Batch and fed-batch processing underpins modern pharmaceutical, biochemical, and speciality chemical manufacturing, where safety, regulatory compliance, product quality, and operational flexibility are critical. Unlike large-scale continuous systems, these processes require engineers to design and manage unsteady-state operations within tightly controlled industrial environments. This module extends core chemical engineering principles into this applied context, developing the analytical and decision-making capabilities needed to evaluate process performance, safety, scalability, and economic viability. By focusing on the realities of regulated batch manufacturing, the module strengthens programme coherence and prepares graduates for professional practice in advanced chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

The module will inform students on a wide range of topics pertinent to batch process engineering including the tools required to analyse and design such processes. Indicative examples are as follows: - Fundamentals of batch and fed-batch reaction engineering, including dynamic mass and energy balances, reaction kinetics, and temperature-conversion analysis in steady and unsteady-state systems. - Optimisation of fed-batch strategies for yield and selectivity in parallel, consecutive, and fermentation reactions using constrained optimisation methods. - Process safety in batch systems, including reaction calorimetry, thermal risk assessment, runaway analysis, pressure development, vent sizing, and scale-up safety. - Principles of process scale-up from laboratory to production scale, including geometric and dynamic similarity, agitation criteria, gas-liquid mass transfer (kLa), and integration of kinetic, heat, and mass transfer constraints. - Pharmaceutical batch crystallisation: supersaturation thermodynamics, nucleation and growth kinetics, polymorphism, seeding strategies, population balance modelling, and PAT-enabled scale-up. - Scheduling and operational planning in multiproduct batch manufacturing, including batch cycle analysis, campaign planning, resource allocation, bottleneck identification, GMP considerations, and capacity optimisation. - Techno-economic analysis of batch processes, including capital and operating cost estimation, sensitivity analysis, lifecycle assessment (LCA), and sustainability considerations. - Modelling, control, and optimisation of unsteady-state reaction and separation systems using industry-standard process simulation tools. - Integrated case studies and batch process design projects incorporating modelling, safety evaluation, scheduling, and economic assessment.

• Analyse the dynamic behaviour of batch and fed-batch reaction systems through lenses such as mass and energy balances, reaction kinetics, and transport principles. • Evaluate issues such as thermal hazards and operational risks in batch processes using quantitative safety assessment methods. • Design scale-up strategies for batch systems considering hydrodynamic, heat-transfer, and mass-transfer constraints. • Integrate optimisation, scheduling, and techno-economic analysis in the development of batch manufacturing systems.

On successful completion of this module students should be able to: • Demonstrate professional responsibility in relation to safety, regulatory compliance, and ethical practice in batch pharmaceutical process design and operation. • Justify process development decisions within technical, economic, and operational constraints.

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This module is delivered through a student-centred approach that combines structured lectures with interactive tutorials, guided problem-solving sessions, and computer-based modelling laboratories. Teaching integrates theoretical foundations in batch and fed-batch reaction engineering with applied analysis of safety, scale-up, crystallisation, scheduling, and techno-economic performance within pharmaceutical and speciality chemical contexts. Lectures establish core principles of unsteady-state reaction systems, thermal risk assessment, and industrial scale-up, while modelling laboratories and design assignments provide experiential, challenge-driven learning through dynamic simulation, safety evaluation, and economic analysis. Case studies drawn from contemporary industrial practice support critical engagement and systems-level thinking. The learning environment reflects UL's research-led and challenge-driven ethos, encouraging students to articulate technical reasoning (Articulate), approach complex process problems with adaptability (Agile), and embed safety, regulatory, and sustainability considerations in engineering decision-making (Responsible). Recent developments are incorporated through updated pharmaceutical case studies, advances in crystallisation and process analytical technology, evolving approaches to digital modelling and optimisation, and emerging Industry 4.0 and 5.0 strategies for automated flowsheet generation and data-driven control.