Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

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Education for Chemical Engineers

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ece

Teaching chemical product design using design projects

Ka Y. Fung ∗ , Ka M. Ng
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Product design has been gradually taking hold in the chemical engineering curriculum at various univer-
Received 13 June 2017 sities. At present, it is considered hard to teach by most faculty members, partly because there exist only
Received in revised form 17 April 2018 limited teaching materials, particularly those that can be used for independent student design projects.
Accepted 6 June 2018
To fill this gap, this paper presents a multidisciplinary, hierarchical procedure that guides students to
Available online 14 June 2018
design a chemical product – molecular, formulated, functional, and device in a systematic manner. It
begins with a market study to gather market information, compare competing products, and identify
Keywords:
the qualitative product attributes for satisfying consumer preferences. Then, these product attributes are
Chemical product
Product design
converted to quantitative technical parameters through heuristics, mathematical models, experiments,
Design methodology tools, and databases. Next, a suitable manufacturing process is synthesized to produce the product with
Design project the required product specifications, followed by a financial analysis to evaluate product profitability. All
of these concepts in the procedure are reinforced in a product design project. In conducting a design
project, the students are encouraged to synthesize a novel product and to consult with other profes-
sionals such as business personnel, chemists, and material scientists to appreciate the multidisciplinary
nature of product design. Two case studies are given in this paper to illustrate the learning process of, as
well as the contents for, such a student project.
© 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction directly heating a porous mat saturated with the repellent. Alterna-
tively, the repellent in a bottle can be transported to a heater using a
The importance of chemical product design to the development ceramic wick (Seider et al., 2017). This is even more challenging for
of the chemical engineering profession has long been established students in chemical engineering, as many processing techniques
(Stephanopoulos, 2003; Cussler and Wei, 2003; Hill, 2004; Gani, used in manufacturing chemical products such as impregnation,
2004a, 2004b; Seider and Widagdo, 2012). Many textbooks have coating, and homogenization are not covered in a typical chemical
appeared (Bröckel et al., 2007, 2013; Ng et al., 2007; Wesselingh engineering curriculum.
et al., 2007; Wei, 2007; Cussler and Moggridge, 2011; Seider et al., To guide students in chemical product design, a systematic
2017) to define the scope and approach to chemical product design. design framework is essential. All aspects related to product design,
Despite all of this effort, it is difficult to apply a general approach, including market information, materials selection, product struc-
no matter how good it is, to chemical product design because the ture, product manufacture, and financial analysis, are considered
underlying technology platform (i.e., knowledge base and asso- so that a product that meets the product specifications, satis-
ciated models) is usually domain specific and fragmented. For fies the consumer needs, and generates profit can be realized.
example, the designer has to understand the basic science about To facilitate the development of this systematic framework, the
emulsions and possess the database of the functions, some com- diverse chemical products can be classified into molecular, formu-
plementary and some conflicting, of all the ingredients in a hand lated, functional, and device based on the way in which they are
lotion before such a product can be formulated. Even for products designed (Gani and Ng, 2015). Molecular products are simply sin-
in the same class, products with different product forms require gle molecules or blends of molecules with a desired property value.
different treatments. Consider the different devices for dispersing Formulated products are obtained by mixing selected components
mosquito repellent in air. The repellent can be released to air by together to get the desired product attributes. Functional products
and chemical devices are those chemical products with a num-
ber of components that perform a desired function. Normally, a
device transforms a feed stream into an outlet stream and includes
∗ Corresponding author. mechanical and/or electrical parts, whereas a functional product
E-mail address: [email protected] (K.Y. Fung).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2018.06.001
1749-7728/© 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
14 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Table 1
Formulated products, functional products, and chemical devices in different market sectors.

Market Sector Formulated Products Functional Products Chemical Devices

Agriculture • Balanced fertilizer • Controlled release herbicide • Fertilizer injector

• Herbicide mixture

Automotive & • Auto tire • Safety windshield • Catalytic converter

Transportation • Diesel exhaust fluid • Sun control window film • Catalytic ozone converter for planes
• Antifreeze
• Motor oil

Building & • Paint • Acrylic composite countertop • Water cooler air conditioner
Construction • Anti-corrosion paint • Moisture absorber • Air conditioner with green refrigerant
• Adhesives for panelling • Weather barrier film • Energy recovery ventilator
• Stucco • Active smart window • Humidity sensor
• Foamed concrete • Indoor catalytic air cleaner
• Desiccant/refrigerant air dehumidifier
• Refrigerator
• Chiller
• Magnetic refrigerator

Electronics • Optically clear adhesive • Silver nanowire • LED light

• Die attach adhesive • Engineering plastics for electrical • Touch panel
• Copper nanoparticle ink/paste applications
• Encapsulant

Energy • Heat transfer fluid • Engineering plastics for solar and • Battery
• Drilling mud photovoltaic systems • Flow battery
• Battery electrolyte • Current collector and polymer • Solar panel
separator for battery • Fuel cell
• Supercapacitor

Environmental • Air freshener • Adsorbents • Water purifier

• Coagulant/flocculant mixture • Ion exchange resins • PM2.5/plasma air purifier
• Anti-scalant mixture • Aerobic granules for biotreatment • Respirator
• Decoloring agent • Filter media • Portable sea water desalination system
• Portable water sensor
• Water testing device (e.g. COD meter)
• Membrane bioreactor
• Reverse osmosis membrane module
• Adsorption/filtration column
• Biofilter
• Advanced oxidation reactor
• Ultra-violet irradiator system

Food & Beverage • Ice-cream • Powdered milk • Wine aerator

• Energy drink • Food packaging film • Espresso coffee machine
• Textured vegetable protein (meat • Ice-cream machine
substitute)

Personal Care, Health • Sunscreen lotion • Mosquito repellent mat • Mosquito repellent dispenser
Care & Medical • Insect repellent • Hand warmer • Medical diagnostic kit
• Toothpaste • Disposable diaper • Glucose biosensors
• Bar soap • Deodorization and dehumidification • Haemodialysis device
• Hair spray latex insoles
• Laundry detergent • Transdermal patch
• Shampoo • Controlled release pharmaceutical
• Fabric softener granules
• Spray wound dressing • Pharmaceutical tablets
• Spray plaster
• TCM dietary supplement

Packaging & Printing • Inkjet ink • Food packaging film • Flexo platemaking equipment
• Screen print paste • Stretch film/Pallet wrap
• Toner for photocopier • LDPE shrink film
• Adhesive packaging tape

does not. Examples of these products classified by market sector such as mechanical strength and dissolution time are the primary
are summarized in Table 1. Note that molecular product is not cov- concerns. Different products follow different design procedures,
ered in this article, as its design principles are significantly different which are described in the next section.
from others. A chemical product may not fall exactly into a specific Design procedure has been outlined for formulated product,
category. It mainly depends on the design objective. For example, functional product and chemical device by Seider et al. (2017).
a pharmaceutical tablet can be considered as a formulated product For formulated products, it focuses on how to fix the key ingredi-
if ingredients selection is the key step in product design, whereas it ents in a base case formulation by heuristics, mechanistic models,
can be considered as a functional product if its physical properties computer-aided methods, and/or experiments, and how to iter-
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 15

to remove dust, PM2.5 particles, volatile organic compounds and/or

bacteria, etc. from air. A wide variety of separation techniques, and
thus different product designs, need to be employed to meet these
different demands.

