ENERGY AND INDUSTRIAL SYSTEMS - 2023/4

Module Overview

Energy and Industrial Systems is a module roughly divided into 2 related parts. The Industrial Systems section introduces the basic principles of industrial systems thinking and detail as applied to the chemical industry, providing real-world insights into how many of the theoretical content taught in previous levels is applied in industry. The Industrial Systems section introduces tools needed to understand the management of streams to be released into the environment ('waste management') under normal circumstances and to prevent accidental releases, teaching our future engineers the importance of sustainability and social responsibility. The Energy Systems section covers methods and tools employed in energy systems integration decision making. It addresses the issues surrounding energy supply. The content ranges from technical detail (the engineering) through to national and international policy making, discussing the energy transition, emissions reduction, and energy efficiency to ensure our graduates can contribute to creating cleaner and more sustainable process industries. The module is also important in preparing students for the Design Project, due to the focus on integrated systems, and industrial design.

Module provider

Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Module Leader

SHORT Michael (Chst Chm Eng)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

 

Industrial Systems 

Industrial emissions to atmosphere; control of NOx, particulates, SOx, VOC’s and other emissions.

Safeguarding against fire and explosions, DOW Fire and Explosions Index, toxic and flammable chemicals storage 

Waste water treatment systems; primary, biological and tertiary

Introduction to practical optimization of multi-variable numerical problems with constraints (practical = within the context of a design project)

Developing block diagrams for whole chemical process systems from a FEED style process description.

 

Energy Systems 

Forms of energy provision:

1. 
   Industrial energy sources: power stations (fossil fuels, nuclear, biomass, wind, solar, tidal), direct use, CHP (Combined Heat and Power, including integrated boiler-house/power station common on chemical sites);
   


2. 
   Domestic energy sources: electricity, solar, direct use (fossil fuels);
   


3. 
   Transport energy sources: electricity, fuel combustion (fossil fuels), solar, animal, biomass.
   

Engineering calculations that apply in the energy sector (includes a revision of the First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics, maximum (Carnot) efficiency, steam cycles, gas turbines, refrigeration and air-conditioning).

Mixed energy supply, the electricity pool: start up and shut down times, storage systems, availability of wind, solar and wave/tidal generation. Electricity distribution system (national grid), distribution of generating sites and demand in the UK, need for redundancy, transmission losses and other running costs, capital costs. Distributed energy systems (DES).

Global warming, probable causes and solutions. UK CO2 production by sector, global emissions, Rio, Kyoto, CO2 trading credits, taxation policy.

Minimizing CO2 emissions on chemical sites by maximizing heat recovery: pinch technology.


 

 

 

 

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and analytical skills over the full range of module material and to encourage progressive learning.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

·         Online in-semester Open Book Class Test – 20%, in four hour window, (LO1, LO2, LO3)

·         Online Open Book Examination – 80%, in 2 two sections: (1) Energy Systems and (2) Industrial Systems, in a four hour window (LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4, LO5, LO6)

Formative assessment

Examples sheets will be issued with numerical answers.

Feedback

Verbal feedback in lectures verbal feedback in tutorials, written feedback on class test.

Module aims

• An appreciation of the issues of designing or retrofitting equipment to meet atmospheric and aquatic emissions standards.
• An appreciation of design heuristics and simple graphical tools that allow the determination of systems performance targets.
• An awareness of the issues surrounding current and future energy and electrical power supply.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Take students logically through the challenging material associated with the analysis of energy and industrial systems


• To ensure a logical and progressive learning experience


• To allow students to practice their skills on a series of real life tutorial problems in a supportive environment and in doing so prepare students for the analysis required in the Design Projects (ENG3192/3/4/5 and ENG3199) 

The learning and teaching methods include:

• Lectures with opportunity to ask questions                               


• Tutorials with tutorial sheets and, later, published solutions                                


• Independent Learning (some guided)  


• Test with feedback          

 

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ENG3186

Other information

Employability: This module provides students with working knowledge of how industrial systems operate, from real-world pollution control and wastewater treatment to steam systems and world-wide energy perspectives. This knowledge is vital in many of the process industries, where energy efficiency, sustainability, and renewable energy integration are increasingly important. The topics delivered will allow students to develop a professional and well-rounded understanding of these important topics, including technical details and an awareness of their social responsibility.

Digital Capabilities: As with all modules, students are expected to engage with online material and resources  via  SurreyLearn,  and  other  digital  platforms. The assessments are done as open-book online assessments, and hence students are encouraged to use digital tools to enhance their understanding and to develop quality hand-ins within time constraints.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: In addition to discussing the global implications of climate change and the responsibility of engineers everywhere to address this, the module also teaches how to increase plant safety through better design, and how to ensure that plants adhere to regulations regarding waste management, thus developing global, socially responsible engineers.

Sustainability: the module discusses the global impacts of climate change, and the responsibility of modern engineers to reduce emissions, increase efficiency, and develop new technologies for sustainable chemical industries

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2023/4 academic year.