• Blended Learning & Flipped Classroom

The goal of the course it to enable students to master advanced methods of catalytic reactor design and to apply them through the analysis of an industrial process. The course covers both the development of the methods along with their numerical implementation with standard software tools (e.g., Matlab, Excel, openFOAM) and their practical application through a project work. This project work will be developed in class with professor and tutors, using also novel teaching techniques such as flipped classroom and blended learning, as specified in the Topics Section. Depending on the availability of an industrial partner, a lesson of the course will be dedicated either to seminar on practical aspects of chemical reaction engineering given by an industrial partner or to a visit of the reactor section of an industrial site.

Lecture and exercise sessions will allow students to gain knowledge about:

1. the derivation of models for the reactor analysis and design
2. the implementation of numerical procedures for the solution of reactor models for the purposes of chemical reactor design
3. the design of catalytic chemical reactors
4. the analysis and understanding of the behavior of chemical reactors
5. the development and implementation of engineering procedures for the selection of optimal reactor configurations for given classes of processes

The project work developed under the supervision of professor and tutors will allow students to gain knowledge about:

1. the application of the aforementioned expected-learning outcomes to an industrial case
2. the analysis of the industrial solutions currently in place for a given process
3. the ability of presenting the results of their work in a document (e.g., power-point presentation to be presented during the exam)

Part 1A: Introduction and review of the basic concept of chemical reactor engineering

Type of teaching: frontal lesson

1. A multiscale approach to chemical reaction engineering: microscale, mesoscale, and macroscale
2. Conservation equations (mass, energy, momentum)
3. Ideal and non-ideal reactor modeling

Part 1B: Numerical solutions of chemical reaction engineering problems

Type of teaching: frontal lesson and blended class (The concepts will be presented in class. Then, tutorial videos will be available to students regarding the detailed implementation in Matlab)

1. Methodologies for the numerical solution of reaction engineering problems: Ordinary Differential Equations, Algebraic Differential Equations, Partial Differential Equations
2. Finite differences and method of lines
3. Implementation in Matlab of selected problems (e.g., PFR with dispersion, 2D model of a honeycomb channel, …)

Part 2A: Fixed-bed reactors

Type of teaching: frontal lesson

1. Fundamentals, industrial use, and applications
2. survey of models and evaluation of effective transport properties
3. 1D pseudo-homogeneous model
4. 1D pseudo-homogeneous model with axial dispersion
5. 2D pseudo-homogeneous model
6. 1D heterogeneous model
7. 1D heterogeneous model with inter- and intra-phase temperature and concentration gradients
8. intra-phase limitations (Thiele, dusty-gas-model, evaluation of effective transport properties)
9. Advanced applications and research trends

Part 2B: Fixed-bed reactors: applications (project work).

Type of teaching: flipped class (the students will apply the models and techniques presented in Parts 1B and 2A for the analysis of an industrial reactor under the supervision of professor and tutors. The professor will stimulate the discussion in class about the interpretation of the results and their comparison with industrial solutions)

1. Analysis and design of a fixed bed reactor for the conversion of o-xylene to phthalic anhydride

Part 3A: Fluidized-bed reactors

Type of teaching: frontal lesson

1. fundamentals, industrial use, and applications
2. modes of fluidizations and stabilities, evaluation of transport properties
3. reactor models (Kunii-Levenspiel; Davidson)

Part 3B: Fluidized-bed reactors: applications (project work).

Type of teaching: flipped class (same as in Part 2B)

1. Analysis and design of a fluidized bed reactor an industrial process

Part 4: current and future trends in chemical reactor engineering

Type of teaching: frontal lesson

Part 5: Visit to an industrial site or seminar given by an industrial speaker

Type of teaching: industrial experience (The students either by visiting a site or by discussing with an industrial engineer will experience the practical application of the concepts learned and applied in the course).

Basic concepts of transport phenomena (mass, energy, and momentum) and chemical reaction engineering (ideal reactors).

The assessment will be performed through an oral examination (i.e., no official written exam) aimed at testing the ability of the student in applying both qualitatively and quantitatively the concepts illustrated and presented in the course to practical examples of chemical reactor engineering. In particular, the student will be required to:

1. Demonstrate deep knowledge of the fundamental aspects of the models and methods
2. Apply the knowledge for the interpretation of the behavior of chemical reactors
3. to demonstrate their knowledge of chemical reactor design
4. Discuss in detail the project work developed in class