2.2. Market study

Next, market study is conducted to gather information about

target markets and consumers, and to identify and analyze market
needs, market size, and competition. The target market size that
the company wants to capture can also be identified in the market
study. Common techniques used in market research include con-
joint analysis, quality function deployment, and lead user (Zhang
et al., 2018). Market information can also be collected from the
internet or just by visiting a departmental store, and by consult-
ing business and marketing personnel who are familiar with the
market sector under consideration.

2.3. Product attributes and technical parameters

Based on the market information, desired product attributes

meeting customer needs can be identified. These product attributes
have to be converted into technical, preferably quantitative, param-
eters for product design. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a
useful tool in this step. It is usually applied by building a House of
Quality (HoQ), as illustrated in Fig. 2 (Seider et al., 2017). Block
A contains the consumer preferences and Block B contains the
technical requirements that correspond to at least one consumer
preference. Because of the complex relations between consumer
preferences and technical requirements, they are mapped into the
Fig. 1. Design framework for formulated product, functional product, and chemical
device. correlation matrix (Block C) in the HoQ. Based on market study, each
customer requirement is assigned an importance rating in Block
ate the formulation until the product specifications are met. For E. The importance weighting of each technical parameter is then
functional product and chemical device, the product configuration calculated in Block G.
and its associated physicochemical phenomena are also identified
and modeled to define the product structure. For a product to stay 2.4. Design of formulated products
competitive in the market and be profitable, in addition to all the
For formulated products that are a mixture of active ingredients
technical considerations, market study and financial analysis are
and supporting ingredients, product design starts by generating a
essential. Thus, the design framework covers market analysis for
base case formula with estimates of the physicochemical proper-
identifying market size, competing products, and consumer prefer-
ties. The physicochemical properties are either gleaned from the
ences, and financial analysis for product cost and pricing to estimate
literature or predicted using a tool such as ICAS from the Technical
the potential profit.
University of Demark. Note that experiments to measure physico-
This design framework aims at providing a systematic way to
chemical properties can be conducted to measure properties that
teach chemical product design, which is generally considered to be
are critical to the product if the experiment equipment is avail-
hard to teach (Seider and Widagdo, 2012; Rodrigues and Cussler,
able. For example, Wibowo and Ng (2001) and Cheng et al. (2009)
2016). It is hierarchical in nature because the design proceeds from
summarized the key ingredients in a skin-care cream and selection
simple to complex with additional details added to each design
heuristics from the literature, patents, and databases to generate
task as the design project proceeds. Students in our design courses
a base case. Certain physicochemical properties such as whether
need to carry out a design project, following this framework. This
the emulsion is stable or feels sticky are hard to predict and were
exercise is indispensable for the students to master the concepts
measured by experiments. Finally, the base case formula is iterated,
and procedure in product design. Also, to appreciate the multidis-
guided by a causal table, to meet the product attributes.
ciplinary nature of product design, the students are encouraged to
consult other professionals (e.g. marketing and financial personnel,
2.5. Design of functional products and chemical devices
material scientist, chemist, and so on). Two case studies, wine aer-
ator and conductive inkjet ink, are given here to illustrate such a
Functional products and chemical devices follow a similar
case study approach.
design path. The governing physicochemical phenomena ranging
from reactions to separations involved in the product are first
2. Design framework for formulated product, functional
identified. For example, the mechanism inside an air purifier for
product, and chemical device
volatile organic carbon (VOC) removal could be photocatalytic oxi-
The systematic procedure for designing formulated product, dation, adsorption, or absorption. Photocatalytic oxidation can be
functional product and chemical device is illustrated in Fig. 1. selected if decomposing the VOCs, instead of capturing them, is
preferred. This is followed by product conceptualization to select
2.1. The product and its functions the ingredients, to identify possible product microstructure and
macrostructure, etc. For example, Pt-doped TiO2 catalyst impreg-
To design any product, the first step is to understand the product nated on a HEPA filter is commonly used for VOC removal by
and its desired functions. For example, an air purifier can be asked photocatalytic oxidation. The microstructure of the catalyst and
16 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Fig. 2. House of Quality (Seider et al., 2017).

the macrostructure of how the catalyst-impregnated HEPA fil- unique solutions as different design teams can come up with totally
ter is configured with the ultra-violet light source for optimal different product designs. Part of the information presented below
performance have to be decided. Then, product specifications is obtained from student projects with our best effort to verify
such as the concentration of ingredients, product dimensions, and accuracy and validity.
operating conditions are determined by heuristics, empirical cor-
relations, mechanistic models, and/or experiments. Seider et al. 3. Example 1: chemical device – wine aerator for red wine
(2017) described three classes of models with different degrees of aging
complexity and accuracy for use in product design, namely black
box model, simplified model and rigorous model. Black box models 3.1. The product and its functions
are used for data fitting whereas extensive experiments have to be
conducted to determine the model parameters in rigorous mod- Tannins found in red wine are plant polyphenols that origi-
els. For conceptual product design, simplified models that capture nate from grape seeds and skins. These plant polyphenols bind and
the essential physicochemical phenomena are often used. How- precipitate salivary protein, forming protein-tannin complexes.
ever, model parameters are often missing in estimating the product Aggregation and precipitation of protein-tannin complexes reduces
performance. Assumed values based on experience or literature are the lubricity of saliva through increasing the feel of “friction” in the
often used to initiate the design process. Experimental product test- oral cavity (Payne et al., 2009), hence producing a drying sensation,
ing to determine its actual performance is then conducted to verify so called astringency. Red wine aging carried out in a wine aerator
the assumed values and make modifications, if necessary. reduces the astringency by reducing the amount of protein-tannin
complexes through a series of oxidation reactions. The oxidation
2.6. Design of product manufacturing process
process is initiated by the singlet oxygen free radical (O2 −• ), whose
With the product in mind, the next step is to design the manufac- generation is relatively slow in an acidic wine medium, especially
turing process – process flowsheet, material balance, equipment to in the absence of light, and can be catalyzed by metal ions such as
be used, equipment operating conditions, and so on. Formulated Fe(III) (Fulcrand et al., 2006; Waterhouse and Laurie, 2006).
products are usually produced by mixing and homogenization,
whereas functional products and chemical devices involve more 3.2. Market study
advanced processing techniques such as coating, sintering, and
agglomeration. The red wine market is large and complex, fragmented into dif-
ferent grades, and sources of origin. Low- and mid-grade red wines
2.7. Financial analysis account for the majority of the market, while high-grade red wines
contribute only a small portion of it. Usually, low- and mid- grade
Finally, a financial analysis is conducted to determine whether red wines need to be aerated as they contain a significant amount
the product is profitable. Various financial metrics such as net of tannins. In 2009–2013, red wine accounts for the largest portion
present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), and return on (54.8%) in the world wine consumption, equivalent to 17.78 bil-
investment (ROI) can be used. The product design team can consult lion bottles. The world wine consumption is somewhat steady, and
with students and professors in the business school, if necessary, is estimated to increase by 1% in 2014–2018, equivalent to 17.96
to complete this task. billion bottles in 2014–2018 (Wine Industry Network, 2015). More
The design methodology is illustrated below by two examples, a information can be collected by talking to business personnel more
chemical device – wine aerator and a formulated product – conduc- familiar with the wine industry.
tive inkjet ink. As product design problems are always open-ended, Assume a consumer purchases 6 bottles of wine a year (i.e. 30
the solutions depend on the assumptions made and there are no bottles in 2014–2018) and 10% of the consumers would like to buy
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 17

