(350d) Development of an Emulsion Experiment for Process Engineering Lab for Undergraduate Education in Colloids

Emulsions are homogenous mixtures of two immiscible liquids where one phase is finely dispersed in the other. They are found in a variety of consumer productions including food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Although, this is a phenomenon that chemical engineering students often encounter after graduation, students often have a weak background in this area due to the absence of a required emulsions or colloids course in the chemical engineering curricula. One opportunity to increase student exposure and retention in this field is the integration of an open-ended emulsion experiment in the senior process engineering laboratory. As part of the half-semester experimentation cycle students are divided into teams to design an emulsion experiment, test a variety of variables, and have weekly team oral pop quizzes.