Plenary 1 (Speaker: Prof. Sam Mannan, U of Texas A & M, USA - Click here to see details

Society's choices and the relationship to risk

Prof. Sam Mannan U of Texas A & M, USA

Speaker Details: Dr. M. Sam Mannan is Regents Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Texas A&M University and Director of the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. Before joining Texas A&M University, Dr. Mannan was Vice President at RMT, Inc., a nationwide engineering services company. Dr. Mannan is a registered professional engineer in the states of Texas and Louisiana and is a Certified Safety Professional.He co-authored the Guidelines for Safe Process Operations and Maintenance published by the Center for Chemical Process Safety, American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He is the editor of the 3rd edition of the 3-volume, 3,680-page, authoritative reference for process safety and loss prevention,” Lees’ Loss Prevention in the Process Industries. Dr. Mannan has published 151 peer-reviewed journal publications, 2 books, 7 book chapters, 155 proceedings papers, 12 major reports, and 157 technical meeting presentations. Dr. Mannan is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Service to Society Award, the Texas A&M University Association of Former Students’ Distinguished Achievement Award for Teaching, the Texas Engineering Experiment Station Research Fellow, the Texas A&M University Dwight Look College of Engineering George Armistead, Jr. ’23 Fellow. In 2003, Dr. Mannan served as a consultant to Columbia Accident Investigation Board. In 2006, he was named the inaugural holder of the T. Michael O’Connor Chair I. In 2007, he was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In December 2008, the Board of Regents of Texas A&M University System recognized Dr. Mannan’s contributions in teaching, research and service by naming him Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering. Dr. Mannan received his B.Sc. in chemical engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology(BUET), Bangladesh in 1978, and obtained his M.S. in 1983 and Ph.D. in 1986 in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma.

Abstract:

 

Plenary 2 (Speaker: Prof. Sirish L. Shah, U of Alberta, Canda) - Click here to see details

What’s hidden in your data? Sensor-fusion and signal processing for process and performance monitoring.

Prof. Sirish L. Shah University of Alberta, Canada

Speaker Details: Sirish L. Shah has been with the University of Alberta since 1978, where he currently holds the NSERC-Matrikon-Suncor-iCORE Senior Industrial Research Chair in Computer Process Control. He was the recipient of the Albright & Wilson Americas Award of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE) in recognition of distinguished contributions to chemical engineering in 1989, the Killam Professor in 2003 and the D.G. Fisher Award of the CSChE for significant contributions in the field of systems and control. He has held visiting appointments at Oxford University and Balliol College as a SERC fellow , Kumamoto University (Japan) as a senior research fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) , the University of Newcastle, Australia, IIT-Madras India and the National University of Singapore. The main area of his current research is process and performance monitoring, system identification and design and implementation of softsensors. He has co-authored two books, the first titled, Performance Assessment of Control Loops: Theory and Applications, and a more recent book co-authored with Prof. M.A.A.S. Choudhury titled ‘Diagnosis of Process Nonlinearities and Valve Stiction: Data Driven Approaches”.

Abstract

It is now common to have archival history of thousands of sensors sampled every second over long time periods. Yet we frequently have process engineers complain:
“….We are drowning in data but starving for information…”.
How can these rich data sets be put to use? This seminar will address the issue of information and knowledge extraction from data with emphasis on process and performance monitoring.

Most of the major plant, factory, process, equipment and tool disruptions are avoidable, and yet preventable fault detection and diagnosis strategies are not the norm in most industries. It is not uncommon to see simple and preventable faults disrupt the operation of an entire integrated manufacturing facility. For example, faults such as malfunctioning sensors or actuators, inoperative alarm systems, poor controller tuning or configuration can render the most sophisticated control systems useless. Such disruptions can cost in the excess of $1 million per day and on the average they rob the plant of 7% of its annual capacity.

