The Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering realizes the importance of modern technology – especially to improve the operation and reliability of processing plants. Today’s students are expected to know modern control techniques and they will have a significant edge in the competitive job market if they are familiar with and have worked with modern control systems. To help in this regard, the department offers both a traditional senior-level two-semester Unit Operations Lab sequence and a unique two-semester junior-level lab sequence.
Junior-Level Laboratory
In the first semester of the junior-level lab, students learn VBA-Excel as a practical, engineering programming tool in addition to model fitting and model analysis. In the second semester, the students perform hands-on experiments that reinforce both fundamental experimental measurement skills and data analysis skills on real experimental data sets that they have collected. Often, these experiments tie in with their core chemical engineering courses.
One experiment offered is a kinetics experiment where a reaction rate is measured spectroscopically, giving concentration vs. time data that the students can analyze to determine orders and rate constants. The equipment currently being used is repurposed research equipment that is over 10 years old. More modern instrumentation is needed which would allow for simpler data collection and higher quality data.
Unit Operations Laboratory
The department has been working through a five-year plan to modernize their unit operations lab. Year 1 focused on bringing a full state-of-the-art DeltaV control system to the lab. Year 2 saw commissioning of a pilot-plant scale reactor system, capable of operation to 500C and 5000 psi. The reactor system, with over 100 I/O points, is operational and fully controlled by the DeltaV system.
Current (year 3) work is focused on completing assembly of: 1) a new heat exchanger system; 2) an updated fluid flow system; 3) a new batch reactor system; and, 4) a new smaller-scale distillation column. After assembly of each new unit operation is complete, the goal is to bring each system under DeltaV control. Endress & Hauser and TriNova have donated significant flow and temperature measurement devices. However, to complete this project, the lab needs a total of 14 control valves and four DeltaV operator stations with DeltaV software licenses.
Junior Measurements Lab
| Item | Num Units | Cost/Unit | Total Cost | Course(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PerkinElmer UV/Vis Spectrometer | 1 | $15,000 | $15,000 | CHE 352 |
Senior Unit Operations Lab
| Item | Num Units | Cost/Unit | Total Cost | Course(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fischer control valves - Heat exchanger system | 2 | $6,000 | $12,000 | CHE 441/442 |
| Fischer control valves - Fluid flow system | 2 | $6,000 | $12,000 | CHE 441/442 |
| Fischer control valves - Batch reactor system | 3 | $6,000 | $18,000 | CHE 441/442 |
| Fischer control valves - Distillation column | 7 | $6,000 | $42,000 | CHE 441/442 |
| DeltaV Operator Stations w/software license | 4 | $6,000 | $24,000 | CHE 441/442 |
| TOTAL | $108,000 |