BPE - Bioprocess Engineering
Course Descriptions

BPE 132 Orientation Seminar (1)
One hour lecture per week and three-day orientation. Introduction to campus resources available to ensure academic success. Introduction to bioprocess engineering as a field of inquiry and career path. Fall.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 132 and PSE 132.

BPE 304 Summer Internship in Bioprocess Engineering (2)
Twelve weeks full time bioprocessing employment approved by the Department between the junior and senior years. The student must submit a comprehensive report and give a presentation to fulfill this requirement. Summer.
Prerequisite: PSE 370 or equivalent.

BPE 305 Co-op Experience in Bioprocess Engineering (2)
One semester full-time bioprocessing experience as an engineering intern on company-assigned projects. Typically, the student works for a semester and adjacent summer also taking BPE 304. The student must submit a comprehensive report and give a presentation to fulfill this requirement. Fall and Spring.
Prerequisite: PSE 370 or equivalent.

BPE 310 Colloid and Interface Science (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Basic principles of colloidal and interfacial science. Foundation and theoretical understanding as applied in bioseparations, transport phenomena, chemical/biochemical/biological processes. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 370, PSE 361, FCH 152, and EFB 103 or equivalent. Co-requisite: BPE 335.

BPE 335 Transport Phenomena (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Principles of heat and mass transfer as applied to the bioprocess industries. Topics include conduction, convective heat and mass transfer, diffusion of both steady-state and transient situations, analogies for heat and mass transfer, boundary layers, porous media transport, heat and mass transfer analyses. Discussion of specific bioprocess examples. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 370, PSE 371. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 335 and ERE 534.

BPE 336 Transport Phenomena Laboratory (1)
Three hours of laboratory per week. Introduction to report writing and laboratory safety. Experiments on fluid mechanics, heat transfer, diffusion, and convective mass transfer as applied to the bioprocess industries. Data analysis and data presentation in oral and written form are required. Spring.
Prerequisites: PSE 370 and PSE 371 or equivalents. Co-requisite: BPE 335 (or prerequisite).

BPE 420 Bioseparations (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Major unit operations used for the separation, purification and recovery of products from complex mixtures. Separation processes including sedimentation, filtration, centrifugation, membrane ultra-filtration, nanofiltration, ion exchange processes, chromatographic separations. Fall.
Prerequisite: BPE 310. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 420 and ERE 502.

BPE 421 Bioprocess Kinetics and Systems Engineering (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Topics in biochemical kinetics and reaction engineering are discussed including their application to microbiological systems used for bioprocessing. Batch and continuous biochemical reactor designs. The role of agitation in gas and solids delivery and heat removal for inclusion in design decisions. Impact of engineering parameters and design decisions on operability and economics. Fall.
Prerequisite: BPE 335. Co-requisite: BPE 420. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 421 and ERE 542.

BPE 440 Bioprocess and Systems Laboratory (3)
One hour of lecture and six hours of laboratory per week. Measurement and analysis of bioprocess systems, including steady-state and dynamic modeling of systems. Investigation of various bioprocesses including fermentation, enzymatic reactions, and reactive processes involving lignocellulosic materials. Spring.
Prerequisite: BPE 420 and BPE 421.

BPE 441 Biomass Energy (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Historical, current and future uses of biomass as a source of renewable energy for the production of bioenergy, biofuels and bioproducts. Characteristics of biomass, their conversion to different forms of energy and end products, and an assessment of their sustainability. Spring.
Prerequisite: ESC 325, ESC 335 or permission of instructor. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 441 and ERE 641.

BPE 481 Bioprocess Engineering Design (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Methods for estimating capital investment, operating costs and return on investment for bioprocesses. Bioprocess flow sheet synthesis, operability, process simulation, optimization techniques, and preparation for a bioprocess design project. Spring.
Prerequisite: PSE 480.

BPE 498 Research Problem in Bioprocess Engineering (1 - 4)
Independent study. The student is assigned a research problem in bioprocess engineering. The student must make a systematic survey of available literature on the assigned problem. Emphasis is on application of correct research techniques rather than on discovery of results of commercial importance. The information obtained in the literature survey, along with the data developed as a result of the investigation, is to be presented as a technical report. Fall, Spring, and Summer.