66693 - Fundamentals of Industrial Chemistry with Laboratory

Academic Year 2017/2018

  • Moduli: Angelo Vaccari (Modulo 1) Fabrizio Cavani (Modulo 2) Francesco Basile (Modulo 3)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2) Traditional lectures (Modulo 3)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Industrial Chemistry (cod. 8513)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student:

Will know about the structure of the chemical industry, and the fundamentals of economics. Will know how the production of main building blocks for the chemical industry is carried out, including raw materials from renewable sources. Will have acquired a knowledge on hazards associated to the use of chemical compounds and to chemical productions in general. Will know how to select a catalyst for a reaction, and will know the fundamentals of the design of flow-sheets for chemical productions. Will understand the theoretical and practical foundations for setting up a mass balance applied to an industrial chemical process, with particular reference to continuous processes. Will know the fundamentals for the management of the processes of oxidation, depending both on the safety aspects, and on aspects related to the attainment of high selectivity and productivity. Will know how to manage with reaction parameters for an industrial chemical process, in the presence of complex reaction schemes.

Course contents

Pre-requisites

Concepts of thermodinamics, in order to understand the concept of reaction equilibrium appied to reactions carried out in industrial reactors.

Concepts of kinetics, in order to understand the reaction rates applied to industrial processes, and the meaning of yield, selectivity and conversion in the presence of complex reaction schemes. 

Ability to manage with chemical operations, necessary for practical experiences in the laboratory: preparation of solutions, sampling, redox titrations.

Concepts of organic chemistry, in order to understand the reactivity of classes of compounds in the main industrial chemical processes. 

Concepts of general and inorganic chemistry, in order to understand the behavior and properties of main heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. 

Ability to balance chemical reactions. 

Basic concepts of organic chemistry and of reactivity of main functional groups.

Contents

Chemical industry and industrial chemistry. Structure of the chemical industry: basic, primary and derivate intermediate, fine and specialty. Economics aspects of the chemical industry: fixed and variable costs.

Technologies of building blocks production for the chemical industry from different raw materials: carbon, oil, natural gas and renewables: Production of biofuels and biorefinery concept.

Risk and hazard. Safety aspects of chemical products and reactions: flammability and explosiveness, run-away of exothermic reactions, safety sheets of chemical compounds. Indexes and limits of toxicity, meaning and valence.

Fundamental aspects of industrial patents and practical examples.

Catalysis role in the chemical industry: homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts, Characteristics of the main classes of industrial chemical reactions: oxidation, dehydrogenation, hydrogenation, halogenation and acid-base reactions. Examples of industrial processes. -

Design of flow-sheets of chemical processes: input-output structure, recycling , separation of phases, the purification of gases liquids and solids. -

Laboratory experiences: Determination of the interfacial area in the two-phase systems; determination of the reaction scheme in complex reactions; maximum profit equation.    

Mass balances applied to a continuous chemical processes. Equations of economic potential. Examples in the presence of complex reactions. Structure of recycle. Setting of the equations for determining the minimum number of reactions necessary to describe the system.

Management of oxidation processes, in relation to the formation of flammable mixtures. Choice of operating conditions for a selective oxidation process.    

Readings/Bibliography

It is not necessary to purchase specific texts. Some parts are contained in the text "Sviluppo e Gestione dei Processi Chimici Industriali", published by CLUEB, author F. Cavani, available in the library.

Teaching methods

Lectures: explanation with graphics support carried out on the blackboard, and power point presentations. Practice in the laboratory experiments conducted by students in groups of 3-5.

Assessment methods

The exam is carried out through a final test, aimed at ascertaining the acquisition of the expected knowledge and skills. The final exam consists of an oral test, divided into three parts, and a report on activities carried out in the laboratory.

The oral exam is divided in three parts, that may be sustained by the student at different times.

The first part consists of a discussion on the topics: design of flow-sheets of chemical processes . The outcome of this part accounts for the 20% of final vote .

The second part consists of a discussion on the topics: Complex reaction schemes and equation of maximum profit; reactions in multiphase systems; identification of the reaction conditions for industrial oxidations; the resolution of a mass balance applied to a chemical process. The outcome of this part accounts for the 30% of the final vote.

The third part consists of a discussion on the topics: i) Relevance and structure of the chemical industry; chemical aspects; ii) Traditional and renewable raw materials. Iii) Risk and danger; safety of the products and chemical reactions; toxicity limits. iv) Industrial patents. v) Catalysis role in the chemical industry: main reaction classes and examples of industrial processes. The outcome of this part accounts for the 40% to the final vote.

The report on the activity carried out in the laboratory, to be delivered by each group and normally required at least one week before the oral test taken by a member of that group, is determined by reference to accuracy in the description of applied experimental methodology, and fairness in the elaboration and discussion of the final result; the outcome contributes to the 10% of the final vote.

The final vote, out of thirty, is therefore the weighted average of the four contributions described above. A rounding to N is applied for the final vote between N,01 and N,45; to N+1 for the final vote between N,46 and N,99.

Teaching tools

Teaching materials: a part of the material presented in class will be made available to the student in electronic format via Internet. Username and password are reserved for students enrolled at the University of Bologna.

Office hours

See the website of Fabrizio Cavani

See the website of Angelo Vaccari

See the website of Francesco Basile