Over the last decade the fields of multivariate statistics, controller performance monitoring techniques and Bayesian inference methods have merged to develop powerful sensing and condition-based monitoring systems for predictive fault detection and diagnosis. These methods rely on the notion of sensor fusion whereby data from many sensors or units are combined with process information, such as physical connectivity of process units, to give a holistic picture of health of an integrated plant. Such methods are at a stage where these strategies are being implemented for off-line and on-line deployment.

This presentation will outline the field of sensor fusion - the application of signal processing methods, in the temporal as well as spectral domains, on a multitude and NOT singular sensor signals to detect incipient process abnormality before a catastrophic breakdown is likely to occur. This talk will be complemented with industrial case studies to demonstrate the success of these methods. These same techniques can also be applied in other fields. For example, the fusion of pixels of information from digital images will be illustrated via application of automated detection and diagnosis of Malaria parasites from microscopic images.

 

Invited Lecture 1 (Speaker: Prof. Rafiqul Gani, Technical U of Denmark) - Click here to see details

Chemical Engineering Education - Current and Future Trends

Prof. Rafiqul Gani Technical University of Denmark

Speaker Details: Rafiqul Gani is professor of systems design at the Department of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering, The Technical University of Denmark and the head of the Computer Aided Process Engineering Center (CAPEC). His current research interests include development of computer aided methods and tools for modelling, property estimation, process-product synthesis & design, and process-tools integration. He has more than 150 peer-reviewed journal publications and delivered over 200 lectures, seminars and plenary/keynote lectures at international conferences, institutions and companies all over the world. Professor Gani is editor-in-chief of Computers and Chemical Engineering journal, editor for the Elsevier CACE book series and serves in the editorial advisory board of the journal for Chemical Engineering Patents, Journal of Process Systems Engineering and Chemical Engineering Research Letters. Professor Gani is a member of the executive board of the EFCE (European Federation of Chemical Engineering), the scientific vice president (from 1/1-2012) of the EFCE, a member of the Board of Trustees of the AIChE and the CAChE Corp.; a Fellow of the AIChE and also a Fellow of IChemE. For more details visit   http://www.capec.kt.dtu.dk/People/Rafiqul-Gani-Director/

Abstract

The chemical industry today is changed from the chemical industry of twenty-five years ago[1]. Clear evidence of this change comes from the jobs taken by graduating chemical professionals in North America, Europe, and some of the Asian countries. According to Cussler[1],while twenty-five years ago, nearly eighty percent of these graduating students went to the commodity chemical industry, such as Dupont, Exxon, Shell, ICI, BASF or Dow, to name a few, now it is only around twenty percent.  For product-oriented businesses like PPG, Pfizer, and 3M, twenty-five years ago, around ten percent went to them while now it is around fifty percent1.  The chemical industry now has a product focus. With this shift of the chemical industry, what should be the curriculum of the chemical engineering degrees at the BSc- and MSc-levels, and, are the skill set of chemical engineers appropriate for this altered chemical industry? While the basic skill set, defined by the core topics (transport phenomena, separations, reaction engineering, etc.) must remain strong, should the applications that currently emphasize commodity chemicals also include new topics such as sustainability, and product design?

In Europe, the EFCE (European Federation of Chemical Engineering) has taken a leading role to define the chemical engineering curriculum. The result has been a set of recommendations for the first (BSc), second (MSc) and third (PhD) cycle chemical engineering education aligned to the Bologna Process[2]. They recommend that students studying towards bachelor and masters qualifications should be measured on their level of knowledge and the understanding they develop, rather than the amount of time they spend with the tutors. According to the Bologna Process, the first and the second cycle degrees should have different orientations and various profiles in order to accommodate a diversity of individual, academic and labour-market needs. Within Europe, two types of higher education in chemical engineering can be found: more research-oriented or more application-oriented first cycle programmes. Both types of studies cover a period of 3-4 academic years and 60 credits per year. After completion of the first cycle, students can continue their study with a second cycle program of chemical engineering with 90-120 credits for a further 18-24 months. For the first and second cycles, the EFCE recommend a set of programme outcomes (knowledge and understanding, engineering analysis, engineering design, investigations, engineering practice and transferable skills) and a set guidelines (core curriculum, teaching and learning, industrial experience, review of the education process and student assessment) to achieve them, with special emphasis to the ability to solve problems. They also propose a minimum set of subjects required to define a course as chemical engineering and the level of achievement that might reasonably be expected at different levels. The talk will give an overview of the recommendations of the EFCE and highlight their implementation at the Technical University of Denmark’s chemical engineering programmes. Also, some of the issues related to the changing needs of the chemical industry will be discussed.
 
