Chemical Engineering Process Design Methodology at The University of Illinois - Chicago

The senior chemical engineering design capstone course has a special place in academia as it brings our students entire school and internship experience to focus on designing a chemical process. For the past five years, the second semester UIC process design course problem has been created jointly by a team of industry advisors and the instructor. Nine industry advisors come from Ambitech, Jacobs, Middough, Superior Engineers, and UOP to assist in this ambitious effort. This year’s project has been the design of an "Integrated Shale Gas Industrial Complex". Various chemicals are produced from natural gas and the plant is split into nine units. Each mentor guides a four-student team. The overall objective is to learn how to create a conceptual stage gate one, design basis package, modeled after the UOP "Schedule A Package". Students learn how to assemble their own portion of the design as well as interact with the other eight units to assure maximal material and energy utilization and safe and economical operation. The use of spreadsheets and modeling, principally Aspen, is featured in the last half of the semester after students have mastered the basic heuristic problem.