(534a) Plantwide Dynamic Simulation in the Lehigh Design Course

A two-semester senior design course has been taught at Lehigh for a decade. The course expands the traditional steady-state aspects of process design (flowsheet topology, engineering economics, separation sequences, reactor/recycle trade-offs, etc) with dynamic plantwide control. Student groups work on individual design projects provided by industrial consultants who serve as mentors. Effective plantwide control structures are developed for the multi-unit processes with recycle and tested for realistically large disturbances using dynamic simulation. Considerations of process safety is incorporated in the projects. The paper will discuss the objectives, content and format of the course and provide examples of typical student design projects.