a wine aerator which has to be replaced every 5 years; 59.9 million with an aluminum coated Fe2 O3 filter to filter any wine sediments
pieces of wine aerators are needed for the next 5 years, equivalent to and to introduce a trace amount of Fe(III) ion into the passing wine
an annual sales of 12 million pieces of wine aerators in 2014–2018. for catalytic oxidation.
We aim at capturing 5% market share, equivalent to an annual sales Polystyrene is selected here as the raw material for wine aerator
of 599,000 wine aerators. as it is chemically inert with alcohol, possesses good mechanical
Wine aging devices, with different working principles and strength, transparent, and requires a low processing temperature.
product specifications, are available on the market. A prelimi- Its price is also lower and more stable in comparison with other
nary analysis of several competing products is summarized in polymer materials such as polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene
Table 2. Brand 1 and Brand 2 utilize Venturi effect for aeration, terephthalate (PET).
have an excellent level of aeration and require a short aeration
time. Brand 1 has a stand to contain dripping wine after use and 3.6. Determination of the product specifications
is cheaper than Brand 2. Decanter (Brand 3) is also available in
the market, with a wide range of prices. But, the required aer- The dimensions of the proposed wine aerator are first deter-
ation time is much longer, and is too large to be portable. The mined. The channel before reducer and the reducer region are
company websites of some of the wine aerators are summarized designed to hold a volume of ∼50 cm3 of red wine (V). It is fur-
in the list of References (Oster website, 2016; Vinturi website, ther assumed that the ratio of the length of channel before reducer
2016). and the length of the reducer region (L) is 3:1. The diameter of the
channel before reducer (D1 ) and after reducer (D2 ) are specified to
3.3. Product attributes and technical parameters be 4 cm and 0.5 cm, respectively. Therefore, the volume V can be
expressed as
The House of Quality is built to relate consumer preferences to 1 2 1
product/technical parameters (Table 3). Based on market research, V = 3␲r21 L + ␲r H − ␲r22 (H − L) = 50cm3 (1)
3 1 3
the consumers require the wine aerator be able to aerate wine
By similarity of triangles,
quickly (∼10 s for a glass of red wine of 150 cm3 ), convenient to
hold, easy to clean, portable, and inexpensive (<US$15) (i.e. the r2 r1
= (2)
first column in Table 3). These consumer preferences are related H−L H
to the product/technical parameters listed in the first row of the Solving Eqs. (1) and (2), L equals 1.18 cm. Therefore, the length of
HoQ. This includes use of material, aeration principle, aerator the channel before reducer is 3.53 cm and the length of the reducer
size, whether the parts are removable, air flowrate, and aera- region is 1.18 cm. The entrainment tube is designed to be inclined
tor stand. The relationships between consumer preferences and at an angle of 40◦ , so the height of the entrainment section (Le ) can
product/technical parameters are summarized in the correlation be calculated.
matrix, with 0 indicating no relationship, 1 indicating a weak rela-
L e = tan40◦ × 2.13 cm = 1.79 cm (3)
tionship and 9 indicating a strong relationship. For example, how
fast the wine is aerated is highly related to the aeration princi- With the aerator dimensions, the Bernoulli equation is used to
ple and the air flowrate, but is not related to the material, size, calculate the amount of air being entrained into the wine. In pour-
etc. With the weighting factors of all consumer preferences, the ing the wine through the wine aerator, the wine continues to flow
importance weighting of each product/technical parameter can down the channel and we assume here that the wine usually fills
be calculated. For example, the ease of cleaning and price are up the reducer region only. So, the Bernoulli equation is applied
related to the use of material. The importance weighting for the across the reducer and the entrainment section:
use of material can be calculated as: (5 × 1) + (9 × 3) = 32. Among ␳  
P1 − P3 = w v2w,3 − v2w,1 + ␳w g (Z3 − Z1 ) (4)
all product/technical parameters, aeration principle and airflow 2
rate are the most important factors, and will be the focus in Here, P is pressure, ␳w is wine density, vw is wine velocity, g is
product conceptualization. The competitive matrix summarizes the gravity acceleration and equals 9.8 m/s2 , and Z is the length of
the comparison between our product and the competitors’ prod- the channel measured from the top of the aerator. Note that sub-
uct. scripts 1 and 3 refer to the location before the reducer and after the
entrainment section, respectively. The wine is assumed to contain
3.4. Governing physicochemical phenomena 12.9% of alcohol and has a density of 1095 kg/m3 (Keller, 2016).
The aerator is designed to aerate a glass of red wine (∼150 cm3 )
Air can be introduced into the wine by direct bubbling (electrical in 10 s, thus the volumetric flowrate Q is 15 cm3 /s. Assume constant
type) or entrainment (non-electrical type). To make a low-cost wine volumetric flowrate, the wine velocity before and after the reducer
aerator, direct bubbling is not selected. Pressure drop can be created region can be calculated:
along a channel to entrain air into the wine for oxidation. Venturi,
nozzle, and orifice designs can be used to induce pressure drop in Q = A1 vw,1 = A2 vw,2 (5)
the channels. Among the three designs, venturi has the smallest Therefore, the wine velocity before reducer (vw,1 ) equals
pressure drop (Munson et al., 2006) and is selected for use in the 1.2 cm/s and that after reducer (vw,2 ) equals 76.4 cm/s. As the cross-
wine aerator. The Bernoulli equation can be used to calculate the sectional area is the same in the entrainment section, vw,3 equals
air flow in the channels. vw,2 . With Z3 − Z1 = − (L + Le ), and after substituting all parame-
ters,
3.5. Product conceptualization
kg
P1 − P3 = 0.853 = 8.42 × 10−6 atm (6)
The configuration of the wine aerator utilizing venturi effect for ms2
air entrainment is depicted in Fig. 3. The reducer in the wine aerator The entrainment tube is designed to suck air into the passing
creates an accelerated wine flow which slightly reduces the pres- wine for oxidation. Bernoulli equation can be applied to the air in
sure in the wine. This small pressure difference between the wine the entrainment tube.
and the ambient air sucks air into the wine through the entrainer ␳  
P2 − P3 = a v2a,3 − v2a,2 + ␳a g (Z3 − Z2 ) (7)
tube for wine oxidation and aging. The wine aerator is also equipped 2
18 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Table 2
Summary of competitors’ products.

