Four chemical engineering students at the 小蝌蚪APP are among the best in the world at ensuring refineries are safer.
Ashton Castete, Gavan Courville, Matthew Ronkartz and Drew Sikat placed third in a "ChemE-Sports" competition to reduce hazards inside a simulated environment for separating potentially combustible chemicals. Ashley Mikolajczyk, an instructor in the , is the team's adviser.
The strong showing came at the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers student conference held recently in Orlando, Fla. College and university teams from across the world operated a simulated distillation column, implementing software similar to the kind used for training people who work at refineries.
Chemicals such as crude oil are refined inside such distillation columns. When crude is heated inside a column, its elements with lower boiling points 小蝌蚪APP gasoline, for example 小蝌蚪APP are converted to vapor and rise. The vapor, which is collected in a condenser, is cooled, converting it back to liquid. The process creates the risk for accidents such as explosions since the columns hold a large volume of boiling, pressurized liquids.
Student researchers, who conducted their work in mock environments, evaluated distillation processes and proposed solutions for a range of potential issues, including equipment malfunctions and human error. They were judged on their speed and effectiveness in identifying and analyzing problems, devising and implementing solutions, and mitigating hazards.
The "ChemE-Sports" contest combined aspects of chemical engineering, virtual reality and esports. Virtual reality is an interactive experience that happens within a simulated environment via computer-generated animation. Esports, or electronic sports, are video game competitions played on computers and broadcast on screens.
Other competitors included teams from Federal 小蝌蚪APP of Rio de Janeiro; Lamar 小蝌蚪APP; the New Jersey Institute of Technology; New Mexico State 小蝌蚪APP; Northeastern 小蝌蚪APP; Obafemi Awolowo 小蝌蚪APP; San Francisco de Quito 小蝌蚪APP; Stony Brook 小蝌蚪APP; Texas A&M 小蝌蚪APP; Texas A&M 小蝌蚪APP at Qatar; the 小蝌蚪APP of Tennessee, Knoxville; Trine 小蝌蚪APP; the 小蝌蚪APP of Technology Malaysia; the 小蝌蚪APP of Tulsa; and the 小蝌蚪APP of Virginia.
Read more about the competition at the .
Photo caption: UL Lafayette chemical engineering students, from left, Ashton Castete, Gavan Courville, Matthew Ronkartz and Drew Sikat placed third in a 小蝌蚪APP淐hemE-Sports小蝌蚪APP competition at the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers student conference held recently in Orlando, Fla. At right is Donald Glaser of PetroSkills - Simulation Solutions, an event sponsor. Submitted photo