COURSE:

C&PE 626, Chemical Engineering Laboratory II,

Spring 2015 (3 credit hours)

SECTION:

Lecture: 2:00-2:50 pm Wednesday, 3153 Learned

Lab: 8:00 am-3:15 pm Tuesday, 3109 Learned

PREREQUISITES

ENGL 102, C&PE 523, 524, 615

INSTRUCTOR/
LAB MANAGER:

Dr. Jon Snyder, 3109 Learned, 4-3483, snyder_jon@hotmail.com

Office Hours by appointment

REFERENCE TEXTS:
D.W. Green, Perrys Handbook, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, 2007.
http://accessengineeringlibrary.com/browse/perrys-chemical-engineers-handbook-eighth-edition
S. Jeter and J. Donnell, Writing Style and Standards in Undergraduate Reports, College Publishing,
Virginia, 2004.
W. L. McCabe, J.C. Smith and P. Harriott, Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering, 4th Edition,
McGraw-Hill, New York, 1985.
R.R Ward, Practical Technical Writing, Alfred A. Knopf, NY, 1968. (Anschutz Library: Call no. T11
.W35)
A.M. Coghill, L.R. Garson, The ACS Style Guide, American Chemical Society, Washington D.C.,
2007. (Anschutz Library: Call no. QD8.5.A25, 2006)
(Online at: http://pubs.acs.org/isbn/9780841239999)
H.B. Michaelson, How to Write and Publish Engineering Papers and Reports, ISI Press, Philadelphia,
PA, 1982. (Anschutz Library: Call no. T11 . M418)
D. Adamy, Preparing and Delivering Effective Technical Presentations, 2nd Edition, Artech House,
Boston, MA, 2000. (Anschutz Library: Call no. T10.5 A33 2000)
D. Hathwell, A.W.K. Metzner, AIP Style Manual, American Institute of Physics, New York, 1978.
(Anschutz Library: Call no. QC 28. A5, 1978)

COMMUNICATION
All lab information and course materials will be provided either by e-mail, on the class Blackboard
site, or on the w:/ drive on the CPE network.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
To provide students with an opportunity to reinforce the concepts and theories that they have
learned in their engineering courses. This is achieved by performing systematic experiments
with laboratory equipment to acquire experimental data. The data are then subjected to statistical
analysis to evaluate reliability, followed by interpretation and discussion in terms of known
theories. To conduct the experimental work under conditions that are similar to those existing in
industrial laboratories (e.g., strict adherence to safety guidelines, proper record keeping, being an
effective and responsible team member, promptness in arriving at work, neatness and
industriousness) and thereby to aid in the development of professional work ethics. To use the
experiments as the basis for the presentation of written and oral reports.
Specific outcomes:
1. Ability to describe experimental objectives, theory and procedures; analyze
results with respect to theory and correlation; and formulate conclusions and
recommendations in a clear and concise manner either in written reports or oral
presentations
2. Ability to work with other group members, perform and complete his or her
assigned responsibilities
3. Ability to apply mathematics, basic and engineering sciences to solve problems
associated with the experiments
4. Ability to operate the apparatus, use the analytical instruments and obtain
accurate data from the experiments

SAFETY
It is your responsibility to read and to understand the KU safety regulations.
Eye protection must be worn at all times in the laboratory areas. Eating and drinking is not
allowed anywhere in the laboratory. Any student entering the lab in open-toed shoes will be
sent home to change and grade penalties will be assessed. Short pants and short skirts are to be
avoided. Care must be taken to keep loose clothing and hair away from machines with moving parts.
If you are in doubt about the safety of a particular experimental step, contact the instructors.
Dr. Snyder will monitor laboratory safety, maintenance, technique, and clean up. Points will
be lost by every member of a group that does not either clean up the laboratory area after an
experiment or adhere to the safety instructions. Accidental breakage may occur in the laboratory
on occasion. However, damage to equipment or property loss due to negligence, failure to follow
instructions, or horseplay is to be strictly avoided and may be grounds for a grade reduction in
egregious cases. Students are expected to maintain a professional attitude while in the
laboratory; after all, most of you will be working as professionals within a year.

