Course Description: Bourbon is a key driver for Kentucky’s economy, where the industry contributes to over eight billion dollars and over 17,000 jobs in the state. This course challenges Chemical Engineering students to apply the fundamentals of their discipline to the science and engineering aspects that control the production of bourbon in a distillery setting. In the first half of the course, students will receive an overview of the bourbon production process, with an emphasis on the connection between chemical engineering and the bourbon industry. Throughout this overview, there will be a focus on the economics of bourbon production, with students learning to estimate capital and operating costs associated with each stage of the production process. The second half of the course will focus on a team-based design project, with preliminary research requiring students to visit several local distilleries. Students will then design a new bourbon production facility and estimate all processing parameters, including distillation column design, feedstock/product specifications, and product portfolio. These parameters will be used to estimate 5 and 10 year return on investment for a portfolio of bourbon products. Design updates will be presented to EGR 599 students and the final design will be summarized in a written report.

Course Description: Bourbon is a key driver for Kentucky’s economy, where the industry contributes to over eight billion dollars and over 17,000 jobs in the state. This course introduces students outside of chemical engineering to the science and engineering aspects that control the production of bourbon in a distillery setting. In the first half of the course, students will receive an overview of the bourbon production process, with an emphasis on the connection between chemical engineering and the bourbon industry. Throughout this overview, there will be a focus on the economics of bourbon production, with students learning to estimate capital and operating costs associated with each stage of the production process. Additionally, student will learn about key design decisions that must be made and common problems that arise in the bourbon production process. Over the second half of the course, students will learn basic chemical engineering concepts (material and energy balances) and how they apply to bourbon production. By the end of the course, students will understand the key decisions driving design of both continuous and batch distillation processes. They will have the skills to evaluate these methods using understanding of equilibrium processes.