Integrating Design-Oriented Experiments into the Chemical Engineering Laboratory

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Engineering - Chemical (53)We were previously funded under an NSF-sponsored project, in that program we integrated design through the use of AspenPlus simulation software which was developed for use in lecture courses throughout the four-year chemical engineering curriculum. In this project, the integration of design is expanded to include open-ended design-oriented experiences in the chemical engineering laboratory. Under this project we have our students working in an open-ended, design-build-test experiment in packed column design for gas absorption. The experiment is now part of our required senior-year chemical engineering laboratory course. It is modeled after a typical industrial project in which students are required to make design choices between competing alternatives where economics must be considered. Students are using AspenPlus to model the absorption process and make choices between alternative columns and column packing configurations. Our students are building and testing their design in the laboratory and report their findings in a written or oral presentation. We are assessing the effectiveness of this project by using student interviews, surveys of senior students and graduates, employers as well as the program's industrial advisory board.