Using Mathcad to facilitate the design of chemical reactors involving multiple reactions

Abstract

The pedagogy of teaching chemical reaction engineering is continually advancing through the use of new computational tools and, therefore, the integration of these new tools into the Chemical Engineering degree is challenging. This paper reports an educational experience dealing with the use of Mathcad software to complement and to facilitate the design of chemical reactors involving multiple reactions. A continuous stirred‐tank reactor taking place series reactions and two reactors (continuous stirred‐tank reactor or plug flow reactor) arranged in series involving parallel reactions were presented as case studies. This experience, which was carried out with the third‐year chemical engineering students enrolled in the chemical reactors course, revealed that Mathcad facilitates the understanding of the theoretical concepts related to multiple reactions and also reduces the complexity of mathematical calculation to a minimum. Thus, the use of this computer tool allows the teacher (a) to delve deeper into more issues related to the design of chemical reactors, and (b) to consider this tool perfectly useful for other courses corresponding to the Chemical Engineering degree.

A Mathcad‐based educational experience to address the design of nonisothermal plug flow reactors

“…Over the last few years, the pedagogy of teaching engineering courses is continually advancing through the implementation of mathematical software packages, since they minimize the mathematical difficulties for students and allow teachers to devote more time addressing other engineering issues, making the course more student-friendly [4,8]. In this context, a significant number of computer-aided educational experiences by using mathematical software packages like Polymath [14,25,26], Mathcad [5,6,9,22], MATLAB [12,13,19], Maple [11,20], MATHEMATICA [2,10,15], or Excel [3,16,18,27] are found in the engineering field. Even though engineering competencies can be well acquired using any of this software, it is important to select one that does not involve an additional complexity given the limited time that can be dedicated to learning it in class [4].…”

“…The School of Engineering at the University of Huelva, thanks to various Teaching Innovation Projects, is currently implementing the use of Mathcad in some courses corresponding to a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Chemical Engineering and a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering [5,6,21,22]. As for the CRE area, we used Mathcad for the design of isothermal reactors involving multiple reactions (series and parallel reactions) [6]. Now, in this study, we consider the use of Mathcad to address the design of nonisothermal reactors, more precisely, nonisothermal PFR.…”

“…Now, in this study, we consider the use of Mathcad to address the design of nonisothermal reactors, more precisely, nonisothermal PFR. Compared to isothermal reactors [6], the mathematical complexity increases since the molar and energy balances for nonisothermal PFR, as well as the energy balance for the heating/cooling fluid used for the heat exchange, are governed by ODEs, which should be simultaneously solved. Here, we present two case studies that were analyzed with the aid of Mathcad, and we provide guidelines on how Mathcad facilities the design of non‐isothermal PFR involving simple and multiple reactions.…”

Improving Student Learning of Energy Systems through Computational Tool Development Process in Engineering Courses

“…Various computational tools have been introduced to demonstrate their effective integration and utilization in engineering education, e.g., Phyton [3,9] (A software program https://www.python.org/), MATLAB [4,9] (A software program https://www. mathworks.com/products/matlab.html), MathCAD [8,10] (A software program https:// www.mathworks.com/products/matlab.html), Microsoft Excel [5][6][7]11,12]. Although advancements in engineering calculation tools have been rapidly evolving, still, spreadsheetbased computational tools are dominantly used in engineering education because of their heavy use in industry [13], the wide accessibility and availability of programs [14], etc.…”

Using process simulators in Chemical Engineering education: Is it possible to minimize the “black box” effect?

“…In the same way, Mathcad Prime is powerful math software for engineering calculations with an easy-to-use interface, which allows for the implementation of engineering design with a minor need for advanced computing skills. Worked examples of Mathcad for Chemical Engineering, in general, were presented by Benitez [1], and specific applications to reaction engineering in undergraduate programs, at two different levels, can be found elsewhere [6,18].…”