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OBJECTIVES 

1.     Obtain bands-on experience with the instruments and techniques involved in common engineering measurements: temperature, pressure, flow rate, viscosity, and composition. 

2.     Gain experience with methods of data acquisition, equipment selection and fabrication, and laboratory safety. 

3.     Become familiar with statistical methods of data analysis and experimental design. 

4.     Develop written and oral communication skills. 

GRADING

Lab performance                     20%

Weekly Quizzes                       10%

Presentations and Poster         20%

Reports                                    30%

Final Examination                   20%

 REQUIRED MATERIALS

1.     Chemical Engineering 104A Course Reader, Laboratory I Course Material, APS 

2.     Safety Glasses (Can be obtained from the 1st floor of Young Hall). In the laboratory, Safety Glasses are required at all times. 

3.     Bound laboratory notebook 

Recommended Textbook: R Holman, Experimental Methods for Engineers, 6th Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 1994.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS 

1.     Lab performance. Each team member should show willingness to participate, work as a member of a team, and consistently contribute to the team. Data and observations must be recorded in a bound laboratory notebook using an ink pen. Laboratory performance grade for each individual will be assigned by the TA's for each module and for the project. It will reflect leadership, safety practices, participation, team spirit, and the quality of the lab book entries. 

2.     Quizzes will be given before the start of each laboratory experiment. These short quizzes will be designed to test the student’s preparation with respect to the layout, theory, technique, objective, analysis and interpretation of the experiments. Students may also be asked questions by the course Instructor and TA’s during the course of the laboratory.  

3.     Oral Presentations. Each person will make one prepared 15 mm oral presentation and one shared oral presentation. Individual grades will be assigned based on preparation, organization, technical accuracy, clarity and content. 

4.     Poster Session. Each group will present the background and findings of their group project by making and presenting a poster. The specific format and requirements for the poster will be given later. The poster should be brief; but self-explanatory. Each member of the group should be able to elaborate on what was done, why it was done and explain the results. Outside guests (graduate students and faculty) will be invited to attend the poster session. The poster session grade is a group grade. 

5.     Reports. Each group will submit 6 reports. Five of the reports will be for the 5 experimental modules (pressure, temperature, viscosity, flow and composition). One report will be for the group project. All group members must participate in each experiment and in writing the report. One group grade will be assigned for each report. 

FINAL EXAM

A final exam will be given over topics covered in the lectures and laboratory sessions.  

ORAL PRESENTATIONS 

Format 

1.     Use only overhead slides. Direct computer projection will not be used in this class. 

2.     A maximum of 12 slides may be used to presentation. 

3.     Use 20 point or larger Times or Helvetica font. 

4.     If you use color make sure that contrasts well with the background. 

5.     Make sure the talk contains the following sections: 

    (a) Title and authors

    (b) Outline of talk

    (c) Body of talk (i.e., summary of results)

    (d) Conclusions  

Try to keep sentences short (one line in length). Do not include more than 10 lines on one    slide. Every slide (including those containing figures) should have a heading.

 Presentation tips 

1.     Practice your presentation. 

2.     Make your point 3 times: at the beginning, during the body, at the conclusion. 

3.     Stand still and comfortably, and make eye contact with the audience. Speak fluidly and clearly. 

4.     Practice your presentation. 

5.     Allow one and one-half to two minutes per slide. 

6.     Practice your presentation.

WRITTEN REPORTS

 Guidelines 

1.     The report is restricted to no more than 10 pages. Use 12-point Times Roman, Helvetica, or Courier font. Text may be single spaced with two spaces between paragraphs in section headers. 

2.     The report should contain the following sections: title and authors names, abstract, introduction, experimental methods, results, discussion, references, and appendix. A conclusion section may also be used if desired, or the conclusions may be in the results section. 

3.     Tables and figures are to be included in the text where needed. Graphs should have a professional look and be easily understood. Always include a descriptive caption. Be sure to label all axes. Data points should be large enough to see clearly. Use different line styles, wherever possible, rather than color to differentiate lines on the graph. 

4.     The report should be written using 8.5/ 11 inch paper with one-inch margins on all sides. Number each page. 

5.     Be careful and consistent with tense. You may find it useful to use past tense for the abstract, experimental methods, and conclusions sections, and present tense for the introduction, results, and discussion sections. 

6.     References should follow the ACS style guide, the AIChE Journal or the journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research. Use the same consistent format for all of your reports.  

7.     Check your grammar and spelling. Try to develop an interesting writing style: practice variation in the structure and length of your sentences. Be direct and clear and avoid lengthy sentences. 

Content 

1. Title. The title should be descriptive, approximately 10 (or fewer) words long, and should   not be a complete sentence.

2. Abstract. The abstract is a self-contained description that gives the main results and conclusions in quantitative terms. It must be less than 150 words long. You should clearly state the important parameters that were measured (summarize the key values) and a measure of uncertainty. The reader should be able to understand what you did by reading the abstract alone, without having to read the rest of the report.

3. Introduction. This section introduces the objectives of the work. Important past work or underlying theory should be stated here. The introduction should be directed to persons who will be reading the report. Think about your audience. It would help you if you imagine that your audience consists of a small group of development engineers who are technically competent, but their primary responsibilities are restricted to management (e.g., product development, marketing and R&D management).

4. Experimental methods. This section should provide a clear, unambiguous description of   materials and methods used. Sufficient detail should be given so that persons in another   laboratory can reproduce the work. It is often helpful to show a schematic diagram or photograph of the experimental apparatus. Also, you should report the vendors of chemicals and equipment used.

5. Results. The results section should provide a clear and concise description of what was   measured and describe briefly the importance of each measurement. 

6. Discussion. This section should summarize findings from the results section. Indicate whether these findings are consistent with available studies or data and whether they are internally consistent. Comments on the importance of the results and how they are related to other processes may also be included.

7. Conclusions. The conclusions section is needed to report on the key findings and generalizations can be made based on the experimental study. List your recommendations in order of decreasing importance.

8. Recommendations. This section should clearly specify how one could improve the study. List the recommendations in the order of decreasing importance.

9. Appendices. The appendices should contain background and supplemental tables and figures of data that are needed by the reader to understand what was accomplished. It should be self-contained and understandable. Captions should be used to clearly identify conditions and materials used to obtain the data. Additional descriptions may be resented in  paragraph  from if needed for clarity. Do not assume that the reader has done the experiment or is familiar with the experimental technique.

Please refer all questions regarding this page to the above instructor or TA.
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