LABORATORY FORMAT AND SCHEDULE

You will be divided into groups of three/four members. Each group will perform four of the
following six experiments (a Liquid/Liquid Extraction experiment may be worked into the
experimental rotation later in the semester; details will be provided by the instructors):

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Transient Heat Exchange (HeatEX)

Liquid Level Control (Control)
Vapor Liquid Equilibrium (VLE)
Multistage Distillation (Distillation)
Continuous Stirred Tank (CST)
Packed Bed Catalytic Reactor (PBR)

The schedule for performing the experiments and submitting the laboratory reports is shown in
the following Table.

20-Jan-2015
27-Jan-2015
3-Feb-2015
10-Feb-2015
17-Feb-2015
24-Feb-2015
3-Mar-2015
10-Mar-2015 design break
17-Mar-2015 spring break
24-Mar-2015
31-Mar-2015
7-Apr-2015
14-Apr-2015
21-Apr-2015
28-Apr-2015
5-May-2015
12-May-2015 finals week

group I

group II

HeatEX

Control

group III
group IV
NO CLASS
VLE
CST

group V

group VI

PBR

Distillation

Group Report 1 Due: Mon 02/16/2015 at 12:00pm

Control
VLE
CST
PBR
Distillation
Group Critique on Report 1 Due: Mon 02/23/2015 at 12:00pm

HeatEX

Group Report 2 Due: Mon 03/23/2015 at 12:00pm

VLE

CST

NO CLASS
NO CLASS
PBR
Distillation

CST

HeatEX

Individual Report 3 Due: Mon 04/13/2015 at 12:00pm

PBR
Distillation
HeatEX
Control

Control

VLE

Group Report 4 Due: Mon 05/04/2015 at 12:00pm

Group Oral Report in class Mon 05/05/2015
NO CLASS

All experiments will span three lab periods. This amounts to 24 hours of laboratory time and your
work and reports should reflect this in both breadth and depth. The objective is to give you sufficient
time to do an in-depth study of each experiment. Each group will be asked to review and critique the
work by another group on an experiment that they will perform later in the semester. This exercise is
to allow students more exposure to technical writing and the Report Evaluation while simultaneously
planning a continuation of a previous groups experiment. More details on the critique process and
expectations will be provided later.
Reports and Appendices are to be submitted electronically and will be due six days after the final
laboratory period of each experimental session before 12:00pm. Late reports will be deducted 10%
per day of the total points for the lab.

