IntermediateTopic 67 of 100Materials & Chemical
Unit operations
Standard process steps like mixing, separation and heat transfer.
In depth
Unit operations are standard building blocks: fluid flow, heat transfer, distillation, absorption, extraction, filtration, drying, crystallisation, mixing, size reduction and reaction. A process is a combination of unit operations whose design uses common principles.
Key points
- Scale-up relations
- Equipment sizing
- Separation hierarchy
ExampleA brewery combines milling, mashing, filtration, fermentation and filling operations.
What is Unit operations?
Standard process steps like mixing, separation and heat transfer.
Why is it important to understand unit operations?
Unit operations are the standard steps used in chemical plants, so learning them lets you design a process from familiar building blocks.
What are some common unit operations?
Mixing, heating, cooling, separation, reaction, filtration, drying, pumping and crystallisation.
Why are unit operations useful?
They allow a complex process to be described and designed as a sequence of well-understood steps.
How is Unit operations used in practice?
Typical applications include mixing two liquids in a stirred tank before a reactor, separating a product by filtration after crystallisation and heating a fluid in a shell-and-tube exchanger before a column.
What should I learn before Unit operations?
Study "Energy balances in processes" first (topic 66 of 100 in Materials & Chemical). It covers the groundwork this topic builds on.
What are the key points of Unit operations?
Scale-up relations. Equipment sizing. Separation hierarchy.
Can you give an example of Unit operations?
A brewery combines milling, mashing, filtration, fermentation and filling operations.
What comes after Unit operations?
The next topic is "Process flow diagrams", which builds directly on this one.
How difficult is Unit operations?
It is classed as Intermediate in Materials & Chemical (topic 67 of 100). It is an intermediate topic. Work through the beginner topics in Materials & Chemical first.