Computer simulations in the chemical engineering laboratory

At Purdue University, a series of laboratory modules was developed around sophisticated chemical process simulations. The simulations were written for Sun workstations running under UNIX and X Windows. A typical simulation consists of 10000 lines of C and Fortran code and makes extensive use of the IMSL libraries. A graphical user interface makes the programs very user-friendly, even for students who have no experience with Sun workstations. In Purdue´s senior chemical engineering laboratory, the students work together in teams of three, comprising a group leader, an experimentalist, and a design engineer. The team works on a total of three different experiments during a semester. The members of the team rotate in their assignments, so that each one gets a turn at each of the different roles. These simulation modules have proven to be an attractive alternative to traditional laboratory experiments.<>