CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LABORATORY 155

HUMG 2015
SYLLABUS AND COURSE DESCRIPTION

All work submitted for this course must be that of the individual student unless otherwise stated.
Students are expected to share data within their group and as specified by the instructor. All
work submitted must be that of the individual student. Discussion amongst students is
encouraged but physical work to analyze data, interpret results, and prepare documents to
communicate findings must be the students own individual work. ANY STUDENT, WHO
UTILIZES A PREVIOUS OR CURRENT STUDENTS WORK IN ANY WAY WITHOUT
THE EXPRESSED AUTHORIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTOR, WILL FAIL THE COURSE.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the chemical engineering laboratories are as follows:
1.
To develop skills in experimentation, with strict adherence to safety
guidelines, careful planning, proper record keeping, effective teamwork, and timely
performance.
2.
To reinforce concepts presented in chemical engineering courses by
experimentation with equipment and methods that are designed to generate reliable
data. The data are subjected to statistical analysis and evaluation of errors and can be
compared with theory and/or literature results to establish their reliability and
potential usefulness.
3.
To develop skills in communication by using experimental results as the
basis for the preparation of written and oral reports.
SAFETY
It is the responsibility of each student to attend the safety training session at the
beginning of the course. No student will be permitted in the laboratory unless he/she
has completed the safety-training program. Eye protection must be worn in the
laboratory at all times. No food or beverages are allowed in the laboratory. Sandals,
soft shoes, short pants, short skirts, loose clothing, and long, unbound hair are
prohibited. If you are in doubt about safety issues, ask for help from the instructors,
the teaching assistants.
PREPARATION FOR EXPERIMENTS
Students MUST read the laboratory handout for each laboratory by Monday the
week that experiment is to be performed. Lectures will reinforce the written material
and provide time for group discussions, experimental planning, and preparation of
data spread sheets. Students are encouraged to bring their laptops to class and the
laboratories.

INDIVIDUAL REPORTS
All experiments will be performed by groups rather than by individuals.
Written reports are to be prepared independently by each student for each experiment.
Individual written reports are required for the first three experiments. The last
experiment, Heat Conduction in Solid Rods, will be the subject of an oral presentation,
which will be a group effort.
The plotting of data and data reduction should be done during the course of
experimentation (i.e. IN THE LAB WHILE COLLECTING DATA) to allow the group to
assess the progress of the experiment. Copies of the data from each experiment should
be distributed to each group member at the conclusion of each experiment, preferably
in the form a spreadsheet. In recording the data, students should include sufficient
information to allow another chemical engineering student to comprehend the
experimental details and reproduce the data.
Following the first three experiments, each student is responsible for performing
his/her own computations (such as comparisons between theory and experiment), for
having complete knowledge of the experimental methods and equipment, and for
writing his/her own report. The data analysis and oral presentations for the second
experiment will be a group effort, and each group must decide on an equitable division
of the work.
WRITTEN REPORTS
All written reports must be prepared with a word processor (EXCEPT THE
APPENDIX WHICH CAN BE PAPER AND PENCIL OR PEN). A variety of computer
tools are available for computation, statistical analysis, and the preparation of graphs,
charts, equations, and tables. Students are expected to develop the necessary skills to
use these tools routinely.
The purpose of the written report is to provide a summary of techniques used in
the experiment and to present and evaluate the results and compare them with results
of established theories and/or literature values.
The text of the report should be prepared with

a font size of 12,

margins of 1inch,

text of 1.5 spacing,

single sided pages that are numbered.

The report format should be as follows:
(i) Title page. This page includes a short but descriptive title, the name of the
person submitting the report, the date of the experiment, the date the report is
submitted, the name of the instructor, the group number, and the names of laboratory
group members who participated in the experimentation. This page is not numbered.
An example is shown in Figure 1.

