Syllabus

A Calendar showing lectures, recitations, and office hours is listed below.

Course Meeting Times

Lectures: 4 sessions / week, 1 hour / session

Goals

We want you to learn about:

  • Design of Batch Processes
  • Use of Process Simulators, Including the Skills of Modeling, Coding, and Interpretation
  • The Limitations of Mathematical Models, and What Really Happens in Process Equipment

Objectives

We plan to show you:

  • Reaction Kinetics and Batch Reactor Analysis
  • Batch Distillation
  • The Use of the ABACUSS Simulator
  • Scheduling of Batch Operations
  • Safety Analysis in Process Design
  • A Way to Analyze and Modify a Process During Design

Description

This course introduces chemical process design. The homework assignments familiarize students with ABACUSS simulations, batch processes, and separation systems. Students then develop a base case scenario as a first solution to the design problem. Students evaluate the economic feasibility of the base case solution. Through discussions with the instructors and TAs, students refine their model parameters to arrive at an optimized solution. Lastly, students communicate their solution by writing a report.

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for this course include 10.37, 10.32, 10.301, 10.213 and 5.60.

Meeting Hours

There is no formal restriction on which section you attend. The class will have three types of meeting: regular lectures, recitation sessions, and instructor office hours. Regular lectures will be held on campus and are indicated on the course schedule. Recitation sessions will also be held in the same room. No formal lecture material will be taught in recitation sessions; instead, students will be expected to bring questions and participate in a discussion of their design projects. Instructor office hour sessions will be held in the instructor's office. During these periods, the instructor's office will be open to any students with questions concerning their design projects.

Recommended Texts

Buy at Amazon King, C. J. Separation Processes. 2nd ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1980. ISBN: 9780070346123.

Buy at Amazon Smith, J. M., H. C. Van Ness, and M. M. Abbott. Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics. 7th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2004. ISBN: 9780073104454.

Buy at Amazon Fogler, H. S. Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR, 2005. ISBN: 9780130473943.

Fix-its

We learn better if we examine the input as we receive it. At the end of each class, please submit the fix-it form. The fix-it asks (1) What was the most important thing you learned? (2) What topic or point was least clear? Of course additional comments, questions, and requests are welcome, as well. If you use fix-its earnestly, you will benefit.

Homework

Homework assignments should be completed individually, while all report assignments should be submitted as group contributions. Draft sections of the final report will be graded for style and technical content and will count towards the final report grade. It is course policy that students should not refer to either homework or final project solutions from earlier years. If it is discovered that reference has been made to earlier years, the students involved will receive no credit for the assignment in question. Note that we change the underlying models in ABACUSS from year to year, so the results generated by this software change.

Late Submission of Work

Assigned work is due at the beginning of class on the dates given in the schedule. Extensions cost 10 percent for each 24 hours beyond the deadline, up to a maximum of 30 percent. Medical and beyond-your-control problems will be dealt with individually. Plant trips and other scheduled activities are not beyond your control - allocate your time to meet all your obligations.

Grading

ACTIVITIES PERCENTAGES
Homework 40%
Final Report 60%

ABACUSS II

ABACUSS II is an equation-based process simulator that has been developed at MIT. ABACUSS II can solve dynamic as well as steady-state problems. For example, it can model charging a batch reactor, reactions in a batch reactor, shutting valves, phase transitions, as well as continuous plant operation. ABACUSS II is not available from this site.

Calendar

The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (L), recitations (R), and office hours (OH) sessions.

SES # TOPICS KEY DATES
L1

Course Goals and Requirements

Introduction to Batch Processing

 
L2

Lucretex Project

Project Team Assignments

 
L3 Data Request for Reaction Kinetics  
L4 Laboratory Kinetic Data and Curve-fitting  
L5 Batch Reactor Modeling  
L6-L8 Reactor Model in ABACUSS Homework 1 due in Ses #L6
L9 Batch Distillation  
L10 Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium Models Homework 2 due
L11-L12 Batch Distillation in ABACUSS  
L13 Base Case Simulation Homework 3 due
L14-L16 Batch Process Scheduling  
L17 Batch Process Economics Base Case Simulation
L18 Safety as an Industrial Concern  
L19 Safety Assessment Methods  
L20 Environmental Issues in Process Design  
L21 Review Final Project, Discuss Optimization Base Case Economics
OH1 Office Hours  
R1 Process Optimization  
OH2-OH4 Office Hours  
R2 Process Optimization (cont.)  
OH5-OH6 Office Hours  
R3 Process Optimization (cont.)  
L22 Course Evaluation Final report due