Teaching chemical product design

The chemical industry today includes both commodity products and higher value-added products. While the design of commodities is dominated by the process costs, higher value-added products also depend on product design, including discovery, product selection, and time-to-market. Chemical engineering education has sensibly begun to change toward courses on both process and product design. However, while there is an emerging consensus that these changes should take place, there is no clear agreement on what the changes should be. Moreover, these new directions are very difficult to teach, at least in the current environment. This paper will discuss different efforts to incorporate product design into the chemical engineering curriculum and different successes in doing so. However, while the value of including this material seems unquestioned, the way in which it is best taught is unclear.     

化学产品工程再认识

化学产品工程作为化学工程学科的一个新方向或化学工程学科的新范式已提出很多年,但学术界对其学科内涵理解不一。本文对化学产品工程的学科内涵进行了分析和探讨,认为其核心是通过过程和设备对产品的纳微结构和复杂大分子结构进行调控;化学产品工程仍隶属过程工程,是面向高附加值产品、实现产品结构可控、定向、高效制备的过程工程。通过与传统的以满足市场需求和提高生产效率为目标的过程开发和放大的化学工程研究类比,提出了化学产品工程的主要研究内容,并讨论了其研究的方法论问题,以推动相关的基础研究工作。     

化学工业多尺度融合的智能制造模式——互联化工

化工过程通过物质和能量的可控转化和传递来实现化工产品制备,具有多相性、非线性、非平衡、多尺度和多时空域等特性,化工行业智能制造发展的关键是实现多尺度条件下的互联协同与过程高效。一方面,化工过程多尺度互联机制的认识和调控是化工过程系统的安全可靠运行的关键;另一方面,实现化工过程多尺度下的互联、融合与协同是化工产业绿色发展的路径。鉴于此,本文提出了化学工业面向多尺度融合的智能制造模式——互联化工,给出了“互联化工”的概念、目标、特点和架构,并讨论了互联化工的相关关键技术,包括化学工业多层级的信息物理系统、云制造,以及全生命周期的安全管理技术、耦合互锁机制下的动态安全监控与决策模型、基于区块链的互联化工数据安全技术。     

CDIO国际工程理念在化工原理实践教学中的应用

通过对化工原理实践教学现状分析,应用CDIO工程教育理念,在化工见习、化工原理实验及化工课程设计教学中改革探索;研究提出分阶段开设化工见习、化工原理综合性及设计性实验、致力于团队协作解决实际问题的课程设计,对学生进行工程实践能力、创新意识和团队意识培养.CDIO模式为培养高素质应用人才提供了一条思路.     

A paradigm-based evolution of chemical engineering

A short presentation of chemical engineering evolution,as guided by its paradigms,is exposed.The first paradigm–unit operations–has emerged as a necessity of systematization due to the explosion of chemical industrial applications at the end of 19th century.The birth in the late 1950s of the second paradigm–transport phenomena–was the consequence of the need for a deep,scienti fic knowledge of the phenomena that explain what happens inside of unit operations.In the second part of 20th century,the importance of chemical product properties and qualities has become essentially in the market fights.Accordingly,it was required with additional and even new fundamental approaches,and product engineering was recognized as the third paradigm.Nowadays chemical industry,as a huge materials and energy consumer,and with a strong ecological impact,couldn't remain outside of sustainability requirements.The basics of the fourth paradigm–sustainable chemical engineering–are now formulated.     

Evaluating the problem-solving skills of graduating chemical engineering students

Research has shown that engineering students may not be learning to solve the kinds of complex problems they will be required to solve as practicing engineers (“authentic problems”). Though it is widely believed that we teach engineering problem-solving throughout the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum, this has not been tested. In this study we use a new instrument for measuring the authentic problem-solving skills of graduating seniors in chemical engineering at two different universities in the context of chemical process design. We find large variations across different areas of process design problem solving as to how expert-like students are in general, and variations between the two institutions. Students were able to identify the same safety issues as experts, but they were conspicuously “nonexpert” in other areas, such as in identifying the important features of a design problem. By examining the respective curricula at the two institutions, we are able to show how the variations both within and across institutions in the specific problem-solving skills students master matches with the practice they get during their undergraduate careers. The results imply that more thoroughly integrating practice in authentic design and problem-solving decisions into the undergraduate curriculum would result in students graduating with capabilities more comparable to those of skilled engineers.     

