ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Hours of tutorials: 1 Expository Class: 2 Interactive Classroom: 50 Total: 53
Use languages Spanish, Galician
Type: Ordinary subject Master’s Degree RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: Chemistry Engineering
Areas: Chemical Engineering
Center Higher Technical Engineering School
Call: First Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable | 1st year (Yes)
The main objective of the subject is that the students acquire the competences associated with the conceptual design of processes. For this purpose, the development of a group project of conceptual design of a productive process will be carried out. The following partial objectives are proposed:
- To integrate the knowledge acquired in the degree to conceptually design a process.
- To develop the necessary steps to reach the conceptual design of a new productive process or the improvement of an existing one, including aspects related to safety and environment.
- To understand the usefulness of performing experimental work in the laboratory, or operating a pilot plant prior to the construction of a full-scale plant, to obtain experimental data in order to correctly select and optimise the units of a process.
- To use process engineering methodologies, heuristic design criteria, and computer programmes to create flow diagrams and perform simulations of new or improved production processes.
- To use energy integration methodologies and design separation systems for the synthesis of production processes.
- To evaluate aspects related to the economic viability of the designed process.
The conceptual process design (CPD) consists of a creative activity for the definition of new industrial production process schemes. In a conceptual engineering project, a set of activities must be carried out to generate a process flow diagram, which serves to perform the preliminary evaluation of a possible new process or to achieve the improvement of an existing process.
The contents developed in the course are those succinctly contemplated in the subject descriptor: "Practical development of a conceptual design project, by student teams, in which aspects such as the following will be considered: (i) conception and stages in the design of processes; (ii) identification and interrelation of the main units; (iii) obtaining process data in the laboratory, and their interpretation; (iv) simulation and operation strategies; (v) economic viability; and (vi) safety and environmental aspects".
Basic bibliography:
* SEIDER, W.D., SEADER, J.D. and LEWIN, D.R. Principles of Product and Process Design - Synthesis, Analysis and Evaluation, 3rd ed. John Wiley and Sons, USA, 2010. ISBN 978-0470-04895-5. SINATURA ETSE: A150 10 C
Complementary bibliography:
* TURTON, R., BAILIE, R.C., WHITING, W.B. and SHAEIWITZ, J.A. Analysis, Synthesis and Design of Chemical Processes, 4th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle, NJ, USA, 2013 (and earlier editions). ISBN 978-0-13-261812-0. SINATURA ETSE: A151 9
* PERRY, R.H. and GREEN, D.W. Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 7th ed. McGraw Hill, USA, 1998. ISBN 9780071422949. SINATURA ETSE: 100-3
* SINNOTT, R. and TOWLER, G. Chemical Engineering Design, 2nd ed. Elsevier, Oxford, UK, 2009. ISBN 9780080966595. SINATURA ETSE: A140 11 , A140 16
* SMITH, R. Chemical Process, Design and Integration. Wiley & Sons, New York, 2010. ISBN 9780471486817. SINATURA ETSE: A151 13
Knowledge:
(CN04) To acquire advanced knowledge for the design and holistic understanding of chemical processes, from both a fundamental and practical perspective.
Competence:
(CP01) To apply knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and other natural sciences, obtained through study, experience, and practice, with critical reasoning to establish economically viable solutions to technical problems.
(CP03) To design products, processes, systems and services of the chemical industry, as well as the optimisation of others already developed, taking as a technological basis the various areas of chemical engineering, comprehensive of processes and transport phenomena, separation operations, and engineering of chemical, nuclear, electrochemical, and biochemical reactions.
Skill:
(HD01) To have ability to solve problems that are unfamiliar, incompletely defined, and have competing specifications, considering the possible solving methods, including the most innovative ones, selecting the most appropriate, and to be able to correct the implementation, evaluating the different design solutions.
(HD02) To adapt to structural changes in society caused by factors or phenomena of an economic, energetic or natural type, to solve the derived problems and provide technological solutions with a high commitment to sustainability.
(HD03) To communicate conclusions, together with the knowledge and reasons that support them, to specialised and non-specialised audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.
The methodological development of this course will be channeled through the development of a practical case. Thus, the students will carry out the conceptual design of an industrial process throughout the semester, working in teams of 3-5 students. The interactive seminars in the regular classroom are structured on the basis of the different levels on which the CPD is articulated, allowing the monitoring of the development of the different parts of the report of the conceptual design to be submitted after having concluded the classes. Submissions linked to small tasks and other activities will be programmed and assessed at different times to monitor the ongoing progress. The seminars in the computer room and the laboratory sessions will bring support, by means of process simulation software or of direct experimentation, to the decision-taking at each level of the CPD.
The student will be the main acting character in the development of the course, having to assume responsibilities in the generation of ideas at each stage of the conceptual design, including the definition of tasks to be fromermed in the sessions of the computer room and the experimental laboratory. The specific tasks to be carried out will depend largely on the selected process. The teachers will adopt a role of supervision and continuous advice, not being promoters of the decisions related to the progress of the conceptual design.
After having finished the classes, a report of conceptual design will be submitted by each team, together with two reporting documents: one on the work carried out in the computer room and another one on the work carried out in the experimental laboratory.
