UNIT OPERATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Stefano CARDEA UNIT OPERATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

0612200039
DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
EQF6
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
2024/2025



OBBLIGATORIO
YEAR OF COURSE 3
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2016
AUTUMN SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
660LESSONS
660EXERCISES
Objectives
BY THE END OF THE COURSE, STUDENTS WILL HAVE ACQUIRED THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS DESCRIBED BELOW:

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
KNOWLEDGE OF PROCESS PLANTS AND SOME UNIT OPERATIONS: FLASH EVAPORATION, MULTI-STAGE DISTILLATION, ABSORPTION, HUMIDIFICATION, AND COOLING, HEAT EXCHANGE.
UNDERSTANDING OF SIMPLIFIED MODELS THAT RELATE OPERATIONAL AND/OR DESIGN PARAMETERS WITH THEIR EFFECTS ON MATERIAL AND ENERGY BALANCES. KNOWLEDGE OF THE CONCEPT OF NETWORKED UNIT OPERATIONS AND SOME ELEMENTS OF DESIGN DOCUMENTATION, PARTICULARLY REGARDING PROCESS AND PLANT SPECIFICATIONS AND THEIR INTEGRATION INTO THE PROCESS DIAGRAM.

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING - ENGINEERING ANALYSIS
ABILITY TO ANALYZE SIMPLE PROCESS DIAGRAMS TO DETERMINE DEGREES OF FREEDOM IN A PROJECT OR VERIFICATION, DESIGN AND OPERATIONAL VARIABLES DEPENDING ON AVAILABLE DATA.
ABILITY TO CORRECTLY DETERMINE THE SPECIFICATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL EQUIPMENT AND THE MOST COMMON OPERATIONAL CHOICES IN RELATION TO THE EFFECT OF A CHANGE IN OPERATIONAL PARAMETERS ON PROCESS PERFORMANCE.
ACQUIRE THE ABILITY TO IDENTIFY, FORMULATE, AND SOLVE PROBLEMS RELATED TO THE UNIT OPERATIONS EXAMINED TO FULLY DEFINE THERMAL FLUXES, MATERIAL FLUXES, NUMBER OF STAGES, EXTENSIONS OF EXCHANGE SURFACES, AND OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS USING APPROPRIATE ANALYTICAL DESIGN AND VERIFICATION METHODOLOGIES.

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING – ENGINEERING DESIGN
ABILITY TO DETERMINE AND QUANTIFY THE MOST RELEVANT PARAMETERS IN THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF EQUIPMENT CORRESPONDING TO THE MAIN UNIT OPERATIONS AND USE APPROPRIATE PRELIMINARY DESIGN METHODOLOGIES.

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING - INVESTIGATION CAPACITY
ABILITY TO USE BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA AND DATABASES TO RETRIEVE CHEMICAL-PHYSICAL DATA AND CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS.

JUDGEMENT AUTONOMY – ENGINEERING PRACTICE
ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE MOST SUITABLE EQUIPMENT TO PERFORM A SPECIFIC UNIT OPERATION AND DETERMINE THE OPERATING CONDITIONS SUITABLE FOR ACHIEVING THE DESIRED PROCESS SPECIFICATIONS. ABILITY TO COMBINE THEORETICAL BASES WITH PRACTICAL ISSUES.

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS - COMMUNICATION SKILLS
COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND WORKING IN STRUCTURED SYSTEMS. ABILITY TO PRESENT A TOPIC ORALLY AND IN WRITING CONCERNING THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND OPERATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING UNIT OPERATIONS.

TRANSVERSAL SKILLS - LEARNING ABILITY
ABILITY TO APPLY THE KNOWLEDGE ACQUIRED TO CONTEXTS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE PRESENTED DURING THE COURSE AND TO ORIENT ONESELF IN READING AND UNDERSTANDING THE TECHNICAL DOCUMENTATION OF THE EQUIPMENT USED IN PROCESS PLANTS.
Prerequisites
PROPAEDEUTICITY: PRINCIPLES OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

THE COURSE REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF BASIC CONCEPTS OF MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICS IN THE DOMAIN OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, INCLUDING THE THERMODYNAMICS OF PHYSICAL EQUILIBRIA AND THERMAL TRANSFORMATIONS. BASIC CONCEPTS RELATED TO THE TRANSFER OF MATTER, ENERGY, AND MOMENTUM ARE ALSO REQUIRED. FOR STUDENTS OF THE DEGREE COURSE IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, THESE PREREQUISITES ARE MET WITH THE COMPLETION OF PROPAEDEUTIC COURSES.
Contents
THE BASICS OF UNIT OPERATIONS (10 HOURS THEORY + 1 HOUR TUTORIALS)
UNIT OPERATIONS AS BASIC UNITS OF TRANSFORMATION PROCESSES: VARIABLES, CONSTRAINTS, DEGREES OF FREEDOM, PROJECT AND OPERATIONAL VARIABLES. THE MAIN MODELS FOR THE STUDY OF UNIT OPERATIONS: MODELS BASED ON EQUILIBRIUM STAGES, MODELS BASED ON TRANSPORT MODELS.

