FB2FMP: Food Manufacturing Principles

Module code: FB2FMP

Module provider: Food and Nutritional Sciences; School of Chemistry, Food and Pharmacy

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Keshavan Niranjan, email: afsniran@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module will enable you to learn the principles and methodology governing food and bioproducts manufacture, addressing key quantitative aspects, which will also enable you to assess the performance of individual process equipment as well as an overall manufacturing process. The module also covers methods used to assess economic viability of food and bioproduct manufacture. The principles underlying thermal and non-thermal processes, flow of fluids, transport of mass occurring across interfaces (e.g. diffusion of cellular content of fruits in the production of fruit juices) as well as the rates at which biochemical reactions occur in food and biosystems, will be covered in detail. This module will lay the foundations for examining sustainability of food manufacture and how new food products can be developed in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Modelling and formulating mass, momentum and energy balances in thermal and non-thermal processes 
2. Develop laboratory skills to determine process engineering properties such as friction factor and heat transfer coefficients
3. Assess economic viability of manufacturing a food product

Module content

• Material and Energy balances around individual processes and overall flow charts
• Processing of fluids
• Heat transfer and factors influencing rates of heat transfer
• Mass transfer in solid-liquid and gas-liquid systems
• Chemical and Biochemcial kinetics.
• Pilot plant practical sessions
• Principles of microbial reactor performance – batch and continuous.
• Principles of non-thermal processes
• Economic viability of food and bioproduct manufacture.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Classroom work will be largely built around seminars in which core content will be described and implemented in problem solving sessions for illustrating the principles of manufacture. There will be practical sessions in the food processing pilot plant in which students will practically determine engineering properties governing fluid flow and heat transfer. Student independent learning skills will be reinforced by problem solving exercises which will be provided on specific topics. 

Study hours

At least 34 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

On week 5 students will do a MCQ on the content covered during weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4 and written formative feedback will be given.

Students will get oral formative feedback on the content assessed in the second report during a problem-solving session in class. 

Reassessment

Additional costs