Unit Operation Lab -I (ChE391)

Objective of the course: The objective of the Unit Operations Laboratory (ChE391) is to allow
students to get hands on experience in chemical engineering while studying the fundamental
principles. The course helps also to improve the problem-solving ability of students, hone their
skill of self-directed learning and importantly, they learn how to work in team. This first
departmental laboratory course exposes students to variety of chemical engineering operations
involving fluid flow and heat transfer. Students get to relate the fundamental thermos dynamic
and physical principles behind these chemical engineering processes to actually engineering
operations.

Instructors: Dr. Animangsu Ghatak (office: CESE-216, aghatak@iitk.ac.in) and Dr. Anurag
Tripathi (office: FB-456, anuragt@iitk.ac.in)

There are 5 labs to be performed each group. The labs assigned to each group and the respective
schedule shall be emailed on the course email. Each experiment will have 3 components:

1. Pre-lab session (~1hr long):

a) On one scheduled lab day (called pre-lab session), the group will visit the lab
after going through the lab manual in detail.
b) It is expected that the students make themselves comfortable with the theory
and basic principles involved in the experiment.
c) With this preparation, the visit to the experimental setup during this pre-lab
session is to ensure that the students understand everything about the assigned
experiment- set up, theory behind, measurement technique, inputs, expected
readings, and the outcome of the experiment.
d) They can discuss with TAs & the lab-staff. No experiments will be conducted
in this visit.

2. Preliminary viva(100 marks):

a) In the remaining time, there will be a ~10 minutes discussion with each group
about the experiment.
b) The purpose of the discussion is to make sure that the group understands all
aspects of the experiment.
c) If the instructor is not satisfied with the performance in viva, he can block that
group from performing that particular experiment.

3. Preliminary report, experiment and final report(100 marks):

a) On the next scheduled lab day, the group will bring a preliminary report(soft-
copy) with all the aspects mentioned in 1(c) neatly typed with figures and the
tables that will be filled during the actual experiment.
b) This report will be checked by the TA/Instructor and modifications, if any, will
be suggested.
c) The group will perform the experiment, complete the tables of the report and
complete the analysis. The final report should be submitted on the subsequent
visit to the lab.
Innovation lab (400 marks): In the end, each group will work on an innovative project in
which they will improvise the experiment in terms of data collection, measurement technique,
propose new changes to the setup and execute it (in consultation with TA & Lab Staff), do an
innovative experiment etc. The project should have a neatly written report. The report
submission will be preceded/followed by viva. Both components will have equal weightage.

The evaluation will be as follows: Preliminary viva =5 X 100=500; Experiment and final
report= 5 X 100= 500; Innovation lab report & viva = 400

Note:

1. It is expected of each student to follow safety guidelines as mentioned by lab-staff. If

anyone is found in the lab flouting safety norms, the entire group will be restricted from
doing that experiment.
2. Every member of the group is supposed to contribute equally and therefore marks for
each report and viva will be the same for the group. However in case a significant
difference in the efforts is observed by the instructor he may assign marks differently
to the group members.
3. Attendance will happen at the beginning of the experiment. If someone is late by 10
minutes, he/she will not be allowed to enter the lab and absent will be marked, which
implies that he/she will not be considered for evaluation for that experiment.
4. No Mobiles.

Suggested text and reference material:

(1) Unit operation laboratory manual.

(2) Coulson and Richardson`s Chemical Engineering Design
(3) Unit operations of Chemical Engineering, (7th edition), by McCabe, Smith & Harriot,
McGraw Hill Publishing, 2005.