Chemical Engineering BEng

Program Overview

Students gain hands-on experience through integrated labs, project work, and a state-of-the-art pilot plant. Graduates are well-equipped for careers in industries ranging from chemicals to biotechnology, thanks to the program's focus on practical experience and industry collaborations.

Program Outline

You'll also learn about the production and use of energy.

Outline:

First Year:

• Core Modules:
• Mathematics (Chemical):
Reinforces previous knowledge and develops new mathematical techniques needed for engineering subjects. Delivered via online lectures and weekly interactive problem classes. (20 credits) Introduces key concepts such as thermodynamic equilibrium and the use of thermodynamic tables. Examines requirements for chemical and physical equilibria and their response to changes in composition, temperature, and pressure. Introduces the first and second laws of thermodynamics. Investigates thermodynamic cycles and property relations. Includes embedded labs exploring key concepts. (15 credits)
• Chemical Principles:
Covers fundamental science to aid communication with other scientific disciplines and understand key concepts from physics and chemistry. Topics include stoichiometry, physical chemistry, equilibria and kinetics, organic chemistry, units and dimensions, statics, kinetics, electricity, and energy. Emphasis on application of concepts and includes embedded labs. (15 credits)
• Fluid and Particle Mechanics:
Introduces basic fundamentals of fluid and particle mechanics. Covers properties of fluids, ideal flow and flow measurement, laminar and turbulent flow, boundary layer development, and pipe flow with and without particles in fluids. Includes dimensional analysis for characterizing flow regimes. Illustrated using problems associated with chemical engineering practice and formative labs. (15 credits)
• Heat Transfer:
Introduces the fundamentals of heat transfer, including thermal conduction, convection, radiation, and transfer of energy by phase changes. Allows students to design practical heat transfer equipment with emphasis on chemical processes. Includes embedded labs to deepen understanding and develop practical skills. (15 credits)
• Principles of Chemical Engineering 1:
Introduces the principles and techniques used in chemical and process engineering. Develops knowledge and expertise in basic principles of chemical engineering design. Engages with concepts of professional responsibility, safety, sustainability, and ethics. Develops and applies the process synthesis method to design a chemical process. Introduces material balances and their application to industrially relevant unit operations. Includes embedded labs and industry standard process modelling software. (15 credits)
• Principles of Chemical Engineering 2:
Introduces energy balances and their application to a wide range of chemical processes. Covers evaluation of vapor-liquid and gas-liquid equilibria and introduces the unit operation of distillation. Includes embedded labs and the first 'Design Week' of the program. (15 credits)
• Engineering with Living Systems 1:
Introduces biological engineering, covering the basics of host cell systems, cell types, structure, function, cell chemistry, and cell structure. Describes cell cultivation, methods to improve cell productivities, and modelling of fermentation processes. Includes embedded labs. (10 credits)
• Global Engineering Challenge Week:
Compulsory week-long project where students work in multi-disciplinary groups on a range of themes including Water, Waste Management, Energy, and Digital. Scenarios are set in an overseas location facing economic challenge. Some projects are based on the Engineers Without Borders Engineering for people design challenge. (Compulsory)
• Skills for Employability - Level 1:
Helps students plan their career development and equips them with essential knowledge, know-how, and practical skills needed for the recruitment process. (Compulsory)

Second Year:

• Core Modules:
• Mass Transfer and Separation Processes:
Introduces fundamental principles of equilibrium and mass transfer kinetics in multicomponent systems. Applies these principles to analysis and design of separation processes. Extends thermodynamics concepts from Year 1 to non-ideal, multicomponent mixtures. Introduces kinetics of mass transfer with molecular diffusion in gases, liquids, and solids. Links transport of momentum, heat, and mass. Covers convective mass transfer and the mass transfer coefficient. Analyzes and designs mass transfer over various systems and unit operations. (20 credits)
• Engineering with Living Systems 2:
Focuses on the production of a range of important products using living systems. Introduces the biotechnology industry and outlines typical products in each sector. Covers general microbiology of cell growth, including growth kinetics in batch and continuous systems. Includes case studies. (15 credits)
• Experimental Investigation:
Provides students with the opportunity to design, undertake, and analyze experimental studies using the Diamond Pilot Plant and other unit operations experiments. Covers applied statistics. Student teams are given open-ended laboratory investigations, design experiments, collect data, and present results in written and oral reports. (15 credits)
• Introduction to Pharmaceutical Engineering:
Introduces pharmaceutical manufacturing, including biopharmaceuticals, using real-world examples. Covers regulatory affairs and quality management regarding manufacturing. (15 credits)
• Process Control:
Covers modelling and analyzing various control system behaviors, including first order and higher order systems, with closed and open loops. Includes the application of control systems to various chemical processes and units. (15 credits)
• Process and Product Design:
Covers the selection and design of process equipment found on a chemical plant, including aspects of control, scale-up methods, and short-cut design procedures. Introduces product design, including techniques for selecting ideas, screening alternatives, and considering manufacturing and economic considerations. Provides an introduction to process safety and loss prevention from industrial processes. Covers application of this knowledge to open-ended problems and tools to model any idealized reaction system. (15 credits)
• Mathematics III (Chemical):
Consolidates previous mathematical knowledge and develops new mathematical techniques relevant to chemical engineering. Includes Partial Differentiation, Fourier Series, Vector Calculus, Partial Differential Equations, and Probability Distributions. (10 credits)
• Engineering - You're Hired:
Compulsory week-long project where students work in multi-disciplinary groups on a real-world problem provided by industrial partners. Students come up with ideas to solve the problem and proposals for a project to develop these ideas further. (Compulsory)
• Skills for Employability - Level 2:
Helps students plan their career development and equips them with essential knowledge, know-how, and practical skills needed for the recruitment process. (Compulsory)