3
(ii) Abstract. The abstract should appear on a separate page and be independent
of the remainder of the report. The purpose of the abstract is to summarize the
information in the report in half a page or less that must serve as a stand-alone
document. The abstract requires clear, concise, and quantitative statements of what
was done, what was found, and what it means. Writing an abstract requires a great
deal of thought and is best done after completion of the other sections of the report.
(iii) Table of Contents (optional). The Table of Contents provides page
locations of major sections (except the abstract) and lists tables and figures with page
locations. It follows the abstract.
(iv) Introduction. The introduction serves to explain the background and
importance of the work, the goals of the work, why it was done, and how it relates to
published work. Proper bibliographic citations should be used for the information
derived from the literature. In the first report, the introduction should be limited to
half a page. In subsequent reports, the introduction should be limited to one page.
(v) Theory. The theory section is used to state the information needed to
interpret the data obtained in the experiment. Derivations are not appropriate.
However, this section should include a precise statement of the assumptions,
governing equations, and appropriate initial or boundary conditions. In the first
report, the theory section should be limited to one page; in subsequent reports, it
should be limited to one and a half pages.
(vi) Experimental Methods. The experimental section should provide sufficient
information to allow another worker to reproduce the experiments. Drawings and
diagrams should be used. In the first report, this section should be limited to half a
page plus one figure. This section is NOT a How to Guide.
(vii) Results. This section is a summary of results in reduced form (not raw
data) in tables and graphs and a comparison of them with appropriate theoretical
values and/or literature results. Data must always be reported with error bounds.
In the text of this section, lead the reader through your data. Do not assume that
the reader will sort through your figures and tables to find results that substantiate
claims. Rather, make explicit statements that explain the basis for each claim, such as
the following, As the data of Fig. 2 show, a linear dependence of strain upon stress
was observed for times greater than 30 min and less than 200 min.
(viii) Discussion. This section is an evaluation of the results, including an
assessment of reliability and precision (error analysis), and a statement of what the
results mean. It is important to emphasize the positive results rather than errors. Do
not overlook obvious statements such as those indicating how well the objectives of the
experiment were met and how well the data agree with the theoretical or literature
results. Make hard, quantitative statements wherever possible.
(ix)
Conclusions. This short section is entirely a repetition of the most
important points in the results and discussion sections. The conclusions overlap the

4
abstract and should also be understood if separated from the rest of the report (stand
alone).
(x)
Nomenclature. Either define every symbol as you use it in the text or
provide a summary of all abbreviations at the end of the report.
(xi)
References. All references to books and articles cited in the text are listed
in this section. Every listed reference must be cited in the text of the report (but not in
the abstract because the abstract is independent of the rest of the report) by either a
number (in parentheses (1) or raised after the citation 1) or by author and year (for
example, Bird et al., 1960). See recent issues of the journal Industrial and Engineering
Chemistry Research for examples of the format for citations. Be sure to use this format.
Here are a few examples of citations in the proper format; the first two are typical of
journal citations and the third is typical of a book citation:
1. Quann, R. J.; Ware, R. A.; Hung, C. W.; Wei, J. Catalytic Hydrodemetallation of
Petroleum. Adv. Chem. Eng. 1988, 14, 95.
Rinnooy Kan, A. H. G.; Timmer, G. T. Stochastic Global Optimization Methods Part I:
Clustering Methods. Mathematical Programming 1987A, 39, 27.
Stark, S. An Investigation of the Applicability of Parallel Computation to Demanding
Chemical Engineering Problems. Ph. D. Dissertation, University of Delaware,
Newark, 1992.
(xi) Appendices. (1) Organized raw data in easy to read format. All data
labeled with units! (2) Complete derivation of governing equations at the level
specified in lecture. (3) Complete and legible sample calculations are required. Again,
all units shown with numbers plugged into the equations!! (4) A complete error
analysis is required with numbers plugged in. The appendices may be hand written. If
you have excel spread sheets of data, make sure you properly label the data columns
with units and only show the appropriate number of significant figures. Note, excel
spreadsheets are not to be used in the sample calculations as the equations can not be
easily seen.
General Comments: Each table and figure must be numbered and have a
descriptive title (caption); this appears at the top of a table and at the bottom of a figure.
Each must be included in the body of the report, not at the end. Each figure and table
must be referred to by number in the text and appear on the page where it is first
mentioned or on the next available page. All equations should be numbered in
sequence, with the number appearing at the right-hand margin in parentheses.
Equations are referred to in the text as eq. (1), eq. (2), etc.
The style of writing should be clear and concise. Errors in grammar and spelling
are unacceptable; use the spell checker in the word processor. Reports that are not
written in proper English may be returned for rewriting. Again, the text of the report
should be prepared with

a font size of 12,

margins of 1inch,

text of 1.5 spacing,

single sided pages that are numbered.

