Green and Sustainable Chemical Engineering (SA)

Overview

Module coordinator:
Dr. H. Manyar h.manyar@qub.ac.uk
Contribution:
24 Lectures, 12 Coursework.

LECTURES (24 hours):

Sustainability and Chemical Industry (16)

Review of Sustainability, 12 Principles of Green Chemistry, E-Factor, Atom Economy.
Role of Chemical Industry in Sustainable development. Criteria for Benign process design.
Resource conservation and Waste reduction.
Sustainable Resource management (water, air, carbon balance, feedstocks).
Sustainable waste management.
Renewable chemicals from cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin.
Biorefinery products.
Case studies:
(i) Amide synthesis, Grignard vs Beckmann rearrangement.
(ii) Renewable paracetamol.
(iii) Ibuprofen synthesis.
(iv) Friedel-Crafts Alkylation.
(v) PETE vs PEF, biodegradable plastics.

Sustainable Chemicals Production/ Factories of Future (8)
Traditional chemical processes vs more recent development.
Small modular, flexible chemicals production.
Case studies using micro-reactors, induction-heating, sono-chemical, photo-chemical, microwave reactors, modular plants, lab-on-a-chip, Plant-on-a-truck.

COURSEWORK (12 hours):
The students are provided with tutorial, worked examples and case studies of the above lecture material. Tutorial and workshops are an integral element of the module.
Coursework assignments:

Green Chemical Process Design Project:
This assignment will provide an opportunity to work in group of 4-5 students each. The project work consists of technical evaluation of a traditional chemical process, on the basis of 12 principles of industrial and green chemistry and propose a greener chemical process by using alternative routes and better chemical engineering process design. The group will prepare a project report of 10-15 pages to be submitted at the end of the semester (20%). Suggested format for the report is 1.5 spacing, Calibri, 11 font size including cover page, group contribution breakdown; table of contents, summary, introduction, comparison of traditional and proposed greener route on the basis of mass and energy balances, references and appendix.

Learning Objectives

On completion of this module a learner should be able to:

• At the end of the module the students are expected to develop awareness about the essential role of engineering green chemical processes to achieve sustainable development and reduced emissions. By the end of the module the students will have:

• Understand the importance of sustainability in the context of chemical manufacturing.
• Develop skills to measure the green process metrics, E-factor, atom economy.
• Critically evaluate and compare the greenness of chemical processes.
• Analyse and interpret the impact of chemical processes on the environment and society by application of principles of green chemical engineering.
• Develop strategies for engineering green & sustainable chemical processes by intensification of processes and minimization of waste generated.
• Understand life cycle assessment and carbon footprint.
• Awareness of sustainable waste management and add-value to waste by valorization of resources.
• Apply knowledge of green engineering to design sustainable chemical processes.
• Awareness of future chemical production technologies & modern developments in chemical plant design.

Skills

• Learners are expected to demonstrate the following on completion of the module:

• STEM – Core skills in underlying physics, chemistry and math are applied to solving problems including mass and energy balances, efficiency calculations and economic evaluation.
• Critical thinking skills – Students can critically evaluate different options and present thought through analysis of chemical processes.
• Analytical – Evaluation of data and its use.
• Communication – discussion of important factors and the presentation of data including written reports.
• Learning and management - Improving independent learning and time management.

Assessment

Exam session 1st Semester

Assessment Profile
Element type Element weight (%)
1. Examination (2 hrs) 70
2. Continual Assessment 30
Course Requirements:

• Attendance at 80 %.
• Examination Mark Veto at 40 %.
• Coursework Mark Veto at 40 %.
• Module Pass Mark Veto at 40 %.
• Coursework assignments are compulsory elements. To gain modular credit a student must pass all elements with minimum marks as shown below