Teaching large processes on small scales

Academic secondee: Michael Stockenhuber

In physical chemistry, thermodynamics is a particularly difficult subject for students to grasp. The reasons for this include the complexity and precision of the concepts as well as the abstract nature of the science. In industrial applications, thermodynamics forms the backbone of successful plant operation. However, large scale chemical processing plants and pilot plant scale applications are difficult to handle and expensive to run; they are therefore not usually available to students.

The project involved the development of computer based experiments carried out by level 2 and 3 students. These processes, which demonstrate adsorption, were actually conducted at the University of Oldenburg in Germany, but fully controlled by NTU students via the internet.

The project included the development of new laboratory scripts, setting up of the industrial chemistry laboratory and the design of the supercritical fluid reactor.