MEMORANDUM
The memorandum for the second experiment must not exceed three pages in
length, including figures and tables. It should focus on the most important results of
the experiment and include a concise discussion of them. Conclusions that are drawn
from the analysis should be explicitly stated. No detailed introduction or experimental
procedure section is appropriate; these will instead be part of the oral presentation. A
complete and detailed derivation of the governing equations should be provided in the
Appendix of the memorandum.
A checklist to help in the preparation of written reports is given in the
Appendix. Faculty will use this checklist as part of the basis for report grading.
BASIS FOR GRADING OF WRITTEN REPORTS
The basis for report grading is indicated on the grade sheets appended to this
document. Note that the first report is a short-form report (8-page or less) and that the
criteria for grading it are different from the criteria for grading the long-form report
(12-page).
ORAL REPORTS
Group oral presentations of work done in the second experiment will be a
maximum of 15 minutes long with 10-15 minutes for questions. Students in a group are
expected to work together in preparing the oral presentation and each student in the
group must provide a portion of the oral presentation.
Oral reports are given with visual aids that are critical to the quality of the
presentation. Students are expected to use Power Point software to prepare their
presentations and the departments laptop computer and projector to display them.
An oral report is presented with goals that are different from those of a written
report, which is intended to create a permanent record of work. In an effective oral
presentation, the speakers convince the audience that they have something important to
say and that it is worth the audience's time to listen. Communication skills including
enthusiasm, personal appearance, demeanor, quality of the visual aids, technical
content, and organization of the presentation are all important.
Oral presentations should include an introduction (with clear statements
describing the background, importance of the work, and objectives) as well as theory,
experimental methods, results, discussion, and conclusions. Students should consider
ways of helping the audience follow the talk. For example, it is good to have
projections with the following: (1) the title with the group member names, (2)
objectives, and (3) conclusions. These are in addition to projections presenting relevant
equations, graphs, and tables. Remember that in an effective presentation, the
information projected on the screen complements what the speakers say rather than
repeating it.
Throughout your presentation you should try to highlight the most important
aspects of your work. The audience's memory is short, and if the members of the
audience remember the key points you tried to make then you have succeeded. The

6
audience is easily bored. Get to the point. Do not present too many details. Be
dynamic, confident, and assertive as well as clear.
BASIS FOR GRADING OF ORAL REPORTS
The criteria for grading of oral reports are as follows (Appendix):
1. Technical content
2. Visuals: Were they effective? Used well?
3. Organization: Was the presentation clear and logical?
4. Presence: Posture, voice, eye contact, delivery.
5. Clarity: Did the presentation give a clear message? Were important
aspects emphasized?
6. Group effort: Was the teamwork effective?
LAB CONDUCT
Faculty and teaching assistants will record notes during the operation of the
laboratory as a basis for evaluating each group member and each group on the basis of
their safety, efficiency (including data collection and data analysis during the
experiment), and housekeeping, including how well they have cleaned up and left the
laboratory in good condition for the next group.
GROUP EFFORT
Faculty and teaching assistants will record notes during the course and will
solicit feedback from groups that have difficulties with full participation from all group
members.

APPENDIX:
Additional Information, Grade Evaluation, and Format for the Written
Reports is provided on the next pages.

Criteria for report evaluation

Abstract
Concise, clear writing
Adequate description of experiment
Key results quantitatively stated
Major findings emphasized
Introduction
Perspective based on previous work
Adequate references cited for earlier work
Goals of experiment explicitly stated
Importance of subject made clear
Theory
Key theoretical results summarized
Significant equations needed for analysis
of data
Assumptions stated
Adequate references
No derivations
Experimental
Equipment adequately described
Procedure adequately described
Crucial, unobvious points of experiment
highlighted
Results
Results presented in concise, logical, and
understandable form
Evaluation of data (discussion) not mixed in
with statement of results (experimental
facts)
Good selection of figures and tables that do
not duplicate each other in content
Good presentation of figures and tables
How appealing is the presentation?

Discussion
Hard, quantitative statements
Positive statements of what results mean
Critical comparison with theory and
literature results
Assessment of how well goals were met
Realistic evaluation of reliability and
precision of results
Lack of overemphasis of error analysis
Conclusions
Conclusions effectively extracted and
repeated from Results and Discussion
sections
Significant results clearly identified
Quantitative statements
Figures/Tables
Good captions (that do not simply repeat
axis labels)
Good column headings, with units
Good figures with proper font sizes to
assure legibility
Appendices
Complete sample calculations clearly
presented
Adequate back-up material
References
Proper format
Complete statements of authorship (not
Smith et al.)
Nomenclature
Proper
presentation
and
full
representation of symbols and units used
in the report
Style and Appearance
How well and quickly can the reader
extract the information?

