UCT Chem Eng Annual Report

2013 Department of Chemical Engineering Private Bag X3 Rondebosch 7701 South Africa Telephone: (021) 650 2518 Website: www.uct.ac.za www.chemeng.uct.ac.za Contact: dept@chemeng.uct.ac.za

annual report 2014 DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CONTENTS Foreword 100 years of Chemical Engineering at UCT: a 2020 vision

7 9

Department profile

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Staff profile Technical, scientific and administrative profile Staff in research groups Technical, scientific and administrative staff– UCT/faculty/department committee membership Academic staff and research fields Safety and risk management Facilities and equipment in the Department of Chemical Engineering

12 13 14 16 18 21 27 30

Undergraduate programme Professional accreditation Admission requirements University prospectus

33 41 42 44

Postgraduate programme

44

Research in chemical engineering

50

Noteworthy research-related achievements in 2013 Centre for Catalysis Research (CAT) Centre for Minerals Research (CMR) Centre for Bioprocessing Engineering Research (CeBER) Crystallization & Precipitation Research Unit (CPU) Engineering Education Research Environmental & Process Systems Engineering (E&PSE) Minerals to Metals Initiative (MtM)

Publications Figure 1: Undergraduate student demographic distribution for 2006 to 2013 Figure 2: Undergraduate total number of students and gender distribution for 2013 Figure 3: Undergraduate student gender distribution for 2006 to 2013 Figure 4: Undergraduate student graduate demographic distribution for 2006 to 2013 Figure 5 Number of master’s (including MPhil) and PhD graduations between 2003 and 2013 Figure 6: Number of graduates full-time versus part-time between 2003 and 2013 Table 1: Safety resources in the department Table 2: 2013 BSc (Chemical Engineering) graduates (99) Table 3: 2013 postgraduate graduates and supervisor names

51 54 56 60 63 66 68 70

72 35 35 36 36 46 46 29 37 47

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ALISON EMSLIE LEWIS Professor and Head of Department Department of Chemical Engineering Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment

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FOREWORD In 2013, the University of Cape Town’s Department of Chemical Engineering employed 29 permanent academic staff and hosted 521 undergraduate and 170 postgraduate students.

From the first graduating class of seven (white, male, South African) BSc (Chem Eng) graduates and a single PhD in 1957, the department has grown and evolved to the extent that, of the 99 BSc (Chem Eng) graduates in 2013, 47 were women, 31 were black, and 25 were international students. In addition, 31 Masters and seven PhD students graduated during the year.

The department offers one undergraduate bachelor’s degree: the BSc (Chem Eng), a four-year qualification that is accredited by the Engineering Council of South Africa. The graduates from this programme are highly sought after by the petrochemical, mining and metallurgy, and fine chemical industries, as well as a range of other employers, including engineering and project management, management consulting, and financial institutions.

The department also offers both master’s and doctoral study programmes leading to MSc, MPhil, MEng, and PhD degrees. Its postgraduate programme is the largest academic research activity in chemical engineering in Africa and is based on a strong link between fundamental research and its application to the solution of industrial and applied problems.

2013

The department’s research programme is mainly focused around five University-accredited research groupings in Bioprocess Engineering, Catalysis, Crystallization & Precipitation, Engineering Education, and Minerals Processing. The department has strong research interests in environmental process engineering and process modelling and also hosts a number of national research centres and chairs.

was the year oF

■ A change of leadership, with Prof Alison Lewis starting her term of office as the new Head of Department, Prof Jenni Case as Deputy Head, Prof David Deglon as Director of Postgraduate Studies, and Mr Hilton Heydenrych as Director of Undergraduate Studies; ■ Two new academic staff joining the team: ■ Lawrence Bbosa, BSc (Eng) MSc(Eng) PhD; (Cape Town) ■ Siew Tai, BSc (Eng) Chem UMIST MSc (Eng) PhD TU Delft; ■ The appointment of a new Chief Technical Officer, Kyle Hauslaib BSc (Eng), following the retirement of Bill Randall; ■ The change in appointment of Mr Hilton Heydenrych from Academic Development Lecturer to Senior Lecturer; ■ The promotion of Dr Marcos Rodriguez-Pascual to Senior Research Officer and of Mr Granville de la Cruz to Senior Scientific Officer;

■ The publication of the first book in the department: Jenni Case’s Researching Learning in Higher Education: A social realist approach; ■ The introduction of the Assistant Lecturer Programme, as part of the plan to develop young academic staff and ‘grow our own timber’; ■ The introduction of the new first-year chemical engineering course, in which there is a focus on core chemical engineering, as well as on the interaction of chemical engineering with the natural and social worlds. In this course, practice runs alongside theory and every student has their own laptop; ■ The occupation of the chemical engineering portion of the New Engineering Building; and ■ Finally having enough electrical capacity to allow the use of all of the kitchen equipment simultaneously.

