A number of universities have maintained a dedicated laboratory course as part of the process control sequence, but those numbers

have been
shrinking due to the high resource requirements of lab courses and the pressure to reduce the number of hours in the engineering curriculum.
While some chemical engineering departments run a junior measurement lab and a senior unit-operations lab, many now operate only one lab
in the senior year which may incorporate control-related experiments. aboratory courses are evolving, and new directions are being examined
at specific universities, combining elements of simulation and also distance learning.
!n the chemical process industries, the high cost of pilot scale equipment and operating personnel has led to greater reliance on computer-based
simulations rather than traditional pilot-scale experiments. "onsequently, today#s engineers work more often from a control room or from
behind a computer screen. $ow, you rarely find engineers in the field adjusting valve positions, flow rates, and temperatures. %ypically, this is
done using the computer interfaces of distributed control systems.
%he fourth-year unit-operations laboratory at %exas %ech &niversity is emulating this practice by producing computer-generated simulations
based upon mathematical models for the pieces of equipment in the laboratory. %his permits experimentation and simulation. %he unit-
operations laboratory can familiari'e students with the safety concerns and operational issues of each piece of equipment. A (irtual &nit
)perations aboratory *(&)+ complements the existing physical laboratory to give the students a realistic experience of industrial
operations. $ational !nstruments# ab(iew computer-interfaces of the (&) give students an experience of controlling the equipment via the
computer in addition to physically turning valves and checking temperatures.
Another approach being employed involves the use of a computer connected to the !nternet to allow students to carry out experimental studies
in a remotely located physical laboratory. ,ermitting students to operate real laboratories at any time, from anywhere, using standard, digital
communication software such as Web browsers is a burgeoning topic as interest increases in remote control and maintenance. %his approach
also permits a teacher and students at another institution to have access to laboratory facilities without incurring the cost of equipment
maintenance and technician or teaching-assistant support.
-emote laboratory capability is available in the laboratories at the &niversity of %ennessee at "hattanooga *&%-"+, the &niversity of %exas at
Austin, and the .assachusetts !nstitute of %echnology, as well as other schools. %he &%-" laboratory station#s computer operates equipment
*such as pumps, valves, heaters, and relays+, collects the data *such as pressure, temperature, and concentration+ and sends data to the user via
!nternet. /rom the Web browser, students can link to tutorials, pictures, live videos, and past data files related to the equipment set-up. 0raphs
of the time-progress of all process variables are also separately available on the Web. %hese Web pages can be viewed simultaneously by other
students or instructors in real time, with the raw data archived for subsequent viewing and analysis.
1everal universities have used the &%-" facility via the !nternet for undergraduate laboratory experiments. %he use of simulations and remote
laboratories is expected to increase in the future, although many faculty, at present, do not readily embrace such changes.
%homas /. 2dgar is a professor in the 3epartment of "hemical 2ngineering at the &niversity of %exas, Austin.
%homas /. 2dgar
&niversity of %exas
Source Citation:2dgar, %homas /. 4ab courses go virtual.4 "ontrol 2ngineering 56.76 *3ec 6885+9 66*7+. 0eneral )ne/ile. 0ale. Apollo
ibrary. 68 :uly 688;
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Gale Document Number:A7A8BACA6D