Chemical Engineering Principles Research Articles

Microscopic principles of chemical engineering after fossil fuels

Chemical engineering is a broad field in terms of the scope of practice but the discipline has been united by a few intellectually coherent principles. Among them, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics and transport phenomena are often considered as the cornerstones, providing support for the design and operation of diverse chemical processes for power generation and production of industrial goods such as plastics, gasoline and ammonia. Traditionally, these industrial processes use fossil fuels as the raw materials and are responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions. As fossil-energy-based processes are deemed phasing out , development of alternative routes with renewable energy and sustainable feedstock is calling for the expansion of the knowledge base such that eco-friendly chemical processes can be quantified, controlled and optimized with high precision. This article offers some perspectives on possible engineering developments to accelerate the paradigm shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Learning first principles theories under digital divide: Effects of virtual cooperative approach on the motivation of learning

Studies revealed that existing lockdowns due to COVID-19 across developing countries resulted in education access inequalities and challenges. Closure of schools and higher education institutions have forced educators to deliver courses and assessments distantly as an immediate countermeasure against threats on the academic progression of students. Specifically, students marginalized by digital divides were found to have less satisfaction in learning experiences under this emergency online learning method. For students with science and engineering background, it is a challenge to learn first principles theories in the online environment which could affect their learning motivation level. This paper presents the implementation of online cooperative learning in the course Material and Energy Balance which covered the fundamental principles of Chemical Engineering. The impact of virtual cooperative learning approach to reduce the loss of motivation due to digital divide was investigated. Firstly, it was found that most of the students, from different backgrounds of digital access, experienced a drop in motivation at the start of emergency online learning. Secondly, when virtual cooperative learning was implemented, an increase in students’ motivation at both sides of the digital divide was observed. The implications concerning provisions to design an all-inclusive online learning environment are also presented. We found that the incorporation of cooperative learning approach could contribute towards alleviating the drop in motivation, especially for the digitally disadvantaged students. We hope that the findings from this study could compel instructors or education practitioners to rethink and redesign the online teaching and learning activities to enable a more inclusive emergency online learning environment for digitally disadvantaged students.

Teaching for chemical process technicians

In recent years, a talent shortage has been one of the biggest threats facing chemical and petrochemical organizations. This, together with declining employment, looming retirements, and large demographic age gaps in the workforce has made us, together with industry, determine to tackle the problem and bridge the gap by developing a formal course between a low-skill operator level and that of the process engineer. The course needed to address the technical knowledge of introductory chemical and mechanical engineering principles, the chemistry involved in process chemistry, and mathematics. On the 'softer’ side, modules such as Academic and Professional Skills and essential Computer Skills were introduced to develop an all-round chemical operator / technician. This paper describes the course materials in brief to provide insight into how this course has been developed and implemented. Feedback from student groups and industry partners on course content and relevance to today’s industry needs confirms the relevance and value of the course.

Innovation and Practice for Multilevel Teaching Model of “Principles of Chemical Engineering” in the Intelligent Era

Innovation and Practice for Multilevel Teaching Model of “Principles of Chemical Engineering” in the Intelligent Era

Industrial data science – a review of machine learning applications for chemical and process industries

Understand and optimize industrial processesviamachine learning and chemical engineering principles.

APPLYING MULTISCALE SIMULATIONS IN EDUCATION OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Several examples of multiscale-simulations were introduced to international undergraduate students majored in chemical engineering in the classes of principles of chemical engineering. This improves the teaching practices of the course significantly, as the international undergrads pay much more attention to these examples than to the conventional lecturing. Moreover, those examples were easy to be visualized which can be suitable for distant education or SPOCs. This manuscript focuses on how to combine the various topics of the course with different simulation techniques to implement successful educational reform.

Features Excavation of Local Chemical Industry, Agriculture, and Forestry for Promotion of Chemical Engineering Principles Curriculum Reform

Features Excavation of Local Chemical Industry, Agriculture, and Forestry for Promotion of Chemical Engineering Principles Curriculum Reform

Ideological and Political Construction of Chemical Engineering Principle by Combining Ability Training and Value Guidance

Ideological and Political Construction of Chemical Engineering Principle by Combining Ability Training and Value Guidance

“SMART-T” Principle Promotes the Construction of Course Ideology and Politics for “Chemical Engineering Principle Experiment”

“SMART-T” Principle Promotes the Construction of Course Ideology and Politics for “Chemical Engineering Principle Experiment”

Exploration and Practice of Chemical Engineering Principle Experiment Teaching under the Background of Engineering Education Certification

Professional accreditation is the basis for the implementation of engineering education, which is conducive to promoting the connotative development of higher education in China and improving the quality of talent cultivation. The experiment of chemical principle is the main course of chemical engineering and process majors. In line with the standards required by professional accreditation, this paper explores teaching conditions, teaching modes, teaching content assessment, and teacher teams to foster engineering literacy and innovation among students, which will play a role in promoting comprehensive literacy among students and deepening practical teaching reforms in the curriculum.

