Course syllabus for Products and processes in a sustainable society

The course syllabus contains changes
See changes

Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-08 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 53133
  • Maximum participants75
  • 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

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 course gives tools for developing sustainable chemical products and processes based on the desired (chemical) functions of the products. Central is the design of process technology solutions that meet economic, environmental and social requirements. This includes discussion of chemical substances in products and their respective valorization chains as well as sustainable chemical engineering production where the material flows increasingly consists of new emerging raw material feedstocks and the energy flow increasingly comes from renewable energy sources.

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 bio- and waste refinery concepts 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

Based on the green engineering principles, the course provides heuristics (rules of thumb) for chemical engineering process design as well as basics for modeling and optimization of chemical processes. Life cycle analysis and cost estimation are important course elements. All elements are connected and made concrete through project assignments in which the student designs a process, produces relevant process data and carries out a life cycle evaluation. The course includes:
  • Sustainable chemical product and process development: function - product - process
  • Green engineering principles
  • New raw materials and their flows through bio and return refineries
  • New types of energy: electrification of chemical industry
  • Life cycle analysis: goal - scope - inventory - impact assessment - interpretation
  • Use of process simulation software for estimation of process data: physicochemical models - degrees of freedom - flowsheeting
  • Cost estimate

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.

The course syllabus contains changes

  • Changes to course rounds:
    • 2024-06-16: Examinator Examinator Per-Anders Carlsson (perc) removed by Viceprefekt
      [Course round 1]
    • 2024-06-16: Examinator Examinator Pavleta Knutsson (vm2pepa) added by Viceprefekt
      [Course round 1]