Type (Brand Name) Working Principle Level of aeration Aeration time Size Price Other features

Hand-held injection type (Brand 1) Venturi effect Excellent <10s Portable US$18.95 Stand available to contain dripping wine after use
Funnel type (Brand 2) Venturi effect Excellent <10s Portable US$25.44 Without stand
Decanter (Brand 3) Exposing wine in air Good 10–15 min Large US$20-299 Complex shaped container and hard to clean

Table 3
House of Quality.

Consumer Preference/Technical Weighting Use of Aeration Aerator Parts Air flow Aerator Competition (5 is the best)
Parameter (rated from 1 to 9, with factor material principle Size Removable rate stand
Our Product Brand 1 Brand 2 Brand 3
a larger number indicating a
stronger relationship)
Aerates wine quickly 4 0 9 0 0 8 0 4 4 4 2
Convenient to hold the aerator 2 0 0 0 0 0 9 4 4 1 4
Easy to clean 1 5 0 6 9 0 0 2 2 3 1
Portable 1 0 0 9 7 0 0 4 4 3 1
Inexpensive 3 9 5 6 0 5 3 4 2 2 5
Importance weighting 32 51 33 16 47 27

Fig. 3. Product conceptualization: schematic diagram of the wine aerator.

Here, ␳a is the air density at STP and equals 1.184 kg/m3 (Munson The initial tannins concentration [T]0 in red wine is reported to
et al., 2006), va is the velocity of the entrained air. The pressure be around 200 ppm (Harbertson et al., 2008). Here, 1% of the inflow
drop of air in the entrainment tube (P2 –P3 ) is same as the pres- O2 is assumed to dissolve into the wine for oxidation so that [O2 ]
sure drop in wine (i.e. 8.42 × 10−6 atm). By assuming the inlet air in the wine medium is:
velocity (va,2 ) equals 0 m/s and with Z3 − Z2 = − Le , the velocity of 0.0065 × 1% gO2 molO2
air sucking into the flowing wine (va,3 ) is 1.34 m/s. The diameter [O2 ] = = 4.36 3 = 0.136 (10)
15 m m3
of the entrainment tube is designed to be 0.5 cm, leading to an air
If we assume that the reaction time is around 5 s, the fast
flowrate of 26.3 cm3 /s, equivalent to 0.031 g of air/s or 0.0065 g of
oxidation of tannins provides almost no tannins in the red wine
O2 /s.
([T] = 1.48 × 10−57 ppm). Here, assumed values have been used in a
The oxygen in air is used to oxidize tannins in wine. The reaction
simplified model to estimate the product performance for lack of
rate can be expressed by the following rate equation.
experimental kinetics and mass transfer data. Experimental test-
d [T] ing is needed to determine the actual performance. Alternatively,
= −k [T] [O2 ] (8)
dt kinetics experiments and a rigorous model that includes mass
Here, k is the reaction rate constant and equals 2 × 102 m3 /mol s, transfer coefficient, balance of species, etc. can be used to capture
[T] and [O2 ] are the concentration of tannins and oxygen in wine, the physicochemical phenomena in this device.
respectively. By assuming [O2 ] is in excess and remains constant,
the rate equation can be integrated with the boundary conditions 3.7. Design of product manufacturing process
(t = 0, [T] = [T]0 ; t = t, [T] = [T]) to give
With an annual sales of 599,000 wine aerators, plastic injection
[T] = [T]0 e−k[O2 ]t (9) moulding, with relatively low processing cost, is considered to be
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 19

Table 4
Financial analysis of a wine aerator product for a 5 year product cycle. (All the money is shown in US$ and in thousands. The numbers within parentheses are negative).

Year −1 0 1 2 3
Sales 0 0 7781.01 7781.01 7781.01
Fixed Cost (660.0) (660.0) (860.0) (860.0) (860.0)
Variable Cost (1000.0) – (482.8) (482.8) (482.8)
IFO – – 6438.2 6438.2 6438.2
Depreciation – – (10.0) (10.0) (10.0)
EBIT – – 6428.2 6428.2 6428.2
Taxes (40%) – – (2571.3) (2571.3) (2571.3)
ATOI – – 3856.9 3856.9 3856.9
OCF – – 3866.9 3866.9 3866.9
NWC – (250.0) – – 250.0
Capital Spending – (50.0) – –
PCF (1660.0) (960.0) 3866.9 3866.9 4116.9

the most suitable processing technique to handle a relatively large (ATOI), operating cash flow (OCF), and project cash flow (PCF) are
throughput. Polymer chemists and engineers can be consulted to calculated by the following equations.
design the manufacturing process, if students are not familiar with
IFO = S − CED (11)
polymer manufacturing. Food grade impact-modified polystyrene
is used as the raw material to produce transparent wine aerators EBIT = IFO − D = S − CED − D (12)
with moderate impact strength and glossy outer surface. No addi-
tives are added to the process; and fillers such as glass fibres are ATOI = (1–t)EBIT = (1–t)(S − CED − D) (13)
strictly prohibited by regulations for manufacturing components
that are in contact with foods or drinks. Similarly, no regrind or OCF = ATOI + D = (1–t)(S − CED − D) + D
reuse of defected plastic parts is allowed for these goods.
= (1–t)(S − CED ) + tD (14)
Polystyrene resins are preheated in a hopper at 80 ◦ C for a few
hours to remove any moisture. Dry resins are then melted in the
barrel of an injection machine, and the melted plastic is injected
into a mould with highly polished surface, which is important to PCF = OCF − Increase in NWC − Project capital spending (15)
produce wine aerator with highly glossy surface. The hot melt is Here, S is the sales, CED is the fixed and variable costs, D is depreci-
cooled by the cooling water channels running around the mould. ation which is assumed to be linear over 5 years, t is tax rate which
When the melt is solidified, the products are ejected from the mould is assumed to be 40%, NWC is the net working capital. Net present
by an ejector pin. To design the injection moulding machine, issues value (NPV) is used to calculate the profitability of the wine aerator
such as mould size and design, ejection force, etc. have to be con- project. A discount rate (R) of 20% and a bank interest rate of 5% are
sidered. Detailed information can be found in polymer engineering assumed in this evaluation.
textbooks (Jones, 2008). The cost estimation for injection moulding m PCFj
machine is readily available in the internet (Custompart, 2017) and NPV = (16)
is used below for financial analysis. j=−n (1 + R)j

