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BPE - Bioprocess Engineering
Course Descriptions

BPE 132 Orientation Seminar: Bioprocess Engineering (1)
One hour lecture per week or three-hour lab/field trip per week. 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 230 China Experience (3)
Forty five hours (equivalent) of lecture and field studies. General survey of the history of China from ancient societies through the current time, with attention to cultural, ecological and natural resource issues focused on selected localities of China. The locality and/or hot spots will be selected from: the invention of paper; printing technology; renewable energy; anaerobic digesion of manual / plant biomass; wastewater treatment; Great Walls; Forbidden City; Three Gorges area; Canals; Chinese gardens; Sichuan; Dujianyang Irrigation Dam/Channels; Panda preservation; Hakka culture; Tibetan culture; plants and vegetation, etc. Analysis of the evolution of the Chinese culture. Historical and contemporary influences of China. Spring, Fall or Summer.

BPE 296 Special Topics in Engineering (1 - 3)
Provides experimental, interdisciplinary, or special coursework at the freshman and sophomore levels within the field of environmental resources engineering. Subject matter and course format vary from semester to semester and section to section. Fall and Spring.

BPE 300 Introduction to Industrial Bioprocessing (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussions per week. Industrial examples of biotechnology and bioprocessing will be reviewed. Topics include applications of biotechnology and bioprocessing to the food, water and wastewater treatment, industrial biotechnology, biopharmaceutical and biofuel industries. Through case studies of process flow sheets for different products students will develop an understanding of unit operations typically utilized in bioprocessing manufacturing operations. Fall.
Prerequisite(s): Cell biology and organic chemistry.

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. This course will cover the basic principles of colloidal and interfacial science as applied to bioprocesses. It will provide a foundation and theoretical understanding that will be applied in bioseparations, transport phenomena, biochemical/bioprocess engineering and other advanced courses in the bioprocess engineering curriculum. Fall.
Prerequisites: PSE 370, PSE 361, FCH 150, FCH 152. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 310 and PSE 467.

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 BPE 620.

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 BPE 621.

BPE 435 Unit Process Operations (3)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory and/or recitation, discussions per week. Topics include packed towers, tray columns, fluidized bed, fluid mechanic limitations, pressure drop, mass transfer coefficient, mass transfer limits, thermodynamic limits, equilibrium stage calculations, packed tower and tray column design and performance analysis. Fall.
Prerequisite(s): BPE 335/336.

BPE 438 Introduction to Biorefinery Processes (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussions per week. Topics covered include chemical and physical properties of biomass feedstocks; sustainable biomass production/utilization, chemical and biological processes of converting plant biomass to chemicals, liquid fuels, and materials. Focus on green chemistry and/or environmentally benign processes, with some discussions on political and social aspects of sustainability and renewability. Fall.
Prerequisite(s): Cell biology and BPE 335 Transport Phenomena. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 438 and BPE 638.

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; one semester of freshman chemistry or permission of instructor. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 441 and BPE 641.

BPE 480 Introduction to Biorefinery Processes (3)
Forty five hours of lecture and discussions. Topics covered in this course include chemical and physical properties of biomass feedstocks; chemical processes and biological processes associated with converting plant biomass and agricultural residues to chemicals, liquid fuels, and materials. Discussions will be more geared towards green chemistry and/or environmentally benign processes. While discussions will lead to political and policy trends on sustainability and renewability, more engineering and engineering science aspects will be covered. Fall.
Prerequisite(s): BPE 421 Co-requisite(s): BPE 421

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 496 Special Topics (1 - 3)
Lectures, readings, problems and discussions. Topics in environmental or resource engineering as announced. Fall and/or Spring.

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.

BPE 501 Bioprocess Microbiology (3)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory/discussion per week. Topics include general microbiology, enzymology, enzyme kinetics, biochemistry, metabolic regulation, microbial growth and product formation (with general stoichiometry), media formulation and bioprocess design including batch, fed-batch, and continuous modes, techniques for product recovery and purification, and mammalian cell lines/culture. Microbiological growth media, batching, and the operation of bench-top bioreactors and various analytical instrumentation. Fall.
Prerequisites: Permission of instructor; basic understanding of chemistry and biology; appropriate quantitative skills.