EVAPORATION (5 HOURS THEORY + 11 HOURS TUTORIALS)
MAIN PLANT CONFIGURATIONS. BASIC CONCEPTS OF EVAPORATION, REMINDERS OF THERMODYNAMICS AND HEAT EXCHANGE (EBULLIOSCOPIC ELEVATION), MATERIAL AND ENERGY BALANCES, AND RATING EQUATIONS. PROCEDURES FOR SOLVING EVAPORATORS AND SINGLE AND MULTIPLE EFFECT OPERATIONS. STEAM ECONOMIZATION AND VAPOUR RECOMPRESSION PROCEDURES AND OPERATIONS. SINGLE AND MULTIPLE EFFECT EVAPORATORS.

FLASH SEPARATION (2 HOURS THEORY + 1 HOUR TUTORIALS)
OPERATION SCHEME, REMINDERS OF THERMODYNAMICS ON PHYSICAL EQUILIBRIA. MATERIAL AND ENERGY BALANCES. GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF BALANCES FOR BINARY SYSTEMS.

CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION (16 HOURS THEORY + 14 HOURS TUTORIALS + 3 HOURS LAB)
BINARY DISTILLATION: BALANCE EQUATIONS, OPERATING CURVES, TOTAL AND PARTIAL CONDENSER, REFLUX RATIO, OPTIMAL REFLUX RATIO; TROUTON'S RULE AND HYPOTHESIS OF APPLICATION OF THE MCCABE AND THIELE METHOD. GRAPHIC REPRESENTATION OF THE METHOD. PONCHON-SAVARIT METHOD. DESIGN OF PERFORATED PLATES, LOCAL EFFICIENCY, PLATE EFFICIENCY, AND COLUMN EFFICIENCY. APPROACH TO MULTICOMPONENT DISTILLATION COLUMN CALCULATION.

HEAT EXCHANGERS (9 HOURS THEORY + 7 HOURS TUTORIALS + 3 HOURS LAB)
MAIN PLANT CONFIGURATIONS. BALANCE EQUATIONS FOR HEAT EXCHANGE AND PRESSURE DROP IN EXCHANGERS. DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR TUBE-IN-TUBE AND SHELL-AND-TUBE EXCHANGERS.

GAS-LIQUID ABSORPTION (10 HOURS THEORY + 10 HOURS TUTORIALS)
PRINCIPLES OF ADSORPTION AND REMINDERS OF THERMODYNAMICS AND MATERIAL TRANSPORT. MAIN PLANT CONFIGURATIONS. BALANCE AND TRANSPORT EQUATIONS FOR PACKED COLUMNS. FLUID DYNAMICS OF PACKED COLUMNS. FLOODING CONDITIONS AND OPERATING CONDITIONS. DESIGN AND VERIFICATION PROCEDURE OF A PACKED COLUMN.

HUMIDIFICATION AND COOLING (8 HOURS THEORY + 7 HOURS TUTORIALS + 3 HOURS LAB)
REMINDERS OF THE THERMODYNAMICS OF HUMID AIR. ADIABATIC SATURATION TEMPERATURE AND WET-BULB TEMPERATURE. MATERIAL AND ENERGY BALANCES IN THE OPERATION. RATING EQUATIONS FOR HEAT EXCHANGE WITH MASS TRANSFER. DESIGN AND VERIFICATION PROCEDURE OF A HEAT EXCHANGE COLUMN. MATERIAL BALANCES ON NON-VAPORIZABLE COMPONENTS AND PURGE OPERATION.
Teaching Methods
THE TEACHING INCLUDES 50% OF METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL CLASSROOM LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENGLISH AND APPROXIMATELY 42% OF TUTORIALS IN THE CLASSROOM (DELIVERED IN ITALIAN). THE REMAINING 8% OF ASSISTED TEACHING INCLUDES LABORATORY EXERCISES ON THREE SIGNIFICANT UNIT OPERATIONS (DISTILLATION, HEAT EXCHANGERS, HUMIDIFIERS).

ATTENDANCE AT COURSES IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.
Verification of learning
LEARNING IS ASSESSED THROUGH A WRITTEN TEST AND AN ORAL TEST, BOTH NECESSARY TO PASS THE EXAM.

