(379q) Learnings from the Design, Commissioning and Operation of a Pilot-Scale Distillation column for the Unit Operations Laboratory at the University of Kansas

Construction has been completed for a new state-of-the-art pilot scale distillation column for the unit operations laboratory (UOL) at the University of Kansas (KU). The column, made of stainless steel, features 20 conventional sieve trays, total heigh of 20 ft, and diameter of 6.3 in. The addition of this equipment is part of an ongoing effort to update and modernize the UOL facilities at KU with the main goal of improving student’s experience and learning. The unit operations laboratory course at KU is designed as a series of two courses taken during the Fall and Spring of the senior year. In the Fall, students carry out experiments on topics like thermodynamics, kinetics, fluids, and other related topics to their junior year coursework. In the Spring, they focus on unit operations experiments such as absorption or distillation and other topics from their senior year curriculum such as process dynamics and control.

The laboratory space has a high-bay and low-bay areas to house pilot-scale and bench-scale experiments, respectively. The new pilot-scale distillation column, located in the high-bay, is highly automated with variable frequency pumps, pneumatic valves, solenoid valves and many instruments such as RTDs, flowmeters, and pressure transducers. All the electronic I/O signals are read/written by a programmable logic controller (PLC) system and displayed on a computer running LabVIEW. The students operate the column using LabVIEW, which in turns operates the column through the PLC system. A dedicated control room houses the PLC and the industry-like workstations with 27-in dual monitor computers from which student operate the column. Additionally, tablets are wirelessly connected to the PLC to operate distillation column while doing walkthroughs in the high-bay area. Very few operational steps during start up require to be physically present in the high bay area allowing to operate the equipment from the control room. In this presentation, we will share some of our learnings from the design, commissioning, and construction of this experiment. Additionally, we will share our experience operating the column with students along with student’s feedback from their learning experience. Finally, we will discuss planned strategies to optimize the utilization of column features to enhance student learning.