Here, n is the number of periods for product development, and m

3.8. Financial analysis is the number of periods for product life cycle.
3866.9 3866.9 4116.9
The financial analysis of a 5-year wine aerator product is sum- NPV = −1660 (1 + R) − 960.0 + + +
1+R (1 + R) 2
(1 + R)3
marized in Table 4. With a sales volume of 599,000 pieces at (17)
US$12.99 per piece, we have an annual sales of US$7,781,010.
The sales volume is expected to be the same for the subsequent
years. During product development (Year −1 and 0), fixed cost With R = 0.2, NPV equals US$5,338,291, which meets the man-
includes US$180,000 for office rent and US$480,000 for staff wages agement’s expectation. Therefore, the wine aerator project can be
(per annum). After product launch, an annual advertising cost of presented to the management for approval.
US$200,000 is added to the fixed cost. This increases the fixed cost
from US$660,000 in Year −1 and 0 to US$860,000 in Year 1 to 3. 4. Example 2: formulated product – conductive inkjet ink
The capital investment in Year 0 is assumed to be US$50,000, and (modified from Tam et al., 2016)
the net working capital is assumed to be US$250,000.
A variable cost of US$1,000,000 is spent in the first year (year 4.1. The product and its functions
−1) for R&D and product design, which includes tooling design,
prototype functional test and regulatory test. For Year 1 to 3, Conductive ink is used in drop-on-demand (DoD) inkjet printing
the variable cost includes manufacturing cost and packaging cost, to print conductive traces for different applications, includ-
which can be estimated by an online feature-based estimator ing printed electronics, photovoltaics, and biosensors. A metal
(Custompart, 2017). The results show that the manufacturing cost, nanoparticle-based conductive ink, which is a suspension of con-
which includes material cost, production cost, and tooling cost, is ductive nanoparticle fillers in a dispersing medium, is the most
US$0.699 per unit. With an unit cost of US$0.09 for a Fe2 O3 filter, common one in the printed electronics industry. Conductive ink
the manufacturing cost of a wine aerator is US$0.708. Similarly, the receives a growing demand as inkjet printing produces less waste
packaging cost is also estimated to be US$0.098 per unit. This leads in fabricating printed circuit boards, when compared to conven-
to a variable cost of US$0.806 per unit, equivalent to US$482,794 tional vacuum deposition and lithography techniques. A typical
per annum. inkjet printing process includes several steps. First, the conductive
With all the cost information, income from operations (IFO), ink is transported from a liquid reservoir to an inkjet printhead.
earnings before income tax (EBIT), after tax operating income Then, a specific volume of the conductive ink is ejected from the
20 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Table 5 Table 6
Summary of conductive inks in the market. Printing conditions and printer settings.

Product Filler Volume resistivity (␮ cm) Viscosity (cP) Substrate PET
Temperature, T 298 K
Product 1 Ag (40 wt%) 47 8–12
Droplet diameter, d0 30 ␮m
Product 2 Ag (20–70 wt%) 2.8 5–35
Droplet velocity, v 5 m/s
Product 3 Ag 12.5 20–40
Nozzle diameter, dnozzle 21.5 ␮m
Printing speed, UT 2.4 m/s
Drop spacing, p 25 ␮m
printhead nozzle to form an ink droplet that deposits on the desired Curing conditions Thermal sintering under N2 environment
position of a substrate. After reaching the solid surface, the droplet
spreads and coalesces with the previously deposited droplets to
form a line. The printed line is then dried and sintered to form a and specific surface energy of the ink, the nozzle diameter, and the
conductive solid track. droplet diameter and velocity. Readers can refer to Tam et al. (2016)
for a more detailed explanation on Fig. 4.
In this design project, the conductive ink is designed for a shelf
4.2. Market study
life of 4 months at room temperature. Dimatix Materials Printer
DMP-2800 with printhead DMC-11619 and settings summarized
The market size of conductive inks and pastes keeps increas-
in Table 6 is used to print the conductive tracks (Fujifilm-Dimatix,
ing in recent years. Grand View Research (2016) reported that
2013). A piezoelectric printhead is used and the required ink vis-
the global market exceeded US$ 3 billion in 2015, in which the
cosity is 8–15 mPa s (Kipphan, 2001), with the desired viscosity set
Asia Pacific market accounted for >70% of the total market rev-
at 12 mPa s. The printed track has a width of 250 ␮m, a thickness
enue (i.e. USD 2.1 billion). Conductive inks and pastes have been
of 1 ␮m, and a volumetric resistivity of <400 ␮ cm. As the track is
applied in various market sectors, including photovoltaics, automo-
rather wide, the printing is repeated 4 times, with the newly printed
tive, printed electronics, and sensors. Among them, photovoltaics
line next to the just printed line. Thus, the desired track width (w)
accounts for the largest one (Savastano 2015).
is 62.5 ␮m, which is related to the droplet diameter (d0 ), the con-
Among all the products in the market, silver and copper paste
tact angle of the ink on the substrate (␪), and the center-to-center
used for screen printing still dominate the market, as conductive
drop spacing (p) by Eq. (18) derived based on the conservation of
inks used for inkjet printing cannot yet produce a film with suf-
volume (Stringer and Derby, 2010).
ficient thickness and conductivity for various applications. Only

limited products have been developed for inkjet printing, which 
 
2␲d0 3

has a resolution higher than that of screen printing. Although the w= (18)
␪ cos ␪
conductivity of the ink-jet printed film is lower, it is sufficient for 3p − sin ␪
sin2 ␪
certain applications such as touch panel. This conductive ink for
inkjet printing will be designed in this project. Examples of con- Therefore, the required contact angle of the conductive ink is
ductive ink in the market are summarized in Table 5, together determined to be 45◦ .
with their product specifications. The information of some of these
products are summarized in the list of References (DuPont 2018; 4.4. Generation of a base case formula
NanoDimension 2016; Novacentrix 2016).
Most conductive inks use silver as filler, as silver is less prone Common ingredients in a conductive ink include electrical con-
to oxidation. However, silver ink is more expensive and the market ductive filler, dispersing medium, dispersant, and binder, and their
price from trade website is around US$800-1600 per kg of ink. The examples are listed in Table 7 with the selection heuristics sum-
above inks are mainly used for applications such as printed circuit marized in Tam et al. (2016). Students can also consult chemists
boards and antennas, and hence requiring a lower volume resistiv- or formulation scientists familiar with inkjet or screen printing for
ity. In our discussion with printed electronics experts, the required more information. To illustrate the concept but to maintain clarity,
volume resistivity can be higher (300–400 ␮W cm) if the inks are only the selection of filler and dispersing medium by heuristics and
used for touch panels. models are given here.

4.3. Product attributes and technical parameters 4.4.1. Selection of filler material
As silver ink is of high price, a cheaper conductive ink is designed
Based on experts’ opinion and a study on the market products, in this project. Copper nanoparticles are selected to be the conduc-
the required product attributes of a conductive ink are summarized tive filler as copper has an electrical conductivity similar to that of
in the left column of the House of Quality in Fig. 4. The product silver, but at a much lower cost. As copper nanoparticles are easily
attributes can be grouped into two states: metal nanoparticle sus- oxidized, a dispersant which also acts as a passivating agent is also
pension and printed solid track. For the nanoparticle suspension, it needed.
has to be stable against sedimentation and agglomeration. During
printing, stable droplets have to be formed. The deposited droplets 4.4.2. Selection of dispersing medium (the continuous phase of
should wet the substrate and coalesce with previously deposited the ink)
droplets to form a uniform line. For the printed track, it should be The wettability of the ink on the substrate and the suppres-
conductive with minimum pores and cracks, and also free of coffee sion of coffee ring stain formation during drying are the two
ring stains. major considerations in selecting the dispersing medium. Among
These product attributes are related to technical product specifi- all the dispersing medium in Table 7, ketone, aromatic and halo-
cations in the House of Quality. Note that the product use conditions genated solvent are excluded as they are not compatible with the
such as substrate and printer specifications also affect certain polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate, and ketone readily oxi-
product attributes. For example, the stability of the ink against dizes copper nanoparticles. Next, the wettability of the dispersing
sedimentation is related to the product shelf life and is mainly medium on the PET substrate is considered using the Owens-
determined by the size of the nanoparticle filler, whereas the for- Wendt-Rabel-Kaelble (OWRK) method (Owens and Wendt, 1969;
mation of stable droplets during printing depends on the viscosity Janssen et al., 2006). The first step in the OWRK method is to
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 21

Fig. 4. House of Quality for metal nanoparticle based conductive ink (Tam et al., 2016).

