Real Chemical Reactions Vertically Integrated Throughout The Curriculum

At Rowan we are putting into practice an emphasis on hands-on experiments throughout the curriculum. We are attempting to employ an inductive learning style, in which students first conduct an experiment and visualize relationships; then they learn the related theory; and finally they design experiments in the engineering clinics. The pedagogy of teaching chemical reaction engineering is continually advancing through the use of new computational tools such as POLYMATH and MATLAB; interactive computer applications; and a new emphasis in textbooks on relating theory to industrially relevant chemical reactions. What is currently lacking in this area are chemical reaction engineering experiments that employ realistic reaction engineering systems. Nearly all of the reaction engineering experiments, reported in the literature, employ simple experiments that can be described using a single overall reaction. In addition most laboratory experiments do not examine the process fluid mechanics of the reactor and how this effects the product distribution. As a result, students only visualize reactors through theory and do not experience realistic reactor systems in their undergraduate courses. This lack of experience eliminates a major engineering challenge in designing and troubleshooting a reactor in which the yield and selectivity are optimized along with the process economics. In this proposal we will develop several experiments that employ the following features that are currently not being addressed in published reaction engineering experiments: 1) byproduct formation, 2) green engineering, 3) scale-up fluid mechanics and 4) equilibrium limited reactions. We will adapt a series of experiments from the research and educational literature using 3 chemical and 1 biological reacting systems. These experiments will be vertically integrated through the following series of courses: chemistry, organic chemistry, and process fluid transport, chemical reaction engineering, industrial process pathways, biochemical engineering, and unit operations. We believe that these realistic reactor experiments will produce students with a clear understanding of the fundamental issues in reaction engineering.