THE WRITTEN TEST AIMS TO VERIFY THE LEARNING OUTCOMES RELATED TO KNOWLEDGE AND THE ABILITY TO APPLY UNDERSTANDING TO JUDGEMENT AUTONOMY AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION SKILLS. IT LASTS 240 MINUTES AND INVOLVES SOLVING THREE EXERCISES ON THREE DIFFERENT UNIT OPERATIONS, EACH COMPOSED OF TWO QUESTIONS OF GRADED DIFFICULTY: A FIRST PART WORTH 6 POINTS AND A SECOND PART WORTH 4 POINTS. THE FIRST PARTS REQUIRE THE STANDARD APPLICATION OF CALCULATION PROCEDURES, WHILE THE SECOND PARTS REQUIRE THE CRITICAL ELABORATION OF THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE. EXERCISES CAN BE DONE CONSULTING PERSONAL NOTES, TEXTBOOKS, AND THE CHEMICAL ENGINEER'S HANDBOOK, WHOSE CORRECT CONSULTATION WILL ALLOW VERIFYING THE STUDENT'S ABILITY TO RETRIEVE AND USE DATA FROM BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCES. PASSING THE WRITTEN TEST IS CONSIDERED ACHIEVED WHEN THE STUDENT CORRECTLY IDENTIFIES THE SOLUTION TECHNIQUE AND ANSWERS THE FIRST QUESTION OF THE THREE PROPOSED EXERCISES OR ALTERNATIVELY SOLVES BOTH QUESTIONS OF TWO OF THE THREE PROPOSED EXERCISES. PASSING THE WRITTEN TEST IS NECESSARY TO ACCESS THE ORAL TEST.

THE ORAL TEST CONSISTS OF A 30-45 MINUTE INTERVIEW AIMED AT VERIFYING THE STUDENT'S KNOWLEDGE AND MASTERY OF DESIGN ELEMENTS, JUDGEMENT AUTONOMY, AND ORAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS. IN THE ORAL TEST, ASPECTS THAT THE CORRECTION OF THE WRITTEN TEST FAILED TO CLARIFY CAN ALSO BE DEEPENED. THE GRADE RECEIVED BY THE STUDENT IN THE WRITTEN EXAM NEEDS TO BE CONFIRMED BY THE ORAL EXAM. THE FINAL EVALUATION MAY VARY FROM THE WRITTEN EXAM, TYPICALLY BY UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 5 POINTS. IT IS ESSENTIAL TO PASS THE EXAM WITH A MINIMUM GRADE TO DEMONSTRATE THE ABILITY TO IDENTIFY THE PHYSICAL PRINCIPLES ON WHICH THE VARIOUS UNIT OPERATIONS ARE BASED, OUTLINE THE STRUCTURE OF THE EQUIPMENT IN WHICH THEY ARE CONDUCTED, AND CORRECTLY WRITE THE BALANCE AND RATING EQUATIONS NECESSARY FOR THE PROJECT. THE STUDENT REACHES THE LEVEL OF EXCELLENCE IF THEY HAVE CORRECTLY ANSWERED ALL QUESTIONS OF THE THREE EXERCISES PROPOSED IN THE WRITTEN TEST AND DEMONSTRATE IN THE ORAL TEST FULL KNOWLEDGE OF THE DESIGN PROCEDURES AND OPERATING CONDITIONS OF THE EQUIPMENT USED IN THE UNIT OPERATIONS COVERED IN THE TEACHING, AS WELL AS THE ABILITY TO CRITICALLY USE THE CONCEPTS LEARNED, BEING ABLE ALSO TO APPLY THEM TO TYPES OF PROBLEMS DIFFERENT FROM THOSE DISCUSSED IN THE CLASSROOM.
Texts
BASIC TEXTBOOK FOR LECTURES:
-FOUST ET AL. THE PRINCIPLES OF UNIT OPERATIONS. WILEY; 2ND EDITION

TEXTBOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY:
-MCCABE, SMITH, AND HARRIOTT. UNIT OPERATIONS OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING. MCGRAW - HILL CHEM. ENG. SERIES
-KERN D.G.: PROCESS HEAT TRANSFER, MCGRAW - HILL CHEM. ENG. SERIES
-SINNOTT R.K.: CHEMICAL ENGINEERING DESIGN, COULSON & RICHARDSON'S CHEMICAL ENGINEERING SERIES

TEXTBOOKSS FOR CONSULTING DATA AND PROCEDURES:
-PERRY'S CHEMICAL ENGINEERS' HANDBOOK - MCGRAW-HILL INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS
More Information
COURSE LANGUAGE:
6 CREDITS OF THEORY ARE DELIVERED IN ENGLISH
6 CREDITS OF TUTORIALS ARE DELIVERED IN ITALIAN

THE COURSE IS DELIVERED AT THE DEPARTMENT OF INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING. FOR THE SCHEDULE AND CLASSROOMS, PLEASE CONSULT THE DEPARTMENT'S WEBSITE:
HTTPS://CORSI.UNISA.IT/06122/EN/TEACHING/CALENDAR
Lessons Timetable

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