Page 19 - Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering 3rd Edition

Preface! xxi

e Ask another question or suggest another calculation that can be made
for this problem.
0 Write a few sentences about what you learned from working this
homework problem and what you think the point of the problem is.

Another important exercise in this text that fosters critical thinking is the
critiquing of journal articles. For the last 20 years, students in the graduate reac-
tion engineering class at the University of Michigan have been required to carry
out an in-depth critique of a journal article on chemical engineering kinetics.
Although the students were told that choosing an article with erroneous data or
reasoning was not necessary for a successful critique, finding an error made the
whole assignment much more fun and interesting. Consequently, a select number
of problems at the end of chapters involve the critique of journal articles on reac-
tion engineering which may or may not have major or minor inconsistencies. In
some cases, a small hint is given to guide the student in his or her analysis.

9.3. To Develop Creative Thinking Skills
To help develop creative thinlung skills, a number of problems are
open-ended to various degrees. Beginning with Chapter 4, the first problem in
each chapter provides students the opportunity to practice their creative skills by
making up and solving an original problem. Problem 4-1 gives some guidelines
for developing original problems. A number of techniques that can aid the stu-
dents in practicing their creativity (e.g., lateral thinking and brainstorming) can
be found in Fogler and LeBlanc.*
“ What 6.. problems can serve to develop both critical and creative think-
”
ing skills. The second problem of each chapter (e.g.? 4-2) contains “What $. . ”
questions that encourage the student to think beyond a single answer or operating
condition. These problems can be used in conjunction with the living example
problems on the CD to explore the problem. Here, questioning can be carried out
by varying the parameters in the problems.
One of the major goals at the undergraduate level is to bring the students to
the point where they can solve complex reaction systems, such as multiple reac-
tions with heat effects, and then ask “What if. ..” questions and look for opti-
mum operating conditions. One problem whose solution exemplifies this goal is
the Manufacture of Styrene, Problem 8-30.
(11) Ethylbenzene + Styrene + Hydrogen: Endothermic
(2) Ethylbenzene 4 Benzene + Ethylene: Endothermic
(3) Ethylbenzene +- Hydrogen + Toluene + Methane: Exothermic
In this problem, the students can find a number of operating conditions which
maximiize the yield and selectivity.
The parameters can also be easily varied in the example problems by load-
ing the POLYMATH or MATLAB programs from the CD onto a computer to
explore and answer “What 6.. ” questions,

Fogler., H. S. and S. E. LeBlanc, Strategies for Creative Problem Solving (Upper Sad-
dle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1995).