New chemical engineering facilities

From January 2022, as part of a large investment in chemistry facilities we will be introducing brand new, state-of-the-art chemical engineering teaching facilities. The £5.3 million chemical engineering investment includes a new chemical engineering laboratory, design laboratory, IT suite and tutorial rooms, and an immersive virtual control room for industrial simulations.

This is in addition to the chemistry and engineering laboratories that chemical engineering students will work in.

Virtual control room

The virtual control room and its software will match the control rooms used at large industrial plants, preparing students for their future careers. Students will be able to build a comprehensive understanding of the different processes in sectors ranging from oil and gas, to food and drink, and pharmaceuticals.

Chemical engineering computer suite

The new IT suite will be equipped with computers and a comprehensive software package for state-of-the-art simulations. This includes process control, heat and mass transfer, reaction engineering, unit operations and the majority of operations that take place in the chemical industry.

New laboratories

The laboratories will be equipped with the latest, high-tech facilities to ensure our students receive an outstanding practical training. New equipment includes:

• distillation columns
• liquid-liquid and solid-liquid extraction units
• continuous, batch, plug-flow and catalytic reactors
• adsorption units
• gas absorption columns
• filtration units
• sedimentation equipment
• ion-exchange unit
• process control equipment
• fluidised bed experiments
• crystallisation units
• reverse osmosis units and fermentation units