Chemical Engineering MEng (Hons)
Master
In Loughborough
Description
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Type
Master
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Location
Loughborough
Overview
Chemical Engineering (MEng) is concerned with the processing of raw materials into products on a commercial scale. It can also be described as process engineering.
The products from Chemical Engineering operations are seen all around us including, for example, petrol, pharmaceuticals, food, drinking water, paints, cosmetics and clothing.
The principles underpinning the manufacture of these products include mass and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid flow and heat transfer, chemical reactor theory, mixing and separation processes, process control, plant safety and process economics.
The main supporting subjects are mathematics and the physical sciences, backed up by computing, together with some chemistry.
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Subjects
- Fluid Mechanics
- Process Control
- Engineering
- Industry
- Systems
- Project
- Materials
- Thermodynamics
- Maths
- Heat Transfer
- Mechanics
- Economics
- Design
- Chemical Engineering
- Operations Management
- Mandarin
Course programme
What you'll study
The course is designed to provide you with a 'Chemical Engineering Toolbox' that can be applied in all of the industries that employ chemical engineers. We ensure that sufficient grounding is achieved in core chemical engineering modules by the end of Year 2 to enable students to be productive and useful engineers if they undertake a placement year. The course includes two major semester-long projects, a Professional Development Project in Year 3 (which can be taken abroad or in industry, and is different to a year-long industrial placement) and a Process Design Project in Year 4.
The information below reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. Updates may be made on an annual basis and revised details will be published through Programme Specifications ahead of each academic year. Please see Terms and Conditions of Study for more information.
- Year 1
- Year 2
- Year 3
- Final year
The modules in Year 1 bridge from entry levels of science and maths, and introduce the basic concepts of Chemical Engineering such as mass and energy balances, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, process design, and process economics, supported by dedicated maths and laboratory modules which run through the year.
French, German, Spanish or Mandarin may be taken as an option.
Semester 1
Fluid Mechanics I Core
Fluid Mechanics I
This module concerns the flow of liquids and gases, and introduces concepts such as viscosity, laminar and turbulent flow. The course enables students to design pumps/piping systems and understand the principles of flow measurement.
Chemical and Biochemical Processes Core
Chemical and Biochemical Processes
This module includes industrial chemistry (revising some A level chemistry), biochemistry (proteins, polysaccharides, lipids, nucleic acids, enzymes) and microbiology (microorganisms and viruses).
Thermodynamics I Core
Thermodynamics I
This module introduces the laws of thermodynamics which has practical value in calculating the power outputs or requirements of pumps, compressors, and turbines, and their integration into refrigerators, heat pumps and power generation systems.
Semester 2
Stagewise Processes Core
Stagewise Processes
Many chemical processes such as liquid-liquid extractors and plate columns can be regarded as a sequence of stages. This module shows show such systems can be analysed.
Heat Transfer Core
Heat Transfer
Almost all processes require heating and/or cooling. This module introduces concepts of conduction, convection and radiation to enable students to design heat transfer equipment and calculate heat leakage to and from plant items and pipes. The module also teaches AUTOCAD – an engineering drawing software package.
Choice of applied Languages Optional
Choice of applied Languages
French, German, Spanish or Mandarin at either beginner, intermediate or advanced level.
Chemical Engineering and Society Optional
Chemical Engineering and Society
This module looks at the impact of chemical processes on wider society, including life cycle analysis, business ethics, regulatory assessments and intellectual property.
Semester 1 & 2
Chemical Engineering Laboratory Core
Chemical Engineering Laboratory
This is a practical module whereby students spend an afternoon every week performing either experiments in pairs or other activities alternating between the following:
- experiments in our chemical engineering laboratory (mainly in heat transfer and fluid mechanics) to reinforce and support material covered in other first year modules,
- experiments in STEMLAB (chemistry and biochemistry related e.g. solvent extraction and enzyme kinetics),
- in our “igloo” virtual reality dome interacting with a simulation of a chemical plant,
- in semester 1 you take computer labs where you learn how to prepare professional quality reports and presentations using Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint,
- in semester 2 a design project brings together year 1 material.
Process Balances Core
Process Balances
This module introduces the concepts of mass and energy balances, which are often simple (sometimes complex) but nevertheless essential tools in the analysis of almost all process plant. The module also introduces process economics - to answer the question: “will my plant make any money?”
Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering Core
Mathematical Methods in Chemical Engineering
This module revises/introduces the maths required in our Chemical Engineering programmes, with plenty of Chemical Engineering examples to illustrate relevance.