Table 7
Common ingredients in conductive ink (Tam et al., 2016).

Ingredient Desired function Examples Typical amount (wt%)

Electrical conductive filler Provides the conductive material for Metal: 10–60
the ink silver, nickel, copper nanoparticles
Metal precursor:
copper oxide, nickel oxide nanoparticles
Dispersing medium Provides the continuous phase Non-polar solvent: 30–70
tetradecane, cyclohexane
Polar solvent:
water, ethanol, propanol, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol,
glycerol, formamide
Dispersant Prevents fillers from aggregation Polymeric dispersant: 2–10
Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), sodium polyacrylate, anionic
phosphated alkoxylated polymer (Solsperse 40),
Small-molecule dispersant:
fatty acid, alkylamine, alkythiol
Binder Increases the cohesiveness of filler or Organic binder: 3–10
provides adhesion to the substrate PVP, acrylic resin
Inorganic binder
glass frits, borate nanoparticle

Table 8
Specific surface energy and contact angle on PET of various solvents. (Tam et al., 2016).

Solvent Boiling point Specific surface energy (mJ/m2 ) Contact anglea

(◦ C)
Polar ␥L P Dispersive ␥L D Total

Water 100 51.0 21.8 72.8 Measured 66.0◦

Ethylene glycol 197 29.3 18.9 48.2 39.9◦
Glycerol 290 43.1 20.2 63.3 55.1◦
Tetradecane 254 26.4 0.0 26.4 Estimated spreading
Cyclohexane 81 25.5 0.0 25.5 spreading
Ethanol 79 5 17 22.0 spreading
Propanol 97 3.6 19 22.6 spreading
Diethylene glycol 245 13.2 31.6 44.8 34.3◦
Formamide 210 19.0 39.0 58.4 52.2◦
a
The contact angles of water, ethylene glycol and glycerol were measured by the sessile drop technique. The contact angles of other solvents were estimated by the OWRK
method.

measure the equilibrium contact angle (␪eq ) of at least three sol- measured for the three solvents, together with their ␥L P and ␥L D ,
vents (i.e. water, ethylene glycol, glycerol) with known polar (␥L P ) are summarized in Table 8. Using these data points, the polar
and dispersive (␥L D ) contribution to the specific surface energy (␥S P ) and dispersive (␥S D ) contribution of the substrate, which
of the substrate used for printing (i.e. PET). The contact angles
22 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Table 9
Formulation of the conductive ink.

Ingredients Components Base case composition (wt%) Modified ink composition (wt%)

Dispersed phase
Conductive filler 30 nm Cu nanoparticles 50.5 50.5
Dispersant Polyacrylic acid 3.2 3.2

Continuous phase
Dispersing medium Water 17.9 17.2
Diethylene glycol 26.8 25.9
Binder Polyvinylpyrrolidone 1.7 3.2

highly depend on its preparation method, are determined through ratio of 4:6. All compositions are converted to weight fractions in
regression: the conductive ink, as summarized in Table 9.
  

␥L P + ␥L D cos␪eq + 1
␥L P

= ␥S P
+ ␥S D (19) 4.5. Measurement of physicochemical properties that cannot be
2 ␥L D ␥L D predicted by experiments

(␥L P +␥L

D cos␪ +1
)( ) ␥ P As binder viscosity affects whether the ink can be successfully
By plotting
eq
vs.
L , ␥S P and ␥S D are
2 ␥L D ␥L D ejected from the nozzle and the specific surface energy determines
obtained from the slope and the intercept of the regression line and whether the ink provides sufficient wetting to the substrate, they
equal 20.8 mJ/m2 and 17.6 mJ/m2 , respectively. The contact angles are verified by measurements. The conductive ink with the base
of other solvents with known ␥L P and ␥L D on the same substrate case formulation was prepared. The viscosity of the ink was mea-
are then estimated by Eq. (19), and the results are also summarized sured by a viscometer and equaled 13 mPa s, whereas the specific
in Table 8. Solvents that spread on the PET substrate are excluded, surface energy was measured by the Wilhelmy plate method and
leaving water, ethylene glycol, glycerol, diethylene glycol, and for- equaled 51.6 mJ/m2 . These closely match with the values used in
mamide as potential candidates for the dispersing medium. generating the base case (i.e. viscosity = 12 mPa s; specific surface
After considering the wettability of the dispersing medium on energy = 53 mJ/m2 ).
the substrate, the prevention of coffee ring stain formation during The prepared conductive ink was stored for four months. No
drying is considered next. Coffee ring is formed at the contact line particles sedimentation was observed and the conductive ink
as the liquid near the contact line evaporates faster than that at remained stable, thus satisfying the required shelf life. The ink was
the center, which creates a flux that moves the copper nanopar- printed on a PET substrate and the quality of the printed track
ticles towards and concentrates near the contact line. This can was evaluated. However, the printed track was non-conductive as
be suppressed by providing a Marangoni flow directing inwards micro-cracks were formed (Readers can refer to Figure 6 in Tam
along the liquid-air interface that moves the nanoparticles back et al., 2016 for the results from the optical profiler).
to the droplet center. Marangoni flow is generated when there is
a difference in specific surface energy at the liquid-air interface, 4.6. Iterate guided by a causal table
which can be induced by concentration gradient. Park and Moon
(2006) reported that an effective Marangoni flow can be induced As the base case formulation cannot provide a printed track
in a binary solvent mixture, one solvent with low boiling point and with the desired conductivity, the formulation has to be modi-
high specific surface energy and one solvent with high boiling point fied according to the causal table summarized in Tam et al. (2016).
and low specific surface energy. At the contact line region, the sol- The causal table points out that the cracks in the solid track can
vent with a low boiling point first evaporates during drying, leading be reduced by increasing the amount of binder in the conductive
to the specific surface energy at the contact line region lower than ink. Therefore, the binder concentration in the conductive ink is
that at the center, thus inducing an inward Marangoni flow. There- increased to 3.2 wt%, giving an ink with an estimated viscosity of
fore, it is desirable to select two solvents with large specific surface 15 mPa s. The formulation of the modified ink is also summarized
energy difference and low viscosity, so that the Marangoni flow in Table 9. The modified ink was tested for its performance. The
can be enhanced. Among the five solvents shortlisted above, water printed track was evaluated and no cracks or coffee ring were
and diethylene glycol are selected to form a binary solvent sys- observed (Readers can refer to Figure 7 in Tam et al., 2016 for
tem, as they have the largest difference in specific surface energy. the results from the optical profiler). The film thickness was mea-
Finally, their compositions are determined to provide the ink with sured to be 1 ␮m, meeting the product specification. The average
the desired contact angle (45◦ ). Experimental data (data not shown) sheet resistivity was measured by the 4-point probe method to
show that a mixture of 40 wt% water and 60 wt% diethylene glycol give 3.55 /sq. Therefore, the average volume resistivity calcu-
(DEG) meets this requirement. Based on the data reported in the lated by multiplying the average sheet resistivity with the film
literature (MEGlobal, 2013), this dispersing medium has a viscos- thickness was 355 ␮ cm, again meeting the product specification
ity of 5.8 mPa s, a specific surface energy of 53 mJ/m2 , and a density (<400 ␮ cm). The measured ink viscosity was 18 mPa s. Although
of 1082 kg/m3 at room temperature. this is higher than the suggested range for the piezoelectric noz-
zle, experiments showed that the ink can still be ejected from the
4.4.3. Summary of the base case formulation nozzle.
With the heuristics and models, the ingredients in the con-
ductive ink are selected and their compositions determined. 4.7. Design of product manufacturing process
The base case formulation contains 11 vol% of copper nanopar-
ticles (conductive filler), 5.4 vol% of polyacrylic acid (dispersant), The manufacturing process of the conductive inkjet ink is very
and the remaining (83.6 vol%) is dispersing medium and binder. simple. Copper nanoparticles coated by dispersant or passivating
Binder (polyvinylpyrrolidone) accounts for 3.6 wt% in the dispers- agent are added to a binder-containing dispersing medium in a
ing medium which contains water and diethylene glycol in a mass mixing vessel. Mixing is provided by an overhead stirrer to mix
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 23

