(541d) Incorporating Laboratory Pilot Plant Data and Customized Software Simulations into Chemical Engineering Design Education at Vanderbilt

Russell F. Dunn, Ph.D., P.E.

Professor of
the Practice 

Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering

Vanderbilt
University

Nashville,
TN 37235-1604

Ph:
615-343-4268

russell.dunn@vanderbilt.edu

Matt J. Lang, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering

Vanderbilt
University

Nashville,
TN 37235-1604

Ph:
615-345-7493

matt.lang@vanderbilt.edu

Bryan R. Beyer

Adjunct
Instructor

Department of Chemical and
Biomolecular Engineering

Vanderbilt
University

Nashville,
TN 37235-1604

Ph:
615-343-4268

bryan.r.beyer@vanderbilt.edu

Incorporating
Laboratory Pilot Plant Data and Customized Software Simulations into Chemical
Engineering Design Education at Vanderbilt

Integrating
unit operations laboratories with scale-up design assignments offers unique
perspectives for the students to connect equipment pilot equipment operation to
industrial scale design. Two-week
laboratory modules involving reverse osmosis and distillation technology,
respectively, are currently run by undergraduates students at Vanderbilt as
part of their senior unit operations laboratory course. Students then use this pilot scale data to
generate a traditional laboratory report covering these respective
technologies. An additional week is
then spent by the students using customized water network design software is
coupled with the reverse osmosis technology to design an industrial scale water
interception and recycle network.
Likewise, customized heat exchange network software and Aspen
simulations are coupled with the distillation technology to design an
industrial scale distillation column with heat integration. Two examples illustrating these approaches
will be shown.