The introduction of an autumn and spring activity week into the first year of a chemical engineering undergraduate program in Malaysia

This paper outlines the design and implementation of two activity weeks in the autumn (first) and spring (second) semester of a first year Chemical Engineering program at the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Part of both the Chemical and Chemical with Environmental Engineering curriculum, these week long activity weeks were developed to foster students independent learning using open ended tasks, all linked through one overarching “industrial theme”. Designed to combine topics from a number of different taught modules into single problems, the activity weeks introduced students to multimodular problems whose solutions required a student centred approach utilising enhanced student-staff interaction. Feedback is presented from both staff and students, along with problems encountered during implementation and how these were overcome. Students were generally positive about the learning experience, and student performance during the weeks was greater than in the subsequent exams. However, this performance and enhanced interaction with staff came with an associated increase in teaching time required to plan and implement such activities.     

浅析艺术设计专业生产性实训基地建设对学院发展的作用

为适应高职教育发展,大力推行工学结合人才培养模式改革,突出高职院校艺术设计专业学生实践能力培养,增强毕业学生专业与职业能力,强化教师实训技能教学能力,有效开展社会培训、学生技能鉴定工作,艺术设计专业生产性实训基地建设显得尤为重要,并已提上日程。     

How to implement environmental considerations in chemical process design: An approach to multiobjective optimization for undergraduate students

This paper expects to give some guidelines for undergraduate students about how to implement environmental considerations in chemical process design and how the introduction of these issues could have an important effect on the results obtained in the multiobjective problem optimization when economic and environmental aspects are considered simultaneously.For this work, a representative flowsheet of many chemical and petrochemical processes has been considered. This processing scheme works with a feedstock containing some inert and with not very high conversion per pass in the reactor.Therefore, the influence of the quality of raw materials, the installation of additional stages for treating effluents, the environmental impact and the optimum conversion of the chemical process are evaluated, attending both environmental and economic criteria.Our goals were, first to show how to identify the tradeoffs of a representative chemical process when environmental and economic considerations are included simultaneously in the design and its optimization. Secondly, how feedstock quality and additional waste treatment stages affect to the results obtained in the multiobjective optimization: minimize the total cost of the installation and its environmental impact.As a result, the final objective of this paper is to teach undergraduate students how multi-objective optimization could be used to make better decisions in the design of chemical processes, taking into account both economic (minimum total cost) and environmental (minimum environmental impact) performances.For each case study proposed, a detailed optimization was performed to determine Pareto curves using the ?-constraint method to identify the tradeoffs of this multiobjective optimization and ultimately determine the best alternatives, and even their optimum operational conditions attending to both criteria.It is important to remark that this problem could be solved in Excel so that it could be a good example to undergraduate students.     

Integration between industry and university: Case study,Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh,Saudi Arabia

Collaboration between university and industry has long existed, but the rapid increase of global knowledge has increased the demand for strategic relationships that go beyond the conventional funding of research projects. University research should be developed in future to play an important role in industry and in turn economic growth. For a successful collaboration, both sides should overcome the communication and cultural divide that impair university–industry relationships across all categories and undercut their potential. Faculty of Engineering at Rabigh (FER) – King Abdulaziz University (KAU) is strategically located near major industries and facilities such as Petro Rabigh, desalination plant, steel fabrication, and cement industries, which makes FER a nucleus to solve technological problems for all these industries. Much effort has been made at FER to collaborate with these industries through mutual reciprocal visits of university and industry personnel as well as student internships. These are aimed to solve both short- and long-term technological issues at the industrial units. This will not only improve the local knowledge base and skills, but also bring confidence and trust between the two partners. It is well known that innovation does not take place in vacuum: a context – the economy, society, and policy – determines how easy or difficult it is to innovate. In this context, the role of government is also very important to create legislations that make the university–industry relationship a win–win situation.     

Teaching engineering for a changing landscape

Engineering educators face a rapidly changing, and ever more challenging world. Rapidly evolving industry demands, accreditation agencies, and students themselves are calling for an engineering education with integrated multidisciplinary design knowledge, leadership, communication, business, education, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and lifelong learning explicitly included in their undergraduate programs. Students still need the core content knowledge of thermodynamics, mass, energy, and momentum balances and fluxes. They also need integrated socio‐contextual knowledge to evaluate a design for sustainability and demonstrate a net positive social benefit. There is only so much time available in an undergraduate program and learning takes time. These challenges are driving changes to both what and how we teach our students to integrate broader competencies and enhance engineering student graduate attribute achievement. A framework for engineering education includes fundamental and socio‐contextual knowledge integrated with metacognitive and professional skill development. This contribution provides practical ideas for how to infuse these dimensions into courses, support the developing engineering practice, and deepen student engagement with their courses.     

