CHEMICAL ENGINEERING LAB 1 REFLECTIONS
In Chemical Engineering Lab I, I had encountered many experiments related to fluid mechanics and heat transfer. Previously, I only learnt about theoretical and calculation part of the subject. In this course, I had learnt about the application part of subjects. I had been exposed to different lab equipments related to fluid mechanics and heat transfer. At the end of this lab course, I not only learnt on how to produce good reports but also learnt how to use my chemical engineering knowledge to justify and explain the results of the experiment. Sometimes the information provided in the lab manual such as thermal conductivity and area values might be wrong. Therefore, verification of information was important before proceeding to start the experiment. I think all these knowledge that I had learnt throughout the course will be important in my future chemical engineering career. In the course, safety awareness is also something that I had learnt. In this case, I think most of the GAs did their job well by reminding us the precautions before we start the experiment and also during the viva.
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Throughout the course, I also learnt about the importance of teamwork in performing an experiment. For example, during the experiments of heat exchanger. We separated our tasks evenly before we started the experiment. One of the group member monitored the cold water tank by adding water and prevent the water from overflowing. Two members were in charge of regulating the hot and cold water flow rate. Another member was responsible in collecting the data from the system.
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There are many things that can be improved in this course. First of all, regular inspection and maintenance of lab equipments are essential as I and my group members had obtained inaccurate data in certain experiments due to equipment faultiness. For example, we could not get accurate density values in the Properties of Fluids experiment due to the faultiness in the hydrometer. Also, in Experiment 2: Viscosity of Fluids experiment, we took a long time in getting the experimental results due to leakage in the Hoppler ball viscometer. Apart from that, some GAs tend to perform the viva straight at the end of the experiment. In my opinion, viva is better to be done after we have completed the report because students will have better understanding after completing the full report.