Table 10
Financial summary of conductive copper ink (All the money is shown in US$).

Year 1 2 3 4
Production capacity (kg/month) 30 30 50 50
Sales revenue (US$600/kg) 216,000 216,000 360,000 360,000
Expenses
Capital investment 50,000
Material and consumables cost (US$200/kg) 72,000 72,000 120,000 120,000
Utility cost (US$75/kg) 27,000 27,000 45,000 45,000
Rental and office expenses (US$5000/month) 60,000 60,000 60,000 60,000
Marketing cost 20,000 20,000 30,000 30,000
Total expenses 229,000 179,000 255,000 255,000

the dispersed phase and the continuous phase under vacuum, so 5. Teaching product design at the Hong Kong University of
that no air bubbles are trapped inside the conductive ink. Science and Technology (HKUST)
The copper nanoparticles can either be synthesized in-house or
purchased from a supplier. Cheng et al. (2016) provided guidelines Product design has been taught to both undergraduate and
for this make-buy decision. As copper nanoparticles synthesized graduate students at the Department of Chemical and Biological
by the chemical reduction method (Tam and Ng, 2015) can be of Engineering in HKUST. It has been delivered to freshman (Year 1
better quality than those available in the market, the manufactur- students) as part of an introductory course, which aims at intro-
ing technology is better to be kept in-house and the nanoparticles ducing Year 1 engineering students to what chemical engineering
are synthesized by the company. Copper acetate monohydrate was is. Product design has also been delivered as a regular course to
added to an aqueous solution containing ammonia to form a blue seniors (Year 4 students) and graduate students. All these prod-
solution. Potassium hydroxide was then added to form a pale blue uct design courses include in-class and video lectures on product
slurry. Then, aqueous hydrazine solution was added as a reduc- design, homework exercises, and a product design project. The lec-
ing agent with vigorous stirring at room temperature and under tures include all the topics that the students need in conducting the
nitrogen for 15 min to form copper nanoparticles. Sodium poly- design project, specifically topics that are unfamiliar to engineer-
acrylate was then added and coated onto the copper nanoparticles ing students such as market analysis. Basic market study, which
as a passivating agent under gentle mixing. As polyarcylic acid is includes analyzing market report and comparing similar products,
not soluble in methanol, methanol was added under nitrogen with is discussed. Useful websites for collecting market information are
vigorous stirring for 1 h to settle the copper nanoparticles, which also provided as the first step in market study.
were then collected by centrifugation and washed with water to Around thirty design problems similar to the two examples
remove any impurities. given in this paper have been used in these courses. A problem
statement that states the scope of the project as well as some
of the technical literature and sources of information relevant
4.8. Financial analysis to the project is given to the students. Normally, the students
begin the project in the third or fourth week of a thirteen-week
There are few copper inks available in the market so that a ref- semester. As mentioned, the technology platform required for a
erence selling price is hard to obtain. Silver ink is sold at a price of specific product can be very different. The instructor or project
around US$800–1600 per kg. As copper is much cheaper than silver, advisors can select products that they are more familiar with or
the price of copper ink can be lower and is set to be US$600 per kg. closer to their research activities, so that they can advise the stu-
As copper ink has not yet been well accepted by the industry, we dents with sufficient technical depth. Normally, all the steps in the
provide copper ink samples for consumer testing. As we have close design framework are covered for all the students. However, the
collaborations with several big companies, we aim at an average emphasis is different for freshman, seniors and graduate students.
production capacity of 30 kg/month in Year 1 and 2 and increase to For freshman who are new to chemical engineering, the empha-
50 kg/month in Year 3 and 4. Therefore the sales revenue are cal- sis is on market study, the comparison of various products on the
culated to be US$216,000 in Year 1 and 2 and US$360,000 in Year market, product conceptualization, and the production process.
3 and 4, giving a total of US$1,152,000 for a project period of 4 Although they have been exposed to unit operations as well as
years. mass and energy balance, the use of chemical engineering prin-
After consulting with personnel who are more familiar with ciples for determining product specifications is not emphasized.
nanoparticles and ink production, the capital investment and oper- Unsurprisingly, innovative products are proposed by these stu-
ating cost are estimated and summarized in Table 10. A capital dents because they can easily relate to the assigned design problem
investment of US$50,000 is required to set up a reaction system based on everyday experience. For example, one group of students
for copper nanoparticles production and a mixing system for cop- designed a disposable diaper that comes with an RFID wetness sen-
per ink production. The material and consumables cost and utility sor. For seniors and graduate students, they are required to use
cost for producing 1 kg of copper ink are estimated to be US$200/kg the design framework to come up with a product and the corre-
and US$75/kg, respectively. As marketing personnel have to visit sponding manufacture process as quantitative as possible. Even
our collaborators and promote copper ink in trade shows (e.g. with knowledge of the core courses of chemical engineering as the
IDTechEx), a marketing budget of US$20,000 for Year 1 and 2, and pre-requisites for the product design course, these students often
US$30,000 for Year 3 and 4 are estimated. Return on investment find it difficult in formulating models to determine the required
(ROI) is used to calculate the financial return in this project: product specifications. Often, they are bewildered by the complex-
ity and struggle to identify the key physicochemical phenomena
Total revenue − Total expenses that need to be modeled. This problem is not new. Although the
ROI = (20)
Total expenses students are equipped with the fundamental chemical engineer-
ing courses, many still struggle to apply these concepts to design
With all the revenue and expenses estimated in Table 10, ROI is a real chemical product. The reason may not be an insufficient
calculated to be 25.5%. understanding of the basic engineering sciences, but rather an
24 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26

Table 11
Learning outcomes of the product design project.