基于卓越工程师教育培养的工业分析专业方向教学改革探讨

教育部提出的卓越工程师教育培养计划是未来较长时期内我国高等工程教育改革的重大举措,是促进高校培养适应社会和经济发展需要的高级专门人才的一项新的质量工程。文章针对工业分析方向卓越工程师本科阶段的培养要求,从人才培养模式、师资队伍结构、课程与教学内容、联合实习基地建设、学生就业模式改革等方面讨论了为适应卓越工程师培养的教学改革有关问题。     

生物与制药工程专业课程设计的教学改革与实践

作为高等工程教育的崭新改革方案,CDIO教学模式受到国内外高校的高度重视。作为CDIO工程教育改革的一项重要内容,天津大学生物与制药工程专业较早在国内引入药品化学品的质量源于设计课程。该课程以新颖的理念和创新的项目教学法,以质量设计为核心内容,让学生掌握有关药品、食品、生物化学品的质量工程与设计,以及相关的法律法规,并通过分组讨论、分工协作和实施等完成设置任务,提高学生的沟通、协作和综合素质。本文详细介绍了该课程的具体实施情况。     

Product stewardship in the flame retardant industry

The products of the flame retardant industry are very important to the fire safety of the consumer. As with any product, there are issues that must be addressed by the producers and users to ensure the continued safe use of the materials. While most flame retardants are quite nonreactive and of low toxicity, the presence of them in the environment could threaten their future use. The producers and users alike should have the goal of keeping them out of the air, water and land. To this end, an aggressive product stewardship program is in order. This paper will review the steps needed to have a meaningful program. This activity should include evaluating the amount of material entering the air, water and land, deciding how to reduce that amount, putting in place practices to reduce the level and reporting to our stakeholders. By working together as producers and users, we can ensure that flame retardants will continue to save lives and have a long commercial future. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Studies of Potential Inhibitors of Sodium Aluminosilicate Scales in High-Level Waste Evaporation

Abstract

For a decade, the evaporation of highly alkaline High-Level nuclear wastes as practiced in some DOE nuclear waste facilities has produced sodium aluminosilicate scales causing both operation and criticality hazards. Segregation of aluminum-rich wastes from silicate-rich wastes minimizes the amount of scale produced and reduces cleaning expenses but does not eliminate scaling nor increase operational flexibility in waste processing. Similar issues have affected the aluminum refining industry for many decades. Over the past several years, successful commercial products have been identified to eliminate aluminosilicate fouling in the aluminum industry but have not been utilized in a nuclear environment.

Laboratory quantities of three proprietary aluminosilicate scale inhibitors produced by Cytec industries have been shown to prevent formation of aluminosilicate scales. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been actively testing these potential scale inhibitors to examine their radiation stability, radiolytic degradation behaviors, and downstream impacts to determine their viability within the High-Level nuclear waste system at the Savannah River Site (SRS). One of the tested polymers has been found to successfully meet the established criteria for application in the nuclear waste environment.     

天然活性化妆品的现状与发展趋势

伴随着化妆品行业的快速发展、科学技术的进步以及人们生活水平的提高,作为一个正处在蓬勃发展中的朝阳产业,一个从事人类美丽事业的产业,能否站在绿色、天然、安全和环保的角度满足人们对美的追求,已经成为新时期人们对化妆品质量内涵与功能诉求所关注的焦点。对如何认识天然活性化妆品,其发展现状如何,如何突破传统,真正体现天然活性化妆品的实际内涵与产品功效,其今后的发展方向与趋势又将如何,围绕现状展开了论述。相信,在倡导绿色文明、绿色生活、回归自然和回到真我的世界潮流之下,天然活性化妆品在所有配方人一致关注与对技术深度应用的基础上,一定能够继往开来,再续人类美丽事业的新篇章。     

Are natural colorants good for your health?

The world has become increasingly aware of environmental issues through discussions about the greenhouse effect, ozone layer depreciation, water pollution and waste disposal. The role of the chemical industry in introducing contaminants into the environment has been much criticised. But how far can this be justified? Brian Glover and Jeff Pierce discuss the issues as seen by one of the world's major colorant manufacturers.     

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.     

Incorporating life cycle assessment and ecodesign tools for green chemical engineering: A case study of competences and learning outcomes assessment

