Canama's BSChE e-Portfolio
Design Tool Usage
There are certainly problems that could not be solved manually. There are also tasked that cannot be done by hand to achieve a more accurate results. With a little help with technology, these could be made possible.
​
This section would showcase the different software used during the course of the BSChE program. This entails some artifacts that shows a bit of how much I could do in doing design calculations and drafting designs with the technology we have right now.
Microsoft Office
With or without the pandemic, Microsoft Office has been my "best friend" for all the necessary requirements to be produced. It is evident on the journals, reflections, regressions, data plotting, presentations, diagrams, and other outputs that utilizes such feature. It has also helped us over the course of the pandemic with its ability to share documents and edit them simultaneous with others real time. Office has played a huge part of my college years.
​
Never would I forget the number of times I have to practice using Excel to conduct data regression and programming it for iteration problems. I realize the power of Excel with immense practice. Little did I know that I could connect sheets with one another such that I can input data at once and have it inputted on other parts of the file. In using Word, I learned the power of using page breaks, cross-referencing, figure and table captions, and wrapping up with a table of contents automatically made in the file. Not only does PowerPoint give amazing and creative slides but also can be useful in diagram making and poster-making requirements. It truly is a powerful tool.
​
Here are some example files that we created using such tool, especially Excel and Word. These were not done alone but with the help of my groupmates in each of the activities assigned to.
Click on the excel icon to see file about the rate of reaction for our chemical reactor design. My contribution to this is (with Rhoel) in the regression of the batch data with the formulated equation to determine the constants of the rate law equation.
Click on the excel icon to see file about the mass balance calculation for the conceptual plant design of the surfactin production via fermentation using Bacillus subtilis and Cassava wastewater. I focused on the Freeze-Drying Material Balance
Click on the picture to see file about the reworking of the modelling of the Vapor-Liquid Equilibria of Monopropylene Glycol (MPG) - Tetrapropylene Glycol (TPG). I was assigned to conduct a regression analysis using the Van Laar and NRTL equation.
Computer-Aided Drafting
Finally, the use of computer-aided design tools are useful to visually conceptualize the design of a particular equipment or the entirety of plant. With the aid of the mechanical design calculations and heuristics taught, the aim of being familiar to the software available for drafting would be of great advantage once we enter the professional arena.
​
Over the summer of 2019, we took our CAD class where we started off by being fluent in manual drafting and computer-aided drafting. Upon working with computer applications, the use of AutoCAD and SketchUp are key players to produce 2D and 3D designs. As starters, we were first taught how to do 2D layouts using AutoCAD. This was also an opportunity to design plates using such application and be familiar too with the equipment symbols used in the engineering field. After, with the help of SketchUp, we designed 3D models and be familiar with the software's features. As conclusion to the class, we were grouped together to design a specific equipment by applying what we learned from these two applications. Click on the layout screenshot to see the results of our design project created by James Darel Branzuela, Kent Catarig, and yours truly. You can also view our 3D output through the video below.
Click on the picture layout to see file on the final requirement for ES-CAD: Equipment Design
MATLAB/Simulink
Another program that has been very useful is MATLAB. Such software has been very useful in the aim to produce a system to which codes are used to generate solutions to the problem and allows users to input values and generate outcomes based on the data given. It is also used to observe trends and simulations in process control system by automatically solving data using Laplace transform functions found in the Simulink application.
To further challenge on our capacity to solve and use what we learned in our Modelling class (which entails the hybrid of the fundamental concepts to mathematical techniques, we were grouped together to solve a modelling project which tasks to solve problems found on the reference textbooks and uses the taught mathematical techniques and tools to solve such problem. Working as a group, we individually assigned ourselves to a particular problem. I was assigned to solve about the problem on the flow distribution of a pipe network (visual diagram shown below; Part 2 of the project file) where the solution was determined using MATLAB. Here is the final document containing how the model was derived and how it was solved.
Click on the picture to see the mathematical modelling project file
MATLAB and Simulink was also used in our CPD project on the production of surfactin using Bacillus subtilis and Cassava wastewater. Aside from equipment sizing and balance calculations, it is important to determine the automatized control system functions that enables to predict and alarm the equipment should it goes beyond the acceptable regions of capacity based on the parameter concerned. The process control system ensures that safety and efficiency are observed throughout the operation despite the transient behavior of the system. Simulink was of immense used to automatically solve and predict the system based on input data and constants. See more of the document about the process control system of a cell growth fermenter by clicking the picture about the project. Among the controls, I was assigned to predict and design a pH control system.
Click on the picture to see the process control system document of a cell growth fermenter
(Assigned Task: pH Control System)
