Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Day 2/3 Reflection

I chose this project because I wanted to know more about water distillation, and how to control a realistic large-scale distillation column. It is also probably because I am more interested in chemical sciences. My main role in the group was a photographer. I take pictures of my team in action and our learning journey. But of course I learnt the main key points and contents, and helped my friends to solve problems regarding the distillation column.
We met some challenges along our learning journey. One very good example was the failure in the distillation column that was given to us for us to solve. We are to solve the problem and ‘fix’ the distillation column given our knowledge of the concept of distillation and how to control the distillation column. Out of the 3 variables that we can change, we cannot change one of them as it is the variable that is causing the column to fail. We needed to experiment with the other 2 variables and how they affect the column and product. We had to gather and discuss what variable to change as to get the correct final product. Given our current knowledge of how each variable affects the column and the process itself, we managed to fix the column in under a short amount of time.
Through this project, we discovered that we need team-work to get things done correctly, fast, efficiently, and in an organized manner. We need to be focused in our project and not to be distracted easily. As an individual, I have learnt lots about distillation, operation of a large-scale distillation column, teamwork, and cooperation.
My aspirations are to be an environmental engineer, so I can help save nature.

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