Blog 1
BLOG ENTRY 1
-Week 1: Team formation
-Week 2: Quiz and chemical products
-Week3: Needs identification
-Practical 1
Week1: Team formation
We started week1's lesson off by getting to know our teammates better by participating in team bonding activities. Tristan, Justin and I decided to go to FC1 and eat. That was where I learnt a few interesting things about both Justin and Tristan. Afterwards we headed back to class and shared what we learnt about each other to the class.
We were then tasked to assign roles and responsibilities. Tristan volunteered to be the leader while Justin wanted to be the scribe hence I took the role of being the photographer. Below are some of the role description we settled on.
Role description
Tristan (Team leader)
1) organize meetings
2) keep everyone on track
Justin (Scribe)
1) Take down notes of what is being discussed in meetings to help the team stay on task
2) Create documents for the team to write down our results and findings
3) Organises the notes neatly for better visualisation
Weng Yan (Photographer)
1) take photos and selfies of group meetings
Besides detailing what each roles needed to do, we also decided to implement some rules for our team.
Team rules
1. Put 100% of your effort into this module
2.Be punctual for all team meetings
3. Help each other out when in need
4. Respect each other
5. Have fun in this module
Week2: Quiz and chemical products
In week2, we learnt about what to look out for when using a 3D printer and Laser cutter. We had to get a perfect score on 2 quizzes in order to move on and most of us struggled as it did not tell us which question we got wrong :/ However we manage to solve it and all got perfect scores :)
(perfect score after an hour of trying :") )
We were then enlightened with the 4 types of chemical products. A chemical product is any product that is designed and/ or manufactured using chemical engineering principles.
Chemical Products
-Commodities
-Molecular Products
-Micro-structured Products
-Chemical Devices
Commodities
-Made in large quantities
-Product is non-differentiate
-Competition is about price
Some examples: Detergent, Paint
Molecular Products
-Posses a specific chemical structure that is discovered through research
-Performs a particular task
-Can sell for much more than the cost of the ingredients cost to make the product
Some examples: Medicine
Micro-structured Products
-Products with specific functions
-Typically less than 100 μm
Some examples: Crab sticks
Chemical Devices
-Provides convenience
-Miniature process which accomplish a particular chemical transformation
Some examples: Coffee maker
A chemical device can fall under a broad category and also a sub category.
The broad categories a chemical device can fall into are:
-Household
-Personal
-Food and beverage
-Healthcare
-Information technology
-Transportation Energy
The sub categories will fall under the broad categories. Some examples for sub categories would be:
Household: Electronics, Appliances, etc.
Personal: Cosmetics, Fragrances, etc.
Food and beverages: Fresh, Frozen and Processed food, etc.
Healthcare: Pharmaceutical, Health supplements, etc.
Information technology: Telecommunications, electronics, etc.
Transportation energy: Automobile, Aircraft, etc.
Afterwards, we needed to choose a random chemical product and classify it under the broad and sub categories. We also needed to identify how chemical engineering principles were applied in the design of the identified chemical product.
My team decided on an electric kettle as our chemical product. We then classified it under household products appliances. At first we thought that electric kettles were made in large quantities hence we placed it under commodities. However afterwards, Dr Noel corrected our thinking and we realised that a electric kettle is actually under Chemical Devices as provides convenience. Heating of the water in the electric kettle is also a miniature process which accomplishes a particular chemical transformation.
Week3: Needs identification
In week 3 we learnt the product design stages from the 4-stage design process by Moggridge
and Cussler*
-Identify customer needs (NEEDS)
-Establish ideas (IDEAS)
-Refine Ideas (Selection)
-Develop and plan project (MANUFACTURE)
However we only focused on the first stage of the product design stages: identifying customer needs
Identify customer needs (NEEDS)
chemical product design process should be driven and governed by the
requirements of the customers or specific industry.
Initially, for our group, we discussed the daily problems we had and one of our groupmates told us about his story on how he got into a near accident while riding his bicycle. On a rainy day, while cycling across the zebra crossing he assumed that the car passing would stop for him but it did not. This caused him to come to a break immediately, thus he fell.
Hence we identified our problem which was cyclists not being noticed in the dark. We needed to create a safer way for cyclists to travel around in the dark. Our solution at first was to create a vest with lights at the back that signals the direction the cyclist is going. However, we realised that this solution was not the best and feasible hence we decided to scrap the idea. Refer to the next blog to find out more on our next idea that we landed on.
Afterwards we learnt how to do a literature review.
Importance of Literature Review
-Assessment of the current state of research on a topic
-Identification of the experts on a particular topic
-Identification of key questions about a topic that need further research
-Helps steer clear of inadvertent plagiarism
First ICPD Practical
For the first ICPD practical, we first brewed some coffee with the coffee machine before taking it apart and looking at the components of it. We then conducted an air-lift pump experiment. In this practical my takeaway is that one will only need a small amount of steam is needed in the coffee maker to lift the hot water upwards towards the coffee powder.
(Before we started to brew the coffee)
(After we brewed the coffee)
(When we dismantled the coffee maker, taking a good look at the heating element!)
(air-lift pump experiment)
At first, my group assumed that all the water in the coffee maker turns into steam and is condensed by a condenser. However our calculations did not add up as the energy supplied by the power outlet was lesser than the amount of heat absorbed by the water, which was not possible.
After dismantling the coffee maker, we realised that the heating element was at the bottom of the coffee maker and there was a plastic-rubber tubing that transports the hot water from the bottom of the coffee maker (heating element) to the top of the coffee maker (coffee powder). Dr Noel then asked us to think about how the hot water travelled upwards without a pump. Initially my group felt that it was due to the pressure difference in the hot water that lead to a capillary action of the plastic-rubbery tubing, thus leading to the hot water moving up the tube.
However, our assumptions were wrong as we realised that in our theory there was no use for a condenser. This left us confused as we do not know how the hot water got up to the coffee beans. After the air-lift pump experiment, we realise that only a little bit of air is needed to lift liquids upwards. Thus we came to a conclusion that the coffee maker makes use the steam to transport the hot water upwards before condensing.
