Teaching Logic Control Systems to Chemical Engineering Students
Educating chemical engineers for coming challenges
Teaching Methods, Techniques & Modules (T6-2)
Keywords: Active Learning, Logic Control Systems, Engineering Education
Technical and business leaders in the US chemical industry identified four key disciplines as crucial for the progress of this field: (1) new chemical science and engineering technology, (2) supply chain management, (3) information systems, and (4) manufacturing operations. Specifically, manufacturing operations require advances in six areas where information and process control have needs and challenges such as open systems and integrated applications, process control, equipment and monitoring, process modelling, supervisory systems, and hardware and software.
Typical process control courses for chemical engineering students are only focused in continuous processing. Since combinatorial and sequential control systems have been
related primarily to batch manufacturing processes, they have been ignored in process control courses. We incorporate logic control systems into the chemical engineering program to explode our own educational technology, and active learning techniques, giving as result the Experimental Chemical Process Control course.
An instructional proposal based in active learning techniques and experimental control logic stations is presented. Early results show that the gap between theory and practice is
reduced through experimental hands-on sessions; additionally, several abilities and skills are developed, improving the quality of engineering education.
We are pleased to see that even it was difficult for chemical engineering students to understand some pneumatic, electrical and electronic devices at the beginning; they developed/reinforced creative thinking, problem solving capabilities, and independent decision making skills because the hands on activities where high motivation because the experimental equipment was the driving force.
See the full pdf manuscript of the abstract.
Presented Monday 17, 16:40 to 17:00, in session Teaching Methods, Techniques & Modules (T6-2).