Reflections on inherently embedding safety teaching within a chemical engineering programme

The importance and the challenges of teaching safety are widely recognised amongst educators and industry. There are different approaches to teaching safety, from incorporation of safety into every aspect of a degree programme, to focusing all the safety teaching within stand-alone courses, to an integrated approach which simultaneously combines both approaches to varying extents. Effective safety teaching is also dependent on the experience and knowledge of the teaching staff involved and the locational context of the institution. Here, the novel and comprehensive approaches taken to inherently embed safety teaching within a chemical engineering programme, which is part of the wider Integrated Engineering Programme (IEP) teaching framework at UCL’s Faculty of Engineering Sciences, are examined and its success is measured against student perceptions. Students following the IEP chemical engineering degree programme widely recognise that safety teaching is immediately embedded into the curriculum from the first year and they are given increasing opportunities to apply safety learnings throughout their degree. This leads to a feeling of preparedness for their capstone design projects and future industrial roles, ultimately achieving the aim of developing well-rounded, responsible graduate engineers with a strong safety culture embedded in the way they will approach their future work.     

Teaching chemical engineering students industrial symbiosis using online resources: A Singapore case study

A new and simple qualitative teaching method incorporating online (cyberspace) resources (e.g. Google Maps^™) aimed at introducing the concept of industrial symbiosis (IS) to chemical engineering students is described. This method has been trialled as an exercise for a module as part of a chemical engineering degree programme taught in Singapore with integrated local industries and circumstances. A compilation in the form of eclectic mix of IS initiatives showing by-product and utilities flows in Singapore is also provided. The result of a student survey suggests favourable reception of the teaching methodology, which aided their understanding of the general IS concept as applied to the Singapore context. The method is envisioned as a useful complement to conventional IS lectures and workshops due to the convenience and high accessibility of Google Maps^™ and online company information which can be readily employed without incurring significant costs.     

Virtual reality in chemical and biochemical engineering education and training

With the advent of digitalization and industry 4.0, education in chemical and biochemical engineering has undergone significant revamping over the last two decades. However, undergraduate students sometimes do lack industrial exposure and are unable to visualise the complexity of actual process plants. Thereby, students might graduate without adequate professional hands-on experience. Similarly, in the process industry, operator training-simulators are widely used for the training of new and skilled operators. However, conventional training-simulators often fail to simulate reality and do not provide the user with the opportunity to experience unexpected and hazardous scenarios. In these regards, virtual reality appears to be a promising technology that can cater to the needs of both academia and industry. This paper discusses the opportunities and challenges for the incorporation of virtual reality into chemical and biochemical engineering education with an emphasis on the fundamental areas of technology, pedagogy and socio-economics. The paper emphasises the need for augmenting virtual reality interfaces with mathematical models to develop advanced immersive learning applications. Further, the paper stresses upon the need for novel educational impact assessment methodologies for the evaluation of virtual-reality-based learning. Finally, an ongoing case study application is presented to briefly discuss the social and economic implications, and to identify the bottlenecks involved in the adoption of virtual reality tools across chemical and biochemical engineering education.     

化工专业高等教育模式及学生知识结构改革的探索一《化工产品设计》课程的设立

在本科化学工程专业教育中开设《化工产品设计》课程符合化工行业发展趋势,可以满足学生就业及其知识更新的需求。根据“化工产品设计》课程的特点,文章着重探讨学生能力培养、课程内容设置和教学过程模式,总结教学过程中的经验。但是,在教学过程中仍然存在问题需要解决和完善。本工作对化工高教类新课程的建设与发展方向有良好的建设意义。     

工程教育背景下石油加工工程课程体系的优化与实践

石油加工工程相关课程是石油高校化工专业的重要专业课程,石油特色鲜明,理论与实践结合紧密,对培养大学生的工程概念、工程意识与工程能力起着举足轻重的作用。本文介绍了中国石油大学(北京)石油加工工程课程体系的特点与现状,分析了课程体系存在的问题,提出了"理论—实践—理论"的"学中实践"教学模式,并依此进行改革实践,强化了教学过程中学生工程意识与工程综合能力的培养,取得了良好的效果。     

Experiences on dynamic simulation software in chemical engineering education

Commercial process simulators are increasing interest in the chemical engineer education. In this paper, the use of commercial dynamic simulation software, D-SPICE^® and K-Spice^®, for three different chemical engineering courses is described and discussed. The courses cover the following topics: basic chemical engineering, operability and safety analysis and process control. User experiences from both teachers and students are presented. The benefits of dynamic simulation as an additional teaching tool are discussed and summarized. The experiences confirm that commercial dynamic simulators provide realistic training and can be successfully integrated into undergraduate and graduate teaching, laboratory courses and research.     

