Course Details in 2024/25 Session

Module Title	LH Advanced Reactors and Thermodynamics
School	Chemical Engineering
Department	Chemical Engineering
Module Code	04 33126
Module Lead	Dr Federico Alberini
Level	Honours Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	None
Contact Hours	Lecture-25 hours Tutorial-19 hours Practical Classes and workshops-2 hours Guided independent study-154 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The module will cover key aspects of chemical thermodynamics, with particular emphasis on how this information is used in practice. With attention to equations of state, vapour-liquid equilibria and other phase equilibria, chemical potential and use in single and multicomponent systems, concept of fugacity and it links to chemical potential, activity coefficients, phase separation and chemical reaction. Moreover, it will cover the formulation of catalysts and some products based on catalytic processes (such as syngas, synthetic fuels, methanol), the impact of non-ideal conditions within reactors. Complex reactions will be covered, to include reactions in series, in parallel and series-parallel, and the concepts of yield and selectivity explored in detail. An introduction to catalyst design, manufacture and characterisation will be given, to incorporate extrusion of pastes, calcining and metal impregnation, characterisation of pore structure, modelling of catalyst pore structures, and determination of adsorption behaviour using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Gas Chemisorption. Other key focus will be on Equilibria Residence time distributions in ideal vessels will be covered including CSTR, PFR, compartment models, combinations and systems thereof, and non-ideal flow in reactor systems to diagnose flow problems and deviations from ideal reactor behaviour, such as bypassing and dead zones.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module, students should be able to: Appraise the design and selection of heterogeneous catalysts for industrial processes and explain their behaviour in the context of characterisation of their textural and surface properties. Analyse the kinetics of series, parallel and series-parallel reactions and identify the optimum operating conditions. Design reactors or systems thereof to maximise the reaction rate and selectivity for systems of series, parallel and series-parallel reactions. Analyse residence time distributions from reactor systems to determine the mean residence time.Identify reasons for deviation of residence time distributions from ideal behaviour and analyse these effects in terms of non-ideal flow models.
Assessment	33126-01 : Exam : Exam (Centrally Timetabled) - Written Unseen (80%) 33126-02 : Coursework : Coursework (20%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: In semester assessment: 20% Exam: 80%
Other
Reading List