Modules in this part of the course aim to develop core Chemical Engineering subjects such as separation processes, mass transfer operations, safety and loss prevention, chemical thermodynamics, process control, process simulation, and environmental control. Food Engineering or a language (French, German, Spanish or Mandarin) may be taken as an option.
Semester 1
Thermodynamics II Core
Thermodynamics II
This module extends the concepts of thermodynamics to multicomponent systems to enable the calculation of equilibrium constants for use in chemical reactors and also vapour-liquid separation devices (such as distillation columns and flash tanks).
Instrumentation and Control Core
Instrumentation and Control
All modern process plants are run using automatic control systems. This module shows what equipment is needed and how the majority of plants are controlled.
Fluid Mechanics II Core
Fluid Mechanics II
This module looks at advanced flow topics including compressible and open channel flow, and using computational fluid dynamics software to simulate flows in equipment and pipework of more complex geometries.
Semester 2
Reaction Engineering I Core
Reaction Engineering I
This module extends A level Physical Chemistry to look at continuous as well as batch reactors.
Plant Engineering Core
Plant Engineering
This module deals with the structural aspects of plant design, including the design of pressure vessels, storage tanks and structural supports.
Particle Technology Core
Particle Technology
Most products of the chemical industry are solid based. This module introduces the physics of solid particles in fluids and relevant processes such as sedimentation, centrifugation and filtration.
Process Systems Engineering Core
Process Systems Engineering
This module looks at a typical software design package used in industry to simulate whole process plants. This includes hands-on computer labs along with supporting lectures to understand what calculations the software performs.
Food Engineering Optional
Food Engineering
Chemical engineers are widely employed in the food industry. This module covers aspects of microbiology relevant to food safety, explores the more difficult flow behaviour of food materials (such as tomato ketchup), and shows how chemical engineering concepts can be readily applied to food processes such as canning, drying, freezing and frying.
Choice of applied Languages Optional
Choice of applied Languages
French, German, Spanish or Mandarin at either beginner, intermediate or advanced level.
Semester 1 & 2
Process Design and Safety Core
Process Design and Safety
This module introduces students to the stages involved in progressing a process design from early inception to a detailed plant design with particular emphasis on inherent safety principles.
Design is very different type of activity from answering examination questions but most closely resembles what actual chemical engineers do in their jobs. Students benefit from exposure to this type of activity in both year 1 and year 2 before meeting their final year design.
Mass Transfer and Separations Core
Mass Transfer and Separations
This module deals with the analysis of distillation columns and gas absorbers using both packed columns and plate columns.
Areas studied include reaction engineering, transfer processes, process control, biochemical engineering, process economics, and two optional business related modules.
The second semester is dedicated to a Professional Development Project can be taken either in industry, abroad or at Loughborough.
Semester 1
Chemical Process Control Core
Chemical Process Control
This module extends the material from Year 2 and examines the mathematical methods underpinning the design of control systems to optimise stability and response.
Transfer Processes Core
Transfer Processes
This is an advanced course in heat and mass transfer including diffusion, surface tension, turbulence, transient heat and mass transfer, drying and crystallisation processes.
Reaction Engineering II Core
Reaction Engineering II
This module extends the material from Year 2 to cover catalysis (using catalyst pellets), reactor optimisation and stability, and different types of reactor.
Process Economics and Design Optimisation Core
Process Economics and Design Optimisation
This module shows how process plants should be viewed as a business investment to be compared with any other. As well as quantifying the economic return of a plant, it also shows how process plant variables can be optimised to maximise return on investment subject to legal, environmental and safety constraints.
Research Methods Core
Research Methods
This module prepares students with generic research and presentation skills for use in the forthcoming Professional Development Project.
Operations Management Optional
Operations Management
Operations Management is concerned with the management and logistical issues required to deliver products or services of the desired quality on time, on cost and at the right location.
Business Systems Optional
Business Systems
This module shows how systems (mainly involving IT) can be used to support planning, decision making and control in a business environment.
Entrepreneurship and Innovation Optional
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
This module is concerned with the generation of ideas and how to commercialise them, particularly via the creation of small businesses.
Semester 2
Professional Development Project Core
Professional Development Project
The Professional Development Project (PDP) is a semester long individual project that can either be spent in industry, at an overseas partner university or in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Loughborough.
A PDP spent in industry differs from the sandwich year in that the focus is on a single project (rather than multiple projects) and a report is submitted to and assessed by the Department of Chemical Engineering at Loughborough as part of the degree. PDPs based at Loughborough and overseas universities are usually research projects under the supervision of an academic member of staff at the university concerned and written up as a research paper.
Literature Review Core
Literature Review
Students write an original literature survey of 5000 words on a topic related to their Professional Development Project.
Chemical Engineering MEng (Hons)