BPE 535 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 analysis. Discussion of specific bioprocess examples. Spring.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 335 and BPE 535.

BPE 596 Special Topics (1 - 3)
Lectures, conferences, discussions and laboratory. Topics in environmental and resource engineering not covered in established courses. Designed for the beginning graduate student or selected upper-division undergraduate. Fall and/or Spring.

BPE 620 Bioseparations (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Cell disruption, solid liquid separations, centrifugation, chromatographic techniques (gel filtration, affinity, ion exchange), and membrane processes. Extraction. Crystallization and drying. Aseptic filtration. Fall.
Prerequisite: BPE 501. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 620 and BPE 420.

BPE 621 Bioreaction Engineering (3)
Three hours of lecture/discussion per week. Bioprocess kinetics, reaction engineering, mass and energy balances, stoichiometry, enzyme kinetics, growth and product synthesis kinetics, mass transfer effects, bioreactor analysis and design, instrumentation and control, batch processing, bioreactor scale-up, agitation, oxygen delivery, heat removal and kinetics of sterilization (clean and sterilization in place (CIP and SIP). Spring.
Prerequisites: Mass and Heat Transfer, or Transport Phenomena. Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 621 and PBE 421.

BPE 635 Unit Process Operations (3)
Two hours of lecture and three hours of laboratory and/or recitation, discussions. Topics include packed towers, tray columns, fluidized bed, fluid mechanic limitations, pressure drop, mass transfer coefficient, mass transfer limits, thermodynamic limits, equilibrium stage calculations, packed tower and tray column design and performance analysis. Fall.

BPE 638 Introduction to Biorefinery Processes (3)
Three hours of lecture and discussions per week. Topics covered include chemical and physical properties of biomass feedstocks; sustainable biomass production/utilization, chemical and biological processes of converting plant biomass to chemicals, liquid fuels, and materials. Focus on green chemistry and/or environmentally benign processes, with some discussions on political and social aspects of sustainability and renewability. Fall.
Note: Credit will not be granted for both BPE 438 and BPE 638.

BPE 641 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 525, ESC 535 or permission of instructor; one semester of freshman chemistry or permission of instructor.

BPE 681 Bioprocess Plant Design (3)
Three hours of lecture per week. Topics covered include integration of process and support systems and equipment; concepts of facility design integrating Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), equipment and systems cleanability, people flow, product protection, capital investment, and operating costs. This course will focus towards facility design in the biopharmaceutical industry. Spring.
Prerequisites: BPE 620, BPE 621 or equivalents.

BPE 796 Advanced Topics (1 - 3)
Lectures, conferences, discussions and laboratory. Advanced topics in forest engineering, paper science and engineering, and wood products engineering. Fall and/or Spring.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

BPE 797 Seminar (1 - 3)
Discussion of assigned topics in the fields related to Bioprocess Engineering. Spring and Fall.

BPE 798 Research in Bioprocess Engineering (1 - 12)
Independent research topics in Bioprocess Engineering. Fall, Spring or Summer.
Credit hours to be arranged.

BPE 898 Professional Experience/Synthesis (1 - 6)
A supervised, documented professional work experience in the Master of Professional Studies degree program. Fall, Spring, or Summer.
Pre- or co-requisite(s): Approval of proposed study plan by advisor, Faculty, and any sponsoring organization.

BPE 899 Master's Thesis Research (1 - 12)
Research and independent study for the master's thesis. Fall, Spring or Summer.
Credit hours to be arranged.

BPE 999 Doctoral Thesis Research (1 - 12)
Research and independent study for the doctoral dissertation. Fall, Spring or Summer.
Credit hours to be arranged.

BPE - Bioprocess Engineering Course Descriptions

BPE - Bioprocess Engineering
Course Descriptions