Chemical engineers assume a broad range of roles in industry, spanning the development of new process designs, the maintenance and optimization of complex systems, and the production of intermediate materials, final products and new technologies. The technical aptitude that enables chemical engineers to fulfill these various roles along the value chain makes them compelling participants in the environmental assessment of the product in question. Therefore, the introduction of life cycle assessment (LCA) and ecodesign concepts into the chemical engineering curriculum is essential to help these future professionals to face design problems with a holistic view of the technical, economic, social and environmental impacts of their solutions. The teaching of these and other disciplines by means of student-centered methods, based on a holistic structure, have demonstrated better teamwork and communication skills. For that reason, this paper proposes a Micro (Assess-Analyze-Act) (M-3A) model of assessment mainly focused on closing the loop of the learning activities. This model has been applied to an ecodesign case study of the “University master’s Degree in chemical engineering” of the University of Cantabria/University of the Basque Country, with positive feedback of the students. They felt that the approach has allowed them to utilize their analytical skills in quantifying a situation before applying other subjective measures, and that the public discussion of the results was a satisfactory element for improving their communication skills. Moreover, the students found that the workload was nicely adjusted, highlighting the acquisition of 4 competences preferentially: teamwork, creativity; relevance of environmental issues and initiative and entrepreneurship. Finally, the students suggest that the application of this methodology into their degree could motivate future students improving their performance.     

关于加强化工过程分析与合成实践教学的几点想法

知识、能力、素质综合发展型人才的质量评价标准的核心是素质。在化工类学生素质教育的过程中,实践教学发挥着极其重要的作用。化工过程分析与合成是一门综合的化工专业课程,主要对化工生产过程进行模拟和优化。在教学过程中加强实践教学对于提高学生对课程的理解,了解书本知识如何运用,掌握对化工过程进行分析和评价的方法,进而提出合理的优化方案具有非常重要的意义。     

From Drying to Thermo-Hydro-Rheology—A Thirty-Year-Long Unfinished Maze

By 1976, chemical and mechanical engineering had produced a tremendous effort to understand drying in physical terms, mainly for consolidated bodies. In spite of an obvious interest aroused by the food processing industry, very little had been done on saturated deformable media. This article relates how a succession of nineteen Ph.D. students tried to enforce into practical and fundamental drying the relatively few laws we have at our disposal in continuum mechanics. Practical problems suggested by industry alternated with more theoretical work in an unplanned manner: it was my duty and my pleasure to ensure that all treatments echoed correctly with a certain harmony.     

推进教学改革,培养创新实践型工科人才

创新实践能力的培养是高校教学改革的重要内容之一。基于工科院校大学生课程学习和实践环节的教学现状,剖析了现有教学过程存在的填鸭式、机械化教学方法等普遍性问题;指出此类现象产生的主客观因素,对推进教学改革、提高工科大学生的创新意识提出了一系列改进意见和措施,包括采用现代化多媒体辅助教学,强化实验、实习环节的学生主体作用,多方开展创新活动,打造具有创新精神和能力的骨干教师等。     

Abnormal situation management: Challenges and opportunities in the big data era

Although modern chemical processes are highly automatic, abnormal situation management (ASM) still heavily relies on human operators. Process fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) are one of the most important issues of ASM but few FDD systems have been satisfactorily applied in real chemical processes since the concept of FDD was proposed about 40 years ago. In this paper, developments of chemical process FDD are briefly reviewed. The reason why FDD has not been widely implemented in the chemical process industry is discussed. One of the insights gained is that some basic problems in FDD such as how to define faults and how many faults to diagnose have not even been addressed well while researchers tirelessly try to invent new methods to diagnose fault. A new framework is proposed based on the big data in a cloud computing environment of a big chemical corporation for addressing the challenging issues in ASM.     

关于化工专业英语翻译的探讨

随着化学工业的快速进步,我国很多老旧的技术和设备都需要更新与改造。此外,我国在化学工艺方面与西方国家进行了大量的交流与沟通,这就要求化学工业相关的工作人员需要具备基本的化学专业英语,并熟悉其翻译的方式。化工专业英语是一种专业性非常强的英语,其不仅具有英语的基本语言特点,而且具有其独特性。     

关于提升我国玻纤工业水平的讨论

“十一五”期间,如何就我国玻璃纤维工业的实际情况贯彻科学发展观和国家“十一五”经济发展纲要及产业政策,求得持续健康的发展并实现由大变强是业内人士近期比较热门的话题。一些企业还专门组织了战略研讨。围绕这个话题,就有关的几个问题发表了作者的一些看法。     

Catalytic Liquefaction of Coal and Refining of Products

I have been asked to consider the present state of the art in the catalytic liquefaction of coal and refining of products by catalytic means and to suggest some directions for research and development in this very important area of our energy program. This is a large order, as any review of what has been done and what is known about coal liquefaction will quickly show. Coal liquefaction by catalytic means has a long history and has been prached on a commercial scale in various parts of the world. It has had a profound influence on the processing of petroleum. In developing this subject and trying to discern new directions it is very worthwile to review briefly the history of coal liquefaction by catalysis to determine how we have arrived at the present state. By doing this we can also gain knowledge of the constrains imposed on successful developments in this area. It should therefore be possible to determine dirctions for making the processes simpler amnd easier. If nothing else, it will make our attempts to see new things more efficient. Furthermore, the history of coal liquefaction is very interesting and is worth reviewing for itself.