Implementing humanistic view via pass-through game style in teaching: A case study in teaching chemical engineering principles for undergraduates

The humanistic view has a far-reaching influence on education. This work presents an innovative pass-through game style teaching approach to improve the quality of classroom teaching in the rapid development of higher education in China, and creating a model for classroom teaching with a humanistic view. A case study in teaching “Chemical Engineering Principles 2” for undergraduate students in Quzhou University is presented, and great improvement in students’ tests and national competition results, and their satisfaction have been demonstrated. Through the pass-through game style teaching, individual attention for students in big class can be realized.

Comments on: Noble-metal-free NiCu/CeO2 catalysts for H2 generation from hydrous hydrazine

The results of two previously published articles about the catalytic decomposition of hydrous hydrazine were analyzed. Experimentally it was shown that Ni0.5Cu0.5/CeO2 catalyst is more active than Ni/CeO2. However, the measured impact of external mass transport on the observed decomposition rate contradicts heterogeneous catalysis's fundamental chemical engineering principles. The observed deviation could be described only by the copper-induced homogeneous reaction.

Tissue engineering and regenerative therapeutics: The nexus of chemical engineering and translational medicine

AbstractSince its emergence nearly 30 years ago with the goal of fabricating replacement human tissues or assisting the body in repairing itself, several advances have been made in the fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The assembly of living cells into tissues is akin to the scale‐up operation of a chemical or biochemical process with several modules or units affecting the final product. The major modules or units in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are cells, biodegradable scaffolds, bioreactors, and biomolecules. Each module is analogous to unit operations, where individual units must come together to successfully design engineered tissues for therapeutic and drug discovery applications. Basic principles of biological sciences, chemical engineering, materials chemistry, and polymer processing are frequently employed. More specifically, knowledge about viscous fluid flow, mass transfer, and reaction engineering is essential in tissue engineering. In this review article, we present the nexus between chemical engineering and tissue engineering for the rational design of engineered tissues or injectable cell‐laden hydrogel systems.

Chemical Recycling of Post-Consumer PLA Waste for Sustainable Production of Ethyl Lactate

Though synthetic plastics are indispensable in our everyday life, the uncertainty surrounding the sustainability of fossil reserves has led to the development of a novel class of plastics, referred to as bio-based plastics. Poly(lactic) acid (PLA) is the most frequently used member of this family. However, due to the lack of a holistic recycling strategy, its large scale utilization can turn out to be an acute source of plastic pollution in the future. Unlike other attempts directed towards chemical recycling of PLA which violate the basic principles of green chemistry, the following research establishes an eco-friendly recycling concept aimed at the production of a valuable lactate ester through solvent assisted transesterification of PLA waste. The scope of this research is not only limited to the selection of an appropriate system (solvent, nucleophile and catalyst) but also extends to analysing the selectivity of the solvent towards the PLA fraction in a commingled stream and the effect of the concentration of nucleophile and different PLA substrates on the yield of the lactate ester. It was observed that, irrespective of the source of PLA, a high yield of ethyl lactate (approx. 80%) with complete retention of stereochemistry was obtained for a molar ratio of nucleophile per mole repeat unit of PLA (nnuc:nrpu) equivalent to 3. Thus, this work represents an attempt towards instituting circular bio-economy by overcoming the engineering and environmental challenges associated with PLA-waste management and production of ethyl lactate; while strictly adhering to the principles of green chemistry and sustainable chemical engineering.

Study on Blended Teaching in Principles of Chemical Engineering Based on Cloud Platform

Aiming at the questions existing in the teaching of “Principles of Chemical Engineering”, in order to cultivate students’ engineering application abilities, new technologies are integrated into the “three-transfer” theory (momentum transfer, heat transfer, and mass transfer), experimental projects are renovated, and virtual simulation experiments are added. Then, a new teaching system for chemical principles and experimental teaching on the basis of “one platform and three clients” (one cloud platform, mobile client, teacher client, and administration client) is constructed. It is a student-oriented blended teaching system driven by problems; develop abundant teaching resources, further consummate multimedia courseware, computer-aided teaching, and develop a three-dimensional teaching system with textbooks, multimedia courseware, chemical simulation software, and online classroom. To realize a student-oriented interactive process for learning and teaching with the guidance of teachers, and give full play to students’ initiative, activity, and creativity during their learning process; focus on strengthening the assessment for the experimental courses of chemical principles, strengthen classroom discussion and creative practical work, and improve students’ engineering application ability, as well as abilities of analyzing problems, solving problems, and raising problems by applying comprehensive knowledge.

