FPE-30806 Sustainable Food and Bioprocessing

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

BPE-20806 Separation Process Design or FPE-20306 Food Engineering.

Continuation courses:

BPE-60312 Bioprocess Design; FQD-60312 Product and Process Design.

Contents:

Environmentally-friendly and efficient production of high-quality products from our natural (agricultural) resources will be one of the key challenges for the coming decades.
In this course we will study the influences of different choices in production methods and product. New milder processing methods will enable more efficient use of raw materials and lessen the need for a cooled distribution chain. Using alternative ingredients for the same product may imply better use of land, energy and water and result in a lower emission of greenhouse gasses. However, the evaluation of existing and new technologies is difficult and requires appropriate evaluation instruments, plus a process system design that allows optimal use of resources and technologies. This course will provide instruments for both evaluation and sustainable process system design.
A number of methods will be introduced, that allow the evaluation of food production systems (from large-scale supply chain, factory level, down to product and unit operation level) on efficient use of raw materials, energy, water and other utilities. These include the use of Sankey diagrams for visualization of mass, water and energy balances over complex systems. We will discuss the fundamentals of the concept of the quality of different streams (exergy), which can be visualized with Grassman diagrams.
In addition to the lectures and working classes, practically relevant cases will be investigated and options for improvement evaluated. This will be done in collaboration with industries or institutes that are active in this field.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- prepare Sankey diagrams for heat and mass, in food and bioprocess systems;
- apply pinch analysis to relatively complex (continuous) production systems, identify options for improvement and synthesize the optimal exchanger network;
- prepare Grassmann diagrams for exergy flow and destruction in food and bioprocess systems;
- analyse process systems with exergy analysis, identify thermodynamic efficiencies locally or globally, and relate this to practical issues and options for improvement;
- suggest improvements both in unit operations and in larger-scale production systems;
- synthesize an overall vision on process efficiency and limitation and possibilities for improvement of sustainability in production processes.

Activities:

The course consists of:
- lectures
- tutorial classes
- small case studies
- large case study (group work) on an existing industrial process (in collaboration with industry), the case study is closed with a small symposium where students present their findings on process optimisation.

Examination:

The final grade is based on:
- written exam (75%);
- the result of the case studies (25%).

Literature:

A reader will be available at the WUR-shop.