Before entering the Principle of Chemical Process (PCP) class, I always thought that this subject is not very tough subject. It is because when I was in semester 1, we are also learned the basic conversion to use in this subject. Plus, our lecturer is not stressed to us about it. But when entering first class of Prof. Kamarul ‘Asri bin Ibrahim, I shock because it totally different with what I am expected. In his first class, he brief to us about all the syllabus that will be in this PCP I. from that I know that this subject is very hard and also it a must that all of Chemical Engineering student to pass this subject because it is a pre-requisites to PCP II that will be taken in the next semester. In his first class also, he did do some revision about the unit conversion that we had learned in first semester. Most of us had already forgotten how to convert it. But with his help, we’re getting better in the conversion unit. He said that to be a well future engineer, we have familiar with the unit conversion because in daily life we will not always get what we expect and not all of the engineer outside there will be used the same unit with us.
In the 2nd week, we are being introduced with quizzes. We will be test in the very early of the class. In the beginning, I was felt very nervous to answer the quiz question. But I was getting more comfortable with it day by day. It actually teaches me to be more prepared in all of his classes and it makes me study about the chapter that he will test us. Actually it was very fun. From the quizzes also, I learned that basis is the most important thing that we have to know. By knowing the basis of certain process, we can scale up and also scale down the entire process. It is very useful in real life because not all of the time we are needed to produce very small amount of product and vice versa. From his quizzes also I know that every single thing have their own unit except for ratio of same element. Before this I always thought that if we are dividing the mass of certain element with the total mixture of two element, there will be no unit because both of it is in kg. But, in fact it have unit because the element is not the same and it could not cancel each other.
For 3rd and 4th week, I had learned about the single unit and multiple processes. There’s a lot of process that happen around us but we are not realize about it. We are only saw what is happen in the factory. Prof. Kamarul relating all of the process to what had happen in the surrounding to make us understand more about it. But before solving the problem, I have to know what are the process take place, how many input and output and also the quantitative and the qualitative value for the process. The next week, we had learned about purging, recycle and also bypass in the multiple process. By doing this to the process, we can save cost for the whole process and also increase the product formed. Great future chemical engineer should know how to minimize the cost for a process with a bigger amount of product that will be produce by the system.
In week 6 to week 8, we had been introduced to material balances on reactive process. In this chapter, we are dealing with the chemical reaction equation. In every equation we have to balance the equation so that we know the stoichiometry for each element. From that we will know which reactant will be the excess and also limiting reactant. There are 4 concepts that had been stress by Prof. Kamarul which is fractional conversion, fractional excess, yield and also selectivity that should be know in these topics. We also need to differentiate between the dry basis and also wet basis in the reaction. Water content in the reaction will give the difference between the two basis. When water content is ignore in the reaction, it will be the dry basis.
In the following week, I have learned about the single phase system. This chapterfocus on the ideal gas, Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP), and also non ideal gas. In the material balance, only a basis is needed to solve a problem. But in this chapter, references condition on initial state also play a role in solving a question. This is very-very tricky chapter. It is because the information given in a question is not enough by only looking at the question. So we have to know how to search the extra information by searching at the appendix B in Elementary Principle of Chemical Process to obtain the critical pressure and also temperature. Using the information we can know the compressibility factor and it will show that our gas is an ideal gas or not. So, the answer is not the main thing in this courses but the part of the solution play the most important role to having the critical thinking mind.
For 10th and 11th week, we are focussing to the multi phase system. In this chapter, we need to apply the Raoult’s Law for a single condensable species. While for the Gas-Liquid system we have to apply Raoult’s Law and also Henry’s Law. In the both laws, it contain mole fraction for vapour and also liquid. In this chapter also, we are trying to find the dew point of the solution when it is being cooled and also the bubble point when it is being heated. And in the last two weeks we had been taught about the energy balanced for open and also closed system. There are three type of energy involved in the both system is the kinetic energy, potential energy, and internal energy or enthalpy. But for me, this chapter is a quite tough chapter because it needs a deep understanding about the previous chapter. So to understand more I think I should understand this subject from the beginning.
As a closure, this subject maybe a tough subject but if we giving some time to it like Prof Kamarul always said we need to spend 3 hours more for each hours inside the class to have a better understanding. Understand is better than memorizing. Furthermore, the part of the solution is more important than the final answer. To Prof Kamarul ‘Asri thank you for making me enjoy to study this PCP I. I hope that I will see you also in my PCP II. 