The Chemical Engineering Lab facilitates both faculty research and laboratory and project work undertaken by students in Engineering Physics/Chemical Engineering option. The lab has one emergency shower and two exhaust/fume hoods. The lab is equipped with a 72-inch smart TV monitor for instructional purposes and can accommodates 16 students. The lab is equipped with a batch distillation column with automatic reflux, an autoclave, a fermentation chamber am environmental chamber, a packed column with blower, two gas chromatographs, a UV-Vis spectrophotometer, a bomb colorimeter, a deionized water source, and various glassware and related equipment.
Batch Distillation Column
The distillation units provide a physical (not chemical) method of separating the components of a liquid mixture by selective boiling and condensation. The process exploits differences in the volatility of the mixture’s components. One of the units has a controllable reflux and evaporator. The student put the units together and tested it as part of a senior design project in Chemical Engineering
Spectrophotometer and Gas Chromatograph
A UV/VIS spectrophotometer is used to measures the absorbance and/or transmittance of controllable frequencies of light. The absorbance is used to determine the concentration of an absorbing component in a solution.
A gas chromatograph is used to analyze chemicals by vaporing and passing the vapors through various types of columns. The chemicals separate and the relative amounts of the components can be determined.
Fermentation Chamber and Autoclave
A fermentation chamber is used to control fermentation temperature. Fermentation is a metabolic process that consumes sugars in the absence of oxygen. Products include alcohols and organic acids.
An autoclave is an instrument used to sterilize equipment and other objects. This prevents contamination in a biological experiment. The instrument supports instruction of Chemical Engineering lab.
Environmental Chamber
An environmental chamber (also called a climate chamber) is used to test the effects of specified environmental conditions on industrial materials and electronic devices. The chamber can be programmed to cycle through specified sequences of temperatures and relative humidities.
