Integrated process design instruction

Abstract

As chemical engineering education moves into the new millennium, it is incumbent on educators to provide a modern curriculum for process design, yet mindful of the limited time for instruction that is available. This paper addresses three key components of a chemical engineering curriculum that prepare undergraduates to be effective process designers in industry: (a) a structured approach relying on fundamentals, integrated with instruction in the competent use of process simulators; (b) a balance between heuristic and algorithmic approaches; and (c) instruction in the integration of design and control. It is argued that these components should be included in an integrated fashion, with much of the material appearing gradually during the delivery of core courses, taking full advantage of computing capability and multimedia support for self-paced instruction. In this paper, each of the features is discussed in detail and demonstrated for the design of a typical process.