15 December, 2021

MTU’s chemical engineering laboratories have recently commissioned a distillation pilot plant, generously sponsored by Eli Lilly Kinsale Limited.

After long delays in delivery and installation due to COVID restrictions, MTU is looking forward to students having the opportunity to enjoy Lilly’s generosity in the 2022 semester – and the first industrial training course is scheduled for mid-January!

The plant has been engineered to provide multiple teaching points relevant across the Bio-Pharmachem industry, and has obvious relevance for the spirits distillation and solvent recovery sectors.

The plant is controlled from a computer console outside the fume hood and can connect with a distant control system to allow students experience a distributed control system. The fully instrumented unit allows extensive data collection so students can conduct material and energy balances whether the unit is operating in batch or continuous mode.

Safety has been at the forefront in its design and installation. Although the contained volume is designed to be a minimum, safety procedures appropriate to a large-scale plant have been applied. The unit is housed in an ATEX-rated walk-in fume hood to provide containment in the event of a leak and is integrated into the local and central site alarm and shutdown systems.

Lilly’s collaboration and support have provided MTU with a state of the art facility that will teach both undergraduates and industrial learners in the coming years.

If you feel your organisation could benefit from a collaboration with MTU students, lecturers or researchers email the Extended Campus at extended.campusCork@mtu.ie to explore your options.

Check out our database of case studies, illustrating previous important industry partnerships by clicking here.

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