A session of justification of the progress made is proposed as a group tutorial, in the middle of the semester, before the teachers of the course, after submission of a preliminary version of the project report (pre-report).
The Virtual Learning Environment (Moodle) will be used as a tool to provide information/announcements about the teaching activity throughout the course and complementary materials for the study of the subject.
A visit to a company related to the contents of the course will be made, depending on the economic resources available, and seeking, if possible, an integration with the contents of other courses of the Module. The objective of the visit is to connect the contents of the course with the industrial reality. If the visit cannot be carried out, it will be substituted by an activity of approximation to the industrial world; for example, a seminar given by a specialist in the industrial sector.
Activities carried out and competencies to be achieved:
- Expositive and interactive seminar classes: CN04, CP03, HD02, HD03.
- Interactive laboratory classes: CP01, HD01
- Interactive computer room classes: CP03, HD01
- Group tutorial: CP01, CP03, HD03
The assessment of the student will be based on the different assessable activities. The distribution of the grade will be as follows:
- Small tasks and other activities for ongoing learning monitoring (assessable, not mandatory): 10% of the final grade.
- Technical visit and performances in the experimental laboratory and in the computer room, together with the corresponding associated reporting documents (mandatory and assessable activities): 25% of the final grade.
- Group tutorial, consisting of the pre-report and its discussion ((mandatory and assessable activity): 15% of the final grade.
- Final conceptual design report (mandatory and assessable file): 25% of the final grade.
- Final exam (mandatory and assessable activity): 25% of the final grade. This exam will consist of two parts: a knowledge test on aspects of the conceptual design of processes (15% of the final grade) and the presentation and defence of the development of the conceptual design (10% of the final grade).
A minimum of 3 out of 10 will be required in each of the mandatory sections, as well as in each of the parts of the final exam, in order to calculate the average and pass the course. If the 5 points are reached in the final grade without fulfilling any of the partial minimums, the final grade will be that of the section in which the minimum has not been reached.
Attendance to the technical visit and to the interactive laboratory and computer classroom sessions will be mandatory and assessable. Likewise, attendance to the first session of lectures, according to the schedule of the course, is recommended, as it is considered critical for the proper development of the rest of the course.
The assessment system will be the same in the first and second opportunity, keeping from the first to the second opportunity the marks of the sections that exceed the minimum indicated. No partial grades will be retained from one academic year to another one.
Students who do not participate in any of the assessable activities will be graded as "Not-shown".
Relationship of the assessment of activities and the competences:
- Ongoing monitoring activities: CN04, CP03, HD02, HD03.
- Technical visit, work in the computer room and the laboratory): CP01, CP03, HD01
- Group tutorial: CP01, CP03, HD03
- Report: CP01, CP03, HD03
- Exam: CN04, CP01, HD03
For cases of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the “Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e de revisión de cualificacións” will be applied.
A total of 150 h (6 ECTS) is estimated, which is divided between 55 h of face-to-face activity and 95 h of autonomous work by the student. The distribution of the face-to-face hours according to the type of activity will be as follows:
- Expositive lectures: 2 h
- Interactive seminar teaching / technical visit: 18 h
- Interactive teaching of laboratory / computer classroom: 32 h
- Tutoring in small groups: 1 h
- Exam and revision: 2 h
In order to pass the course, students are recommended to carry out a continuous and sustained work during the entire instruction period.
For the laboratory, students must come equipped with a lab coat and safety goggles. The admission and permanence of students enrolled in the practical laboratory requires that they know and comply with the rules included in the ‘Protocolo de formación básica en materia de seguridade para espazos experimententais’ of the School of Engineering, available in the safety section of its website, which can be accessed as follows:
1. https://www.usc.gal/gl/centro/escola-tecnica-superior-enxenaria
2. Access the intranet with your personal credentials.
3. Go to Comisións > Seguridade e Saúde > Formación
4. Click on ‘Protocolo de formación básica en materia de seguridade para espazos experimententais’.
The language of instruction will be Spanish, without prejudice to the rights of those students who wish to use Galician.
Students who wish to obtain additional information on issues related to the teaching and research organisation of the centre can consult the following web pages:
- Department of Chemical Engineering (e-mail, offices, and telephone numbers of the department's faculty staff, as well as research activities carried out).
- School of Engineering (description of the degree, organisation of the centre, timetable of classes, organisation of practical groups, calendar of exams, and administrative forms).
Eva Rodil Rodriguez
- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816796
- eva.rodil [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Anuska Mosquera Corral
- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816779
- anuska.mosquera [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Professor
Hector Rodriguez Martinez
Coordinador/a- Department
- Chemistry Engineering
- Area
- Chemical Engineering
- Phone
- 881816804
- hector.rodriguez [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: University Lecturer
| Wednesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00-13:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Galician | Classroom A6 |
| 12.19.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 12.19.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 12.19.2025 10:00-12:00 | CLIL_02 | Classroom A6 |
| 12.19.2025 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIL_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.23.2026 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIL_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.23.2026 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.23.2026 10:00-12:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | Classroom A6 |
| 06.23.2026 10:00-12:00 | CLIL_02 | Classroom A6 |