[1]Cussler, E; A Changing Chemical Industry, KT-Departmental Seminar, November 15, 2011.

[2]Bologna Declaration. [Online]. Available: ec.europa.eu/education/policies/educ/bologna/bologna.pdf, 2011

 

Invited Lecture2 (Speaker: Prof. Nazmul Karim, Texas Tech University, USA) - Click here to see details

Renewable Energy: 3rd Generation Concepts

Prof. Nazmul Karim Texas Tech University, USA

Speaker Details: Before joining Texas Tech University, Dr. Karim was a professor of chemical engineering at Colorado State University. He has been a visiting professor at Helsinki University of Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Osaka University and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Trained in process control and optimization theories, he has been involved in biotechnology research for the last twenty-two years. Examples of his recent research topics are the application of on-line model predictive control of recombinant fermentations (e.g. E coli, CHO cells) and the use of data based approaches such as Neural Networks and Principal Component Analysis, to classification, fault detection and identification of bioprocesses. Dr. Karim is also involved in research areas such as lignin biodegradation and recombinant fermentation for ethanol production from mixed substrates. His recent research activities involve regulation of apoptosis in mammalian cell culture, proteomic data-analysis for metabolic pathway modification, and effects of shear stress on t-PA protein production in CHO cells. Funding for his work has come from the National Science Foundation, USAID, the Department of Energy, and the Colorado Institute for Research in Biotechnology, and various industries. He is the director of the successful short course, "Advanced Industrial Bioprocessing," offered every year for the biotechnology industries. For more information, please visit: http://www.depts.ttu.edu/che//nkarim/nkarim.php

Abstract

Development of technologies for new generation of renewable energy is a challenge for the scientists and engineers. In this presentation, problems and opportunities for “3rd Generation” biofuels will be discussed. At Texas Tech University, we are involved in microalgae research in order to produce “drop-in” biofuels for refineries.  The scope of the work includes micro-fluidic technologies to isolate and study single-cell growth kinetics for enhanced growth and oil production.  In a supporting work, the researchers in our labs have developed a combined micro-algae/yeast (or bacteria) microbial fuel cell capable for producing “electro-fuel” in addition to alcohol and algal oil.  In the presentation some new results will be shown to demonstrate the concepts.

 

Keynote 1 (Speaker: Prof. Iqbal Mujtaba, U of Bradford, UK) - Click here to see details

Keeping the partners together and making quality kids

Prof. Iqbal Mujtaba University of Bradford, UK

Speaker Details: Iqbal Mohammed Mujtaba is a Professor of Computational Process Engineering. He is a Fellow of the IChemE, a Chartered Chemical Engineer, Chartered Scientist and is currently an executive member of the IChemE's Computer Aided Process Engineering Subject Group and is the Chair of the European Committee for Computers in Chemical Engineering Education. Professor Mujtaba is actively involved in many research areas like: dynamic modelling, simulation, optimisation and control of batch and continuous chemical processes with specific interests in distillation, industrial reactors, refinery processes and desalination. He has published more than 150 technical papers in major Engineering Journals, International Conference Proceedings and Books. Professor Mujtaba has supervised 16 PhD since 1997 and is currently supervising 7 PhD projects. He is a co-editor of the book 'Application of Neural Networks and Other Learning Technologies in Process Engineering' published by the Imperial College Press, London in 2001 (http://www.icpress.co.uk/books/compsci/p225.html). He is the author of the book 'Batch Distillation: Design & Operation' published by the Imperial College Press, London in 2004 (http://www.icpress.co.uk/books/engineering/p319.html). He is also a co-editor of the book ‘Composite Materials Technology’ published by CRC Press, in 2009. He has several ongoing research collaborations and consultations with industries and academic institutions in the UK, Italy, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Thailand. Professor Mujtaba obtained his BSc in 1983 and MSc in 1984 all in Chemical Engineering. He studied at Imperial College, London with the Commonwealth Scholarship and received his PhD and DIC in 1989. Professor Mujtaba worked as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Process Systems Engineering, Imperial College, London from 1990-1994.

