Course syllabus for Products and processes in a sustainable society

Course syllabus adopted 2021-02-16 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameProdukter och processer i ett hållbart samhälle
  • CodeKBT201
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerTKKMT
  • Education cycleFirst-cycle
  • Main field of studyEnergy and Environmental Systems and Technology
  • ThemeEnvironment 7.5 c
  • DepartmentCHEMISTRY AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language Swedish
  • Application code 53112
  • Maximum participants60
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsNo
  • Only students with the course round in the programme overview.

Credit distribution

0116 Project 3 c
Grading: UG		 3 c
0216 Examination 4.5 c
Grading: TH		 4.5 c
  • 15 Mar 2023 am J
  • 09 Jun 2023 pm J
  • 22 Aug 2023 pm J

In programmes

Examiner

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Eligibility

General entry requirements for bachelor's level (first cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

The same as for the programme that owns the course.
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

Chemistry, chemical engineering and environmental inorganic chemistry.

Aim

The aim of the course is to provide tools for dealing with the chain function - product - process from a sustainable perspective and has a focus on the design of engineering solutions, guided by economic, social and environmental considerations. The starting point of the course is the chemical substances that are present in products and their respective production chains; the spread of these substances and the effect they have on the surrounding environment during the life cycle of the products they constitute.

Fundamental principles of "Green Chemistry" and "Green Engineering" for modelling and optimizing processes, life cycle analysis and environmental risk analysis compose important elements of the course. An important part is producing relevant process data for life cycle evaluation, which unites all the components of the course.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

On completion of this course, the student should be able to:
  1. Understand the principles behind Green Engineering and be able to apply these in the design of chemical product manufacturing processes considering product choice, synthesis method and process design.
  2. Critically examine and evaluate chemical product manufacturing processes with respect to product functionality and overall sustainability (economic, environmental and social aspects). 
  3. Use methods for calculation of process efficiency (material, energy) as well as for economic evaluation. This involves the ability to use flowsheeting programmes for estimation of process data.
  4. Give an account of different biorefinery concept and how these differs with regards to raw material, process and product; furthermore the student should be able to discuss how these differences affects separate sustainability aspects.
  5. Perform simple life cycle assessments (LCA) including allocation.
  6. Choose suitable energy conversion chains for calculations of energy flows in LCA-studies.
  7. Give a general account for the main economic instruments that are used to influence industry's choice of energy sources and process steps.

Content

There has been a shift in recent years in the main focus of environmental problems. Previously, discussions concentrated mainly on emissions related to production processes, especially in the chemical industry, whereas a life cycle perspective is used nowadays. Although global concerns, such as climate changes, often take a central position, regional and local issues are nevertheless of great importance. The field of chemistry has tackled environmental problems in different ways as to, for example, minimize the consumption of raw materials and the formation of toxic by-products. This builds on principles for both chemical synthesis and chemical engineering solutions. The course focuses on the impact of chemical products and processes on the environment using a life cycle perspective.

Syllabus:

  • Raw materials: Renewable vs. non-renewable
  • Fundamental principles of Green Engineering
  • Basic knowledge of how chemicals affect the environment and environmental risk analysis
  • Choice of product/functionality/sustainability aspects
  • Evaluation of different synthesis methods
  • Process efficiency (materials, energy and finances) and its effect on the environment
  • Process calculation programmes for estimating process data
  • Basic life cycle analysis and simple applications, with some in-depth study in the field of energy.

Organisation

Lectures, exercises and assignments/project.

Literature

Product and Process Design Principles: Synthesis, Analysis & Evaluation, 4th Ed., EMEA edition, W. D. Seider, D. R. Lewin, J. D. Seader, S. Widagdo, R. Gani and K. M. Ng, Wiley, 2017.

Environmental Sustainability for Engineers and Applied Scientists, G. Peters and M. Svanström, Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Supplementary material

Examination including compulsory elements

A written examination and a compulsory assignment/project.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.