Teaching Chemical Reaction Engineering Using EMSO Simulator

Nowadays, the use of computational tools in classroom is quite habitual and important by making the learning process more constructive and dynamic. The objective of this work is to introduce a support didactic material for use in computational classes of Chemical Reaction Engineering. The development of the work is based on a direct implementation of examples of the well-known Fogler's textbook Elements of Chemical Reaction Engineering in an equation-based dynamic simulator: EMSO. The problems were implemented in a way to preserve the structure of the problem as described in the textbook. The results are illustrated by graph plots generated in the simulator, allowing comparisons with the results presented in the textbook and detailed analyses for effects of variables in the problem. The problems are easily modified, allowing the student to analyze several possibilities, changing equations and values of variables, for example, and observing the results. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 18: 607-618, 2010; View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com; DOI 10.1002/cae.20255