Chemical Engineering Modules

This module aims to provide knowledge and understanding of the need for sustainability to be a key consideration in engineering practice and in business decisions. It provides an understanding of the tools and techniques that may be used to implement cleaner design for more sustainable products and processes.

The aim is of this module is to provide students with a fundamental understanding of the basic principles of chemical engineering thermodynamics and how to apply these thermodynamic principles in chemical engineering processes. The course will cover Properties of pure substances; Properties of ideal and non-ideal systems; Phase equilibria and solution thermodynamics; Reaction equilibria; Equations of state; Compression cycles.

The IWSP provides students with unique learning opportunities to achieve the following objectives:

1. Applied learning –  integration of theory and practice, acquisition of specialist knowledge and development of professional skills.
2. Exposure to real-world conditions- appreciation of real-world constraints in respective industry contexts to develop skills of adaptability, creativity and innovation, while adding value to the workplace.
3. Smooth transition to jobs-practical experience which shortens work induction period, translating to higher productivity and lower training costs to future employers of SIT’s graduates. The work experience acquired may also contribute to professional accreditation/certification requirements if applicable.

The IWSP is an integral part of applied learning as it provides an opportunity for students to integrate what they have learnt in the classroom to what is practised in the real world, and vice-versa. The extended period of IWSP with students performing real work also provides an opportunity for companies to evaluate the suitability of students as potential employees. In effect, the IWSP is equivalent to the probation period. The student will also have ample opportunity to immerse in the industry’s business and culture and decide if this is a good industry to work in. Besides producing practice-oriented graduates, IWSP will also be the platform through which students will be challenged during their work attachment stint to initiate innovative projects under the guidance of SIT’s IWSP Supervisors and Company appointed Work Supervisors.   Through such projects, students will have the opportunity to develop innovative solutions for the projects they have identified.  In this way, the IWSP will be a key platform that contributes to the inculcation of the SIT-DNA in every student.

This module continues from the Year 2 module, Process Measurement, Dynamics and Control, broadening the coverage to include modern controller tuning methods and higher level control strategies.

Instead of on-line trial and error tuning or correlation based tuning formulae, students will learn the basics of model based tuning methods (Synthesis Equation). They will also learn about feed-forward, cascade and ration control strategies – the rationale and when they should be applied.

The control of a unit process typically requires several variables to be controlled and invariably, there are interactions between the control loops which can cause stability problems. This part of the module therefore concentrates on multi-input multi-output systems; determining whether loop interactions will cause problems and if they do, design appropriate decoupling networks.

Finally, the case of product quality control will be considered. Usually, the entities by which manufactured products are sold are difficult to measure on-line, e.g. stickiness of glue, viscosity of lubricants, etc. This prevents the implementation of automatic control systems with attendant loss of product consistency and quality. Students will learn about inferential control which is a technique which can be used to alleviate such measurement problems.

This module is aimed at getting students to think of ‘design’ as a process and goes through the various stages, from conceptualisation through to the selection of process routes and the development of process flow diagrams. It further develops skills in computer aided process design through the use of UNISIM. The module emphasises the need for thorough planning and work monitoring when executing complex tasks. It provides students with the tools and techniques to actively plan and monitor their own design projects. It also teaches students techniques for estimating the cost and economic viability of a plant.

This module provides students with basic concepts of solids separation processes such as sedimentation, filtration, centrifugation, drying and crystallisation. The knowledge of particle size characterisation together with these basic concepts are used to design, analyse and evaluate perform of plant equipment e.g. dryers, crystallisers, filters, centrifuges, cyclones, packed bed and fluidised beds.

The lectures explain concepts and provide illustrative examples. The tutorials and assignments will develop understanding, application and problem-solving skills on the subject area.

This module aims to introduce students to renewable energy and clean technologies as alternative processes for the chemical engineering industry. This module equips students with knowledge of the range of renewable energy technologies that are currently available. Special attention is given to renewable resources available in Singapore and the development of renewable energy technologies in Singapore.

This module also discuss key problems associated with air, water and land pollution and their impacts on environment and human health and to introduce Clean Technologies as possible solutions.

In this module, students work in design teams to undertake an open-ended project to design a plant to make specified product. The detailed design of a chemical process requires a combination of many of the core skills acquired over the three years of a degree programme. It represents a unique exercise in which students can apply and test their knowledge of process selection, conceptual design, equipment design, process safety and sustainability and economic analysis as part of a team exercise. This is applied to a typical client specification and requires to be innovative in suggesting a design solution.

This course aims to
give a detailed knowledge of the design of a process from concept to detailed design;
provide the opportunity to apply chemical engineering skills acquired from other courses;
encourage a creative approach to design;
provide experience of working in a team;
provide experience of the presentation of technical material in extended written reports;
meet the requirements of accreditation body.

The large guided independent study element in this module reflects the fact that the development of a design comes from many hours spent investigating design options either privately or as a part of a design group and preparing relevant reports. Fieldwork allows students to visit and learn from real industrial processes. Small group teaching is spent with design supervisors receiving answers to specific questions and providing feedback on reports that have been submitted as well as providing an opportunity to interact with visiting specialists.

This module contains 2 sections.

The first aims to develop an understanding of the principles of standard optimisation techniques and where these techniques can be beneficially applied. The syllabus covers Preliminary mathematics (cost functions, matrices, vectors, Grad., Curl, Least Squares), EVOP, Problem formulation, Necessary and sufficient conditions, Unconstrained multivariable optimisation (gradient based techniques, gradient free), Constrained optimisation (Lagrange multipliers, penalty functions etc.), Linear Programming, Application areas (e.g. Optimisation of Reactors, Distillation trains, Predictive Control) and Basic scheduling methods.

The second part deals with the optimization of Heat Exchanger Networks (HENs) via heat integration. The syllabus covers the basic concepts related to cost and energy savings for process design and for heat exchanger networks, the concept of heat integration. Graphical and numerical representations of a heat exchanger network are taught as are network synthesis based on 'pinch' design rules.