Portfolio Workbook as an Effective Method for Student-Centered Learning of Chemical Engineering Principles

Principles of Chemical Engineering (PCE) course is a core and highly important subject to study Chemical Engineering program that caters most fundamental concepts that bridge science to engineering. This study assess the effectiveness of portfolio workbook as a strategy to enhance student active learning in PCE. It was implemented for a full-semester and the student feedbacks on perceptions and implementation of the method was obtained after the course was completed. Results show that most participant agreed on the imposing mark on the workbook to enhance their study motivation. Vast majority of the students (82%) admit that the workbook significantly helped them in mastering the subject, thus recommended the method for other subjects (85%). The workbook as well as the method implementation can further be improved by providing short-answer as well as more intense scaffolding.

Biomolecular Systems Engineering: Unlocking the Potential of Engineered Allostery via the Lactose Repressor Topology.

Allosteric function is a critical component of many of the parts used to construct gene networks throughout synthetic biology. In this review, we discuss an emerging field of research and education, biomolecular systems engineering, that expands on the synthetic biology edifice-integrating workflows and strategies from protein engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science principles. We focus on the role of engineered allosteric communication as it relates to transcriptional gene regulators-i.e., transcription factors and corresponding unit operations. In this review, we (a) explore allosteric communication in the lactose repressor LacI topology, (b) demonstrate how to leverage this understanding of allostery in the LacI system to engineer non-natural BUFFER and NOT logical operations, (c) illustrate how engineering workflows can be used to confer alternate allosteric functions in disparate systems that share the LacI topology, and (d) demonstrate how fundamental unit operations can be directed to form combinational logical operations.

Improving the decolorization of glycerol by adsorption using activated carbon derived from oil palm biomass.

This study provides insight into the decolorization strategy for crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel production using waste cooking oil as raw material. A sequential procedure that includes physico-chemical treatment and adsorption using activated carbon from oil palm biomass was investigated. The results evidenced decolorization and enrichment of glycerol go hand in hand during the treatment, achieving >89% color removal and > 98% increase in glycerol content, turning the glycerol into a clear (colorless) solution. This is attributed to the complete removal of methanol, free fatty acids, and triglycerides, as well as 85% removal of water, and 93% removal of potassium. Properties of the resultant glycerol met the quality standard of BS 2621:1979. The economic aspects of the proposed methods are examined to fully construct a predesign budgetary estimation according to chemical engineering principles. The starting capital is proportionate to the number of physical assets to acquire where both entail a considerable cost at USD 13,200. Having the benefit of sizeable scale production, it reasonably reduces the operating cost per unit product. As productivity sets at 33 m3 per annum, the annual operating costs amount to USD 79,902 in glycerol decolorization. This is translatable to USD 5.38 per liter glycerol, which is ~69% lower compared to using commercial activated carbon.

DNA-Assisted Smart Nanocarriers: Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities.

Due to powerful breakthroughs in nanotechnology, smart delivery mechanisms have rapidly emerged for use in diverse applications across biomedical research and therapeutic development. Recent efforts toward understanding stimuli-responsive strategies have led to substantial improvements in their conceptual application and in vitro efficiency. Because disease targets for therapy are often localized in specific cells, organs, or tissues, an enhanced permeability and retention (EPR)-based strategy remains inadequate for accurate drug delivery and release to target regions, resulting in an insufficient drug concentration reaching the target region and undesired side effects. To address these issues, more precise and remote-controlled stimuli-responsive systems, which recognize and react to changes in the pathophysiological microenvironment, were recently elucidated as feasible on-demand drug-delivery systems. In this Perspective, we focus on progress toward stimuli-responsive drug-delivery systems that utilize dynamic DNA molecules by exploiting DNA nanotechnology. DNA structures can be precisely reconfigured by external and internal stimuli to drive the release of a loaded drug in a target region with appropriate microenvironments. We describe the chemical, physical, and biological engineering principles and strategies for constructing DNA-assisted nanocarriers. We also provide a summary of smart nanocarrier systems, organized with respect to the structural changes in the DNA strand in the microenvironment, resulting from changes in pH and temperature and the presence of intracellular oligonucleotides. To do so, we highlight recent advances in related biomedical research and applications as well as discuss major challenges and opportunities for DNA-assisted nanocarriers to guide the development of future in vivo therapies and clinical translation strategies.

A new food engineering elective course for chemical engineering students

A degree in chemical engineering offers a variety of career paths, including petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and food industries. However, chemical engineering students are rarely exposed to the application of chemical engineering principles to food processes. By providing the opportunity for students to acquire a deeper knowledge and the skill sets on the food industry, would possibly make them more comfortable in choosing the food and beverage sector as a career. This paper describes the development of a new food engineering class offered as elective for chemical engineering students at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. The course was developed based on backwards design where its principles and course structure are described followed by a discussion. Since the course was offered during Spring 2020, the initial design and assessments had to be slightly modified in order to accommodate remote teaching and such modifications are presented. The manuscript also presents suggestions on how to implement a minor in food engineering for chemical engineering students and educational research perspectives.