Teaching Population Balances for Chemical Engineering Students: Application To Granulation Processes

Authors

  • Verónica Bucalá PLAPIQUI (UNS-CONICET)
  • Juliana Piña PLAPIQUI (UNS-CONICET)

Abstract

The population balance equation (PBE) is a useful tool to predict particle size distributions in granulation processes. When PBE is taught to advanced chemical engineering students, the internal coordinates (particle properties) are particularly hard to understand. In this paper, the flow of particles along different coordinates is carefully explained, making the analogy between the flow of particles in granulators and the flow patterns in chemical reactors, the latter being a well-known subject in chemical engineering.

Author Biographies

Verónica Bucalá, PLAPIQUI (UNS-CONICET)

Verónica Bucalá is a professor of chemical engineering at Universidad Nacional def Sur (Bah la Blanca, Argentina). She received her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the same university. She held a postdoctoral research fellow position at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Her research interests are in the area of chemical reaction engineering and simulation of solids processes.

Juliana Piña, PLAPIQUI (UNS-CONICET)

Juliana Piña is an assistant researcher in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Universidad Nacional def Sur (Bah la Blanca, Argentina). She received her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the same university. She held a postdoctoral research fellow position at University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. Her research interests include modeling and simulation of catalytic chemical reactors and granulation processses.

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Published

2007-07-01

Issue

Vol. 41 No. 3 (2007): Summer 2007

Section

Manuscripts