REQUIRED LAB PREPARATION

You must be familiar with the experimental setup and possess a sound knowledge of the theory to
be able to systematically perform the experimental investigations. There will be videos of
instruction for performing the experiments posted on Blackboard. Each group member is expected
to do the following before the end of the last day of the experimental session:
1) View the video of your next experiment
2) Looked over the new experimental apparatus
3) Review the LabVIEW instructions (with the exception of the VLE experiment)
4) Review experiment operation with the previous group.
5) Read the instruction manual for that experiment
6) Demonstrate to Dr. Snyder that you have carried out the above instructions and can fully
operate the apparatus without further assistance.
Groups leaving before Dr. Snyder has recorded this accomplishment should not expect
accurate credit for their preparation.
Prior to beginning laboratory work, all groups will be expected to complete a brief PreLab
assignment distributed and reviewed by Dr. Snyder. The purpose of this assignment is to ensure
that you are prepared to analyze your data at the time it is collected. It should be turned in to Dr.
Snyder by 1:00 pm on the day before the first lab of a new round of experiments. Included in this
submission:
1) Provide the solutions to the assignment
2) List the limits of all operating parameters such as flows, temperatures, pressures,
concentrations, etc.
3) List the defining physical values (e.g. rate constant, conversion, overall heat transfer
coefficient, column/stage efficiency, etc.) that the experiment is designed to obtain.
Also by 1:00 pm on the day before the first lab of a new round of experiments you should submit:
1) A list of objectives for your experiment and a plan for meeting those objectives. These
should be set based on previous group(s) results and conclusions, if appropriate. This
indicates that you are expected to communicate and review earlier groups reports, data and
interpretations including other lab sections of this class. You will be expected to explain
how your objectives build on, test, or otherwise increase knowledge about the experimental
system beyond what has been found by previous groups.
2) The operating parameters (temperature, flow rate, concentration, etc.) that you will adjust to
allow measurement or calculation of the physical values (see above).
The Instructors and Dr. Snyder can help to refine your plan, if necessary.
Groups will arrange themselves and the division of labor required to plan and execute each
experiment. Laboratory groups are expected to perform experiments from 8:00 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Students are not allowed to work in the lab at night or on weekends, without the written permission
of the instructor.
WEEKLY LECTURES
Lecture periods will be spent discussing report writing, data interpretation and examining the
previous weeks data. The instructor will expect to discuss the calculations, experimental plan, and
any difficulties encountered by each group.
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GRADING
The course grade will be determined based on the following weights:
Group Report 1 (75 pts)
Planning Meeting (10 pts)
Group Critique 1 (15 pts)
100
Group Report 2 (90 pts)
Planning Meeting (10 pts)
100
Individual Report 3 (90 pts)
Planning Meeting (10 pts)
100
Group Report 4 (90 pts)
Planning Meeting (10 pts)
100
Group Oral Report
50
Total =
450
Within the grade for each written report, 10% of the total points will be determined by effective
oral communication of the group members in explaining the apparatus, procedure, experimental plan
and hypothesis. This planning meeting will occur during the first lab period of each experimental
session. Proper preparation in understanding the operation of the experimental equipment and
planning an effective experiment will be necessary for this section of the grading. The questions for
this portion of the report can be found on the course Blackboard page.
Attendance at the laboratory session by all group members is expected. Situations may arise
during the course of the semester where a student may be allowed an excused absence. It is your
responsibility to let the instructor and your group members know before the start of lab that you
will be absent. Failure to notify the instructor and have your absence for any portion of the
lab period approved by your laboratory group before the start of the respective lab session
will result in a 2%/hr deduction for the overall report grade for the individual student.
A minimum score of 50% on the individual portion of the grade is required to pass the course.
DISABILITIES:
The KU office of Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) coordinates accommodations
and services for all students who are eligible. If you have a disability for which you wish to request
accommodations and have not contacted SSD, please do so as soon as possible. Their office is
located in 22 Strong Hall; their phone number is 785-864-2620 (V/TTY). Information about their
services can be found at http://www.ku.edu/~ssdis. Please also contact the professor privately in
regard to your needs in this course.
ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT AND ETHICS:
Ethics are an important aspect in the career of any current or future Engineer. This skill set
begins and overlaps with Academic Ethics. Article II, Section 6 of the Rules and Regulations of
the University Senate describes academic misconduct. The Chemical & Petroleum Engineering
Department has approved a policy document that further explains academic misconduct with
examples and tips for avoiding violations. The official document can be obtained at:

https://cpe.engr.ku.edu/sites/cpe.engr.ku.edu/files/docs/Academi
c%20Misconduct%20Policy%20Guide%20Approved%201_15_15.pdf
PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY. For the purposes of this course,
academic misconduct shall include plagiarism while preparing reports, and giving or receiving
unauthorized aid during preparation of "individual" reports. WHENEVER YOU DECIDE TO
ADOPT PORTIONS OF TEXT FROM ANOTHER SOURCE VERBATIM, PLEASE BE
SURE TO INCLUDE QUOTATIONS AND TO PROVIDE PROPER CITATION.
In this course, students may NOT possess other students materials (data analysis, calibrations,
reports, etc.) from prior semesters of this course or other current lab groups and sections unless
specifically encouraged by the instructors to collaborate in data collection and share findings
(excluding analysis) with other groups.
In this course, students are required to work and learn together on assignments and laboratory
work (PreLabs, data collection, etc.). However, the following instructions apply:
- Students may work together in groups to create a single group assignment with a single
grade. The only exception to this rule is on specifically identified assignments where
students will work on an experimental plan and data collection together but will work
individually on analyzing the data and creating a final report. The group may decide on the
delegation of work, but each student must participate.
Cell Phone Usage: Please refrain from talking or texting on your phones when an instructor is
working with a member of your group or with the group collectively. You are otherwise free to
use your cell phones as you see fit.