《化工工艺学》课程教学改革的探讨

《化学工艺学》是化学工程与工艺专业本科生的专业选修课。为发展化工循环经济,实现化工可持续发展,有必要在《化工工艺学》课堂教学中结合化工产品工程和过程工程相关理论进行教学。结合产学研合作教育,提高学生的工程意识和创新意识是课程改革的熏要目标。     

Scoping biology-inspired chemical engineering

Biology is a rich source of great ideas that can inspire us to find successful ways to solve the challenging problems in engineering practices including those in the chemical industry. Bio-inspired chemical engineering(Bio Ch E)may be recognized as a significant branch of chemical engineering. It may consist of, but not limited to, the following three aspects: 1) Chemical engineering principles and unit operations in biological systems; 2) Process engineering principles for producing existing or developing new chemical products through living ‘devices';and 3) Chemical engineering processes and equipment that are designed and constructed through mimicking(does not have to reproduce one hundred percent) the biological systems including their physical–chemical and mechanical structures to deliver uniquely beneficial performances. This may also include the bio-inspired sensors for process monitoring. In this paper, the above aspects are defined and discussed which establishes the scope of BioChE.     

Use of interactive graphics-based software for teaching chemical engineering principles

Examples of interactive software and graphics are presented which have been used in teaching chemical engineering principles at Princeton University, both to emphasize illustrate concepts covered in lectures and to augment problem sets. The interactive system consists of a central IBM 3033 computer and a number of Tektronix 4013 graphics terminals. All the current instructional software has been written in APL, and serve as either process simulators or computational aids. Three separate examples of such instructional software are presented and discussed in chemical reaction engineering (Wei-Prater kinetics: SLRP),. process control (frequency response analysis: FREQSYN), and staged operations (McCabe-Thiele analysis of complex distillation columns:MCTH).     

Understanding hydrotropism: A chemical engineering perspective

The mechanism of root hydrotropism has been a mystery for many years, due to the complexity of the interactions between the external environment and plants themselves. To gain an engineering perspective, the time‐dependent hydrotropism of a single root has been modeled, initially using a two‐dimensional model. Based on the water and nutrient distribution in rhizosphere as computed with the conservation equations, together with a basic reaction‐kinetics‐type growth model and an intuitive root bending model, it has been found that the root already possesses the property of hydrotropism. For the first time, hydrotropism could be tracked by a process engineering model, which is a new idea based on chemical engineering concept, suggesting an alternative mechanism of hydrotropism. The effects of different initial root widths, lengths, and other growth/transport coefficients on root hydrotropism have then been explored. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 1331–1346, 2016     

新工科人才培养导向的化工类延伸式实践教学模式的构建与运行

为适应新形势对高素质化工专业人才的需求,本科实践教学中构建了以拓展、连贯、多样为特色的延伸式实践教学模式,形成了传统实践为基础、拓展实践为延伸、支撑课程为保障的一体化延伸实践教学体系,通过"认知-工程-综合-应用"连贯化延伸式实践教学平台和多样化的延伸式实践组织形式开展实践教学,采用"任务分解-任务分工-自主学习-检查讨论"的任务驱动型实践教学方法,并形成了"执行-评价-改进"的运行机制和"精准指导-以赛促教-课程教改"的质量机制。延伸式实践教学模式的实施实现了本科教育"理论知识向工程能力转化、专业知识向综合能力转化、开放思维向应变能力转化",为工科人才培养探索了新的路径。     

The development of chemical engineering in german industry and universities

Chemical engineering is taught at German universities in three different types of curricula: chemical engineering proper, process engineering (“Verfahrenstechnik”), and industrial chemistry (“Technische Chemie”). Independent departments resp. faculties of chemical engineering exist at four universities. At other universities process engineering is offered as a complete curriculum with a smaller amount of chemistry than chemical engineering curricula, mostly by the departments of mechanical engineering. Industrial chemistry is an essential component of chemistry courses at most technical universities and optional subject at several classical universities. The cause of this diversity of approaches to chemical engineering can be traced back to the beginning of the production of high-value organics (dyes, pharmaceuticals) in Germany in the second half of the 19th century.