This subject provides the basis for chemical reaction engineering and biotechnology. Chemical reaction
engineering is concerned with the design and operation of chemical reactors. It can be said to be the discipline that quantifies the influence of transport phenomena and kinetics, in order to relate reactor performance to inlet conditions and variables.
For this task, it is required basic skills in chemistry, thermodynamics and kinetics, fluid mechanics and
transport phenomena, physics, biochemistry, etc. Performance, selectivity or production can be considered as measurements of operation, whereas feeding and operating conditions constitute the inlet variables. Single or multiphase fluid mechanics determine the contact, while the kinetic description relates the reaction rate to intensive variables such as concentrations, temperature, pressure, catalyst activity, etc.
Thus, chemical reaction engineering is the methodology for reactive chemical systems, where the cause-effects observed in laboratories need to be scaled up and operated industrially, which allows to deal in a unified way with any reaction problem regardless of its chemical nature or specific industry.
On the other hand, students will also be introduced to the field of biotechnology. Although the concept of biotechnology has had many definitions, in general terms, biotechnology is the technology based on the use of biological systems and living organisms or their derivatives for the creation or modification of products or processes for specific uses. This part of the subject aims to provide the student with an overview of some of the processes of the biotechnology industry, highlighting the importance of changing scales and the existing
problems regarding the environment, energy and natural resources.
English Friendly subject: International students may request the following from the teaching staff: a) materials and bibliographic references to follow the subject in English, b) tutoring sessions in English, c) exams and assessments in English.
