B6333 - PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS OF SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the students will have a thorough knowledge of the basics thermodynamic and transport principles for the analysis of main separation processes of interest for offshore application. Different separation technologies (such as membrane, absorption, distillation and so on) will be presented considering both classical applications related to products purification and management and innovative processes related to carbon capture. In addition, mathematical tools and theoretical backgrounds needed for the basic design of the different unit operation will be presented and discussed. The student is therefore expected to acquire a thorough knowledge for the application of basic mass and energy balances, phase equilibrium laws for ideal systems, mass, heat and momentum transport, to the analysis of offshore separation systems.

Course contents

The course is divided in 4 modules covering basic principles and advance knowledge related to thermodynamics, transport phenomena (mass, heat, momentum) and possible application to classical and innovative separation processes if interest for offshore engineering.

More in details the program of the different modules is the following:

Module 1
The first module will focus on theoretical principles necessary for the determination of thermodynamic properties of pure components and simple mixtures. In particular determination of parameter for the solution of energy balance in different experimental conditions will be addressed together with the analysis of liquid vapor equilibrium for single components and mixtures. (Clausius Clapeyron relation and Raoult’s Law)

Modulo 2
This module will provide students with modeling tools for analyzing momentum, transport in incompressible fluids and solid media at macroscopic and local level, with particular focus on Newtonian fluids

Modulo 3
Module 3 will extend the local approach seen in previous module also to energy balance and mass balance for mixtures; it will focus on conduction and diffusion processes and will consider the analysis of mass and energy transport at the interface both at local and macroscopic level.

Modulo 4
Theoretical principles will be applied to multiple separation processes (carbon capture and storage, hydrogen separation, air fractionation, water desalination, natural gas sweetening...) of special interest for the development of sustainable technologies for offshore sites.

Readings/Bibliography

S. I. Sandler, "Chemical and Engineering Thermodynamics " 3rd Edition, Wiley and Sons (1999)

J. M. Smith, H. C. Van Ness, Michael M. Abbott – “Introduction To Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics” (7th Edition) McGraw-Hill Education, 2005

Bird, Stewart, Lightfoot, “Transport Phenomena”, Wiley, 2nd Ed. 2002

W.M. Deen, “Introduction to Chemical Engineering Fluid Mechanics”, Cambridge University Press, 2016

W.M. Deen, “Analysis of Transport Phenomena”, Oxford University Press, 2nd Ed. 2012

Teaching methods

Lectures with presentation of the theoretical background and solution of problems.
Use of blackboard and slides projected on the screen.

Assessment methods

The exam is written and composed of the following three parts:

1. An exercise on the topics from module 1 .
2. An exercise on the topics from module 2 and 3.
3. An open questions covering the topic of module 4. The answer should be approximately one-page long.

The allowed material during the exam includes:

• a calculator (not on the phone or tablet or laptop)
• printed equation tables, provided during the course

Exam dates (6 throughout the year) are published on Almaesami and the student must register in advance to take part in the exam.

If the student fails the exam, s/he can retry on a subsequent date.

If the student passes the exam, s/he can accept the score, or reject it and retry the exam on a subsequent date. A positive score can only be rejected once, the second (most recent) positive score will be registered.

The student has the possibility to withdraw from the exam before the end, if s/he prefers not to be assessed.

Teaching tools

Lectures, slides, equation tables, meetings with professor (upon request) during office hours

Office hours

See the website of Marco Giacinti Baschetti

See the website of Ferruccio Doghieri

See the website of Ferruccio Doghieri