Disperse Systems Technologies

Recommended Prerequisites

Physical Chemistry of Surfaces, Separation Process I and II, Transport Phenomena I, II and III, Chemical Thermodynamics, Mass and Energy Balances.

Teaching Methods

The student will be guided to follow an autonomous learning process. There will be expositive classes to introduce the students to the different themes in the course which the student should develop further autonomously. Following these classes there will also be lab classes. Furthermore the student will be guided to develop a synthesis work. Both lab and synthesis works will lead to writing of small reports which will be presented and discussed orally to reinforce communication skills.

Learning Outcomes

Processes involving more than 1 phase, one of them being finely divided (disperse phase) assume an increasing importance in Chemical Engineering. It is well accepted that these systems can be addressed with generic transversal tools, similar to what happens with the traditional CE processes.

The main objective here is to deal with the generic concepts and tools which allow describing disperse systems and the corresponding production processes, to tune the product formulations to pre-defined objectives and functionalities.

At the end students should be able to:

Characterize morphologically disperse systems at different scales (lab and on-line)

Deal with the basic product formulation rules for products involving a disperse phase

Understand and know how to control the mechanisms that influence their stability

Use predictive modeling strategies to describe disperse systems to e able to predict final product properties

Know the most common and important industrial production processes

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

Properties of disperse systems.

Advanced characterization techniques for disperse systems from nanometric to micrometric disperse phases. Lab techniques and on-line techniques.

Formulation rules for colloidal systems, emulsions and granules.

Stabilization mechanisms and strategies for disperse systems.

Modelling disperse systems – population balances.

Industrial processes: comminution; crystallization; emulsification; encapsulation; spray drying; granulation and prilling.

Head Lecturer(s)

Maria da Graça Bontempo Vaz Rasteiro

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Laboratory work or Field work: 30.0%
Synthesis work: 30.0%
Exam: 40.0%

Bibliography

Myers D., Surfaces, interfaces, and colloids:principles and applications, J Wiley, NY, 1999.

Morrison I.D., Sydney R., Colloidal dispersions : suspensions, emulsions, and foams, Wiley, NY, 2002.

Schramm L.L., Emulsions, Foams, and Suspensions:Fundamentals and applications, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2005.

Ramkrishna D., Populations Balances: Theory and applications to particulate systems in Engineering, Academic Press, London, 2000.

Rhodes M.J., Introduction to particle technology, 2nd ed., Wiley, 2008.

Witten T., Structured fluids: polymers, colloids, surfactants, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 2004.

Mullin JW, Crystallization,  Butterworth Heinemann, 2001.

J. Lister & B. Ennis, The Science & Engineering of Granulation Processes, Kluwer Ac Pub., Holanda, 2004.