Unit Operations Laboratory
Presented by: Michigan Technological University
The Department of Chemical Engineering offers students a unique learning experience with its world-class Unit Operations Laboratory and Process Simulation and Control Center (PSCC), which boasts 6,500 square feet and a three-story open bay dedicated to chemical-processing education.
The laboratory features 18 bench and pilot-plant-scale unit-operations experiments focused on pumping fundamentals, heat exchange, membrane separation, kinetics, liquid extraction, vacuum drying, and flow measurement, among other chemical processes. Students gain hands-on experience with two fully automated pilot plants: a three-story distillation column (solvent recovery unit) and a two-story batch reactor. The PSCC is equipped with a DeltaVTM control system and OSI Soft-PIdataTM historian and retrieval software.
This unique facility affords students the opportunity to learn in a real-world chemical-processing work environment providing a practical, hands-on experience. Two exciting capstone courses for chemical engineering seniors are based on the lab; these courses allow students to build teamwork skills in a state-of-the-art learning complex. Process safety is emphasized in the laboratory.