Third Year:

• Core Modules:
• Process Design Project:
Prepares students for professional practice in industrial development of chemical engineering processes. Students analyze an open problem, research the issues, synthesize a possible technical solution, and consider broader issues such as economics, environment, and safety. Students work in small teams to develop an overall study of a substantial industrial process, produce a group report, and make a presentation outlining a possible scheme. (45 credits)
• Reaction Engineering 2:
Provides in-depth analysis of complex reactions and design of realistic reactors. Covers complex reaction kinetics, multiple reactions, product distribution, multiple reactors, non-ideal reactors, residence time distribution, and dispersion model. Covers diagnosis and optimization of non-ideal reactors. Covers aspects pertaining to solid-fluid reactions, such as catalytic reactions, designs of catalytic reactors, and non-catalytic heterogeneous reactors. Also covers bioreactors and fermentation. (15 credits)
• Systems for Sustainability:
Introduces sustainability relevant to the environmental impact of chemical processes and industry. Covers concepts of systems analysis, systems-level thinking, and tools to examine process sustainability, such as life cycle analysis and circular economy. (15 credits)
• Transport Phenomena:
Describes the rates by which heat, momentum, and mass are transported between a system and its surroundings. Extends the use of shell balances to set up and solve governing differential equations for heat and mass transfer. Manipulates constitutive equations for different geometries and to solve problems with resistances in series. (15 credits)
• Skills for Employability - Level 3:
Helps students plan their career development and equips them with essential knowledge, know-how, and practical skills needed for the recruitment process. (Compulsory)
• Optional Modules:
• Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing:
Provides an understanding of key unit operations used in manufacturing biopharmaceutical products, including vaccines, therapeutic proteins, and cell/gene therapies. Covers fermentation, extraction technologies, and purification operations. Describes the design and application of each unit operation and introduces key associated topics, including process engineering, analytical technologies, automation, quality by design, and regulatory issues. Focuses on latest industrial trends and current and future challenges in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. (15 credits)
• Environmental Engineering:
Covers air pollution, water pollution, and soil pollution. Prepares students for tackling pollution problems, both in terms of methods for preventing pollution and methods for remediation of polluted sites. (15 credits)
• Introduction to Fuels and Energy:
Covers topics such as energy sources, history, classifications, units, primary energy, primary energy conversion, electrical systems, energy carriers, primary electricity, energy end use, combustion processes, and energy futures. (15 credits)
• Science of Formulated Products:
Introduces engineering concepts of various particle processing systems, such as powder flow, mixing, granulation, fluidized bed drying, and tableting. Reinforces theoretical concepts with visits to the Diamond Pilot Plant and guest lectures from relevant industries. (15 credits)

Assessment:

The course uses a range of teaching and assessment modules aligned to the topic being taught. Teaching methods include lectures, integrated lab sessions, tutorials, and project work.

Careers:

Our graduates work in sectors including chemicals, consumer goods, oil and gas, consultancy, pharmaceuticals, energy, water, food and drink, materials, process plant and equipment, biotechnology, and the nuclear industry.

Other:

• The department emphasizes learning through practical experience, including lab work, projects, and open-ended problem-solving.
• The state-of-the-art pilot plant gives students the chance to apply what they learn by experimenting with large-scale process equipment.
• The course includes hands-on experience of using industry standard equipment.
• Students have the option to either study abroad for a year or spend a year working in industry.
• In the third year, students take part in a design project to create a real-world process in its entirety.
• The course is accredited by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
• The department has strong links with major industry, including AstraZeneca, Shell, BOC, Process Systems Enterprise, and MedImmune.
• The Diamond Pilot Plant is a world-leading full-scale continuous pharmaceutical production line.
• The department is ranked top five in the UK for student satisfaction.
• The department is ranked second in the Russell Group for student satisfaction.
• The department is ranked number one in the Russell Group for student satisfaction.
• The department is ranked number one for teaching quality, Students' Union, and clubs/societies.
• The department is a top 20 university targeted by employers.