Example of title page format

CONCISE AND DESCRIPTIVE

TITLE OF EXPERIMENT

By
A. Stu Dent
For
Prof. A. P. R. Fesser

ECH 155: Chemical Engineering Laboratory

Group #8
A. S. Dent, D. Scholar, and I. M. N. Engineer
Experiment Performed: June 23, 2015
Report Submitted: June 29, 2015

Grading Form Written Report

Student: _____________
Experiment: _____________
Abstract
/8
Introduction
/6
Theory
/10
Experimental
/6
Results
/10
Discussion
/15
Error analysis and use of statistics
/7
Conclusions
/4
Figures and tables
/5
Appendices
/20
References
/4
Clarity/Presentation
/5
__________
Total

/100

Best ways to improve:

Overall evaluation:

Faculty signature and date: _____________________

Oral Report Grading Form ECH 155

Group Number: ________

Experiment: ___________
Students: _____________________
_____________________
_____________________
_____________________

Technical content
Visuals
Organization
Presence
Clarity
Group effort

/35
/15
/15
/10
/15
/10

Total

/100

Faculty signature and date: _____________________

Grading Form ECH 155

Memorandum

Group Number: ________

Experiment: ____________
Students: ________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
The memorandum for the fourth experiment must not exceed four pages in length,
including figures and tables. It should focus on the most important results of the
experiment and include a concise discussion of them. Conclusions that are drawn from
the analysis should be explicitly stated. No detailed introduction or experimental
procedure section is appropriate; these will instead be part of the oral presentation. A
complete and detailed derivation of the governing equations should be provided in the
Appendix of the memorandum.

Memo
Appendix

Grade:

/25
/25

______/50

Faculty signature and date: _____________________

Written Reports Checklist for Content

My report uses SI units in all calculations and results

1. My title page

has a short, concrete and descriptive title.

has my name on it.
has the date(s) of the experiment and the submission date.
has my group number, my lab partners names, the course number and instructors names.
is on a separate page.
has the required signature verifying that my report satisfies everything on this checklist.
2. My abstract

is between 125 and 250 words in length.

contains 4 numbers or less (3.50.2 counts as one number).
is self-contained: has no numbered citations, and does

not refer to figures, numbered

equations, or tables.

refers to no undefined variables.

is on a separate page, immediately after the title page.
explains clearly what I did,
explains clearly what I found,
and explains clearly what it means.
3. My table of contents (if provided, but not necessary)

provides the page location of each major section and appendix.

is neatly laid out, with consistent indentations and all page numbers aligned horizontally.
is on a separate page, immediately after the abstract page.
4. My introduction

is limited to 1 page.
includes one paragraph that summarizes the problem investigated, describing why the system
being studied is important without verbatim quotes from the literature.

includes at least one paragraph describing relevant previously published work without verbatim
quotes from the literature.

 includes at least one paragraph at the end of the introduction summarizing what is going to be
reported in the report, relating my goals to the previously published work and specifying briefly
the main take-home message about my results.

contains at least 4 different citations to published work and does not cite the lab handout.
5. My theory section

is limited to 1 pages.
includes a schematic of the idealized problem, which is described in the text.
includes precise statements of my assumptions,
includes governing equations,
and includes appropriate initial/boundary conditions.
describes the resulting working equations that are used in my data analyses.
defines variables the first time they are mentioned in the text.
has all equations numbered in sequence, with the number itself aligned on the right margin.
has all of the equations written using Equation Editor (i.e., not normal text and not imported
graphics).

has all variables written consistently (e.g., italicized in both the equations and the text).
refers to all equations in the text as eq. (1), eq. (2), etc.
does not include detailed algebraic or calculus manipulations, which are in an appendix.
6. My experimental methods section

is limited to 1 pages.
includes a schematic drawing or photograph of the experimental setup, which is described in
the text.

provides sufficient

information to allow somebody else to reproduce the experiments while

referring to the lab handout for detailed procedures.

is not written as a recipe; verbs are generally in past tense, not present or future tense.
specifies clearly what raw data were collected, and
7. The text of my results section (not including captions)

is organized around figures (i.e. graphs) and/or tables that are sequenced to present my key
findings in a logical order.