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Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) CeBER Director Prof S Harrison

Academic A/Prof J Petersen

Admin assistant Miss C Mazzolini

pA mrs l mostert

Academic dr s tai

senior research officer dr r van hille

research officer dr c fenner dr m johnstone-robertson

postdoctoral researchers Dr M Fagan Dr M Griffiths Dr R Huddy Dr S Savvi Dr T Kotsioploulos Dr T Louw

Research associates Dr C Garcin Dr C Bryan

laboratory manager

Senior Administrative officer Mrs S Jobson

PhD students Alexei Cherkaev, Bernelle Verster, Cindy-Jade Africa, Didi Makuaula, Durgaprasad Madras Rajaraman Iyer, Elaine Govender, Gavin Jones, James Mwase, Liabo Motleleng, Marc Brighton, Naadia van der Bergh, Neehal Mooruth, Oluwafemi Olaofe, Sarah Jones, Thandazile Moyo, Wynand van Zyl, Xolisa Gogo

MSc students: Alex Opitz, Aliya Gani, Bronwyn White, Caroline Muzawazi, Eustice Vries, Fadzai Kadzinga, Jonathan Dean, Kabwe Musonda, Latifa Mrisho, Lefa, Nkadimeng, Mark Gituma, Mark Kerr, Matthew Burke, Melody Jera, Monique Smit, Motlalekgoma Mogale, Murray Meissner, Nadia Ebrahim, Precious Hlongwane, Qubekani Ngulube, Rory Ravells, Shilpa Rumjeet, Tarisayi Matongo, Zethu Dlamini, Ziningi Madonsela

Technical officer Molecular biology Mr N van Wyk

Lab manager: Fe & S Mr El Ngoma

Laboratory assistant ms s rademeyer

Intern Ms N Cawe

UCT’s research in bioprocess engineering dates back to the late 1960s. The research grouping was formalised as an accredited unit in 2001 and upgraded to the Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) in 2008. CeBER’s vision is to be a cross-disciplinary research enterprise, developing the nation’s bioprocess engineers, providing new insights into bioprocesses and bioproducts, and becoming a global leader in selected research niches. The mandate is to educate students in bioprocess engineering and biotechnology principles and practice, and to engage in multidisciplinary research programmes that provide fundamental knowledge and develop technologies to benefit the process and biotechnology sectors. CeBER is recognised for its strong interdisciplinary focus, integrating biological understanding and process engineering systems.

Particular strengths are in bioreactor design, integrated and sustainable bioprocesses, microbial ecology, solid-liquidgas contacting, mass transfer, and fluid flow. CeBER addresses transdisciplinary areas through the analysis of the social, environmental, and economic impact of its research.

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Research focal areas and projects Algal biotechnology Microalgae have great potential as a biomass and bioproduct production system, owing to their broad product spectrum, photosynthetic metabolism, and ability to use CO2 as their carbon feedstock. CeBER focuses on integrated algal processes for the production of carotenoids, nutraceuticals, lipids, and energy products in both ponds and closed reactors. Through the biorefinery concept, inventory analysis, and life cycle assessment (LCA), we identify key contributions required for feasible algal processes.

Selected projects: Optimising productivity of biomass, lipid and other products; Sustainable algal biorefineries; Optimising light provision through reactor design; Energy-efficient mass transfer; PEPT tomography of fluid flow in photobioreactors; and Spirulina technology development.

Biotechnology towards chemicals, food, and health products Research in fine chemicals and commodity bioproducts is through a combination of process kinetics, metabolic modelling, product optimisation, induction, and process sustainability. Commodity bioproducts, such as biofuels and polymers, are produced from renewable resources. Bioconversion of linear alkanes yields value-added products such as alcohols, carboxylic acids, hydroxyacids, and dioic acids. Recombinant microbial systems are used to maximise productivity of affordable, modern biopharmaceuticals, such as insulin, antiretrovirals, antimicrobials, and nutraceuticals.

Selected projects: Biofunctionalisation of alkanes; Influence of enzyme location on optimisation; Biopolymers from waste resources; Biohydrogen production; Novel antibiotics from South African actinomycetes; and Energy-efficient mass transfer.

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Department of Chemical Engineering Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701 South Africa Telephone: (021) 650 2518 Website: www.uct.ac.za www.chemeng.uct.ac.za Contact: dept@chemeng.uct.ac.za