LAB NOTEBOOKS
It is essential that you properly document your work in the lab notebook. The primary
purpose of the notebook is to archive your experimental conditions and raw data. One should be
able to look at the lab notebook and see exactly what you did and look directly at the raw data
you obtained. The report you generate is a synthesis of the data and is subject to various errors
of manipulation and interpretation. The notebook contains the original raw data.
Your notebooks will be inspected. They should contain the following:
1. Title of experiment, names of experimenters, date.
2. Room conditions (temperature and pressure)
3. Brief (but complete) description of what you did; in sufficient detail that someone else
could repeat your work.
(Example: 10:00 am ran heat exchanger with countercurrent flow. Hot inside cold
outside. Hot inlet temperature was 55 C, cold inlet 18 C. Flow rates varied as reflected in
data table below:)
4. Data As much as is possible, enter data in lab notebook directly. Do not collect data on
another sheet or clean it up and transcribe to notebook. In the event your data are taken
on LabVIEW, refer specifically in the notebook to the filename and location.

PREPARING REPORTS
Your writing style should be concise and precise using simple sentence structures. Please get to
the point: We want to see what you did, why, what you found out, how you can verify it and
how does it relate to the overall goals of the lab. Grammatical and typographical errors are not
acceptable. Although not a concrete rule, passive voice is generally used in technical writing.
Please prepare a rough draft of your report; and then edit it. While reading, you must examine
carefully if your sentences unambiguously convey what you intended them to convey.
Computers with word processing software are available in the computer laboratories. Type
should be neat and professional, with spacing, font and margin sizes comparable to what you find
in this handout (though double spacing is preferable). A variety of computer tools is available to
assist you in data analysis, preparing graphs, charts and tables. It is expected that you will use these
tools routinely in the analysis of data and the preparation of reports. Your report will be eventually
submitted in electronic format.
(Reports should be formatted as they were in C&PE 616 and a more detailed explanation with
examples can be found on the course BlackBoard page.)
I. Detailed Report
The purpose of the report is to provide a complete exposition of the theory and techniques used
in the experiment and to compare the results obtained with established theories and/or literature
values of measured physical parameters. The report is not to exceed 10 pages including figures
and tables, but excluding appendices. The report format should be as follows:
(i) Title. This should include an appropriate short title (100 characters or less including spaces)
that adequately describes the work done. The author name(s) should appear below the title,
together with the dates of the experiment and the date the report is submitted.
(ii) Abstract. The abstract should appear below the title. The purpose of the abstract is to
summarize the information of the report in 250 words or less. The abstract is self-contained and
requires crisp, explicit, concise sentences to state what experiment you performed and what your
findings were. In other words, results should be stated concisely without references to either
external or internal sources. Writing an abstract requires a great deal of thought and is usually
done after completing other sections of the report.
(iii) Introduction. The introduction serves to explain to the reader the purpose of the work that
was done, the motivation or importance of the study, the way in which it was done, and how the
present work relates to previous studies of the same topic. This is where a literature survey
should be presented. You are expected to go to the library or online to obtain articles relating to
the necessary physical constants, previously measured values of the quantities you are
measuring, and alternate developments of the theoretical portion of the report. Proper
bibliographic citations should be used for all information derived from the literature.
(iv) Theory. The theory section is used to provide the appropriate equations that apply to the
experiment. A precise statement of the assumptions, governing differential equations and
boundary conditions generally helps to define the problem under investigation. Key equations
are to be presented. You should choose the appropriate starting point for the theoretical

