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An introduction to the fundamental principles of equilibrium conditions and heat and mass transfer. Consistent methodology is applied to demonstrate how fundamental principles are used to design and operate separation unit operations. Example unit operations include washing and leaching, distillation, gas absorption, membranes, humidification, and drying.
• Fundamental principle (unit operation)• Separation physical challenge• Separation process metrics• Solubility (Washing and leaching)• Equilibrium stages (Washing and leaching)• Counter-current, cross-current, and co-current design (Washing and leaching)• Vapour-liquid equilibria (Distillation)• Operating equations (Distillation)• Mass transfer limitations (Gas Absorption)• Steady-state processes (Membranes)• Heat transfer (Drying)• Humidity (Humidification)• Combined heat and mass transfer (Drying and Humidification)• Roles of separation engineers (Industrial interviews)• Project management (Optional)
Generic problem-solving methods for approaching separation unit operation design.Interview skills to discover, refine, and define the problem that needs to be solved.Gain insight into professional separation engineering roles.Improve formatting and written report skills.Locate and critically analyse technical information from the academic literature.Define the key metrics used to evaluate industrial separation processes.Understand how equilibria and mass transfer determine if a separation is ‘easy’ or ‘difficult’.Interpret and construct binary and ternary phase diagrams for vapour-liquid, including non-ideal behaviour.Design and size flash distillation units for binary separations using numerical and graphical methods.Design and size multi-stage distillation units for binary separations using numerical and graphical methods.Produce process flow diagrams indicating how separation unit operations can be combined to purify azeotropes.Design batch distillation systems and qualitatively determine if batch or continuous distillation columns are superior for specific applications.Mathematically describe diffusive and convective mass transport. Understand experimental methods for determining diffusion coefficients.Link mass transfer theory to stage efficiency in distillation and gas absorption.Apply mass transfer coefficients to designing packed towers for gas absorption.Design steady-state membrane processes.Understand materials limitations for membranes used in liquid and gas separations.Use laboratory data to determine the permeability and permeance of materials and membranes, respectively.Recognise how membrane properties are required to enable process designs for gas separations and dehydration of ethanol.Understand the equilibria and mass transfer theory of humidification and drying operations.Design and size wood drying kilns and cooling towers.
ENCH292
Students must attend one activity from each section.
Matthew Cowan
36 lectures, 3 assignments and 1 test. Attendance at all lectures is highly encouraged. Students who do not complete all assigned readings, assignments, and the exam are much less likely to pass.You have optional involvement in using a project management software to organize your ENCH396 schedule and workload.
Wankat, Phillip C; Separation process engineering : includes mass transfer analysis ; 3rd ed; Prentice Hall, 2012.
Seader, J. D. , Henley, Ernest J., Roper, D. Keith; Separation process principles : chemical and biochemical operations ; 3rd ed; Wiley, 2011.
All information about academic policies (e.g. special consideration, dishonest practice) can be found on the ENCH-Undergraduate LEARN page.
This is a compulsory course. It provides preparation for ENCH496, ENCH494, and for graduate employment. Prerequisite: ENCH292
Domestic fee $1,059.00
International fee $6,000.00
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Chemical and Process Engineering .