The Reactor Lab: Chemical Reactor Simulations for Active Learning

工程-化学(53)软件模拟使学生能够通过可视化和迭代解决问题的方法，积极探索和理解科学和工程概念。我们的项目将为我们现有的软件模拟原型反应堆实验室增加主要功能。现有的模块是对化学反应堆的模拟，但软件框架是独立于学科的。我们的第一个目标是增加一个“实验室建设工具包”，使学生和教职员工能够建立新的模拟。该软件将与互联网集成，以便分发在线和离线使用的模块，允许共享新模块，并支持学生和教职员工之间的交流和合作。增加的新模块将完成化学反应工程第一门课程所需的模块。我们工作的最终目标是建立和评估实验室建造者和用户的原型社区。这个社区将使教师和学生接触到协作工作环境，这是互联网日益重要的结果。该项目最初的影响是加强化学工程师和化学家关于反应堆分析和设计的教育。此外，我们的工作应该影响高效和安全的化学反应器的设计，这在制药和半导体制造等各种领域都很重要。通过美国化学工程师学会和美国工程教育学会的年度会议进行传播。我们的软件还被列入了国家工程教育软件数据库。文章将准备发表在《化学工程教育》杂志上。将收集基于网络的数据来评估点击量。

Engineering - Chemical (53)Software simulations enable students to actively explore and understand scientific and engineering concepts through visualization and an iterative approach to problem solving. Our project will add major capabilities to our existing software simulation prototype, The Reactor Lab. Existing modules are simulations of chemical reactors, but the software framework is discipline-independent. Our first objective was to add a "lab construction kit" that has enabled students and faculty to build new simulations. The software will be integrated with the Internet to allow distribution of modules for use on- and off-line, to allow sharing of new modules, and to support communication and collaboration between students and faculty. The new modules that have been added will complete those needed for a first course in chemical reaction engineering. The final objective of our work was to establish and evaluate a prototype community of lab builders and users. This community will expose faculty and students to the collaborative working environments that are an increasingly important result of the Internet. The initial impact of this project was to enhance the education of chemical engineers and chemists about reactor analysis and design. Additionally our work should impact the design of efficient and safe chemical reactors, which is important in fields as diverse as pharmaceutical production and semiconductor fabrication. Dissemination is being done via annual meetings of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education. Our software has also been listed with the National Engineering Educational Software Database. Articles will be prepared for publication in Chemical Engineering Education. Web based data will be collected to evaluate the number of hits.