BSc Hons Applied Chemistry (KMITL)

This module aims to introduce the principles of chemical reactors and reactor design across a range of chemical engineering contexts, as a first and fundamental course in reactors. From fundamentals of energy and mass balance the course proceeds in increasing complexity of reactor design and performance. The course also aims to bring about an appreciation and judgement of how to optimise for single and multiple reactions as well as the effect of multiple reactors for increased capacity and performance.

In this module,  you'll receive a practical demonstration of topics contained in the lectures. You will develop basic laboratory skills in preparative chemistry and analysis, and gain experience in the applications of spectroscopy and common instrumental techniques.

This module aims to develop an understanding and appreciation of the practical aspects underpinning chemical engineering and to develop students’ communication, team-working and report-writing skills.

This module will provide you with a broad knowledge of the important concepts in inorganic chemistry from which more specialist topics can be tackled. This includes investigation of the chemistry of the main group and transition metals and introduces topics at the forefront of inorganic and materials chemistry.

This module teaches you modern NMR spectroscopy as it is applied to chemistry. It covers:

• skills for handling and interpreting NMR data for the purposes of chemical structure elucidation
• theoretical basis of the NMR experiment using the vector formalism
• reactivities of organic molecules
• organic syntheses using the disconnection approach
• synthesis and reactivities of electron-poor and electron-rich heterocyclic molecules

It provides an insight into the role of computational chemistry in chemical research and training in the use of modern computational chemistry software.

This module aims to build students’ competence on the analysis, synthesis and integration of chemical processes and enable them to develop preliminary plant-wide designs. An important element of the module involves the use of simulation software to carry out process design calculations.

Mass Transfer

In this module, you’ll learn how to calculate rates of mass transfer related to separation processes. This will include diffusion in various simple geometries, diffusion with changing path length, diffusion in solids, and diffusion across a vapor-liquid interface. 

Vapor-liquid separation processes

You will study how to apply the principles of mass and energy balances, vapor-liquid equilibrium, and mass transfer to understand the operation of separation processes. This will include distillation, adsorption, and stripping in staged and continuous-contact columns as well as multi-stage evaporation.

Adsorption

You will learn about the thermodynamics of adsorbed phases, including binary mixtures, and ideal adsorbed solution theory. This will be used as the framework to learn about industrial adsorption processes under cyclic operation.

In this module:

• You will be provided with a basic understanding of material properties, and how these can be used as a basis for selecting materials for chemical engineering applications.
• You will be taught to understand the stability of materials, particularly with respect to electrochemical corrosion.
• You will learn about the nature of multiphase systems such as gas-liquid and solid-gas mixtures, suspensions, polymers, particulates and emulsions.
• You will also study major relevant process engineering issues, especially flow and transport; and basic principles for multiphase materials engineering for product design.

In this module:

• You will develop independent, investigative skills as part of project work in the field of chemistry and other disciplines
• You will gain group working attributes in the context of project work
• You will develop effective communication skills

Literature Project Thesis

You will work as part of a group, reviewing primary literature related to a group theme, under the supervision of one member of the academic staff. The groups will share literature sources and discuss relevant literature as part of the group meetings. You will get the chance to work on an individual thesis, focusing on a sub-topic related to the group theme. Your thesis should be submitted at the end of Semester 1 and is marked by the group Supervisor, an Examiner and a Moderator. You will receive individual marks for your thesis submission.

Literature Project Group Presentation

You will remain in your Literature Project Group and prepare a group presentation that follows the group theme. This involves consolidation of the main results from individual theses. The presentation is delivered early in Semester 2 to an audience of peers and academic staff from the related Departmental Research Theme. The assessment is carried out by all staff who attend the presentation session. You will receive individual marks for the presentation, derived (in part) from a group mark.

In this module:

• You will learn core knowledge and skills in physical chemistry.
• You will be introduced to the knowledge of the electronic structure of atoms and molecules through the prism of quantum chemistry.
• You will learn to establish the principles of bonding in molecules as described by valence bond and molecular orbital theories.
• You will be introduced to group theory and how it can be applied to the determination of the symmetry of molecules and their properties.
• You will be shown how statistical mechanics can be used to calculate the macroscopic properties of chemical systems from a consideration of the behaviour of their constituent molecules.
• You will learn to understand intermolecular forces and their importance in defining key aspects of chemical behavior and molecular organization.

You will have the opportunity to apply chemical engineering knowledge in the context of applications and industry focussed chemical engineering design, through a team-based conceptual design project.

By the end of the project, working as part of a team, you will have built up a design case study of a specified innovative area of chemical engineering process and technology. This will require research and evaluation of a broad range of sources. These will include: advanced chemical engineering principles, safety and environment, economics, emerging market and industry opportunities, emerging technology and scientific research.

The project will require you to demonstrate creativity, critical thinking and problem solving in making choices and decisions in areas of uncertainty. It will result in a basic process specification plus evaluation of how the design could be developed into a detailed working industrial design plan. The project will also develop your teamwork, communication and self and peer evaluation skills.

In this module:

• You will learn a more advanced view of the main group, transition metal coordination and organometallic chemistry. The themes covered will include: ligands and their influence on complexes, trends in structure and bonding, stereochemistry, reactivity, and the application of spectroscopic and other methods of identification.
• You will study modern spectroscopy as it is applied in chemistry.
• You will learn about X-ray crystallography and the basic concepts of crystal structure, symmetry and diffraction.
• You will attend workshops on: how to use crystallographic software, organising date, hands-on solution, refinement of an organic crystal structure, assessment of quality of model structure and interpretation and reporting of chemical structure.
• You’ll be taught an introduction to spectroscopy, how light interacts with matter, the separation of rotational, vibrational and electronic states, and the Born Oppenheimer Principle.
• You will learn about molecular adsorption spectroscopy, Frank Condon transitions, Charge transfer, spin allowed and spin forbidden bands, quantitative electronic spectroscopy and the Beer Lambert Law. You will also study fluorescence, FRET and phosphorescence.
• You will review the use of multinuclear NMR spectroscopy in inorganic/organometallic chemistry and magnetic inequivalence. Case studies will include dynamic exchange processes, variable temperature NMR spectroscopy and AI NMR spectroscopy.