, and here, each group is responsible for one aspect to be presented to the class. Signed up is handled during the first week of class.
• It is up to you to organize and check out the laser pointer from the faculty assistant on the 3rd floor of EBU2.
• If you miss the lectures on safety or ethics, you must write a 5-page paper on each topic to show that you understand the material.
• Guidelines to the scope of each progress report (i.e., the exact progress and content are at your discretion, but you need to be fully aware of the final design requirements, and of course, competition from other groups):
1. Problem statement & description; preliminary assessment (e.g., Douglas Level 0, and possibly up to Level 2); alternatives; safety & environmental considerations
   Assessment criterion: how well you understand the situation of the problem and the selection of technology (even if you do not have an economic analysis, you need to be aware of economic and practical feasibilities in your preliminary designs)
2. Engineering analysis of crucial components in the system. It is advised that you first address the coal gasification section.
   Assessment criterion: your technical soundness in covering and resolving all the engineering issues including the technical requirements, health & safety, and the "design keys," and how complete and thorough is your design with consideration of design constraints. A sound preliminary design is expected. Whether you proceed toward the final PFD with economic analysis now or later is a matter of competition among groups.
   
3. The sulfur recovery section is appropriate for the second phase of the project.
   
4. Finally, the methanol synthesis! And if possible the economic analysis now if not for sure in the final report.
   Assessment criterion: how complete and thorough is your costing and economic feasibility analysis. You can use TBWS with additional cost data in the AIChE Appendix. Do not use Peters and Timmerhaus.
   
• The MAE Peer Review will be used at the end of the quarter. Whethe the course grade will be recalibrated within a group based on the review is at the discretion of the instructor. The link to the review will be posted by the end of the 10th week.