Project Title: Heat Exchanger for CPB Laboratories

Project Lead's Name: Jason Boock

Project Lead's Email: boockj@MiamiOH.edu

Project Lead's Phone: 513-529-0520

Project Lead's Division: CEC

Primary Department: Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering

Other Team Members:

n/a

List Departments Benefiting or Affected by this proposal:

• Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering

Estimated Number of Under-Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 60

Estimated Number of Graduate students affected per year (should be number who will actually use solution, not just who is it available to): 5

Describe the problem you are attempting to solve and your approach for solving that problem:

The purpose of this proposal is to obtain a heat exchanger unit and several heat exchangers to be used for both in-class demonstrations and laboratory exercises in the Chemical Engineering and Bioengineering curricula. Engineering education provides a mathematical framework to describe complicated phenomena found in industrial settings as well as a hands-on demonstration of these principles. Combined, students learn how to model chemical process equipment for successful sizing and implementation, and gain practical skills that employers desire.

Heat exchangers are widely utilized in the chemical industry to rapidly and efficiently heat or cool process streams. Due to their ubiquity, multiple process configurations, and relative ease of mathematical description, heat exchangers are commonly taught in undergraduate classes and laboratories. As such, the main placement of the heat exchanger unit requested here would be in the Unit Operations II Laboratory (CPB 451; required for Senior Chemical Engineers, >30 students per year) and Mass Transfer and Unit Operations Course (CPB 414; required for Junior Chemical Engineers, >30 students per year). The concepts of heat exchangers including design equations and modeling are taught in CPB 414. The heat exchanger unit with multiple configurations will be used in this course to demonstrate how the choice of heat exchanger device and flow direction (co-current vs countercurrent) influence heat transfer, providing a tangible example to otherwise abstract material taught in class. The other placement of the heat exchanger will be in CPB 451 where students will complete an in-depth study of the device. Students will make measurements, calculate heat transfer amounts and efficiencies, and study how different heat exchangers influence heat transfer. The heat exchanger laboratory proposed is one of the best at visualizing and teaching the concepts of heat transfer. By seeing the unit twice in their curriculum, students will make the connection between theory and practice. Further, the proposed heat transfer laboratory fits within the ABET accreditation for CPB, specifically requirement six: “An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions”. In addition to undergraduate students, graduate students (> 5 students) often complete the same courses to learn concepts of heat transfer and model heat exchangers.

While the main placement of the proposed heat exchanger unit is in CPB 414 and CPB 451, other laboratories or demonstrations of the apparatus are possible throughout the Chemical and Biomedical Engineering curriculum. In Transport Phenomena (CPB 318), students learn about how fluid flow influences mixing. Heat exchangers are a prime demonstration of this principle as they become more effective with increased mixing. In Chemical Process Design (CPB 473), students perform computational modeling of Chemical Engineering processes using ChemCAD. This software package includes heat exchangers and will permit students to compare experimental results with computational models. In Unit Operations Laboratory I (CPB 311), students are exposed to many laboratories in fluid, heat, and mass transfer. Part of the heat exchanger laboratory proposed could fit well within this course as well. Lastly, due to its closed-loop construction with a heater, students in Engineering Thermodynamics (CPB 314) and Material and Energy Balances II (CPB 205) could perform energy balances around the heater to calculate efficiency.

The GUNT heat exchanger unit (WL 110) and heat exchangers (WL 110.01, 110.02, and 110.03) will enable all of the classroom activities proposed above. The heat exchanger unit provides a rapid heating device to maintain a constant hot water temperature in the heat exchanger. Flow rates of both hot- and cold-water streams are controllable. Temperature readings are integrated into quick disconnect fittings to easily switch between heat exchangers. Temperatures can be directly recorded from the device as well as recorded using computational software to determine when the device is at a steady state or study transient time-dependent heat transfer. Using computational software and analysis of data sets is crucial to training modern engineers. The heat exchangers to be purchased are tubular, shell-and-tube, and plate. While the scale of the exchangers is smaller than those found in the industry, the advantage of the proposed unit is the multiple configurations and ability to view inside the heat exchanger. Tubular exchangers are the easiest to study, permitting students to connect theory to practice. Shell-and-tube is widely utilized in the industry due to its high surface areas and will provide students experience with conventional equipment. Similarly, plate-based heat exchangers are becoming more common in the industry, especially for smaller-scale heating and cooling. The CPB advisory council recently recommended teaching plate-based heat exchangers in our laboratory.

Currently, the CPB department has a similar heat exchanger unit to the one proposed that is not operational. The unit was purchased over 14 years ago and has served similar learning objectives over those years. However, the valving, pumps, and thermocouples are no longer working properly. It was advised by the instrumentation laboratory to have a complete re-build of the system due to faulty construction. This has led us to go to a different brand unit from GUNT. The GUNT unit is a German-designed heat exchanger that is used by other Chemical Engineering programs in the United States. It has shown long-lasting performance with all units still functional. We plan to work with the instrumentation laboratory to ensure the proposed device is well-maintained and more robust than the obsolete model currently used. The proposed unit will add a plate-based heat exchanger, which is not currently available to students. We expect the purchase of the GUNT unit will lead to improved laboratory experiments and continued success in teaching heat transfer concepts. Additionally, considered was the construction of a heat exchanger unit from scratch with similar functionality; however, given the use of faculty, staff, and instrumentation lab time as well as the purpose of the proposed laboratory for teaching heat exchanger principles, it was decided that buying and maintaining a pre-built system is a better choice at this time.

How would you describe the innovation and/or the significance of your project:

Heat exchangers are an important component of industrial processes as well as a practical demonstration of concepts surrounding heat transfer. Through the heat exchanger unit proposed here, students will gain a practical understanding of the equipment and experience using different heat exchanger configurations. Additionally, it will form the basis for experiments in a laboratory and can be used to model heat transfer processes. Training on heat transport and connecting experiment with theory are essential components of the Chemical Engineering curriculum.

How will you assess the success of the project?

The project will be considered a success if:

1. In the first year, it is used in the Unit Operations II Laboratory (CPB 451) where students will perform experiments to measure heat transfer amount and effectiveness for co-current and countercurrent flow using the different heat exchangers purchased. Students will be assessed on their ability to design and carry out an experiment, analyze and present results, and understand concepts of heat transfer. Additional assessment will be carried out through the ABET evaluation of CPB 451 (Requirement 6).
2. In years two and three, the unit will be demonstrated in the Mass Transfer and Unit Operations (CPB 414) where it will be used to reinforce the heat exchanger material taught in the course and to show students the influence of directionality of flow on heat transfer. Students will be assessed on the concepts of heat transfer via homework problems and exams. Additional assessment will be carried out through the ABET evaluation of CPB 414 (Requirement 1).

Other courses, CPB 311, 473, 318, 205, and 314 may consider using the device. If funded, the capabilities of the unit will be shown to the entire CPB faculty to be considered for their courses.

Does this proposal create continuing costs which will need to be funded? If so, how do you plan to fund those continuing costs?

Financial Information

Total Amount Requested: $27,900

Budget Details:

n/a

Please address how, if at all, this project aligns with University, Divisional, Departmental or Center strategic goals:
This project advances the undergraduate education of the division through hands-on learning. It promotes learning modern engineering equipment and computational skills. The goal of this device is to make students well-prepared for employment after completing their degrees.