Design Project in Chemical Engineering

The objective of the course Design Project in Chemical Engineering is to give an overview on preliminary plant design. The course introduces acquiring of source information for design, practical methods of design with new innovations, costs and profitability estimation and presenting results of the design work.

The course requires knowledge on various topics; e.g. equipment design, reactor technology, process
chemistry, mass and energy balances, process simulation, process control, process safety, costs and
profitability estimation, business aspects etc. These topics are not taught in this course but are considered as the background knowledge of participating students.

Earlier, the course has partnered with e.g. AFRY, Andritz, Fazer, Kemira, Metso and Neste.

What can the company expect from taking part in this project?

The practical design project includes:

• Market study and process alternatives
• Process selection and innovative plant design
• Cost estimation and profitability study
• Business model

The topics of the design project are practical obtained from industry or research institutes. They are real projects, which are generally implemented by the company by their own recourses.

The assignments lasting 9-10 months are accomplished as projects, targeted for industrial partner encompass the investigation of the process concept, flow diagrams, mass and energy balances, main equipment dimensioning, EHS, cost and profitability analyses as well as business potential evaluation. If required, the students make personal NDA’s with the companies, so that all the knowledge and
reports created can be kept undisclosed.

The assignment is to be carried out in groups of 5-6 students and its extent is 270 h/student (10 credits). Each student acts as a project manager in turn. The group prepares 5 reports. As a whole, the assignment consists of over 1500 hours of group work by the students and supervisors.

What is required from the company?

The participating company is required to provide a specialist who is available to contribute and give supervision for the group work, and to attend 5 project group meetings. Meetings can be arranged online or face-to-face. The participating company is also required to cover the cost of 600 EUR per student.

What do the students receive?

After completing the course, students

• Acquire advanced practical knowledge on process design and preliminary plant design with innovations
• Can define market study of raw materials, products, material margin and process alternatives
• Can calculate material and energy balance and simulation of the process
• Can draw PFD, PI-diagrams, lay-out and analyses the process safety
• Can define utilities, emissions, wastes and safety aspects of the plant
• Can size the equipment and define equipment list, specification and instructions
• Can calculate capital investment, operating cost, production cost, analyses profitability
• Can create a business model and financial planning for it
• Can demonstrate team work, presentation, management and leadership skills in practical plant design

Course details

• Contact: Prof. Pekka Oinas, [email protected]; Sarwar Golam, D.Sc.(Tech.),
  (University lecturer), [email protected], +358 50 4349075
• Project duration: February 2024 – December 2024
• Number of students per project: 5-6
• Project fee for a company: 600 € / student
• Application period for companies: by the end of December 2023