CHE4173 · Sustainable process integration

Overview

This unit focuses on strategies for enhanced industrial ecology to drive sustainable resource use and minimise waste in process industries. Topics include heat integration, water integration and recycling of process streams to improve resource efficiency, reduce waste, and mitigate ecological impacts. You will examine waste generation and minimisation in reactors and separation processes, pollution mechanisms and effects, emissions management, and the roles of regulatory and economic drivers in cleaner production. These themes will be developed in lectures and be supported by student project work on selected industrial processes, applying ecological principles to sustainable process design.

Areas of study: Minor: Decarbonisation and net zero Minor: Sustainable energy transition Minor: Sustainable engineering

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.

Continuous assessment: 50% Final assessment: 50% This unit contains threshold hurdle requirements that you must achieve to be able to pass the unit. You are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component and at least 45% in the final assessment component. The consequence of not achieving a hurdle requirement is a fail grade (NH) and a maximum mark of 45 for the unit.

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. Apply heat integration principles, including pinch analysis and heat exchanger network design, to improve energy efficiency in integrated processes.
2. Design strategies for water integration, including process modifications, treatment, and reuse to minimise consumption and effluent generation.
3. Evaluate technologies for the treatment and disposal of gaseous, liquid and solid waste, demonstrating and incorporating knowledge of contaminant properties and removal technologies.
4. Understand air emissions and their dispersion, and propose emissions mitigation strategies to minimise ecological impact.
5. Explore the benefits of improved industrial ecology through integrated manufacture and improved industrial planning.

Workload

The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours of independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.