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Title

Using Mathematica to Teach Process Units: A Distillation Case Study
Authors

Maria G. Rasteiro
Fernando P. Bernardo
Pedro M. Saraiva
Journal / Anthology

Chemical Engineering Education
Year: 2005
Volume: 2005
Issue: Spring
Page range: 116-123
Description

The question addressed here is how to integrate computational tools, namely interactive general-purpose platforms, in the teaching of process units. Mathematica has been selected as a complementary tool to teach distillation processes, with the main objective of leading students to achieve a better understanding of the physical phenomena involved and thereafter design the corresponding equipment. This strategy has mutual benefits, allowing good understanding of the process units studied and, simultaneously, providing a perceptive way of learning how to use a computational platform to solve engineering problems. It is claimed that this methodology represents an improvement on the more traditional strategy of teaching process units and computational tools as separate courses.
Subjects

*Education > College
*Engineering > Chemical Engineering
*Teaching