Courses

Food Process Design

General

Course Contents

Unit 1: Design of food industrial units

  • Flowcharts and flow symbols. Continuous and batch processes. Flowsheet synthesis. Evaluation criteria.
  • Phases of design process. Preliminary feasibility report. Detailed technical and economic report. Final construction report.

Unit 2: Simulation as design tool

  • Process modeling. Mass and energy balances. Equipment sizing.
  • Formulation and solution of design equations. Degrees of freedom analysis. Processes with recycle streams. Equation solution methods.
  • Simulation software. Development of a simulation model in SuperPro Designer: registration of components, specification of processes and their operating parameters. Model solution.

Unit 3: Environmental Assessment

  • Estimation of process waste flows (solids, liquids and gases). Best practices in minimizing waste with recycling, reuse and valorization of by-products.
  • Evaluation of quantity and environmental load of liquid wastes. Preliminary design of a liquid waste processing facility.

Unit 4: Economic Analysis

  • Calculation of equipment cost and overall capital investment. Use of Marshall&Swift indices for time adjustment of equipment cost.
  • Calculation of annual operating costs. Feasibility study with the use of economic indices (POT, ROI, internal interest, NPV).

Unit 5: Technical Reporting

  • Goal and objective of a technical report. Basic structural elements.
  • First part of a technical report: front pages, titles, study group, accompanying letter, abstract and table of contents. Catalog of abbreviations. Page and chapter numbering.
  • Second part of a technical report: introduction, main part, chapter presentation.
  • Presentation of figures, tables and equations. Use of citations. Catalog of bibliographical references – sources of references. Addendums. Differences between technical reports, scientific articles and theses.

Educational Goals

The course covers subjects related to the design and operation of integrated industrial processes and how to deal with them in practice by performing an original techno-economic analysis (capstone project) of a selected food production process. The project is executed by groups of three students. The course aims to achieve the following learning outcomes for students:

  • Constructive synthesis of knowledge and skills acquired during the curriculum in solving a ‘real’ problem.
  • Recognition, understanding and analysis of the physical phenomena exploited by the industrial processes and the ability to describe them mathematically.
  • Acquisition of practical experience in the use of computer-aided design and simulation software such as SuperPro Designer.
  • Acquisition of practical experience in the use of the above knowledge and analytical skills in the design of an industrial-scale process and its comprehensive analysis with technological, environmental and economic criteria.
  • Working knowledge on how to perform a technical study, develop a report and make an oral presentation.
  • Recognition of the basic parts in a technical report.
  • Practice in technical report write-up and the evaluation methods for best representation of content.

General Skills

  • Analysis, interpretation and synthesis of information collected in scientific bibliography using information and communication technology.
  • Design and synthesis of innovative solutions.
  • Comparative and multi-criteria analysis of proposed solutions.
  • Use and processing of incomplete and/or conflicting information.
  • Write-up of technical reports and their defense in oral presentations.
  • Working in an interdisciplinary environment.
  • Autonomous work.
  • Team work.
  • Decision making.

Teaching Methods

Face to face:

  • Lectures (theory and practical exercises) in the classroom.
  • PC-lab: software training, electronic literature search, technical report write-up.

Use of ICT means

  • Lectures with PowerPoint slides using PC and projector.
  • Notes and literature in electronic format.
  • Posting course material and communicating with students on the Moodle online platform.
  • Use of scientific software.

Teaching Organization

ActivitySemester workload
Lectures45
Practical exercises15
Techno-economic Study180
Independent study for oral presentation and examination60
Total300

Students Evaluation

Evaluation methods:

  • Group report (techno-economic study) (50% of the final grade).
  • Final oral examination (50% of the final grade).
  • Compulsory oral presentation of the report in interim stages.

The evaluation criteria are presented and analyzed to the students at the beginning of the semester and are available at the course website.

Recommended Bibliography

  1. Peter M.S., Timmerhaus K.D., Plant Design and Economics for Chemical Engineers, McGraw-Hill, 1990.
  2. McCabe W., Smith J., Harriott P., Βασικές Φυσικές Διεργασίες Μηχανικής, 6η Έκδοση, Μετάφραση: Εκδόσεις Τζιόλα, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2003.
  3. Maroulis Z., Saravacos G., Food Process Design, Marcel Dekker, NY, 2003.
  4. Himmelblau D.M., Riggs J.B., Βασικές Αρχές και Υπολογισμοί στη Χημική Μηχανική, 7η Έκδοση, Μετάφραση: Εκδόσεις Τζιόλα, Θεσσαλονίκη, 2006.
  5. Douglas J., Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes, McGraw-Hill, 1988.
  6. Tchobanoglous G., Leverenz Η., A GUIDEBOOK ON THE PREPARATION OF TECHNICAL REPORTS, PAPERS, AND PRESENTATIONS, NY, 2010.