Chemical Engineering Lab. III

Code:

EQ403

Acronym:

LEQIII

Instance: 2005/2006 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Chemical Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Chemical Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
LEQ	84	Plano Oficial EQ a partir 2003	4	1,5	5,5	-
		Plano para Bachareis EQ a partir de 1996	1	1,5	5,5	-

Teaching language

English

Objectives

The main objectives of LEQIII are:
1) Help students to develop a practical sense in relation to theoretical concepts taught in Chemical Reaction Engineering and Separation Processes disciplines (conventional and non conventional separation processes);
2) To develop the design, assembly and operation capabilities in the framework of Chemical Engineering (integration of concepts);
3) To develop team work, cooperation and discipline competencies.

It is also a major objective of this lab classes to contribute for developing the students’ self-confidence when designing, assembling and operating real systems, in opposition to virtual or theoretical systems, with which students already contacted in many other disciplines.

It is expected that the field visits to local plants, planned for this discipline, will contribute for students to make the bridge to the industrial reality.

Program

There are 13 experimental works available:

Ideal reactors:

Kinetics and activation energy of a homogeneous reaction in liquid phase
1- Reaction between crystal violet and sodium hydroxide (spectrophotometer);
2- Reaction between ethyl acetate and sodium hydroxide (conductivity meter);
3- Reaction between crystal violet and sodium hydroxide (spectrophotometer);

Flow pattern characterization of an open reactor using a tracer
4- Stirred reactor (spectrophotometer);
5- Tubular reactor packed with glass beads (conductivity meter);
6- Tubular reactor with laminar flow (spectrophotometer);

Steady state conversion in an open reactor
7- Stirred reactor. Reaction between crystal violet and sodium hydroxide (spectrophotometer);
8- Tubular reactor packed with glass beads. Reaction between ethyl acetate and sodium hydroxide (conductivity meter);
9- Tubular reactor with laminar flow. Reaction between crystal violet and sodium hydroxide (spectrophotometer);

Catalytic reactors
10- Study of the sucrose inversion;

Advanced separations
11- Study of a cation-exchange resin;
12- Study of the permeability of a hollow fiber membrane module towards Helium, Nitrogen and Argon;
13 – Study of powder storage, transport, separation and mixture.

Mandatory literature

A. Mendes; Laboratórios de Engenharia Química. Reactores em Fase Homogénea, Reactores Catalíticos, Separações não Convencionais e Tecnologia dos Sólidos Divididos

Complementary Bibliography

Referências bibliográficas indicadas em cada trabalho

Teaching methods and learning activities

The experimental works should be performed by groups of two students. A maximum of 6 groups is possible inside the lab, however a maximum of 5 groups is recommended, but unfortunately this will not be possible in the current academic year. All lab classes are 3 hours long.
Each group should perform 7 experimental works, among those previously listed, during 6 lab classes. Work number 13, performed simultaneously with no. 12 (which is performed very quickly) will not be evaluated, being merely illustrative. For each of the first 5 experimental works, a short report should be presented within two workdays after the corresponding class. A complete report concerning the last work is also due within one week after the experimental work has been performed.
Students will also perform an individual lab exam, which evaluation will take into account the practical performance and the answers given to oral questions. The exam concerns one of three lab works previously performed by students.
A thoroughly organized field trip to a local industrial plant will be made with groups of about 20 students. This visit aims to develop students' industrial sensitivity, among other objectives.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation without final exam

Assessment Components

Description	Type	Time (hours)	Weight (%)	End date
Subject Classes	Participação presencial	39,00
	Total:	-	0,00

Eligibility for exams

Also, for safety reasons, among others, it is mandatory that students perform at least 5 of the proposed experimental works.

Calculation formula of final grade

GRADE = 0.40 x RR + 0.20 x RC + 0.20 x EL + 0.05 x VE + 0.15 x AC

where,
RR – Average grade of the short reports;
RC – Extended report classification;
EL – Lab exam;
VE – Field trip presence;
AC – Continuous evaluation.

Special assessment (TE, DA, ...)

The evaluation of students that are not obliged to attend to the normal classes will be performed as follows:
1) pre-exam in order to evaluate if the student is sufficiently prepared to perform safely any experimental work. It consists of about 30 minutes of oral questions regarding theory and operation of the main instruments;
2) perform a 2 hour long lab exam, which includes the execution of an experimental work, randomly chosen among those previously listed, and oral questions about this work;
3) write a complete report of this experimental work.
GRADE = (EL + RC) / 2
Minimum grade of 10 is mandatory for both EL and RC.

Classification improvement

For improving the final evaluation it is necessary to:
1) have performed at least 5 experimental works;
2) perform a 2 hours lab exam, which includes the execution of an experimental work and oral questions about this work;
3) write a complete report of this experimental work.

The final grade is obtained from,
GRADE = 0.4 x EL + 0.4 x RC + 0.2 x AC
where the continuous evaluation is also considered.
Minimum grade of 10 is mandatory for both EL and RC.

Observations

Main bibliography:
"Laboratórios de Engenharia Química. Reactores em Fase Homogénea, Reactores Catalíticos, Separações não Convencionais e Tecnologia dos Sólidos Divididos", A. Mendes, FEUP-Edições, Porto, 2002.