describes the contents of each table and figure,

and describes any trends or salient features of each figure and table.
has several sentences of text for each individual figure or table.

 discusses each figure and/or table sequentially.

indicates the equation(s) used to analyze the data by referring to the theory section.
judiciously uses numbers in the text and always includes error bounds using the symbol and
units. The correct number of significant figures (not too many) has been included.

does not interpret the data

8. My figures and tables

are not redundant. The same data is not presented in both a figure and table.
convey errors and/or uncertainties by including error bars on each plotted experimental or
calculated data point and error bounds using the symbol for each experimental or calculated
value in a table. In tables and figures, the correct number of significant figures has been
included.

have clear labels or headings. Each figure has a clear label on each axis, with the correct units
specified and each table has clear column and row headings, with the correct units specified.

have captions. Each figure includes a brief caption after the figure number that describes the
figure contents, beyond repeating the axes labels. Each table includes a very brief caption after the
table number that describes the contents of the table.

are numbered sequentially and are placed neatly within the page margins.
appear either on the same or the next page as where each is described in the text.
uses sizes for data points, lines and fonts that are clearly legible when printed.
are scaled properly. The data in each figure is easily identified and the relation of the data to
each plotted curve is easily assessed. Do not let automatic keys or labels force your data to get
scrunched up into a tiny fraction of the available space. The font and spacing for each table are
chosen so that tables do not take up excessive space.
9. My discussion section

provides an evaluation and interpretation of my experimental results.

provides an assessment of reliability and precision with respect to error analysis.
answers concisely the question: do my data qualitatively display the expected trends?
answers quantitatively the question: how well do my data agree with theory and/or literature
includes at least 2 different citations to published work (not to class handouts).
contains no vague statements about anything being large, small, fast, or slow without a clear
basis of comparison specified.

discuss reasons

for similarities and/or differences between mine and others' findings and/or

theory.

use calculations or observations made during the experiment to support my explanations.

10. My conclusion section

does not merely repeat the abstract or any other section.

begins with 3 to 4 sentences summarizing the most

important points of the results and

discussion sections.

ends with a statement about future directions for the work.

is limited to 200 words and does not introduce any new

results or findings not already

mentioned in the report.

11. My nomenclature section (if provided, but not necessary if all variables defined in the
text when they are first used)

lists alphabetically and defines all of the symbols used in my report, Roman then Greek.
provides the proper units for each symbol, or states that it is dimensionless.
displays each symbol exactly as it appears in the report (e.g., italicized).
12. My references section

does not include references that are never cited in the text of my report.
follows a consistent science or engineering journal reference format

(Harvard Style is

preferred).
13. My appendices

provide all the raw data collected and used in my report, presented in tabular or graph form
with clearly labeled units.

include

correct derivations of all working equations used in my analysis, starting from

fundamental governing equations and including assumptions, initial and/or boundary
conditions, and any other information required for a clear and complete derivation.
Photocopies or cut-paste from books, internet, handouts, etc. are not accepted.

provide a complete set of correct sample calculations for one data set, showing all steps and
units.

provide a complete set of correct error analysis calculations for one data set, showing all steps
and units.
14. My entire report

has been carefully spellchecked, and does not contain a single spelling mistake.
has been carefully proofread, and does not contain any flagrant grammatical errors.
is 1.5 spaced with 12-point times font.
does not exceed the prescribed pages of text (see syllabus)

 has

page numbers on every single page starting at 1 at the introduction, and continuing
through every page of the appendices.

has

1-inch margins on every page, with no figures, tables or equations pushing into the
margins.

does

not have any squished columns of text because a figure or table is too wide or
orphaned lines of text that are separated by adjacent figures.

uses complete sentences, with a subject, verb and object in each one.
does not contain any run-on sentences.
provides clear citations to any borrowed material or descriptions of others work.
has been carefully examined after being printed out, and all of my figures, equations and other
items successfully printed in a clear and legible fashion.

gives full credit and a complete citation to any material taken verbatim from an external source
(internet, literature, etc). This includes illustrations.

is punctuated properly.

A common error is to treat equations as punctuation, but this is not

acceptable. Here, an equation ends the sentence and is punctuated correctly:
E mc 2 .
(1)

15. My entire report

goes well above and beyond

these minimum criteria (1. through 14.) by creating interest and
credibility because of its well-researched, correct, lucid (not vague), positive, thorough, and
convincing presentation.