To provide the student with a comprehensive training in mechanical design for chemical processing operations. To give the students a starting knowledge in the design of unit operations, subsystems design and design of complex processes. To develop knowledge and skills in the application of process optimisation and energy integration techniques. Mechanical Design of Unit Operations is a key skill of the Chemical Engineer. The purpose of this module is to develop mechanical engineering design skills related to the selection and integration of pumps, valves, piping networks, pressure vessels and heat exchangers into a process design.

Mechanical design for chemical processing operations: vessel selection and materials of construction; pressure vessel design; valve selection and sizing; relief valves and containment systems; pipework systems; selection and sizing of expanders and compressors. Design of unit operations, subsystems and process technologies. Design of non-reaction processes such as airconditioning, humidification, dehumidification, flue gas energy recovery using contact apparatuses. Process optimisation and energy integration. Introduction to constrained non-linear programming. Modular- and equation-oriented optimisation methods. Heat and power integration: heat exchanger network synthesis; refrigeration cycles; heat integrated distillation processes. Simultaneous optimisation and heat integration. Structural optimisation of flowsheets. Fault-tree reliability analysis, cut-sets, critical paths, HAZOP case studies and workshop. Environmental impact assessment: methodology and case studies. Sustainability progress metrics: environmental, economic, and social. Engineering Materials and Reliability in Mechanical Design, Mechanical Design Philosophies: Corrosion mechanism and types of attack, prevention strategies, bath tub curve of reliability, hazard rate, statistical analysis (Weibul), Sizing, selection and process design considerations for piping, pumping, compression, expansion, throttling and heat exchange: inertial and viscous loss calculations, centrifugal, axial and positive displacement pumping, pumping in series and parallel, multi-stage expansion and adiabatic head calculations, types of valves and their operation, safety disks, explosion panels and relief valves, NTU and LMTD analysis of heat exchangers, correlations for different heat exchanger types, Flow sheet synthesis.

1. Develop ability to analyse, synthesise and integrate process units into systems. 2. Summarise competency in the mechanical design of chemical processing units. 3. Gain working knowledge of process optimisation and energy integration methods. 4. Evaluate quantitatively the typical characteristics of process systems quality such as reliability, flexibility, controllability, etc. 5. Demonstrate proficiency in unit operation and small systems design. 6. Given a process requirement, select and size an appropriate pump / piping network / compressor / heat exchanger using design principles 7. Identify and propose remedial action for a design subject to corrosive attack 8. Identify an appropriate valve for a process section linking the selection to the system curve, reliability, corrosion and control. 9. Quantify the reliability of a device based on failure data using Weibul analysis 10. Evaluate the suitability of bursting disks, relief valves, explosion panels or combinations of such for a given design scenario. 11. Given a process problem, demonstrate an ability to synthesise a process flow sheet with due consideration to safety, profit, flexibility, the environment and controllability.

Work effectively in groups and appreciate the philosophy of engineering design

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