We designed a hands-on laboratory exercise to demonstrate why injecting an aqueous polymer solution into an oil reservoir (commonly known as "polymer flooding") enhances oil production. Students are split into three groups of two to three. Each group is assigned to a packed Hele-Shaw cell pre-saturated with oil, our laboratory model of…

The development of nations depends on energy consumption, which is generally based on fossil fuels. This dependency produces irreversible and dramatic effects on the environment, e.g. large greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn cause global warming and climate changes, responsible for the rise of the sea level, floods, and other extreme weather…

In view of potential demand for skilled engineers and competent researchers in the biofuels field, we have identified a significant gap between advanced biofuels research and undergraduate biofuels education in chemical engineering. To help bridge this gap, we created educational materials that systematically integrate biofuels technologies into…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe the ongoing shift in sustainable engineering and the approaches used by universities for engineering students. At the United Nations Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro, in 1992, participating nations agreed to work together to achieve the goal of sustainable development. Twenty years on, great…

The paper reviews the lessons of planning and running an "Engineering Management" practitioner development programme in a partnership between BP and the University of Manchester. This distance-learning programme is for professional engineers in mid-career experienced in the engineering and support activities for delivering safe,…

In the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering at Auburn University, we have integrated a semester long design project based on a toy fuel cell car into our freshman "Introduction to Chemical Engineering Class." The project provides the students a basic foundation in chemical reactions, energy, and dimensional analysis that facilitates…

Every year, high school students hunch over microscopes and peer at a plethora of tiny creatures. Swimming single-celled protists and whirling multicellular rotifers often steal the show, preventing students from noticing the static algae. However, these frequently overlooked, ordinary algae are inspiring research all over the world as scientists…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a concentrated strategy to embed sustainability teaching into a (chemical) engineering undergraduate curriculum throughout the whole programme. Innovative teaching approaches in subject-specific context are described and their efficiency investigated. Design/methodology/approach: The activities in…

At Desert Vista High School, near Phoenix, Arizona, Perkins Innovation Grant funding is being used to fund a program that is helping to prepare students for careers in engineering by giving them hands-on experience in areas like hydrogen generation and fuel cell utilization. As one enters Dan Zavaleta's automotive and engineering classroom and lab…

A theme-based course focusing on the potential role of hydrogen as a future fuel is described. Numerous topics included in typical introductory courses can be directly related to the issue of hydrogen energy. Beginning topics include Avogadro's number, the mole, atomic mass, gas laws, and the role of electrons in chemical transformations. Reaction…

Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is a valuable tool in teaching green engineering and has been used to assess biofuels, including ethanol. An undergraduate engineering course at Duke University has integrated LCA with other interactive teaching techniques to enhance awareness and to inform engineering decision making related to societal issues, such as…

Describes a course in combustion science and technology at Yale University. Presents scope of subject, course outline, and important combustion problems. (JN)

Discusses a one-semester course on recovering fossil fuels and minerals from underground formations. Includes course outline and information of its major divisions: (1) Geological Background; (2) Flow, Transport, and Interfacial Phenomena in Porous Media; and (3) Description of Underground Processes. (SK)