Abstract

Keeping the partners together is essential to have intimate relationship between them and to have kids. The same principle is applicable in reaction engineering where the reactants (partners) must be together to meet and react and to make products (kids). A suitable home environment is one of the factors affecting the quality of kids. Likewise, a suitable chemical reactor (batch or continuous) environment dictates the quality of reaction products. For a given reactor temperature, pressure and volume, a reaction will come to a halt in a reactor at some point (depending on the batch time or residence time). In a traditional chemical process, when the above situation occurs, the whole mixture is transported to a new home (Separator) where the kids are separated from the parents (if any left) and the parents are brought back (recycled) to the reactor to have further reaction. In the last 50 years, a different home (batch reactive distillation) has been in place where at least one of the children is separated from the parents as it is born and has enhanced the conversion of the reactants to products. However, while the reactors facilitate the partners to be kept together, the separation processes separate the partners and the children. For two reaction families with different characteristics of the parents and children, this paper looks at the challenges of keeping the partners of each family together while enhancing their intimate relation to make quality products. The challenges will be measured in terms of cost (energy consumption) and production time. Finally, we will look into strategies for reducing the cost and production time in producing quality products.

 

Keynote 2 (Speaker: Prof. Mohammad Shafiur Rahman, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman) - Click here to see details

Theoretical progress in determining food stability during processing and storage: challenges beyond F-value, water activity and glass transition concept

Prof. Shafiur Rahman Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Speaker Details: Professor Shafiur Rahman is the author or co-author of over 250 technical articles including 95 journal papers and 7 books. He is the author of the internationally acclaimed and award-wining Food Properties Handbook, and editor of the popular Handbook of Food Preservation published by CRC Press, Florida. First editions received the bestseller recognition and the second edition is now released. He has initiated the International Journal of Food Properties and serving as the founding Editor-in-Chief for more than 10 years, and serving in the editorial boards of 10 international journals and book series. In 1998 he has been invited and continued to serve as a Food Science Adviser for the International Foundation for Science, Sweden. He received the HortResearch Chairman's Award, BRAP Award, CAMS Outstanding Researcher Award 2003, and SQU Distinction in Research Award 2008. In 2008, Professor Rahman has ranked among the top five Leading Scientists and Engineers of 57 OIC Member Countries in the Agroscience Discipline.

Abstract

Theoretical concepts of F-value, water activity and glass transition are the most successful in determining food stability during food processing and storage. These concepts are limited to specific types of products (i.e. specific preservation hurdle) and their storage conditions. It is a challenge to food scientists and engineers to have unified concept for determining food stability. Recently it has become evident that the water activity and glass transition concepts are not valid for stability determination in all types of foods when stored under different conditions. These limitations would not invalidate the concepts completely rather making difficulty in applying proposed concepts universally and in fact it is invalid under certain conditions. State diagram, based on glass transition and water activity, is a stability map of different states and/or phases of a food as a function of water or solids content and temperature. The first part of this paper provides stability criteria based on F-value, water activity, glass transition and state diagram. The second part explains the recently proposed macro-micro region concept in the state diagram. In this concept, 13 micro-regions are mapped and then relative stability criteria between the micro-regions are postulated. In addition, the potential of critical temperature concept and molecular mobility at macro-, micro-, and nano-level are explored. Final part presents real challenges in combing different hurdles in food preservation and explores on its possibilities.