After conducting the product design project, the students should be able to:
• Perform a market study including market size, competitive analysis, etc using information from the public domain
• Identify product attributes meeting consumer needs from a market study
• Convert product attributes to technical parameters (product specifications) using methods such as house of quality
• Conceptualize the product and generate new product ideas
• Select product ingredients using thermodynamic databases and/or computer tools
• Model product performance and adjust the design to meet the specifications
• Perform prototyping
• Design the manufacturing process
• Set product price and perform capital budgeting
• Present a realistic product development plan both orally and in writing

Table 12
Assessment Rubric for Product Design Project.

Exemplary Competent Developing Beginning

Technical skills
Product introduction Give a clear introduction of the Give a clear introduction of the Give an acceptable Fail to introduce the product
(5%) product and define the design product, but the design introduction of the product, and the design scenario clearly.
scenario clearly. scenario is not sufficiently but the design scenario is not
clear. defined clearly.
Market study and Provide a comprehensive Provide a comprehensive Provide an acceptable Fail to provide an acceptable
identification of competitors’ analysis and a competitors’ analysis and a competitors’ analysis and a competitors’ analysis and a
product attributes reasonable estimate on market reasonable estimate on market reasonable estimate on market reasonable estimate on market
(10%) size with sound justification. size, but with weak reasoning. size, but with weak reasoning. size. Fail to identify major
Identify the most important Identify the most important Fail to identify the major product attributes to be
product attributes to be product attributes to be product attributes to be designed.
designed. designed. designed.
Product Explain clearly and Explain clearly why the Explain why the product is Fail to explain why the product
conceptualization quantitatively on why the product is designed as is. Major designed as is, but not with is designed as is. Major product
(ingredients and product is designed as is. Major product attributes are designed sufficient details to allow clear attributes are not supported
product structure) product attributes are designed with scientific and engineering understanding. Major product with scientific and engineering
(30%) and supported with sound principles, but with minor attributes are designed with principles.
scientific and engineering mistakes in the analysis. scientific and engineering
principles. principles, but with major
mistakes in the analysis.
Product manufacture Describe clearly and Describe clearly the process Describe the process required Fail to describe a reasonable
(20%) quantitatively the process required to manufacture the to manufacture the product, process to manufacture the
required to manufacture the product, but the reasoning is but without enough product
product, with clear not sufficiently clear quantitative results and the
explanations on the logic reasoning behind is not clear
behind it
Financial analysis (10%) Provide a sound and justifiable Provide a financial analysis Provide a financial analysis Provide a financial analysis
financial analysis with justification for most of without justification for most with quite a number of errors
the numbers, but fail to justify of the numbers, and and mistakes
all parameters occasionally incorrect for some
calculations

Presentation skills
Organization (10%) Good organization at the level Good organization at the level Basic organization at the No logical sequencing or
of each point and sentence. of main messages. Mostly overview level only. Only organization of topics.
Good transitions from one sensible sequence of topics. occasional logical transition Impossible to follow.
point to another. Audience can Occasional unclear transitions between each slide or each
follow the train of thought of from point to point sentence. Use terms or
the speaker and form a clear concepts before they are
mental picture. introduced or defined.
Questions & Answers Provide to-the-point and Respond to all questions with Provide incomplete, Fail to comprehend or respond
(10%) thoughtful answers. Good mostly to-the-point answers. dead-ended, and sometimes to most questions.
command of the discussion, Q&A is largely unilateral. Do irrelevant answers. Appear
with meaningful not know how to handle defensive or diffident.
back-and-forth with audience. difficult questions.
Graceful response to difficult
questions.
Visual aids (5%) Slides are clear, appealing and Slides are adequate to deliver Some slides are poorly Most slides are poorly
error-free. Innovative and message most of the time. designed, unclear or designed, unclear, error-prone.
appropriate use of figures or Occasionally effective use of error-prone. Little or Slides appear to be hastily put
animations to explain figures or animations. Slides ineffective use of figures. Slides together without much care.
concepts. Slides complement somewhat complement the and speech do not complement
the speech well. speech. each other very much.

inability to apply the basic concepts in design tasks. The wine aer- ize that this equation can be used to design a wine aerator. The
ator case study in the manuscript is a good illustration on this role of the project advisor is to guide the students, but without
point. The students should have learned the Bernoulli equation telling them the solution, to link up the product to be designed
in a fluid mechanics course, but they may not be able to real- with fundamental engineering principles and domain knowledge
 K.Y. Fung, K.M. Ng / Education for Chemical Engineers 24 (2018) 13–26 25

so that they know how to start and complete the design prob- of case studies by involving faculty interested in product design
lem. around the world.
In addition, we require the seniors and graduate students to At present, fundamental courses such as thermodynamics, reac-
evaluate material properties using a thermodynamic package such tion, fluid mechanics, and advanced mathematics constituting the
as ICAS from the Technical University of Denmark, and to optimize core curriculum of chemical engineering draw examples of appli-
the product using a tool such as GAMS. These topics are discussed cation primarily from the traditional petrochemical processing
in the lectures and usually the students can quickly learn how to industry. This knowledge is being extended to evaluate the perfor-
use them with homework exercises. mance of a specific product. For example, instead of flow through
Another challenge in carrying out the design project is partly an orifice, flow in a wine aerator can be used to demonstrate the
due to the specific domain knowledge required in a design project. Bernoulli equation. In addition to shifting the examples in the
For example, basic knowledge on printed electronics is required to core courses from traditional petrochemical processing to chem-
design an inkjet ink. As mentioned, the instructor conducts a design ical product design, it is highly desirable that the unconventional
project that is related to his/her expertise or research interest. In processing techniques (e.g. homogenization, physical vapor depo-
our experience, with proper guidance, the students can acquire sition, lamination, breakage, agglomeration, tableting, granulation,
the relevant domain knowledge quickly and to design the prod- nanomization, sintering, inkjet printing, coating, and so on) be
uct effectively. Also, as the students work on a product they are introduced to the chemical engineering curriculum. Efforts in this
interested in, they are often self-motivated to learn the underly- direction are underway.
ing science and technology. In addition, this can be supplemented
by consultation with faculty in other departments or with a course
Disclaimer
on the web that covers the domain knowledge in a more system-
atic and comprehensive way. For example, the design of an inkjet
The authors are not related to, have no financial interest in, and
ink in the second case study can be supplemented with a course
have no intention to endorse or disapprove any of the products
on “Printed electronics: fundamentals and applications”. Similarly,
described in this paper.
the design of a faucet water filter and an air purifier can be supple-
mented with a course on “Advanced physicochemical separation
processes”. References
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