development. Complex intermediate steps in the derivation of equations are to be avoided in the
main body of the report. Instead, you must concisely state how one line of equation follows from
the others. Equations must be typed in using the appropriate software. Equation numbers must
be flush with the right hand margin. All symbols must be explained (with the appropriate units)
directly following their use and in the Nomenclature section.
(v) Experimental. The experimental section should provide sufficient information to allow
another worker to attempt to reproduce the experimental data being reported. This requires a
clear description of equipment (with a schematic diagram of the apparatus), experimental
conditions, instrument calibration details, measurement uncertainties and experimental
procedures. This section should NOT be presented as an instruction manual but should cover
only the important steps and parameters of the experimental investigation.
(vi) Results and Discussion. (This is considered to be the most important part of the
report.)
This section presents the final results in tables and/or graphs and compares the measured values
with existing data and theories. Well-conceived tables and figures are essential for conveying
information in an easy-to-understand manner. Hence, it is imperative that you give adequate
thought on how best to present your results. Avoid providing results in a multi-page table with
several rows and columns. In such a case, the results should probably be presented on a plot. A
figure title should be descriptive of the phenomenon or trend that the graph is intended to convey
(e.g., "Effect of temperature on product selectivity" rather than merely stating "Plot of x vs. y").
Also, appropriate legends must be included in the figures to provide complete information on
experimental conditions specific to the plotted data. All tables and figures should have a
descriptive title and a number. They must be properly integrated into the text. In general, they
must be placed immediately after the paragraph in which they are first referenced. Labels, scale
and symbols on figures must be legible even after size reduction that may be needed to properly
integrate the figure into the text. If you do not refer to a figure or a table, do not include them in
your report.
In discussing your results, you must carefully lead the reader through your data. You should not
assume that the reader will sort through your figures and tables to find results that substantiate
claims. Rather, you should make statements like, As Fig. 2 shows, if ln x is plotted versus time,
linear behavior is observed for times greater than 30 minutes and less than 200 minutes. Finally
and most importantly, dont just report the results. Discuss and interpret them based on
the theories presented earlier. Discussion of the source and a quantitative estimate of
experimental errors must be included in this section.
(vii) Conclusions and Recommendations. This short section summarizes the most important
conclusions, evaluates the results and proposes future studies. Often, the conclusion section
repeats portions of what is already found in the abstract, but it is a necessary part of any report.
(viii) Nomenclature. All the symbols used in the report must be listed and defined in
alphabetical order and units listed. Roman and Greek letters should be listed separately.
(ix) References. All references to books and articles used in the text are listed here. They can be
listed in two different ways: (a) Numerical citation, by numbering the references in order of their

appearance in the text of the report (for example [1]), or (b) Alphabetical citation, by citing the
author and year, and listing the references in alphabetical order in the reference section [for
example: Bird et al. (1960)]. Literature references should be given in only one of the standard
forms, and must be complete. You may wish to learn the software EndNote (free on the KU
website) or use the endnote feature of Word.
(x) Appendices. Appendices must be compiled with the same attention and care required for the
main report. Appendices must include supporting materials such as raw data, sample calculation
and error analysis. Since appendix materials are referred to in the text, they are to be organized
as follows:
Appendix A: Uncertainty Analysis

While it is preferred to input equations using Equation Editor, etc. into a Word document,
the equations in this section may be hand-written.

This section should progress logically, showing how how you determined the uncertainty
of your results.

You must indicate in the report text that details of uncertainty analysis are provided in
Appendix A.

Appendix B: Instrument Calibration Details

This appendix supports the experimental procedure section where calibration procedures
and measurement accuracies are discussed. This appendix must include calibration plots
for thermocouples, flow meters or pressure transducers. You must indicate in the main
text that these details are provided in Appendix B.

Appendix C: Experimental Data and Computed Results

Provide data and results in tabular form. Tables are usually derived from the spreadsheet
used in the computations. In general, spreadsheets may have to be modified to arrive at
legible tables. Be sure to include only essential columns and a justifiable number of
significant digits.

Table must bear a descriptive, yet concise, caption.

Experimental conditions that are common to the data may be stated immediately under
the caption (For example, if you are reporting several data at a common flow rate and
temperature include these under the caption).

Column captions must clearly indicate the data or computed results that are presented
including the proper units.

Error estimates on computed quantities such as friction factor, heat transfer coefficients
etc., must be shown on columns right next to these quantities.

Appendix D: Sample Calculations

While it is preferred to input equations using Equation Editor, etc. into a Word document,

the equations in this section may be hand-written.

All equations used in the analysis should be listed in this section and then a sample
calculation for each equation should be shown.

Indicate clearly the set of experimental conditions and data for which sample calculations
are being performed (e.g., data pertaining to the first row in Table C1 of Appendix C).

Formulas and physical property values (molecular weight, density, viscosity, etc.) used in
computing experimental results such as reactant conversion, friction factor, etc, and
errors thereof, must be clearly shown and any literature sources properly cited.

Substitution of units and check for dimensional consistency must be clearly shown so as
to enable the instructor to easily verify these calculations.

Appendix E: "Other" relevant information

Summary of how instructors comments from previous report were addressed

Any tables and figures that provide additional supporting data to strengthen your results
and discussion but do not fit in the main appendix. This appendix is not to be used
simply as a dumping ground for extraneous material.

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