Moving to timed remote assessments: the impact of COVID-19 on year end exams in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London

Summative year end assessments area major component of student assessment at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London.More than 600 studentsparticipate in over40 different exams during the summer term. At the end of the spring term, the college moved to fully remote operation due to COVID-19, leaving the academic community with the challenge of delivering examinationsremotely. At the time pandemic hit the UK, teaching for allmodules in the department had been completed, the exam timetable had already been published and all exam paperspassed the mandatory external quality review. To implement time-limited remote examsas stipulated by the university, the department decided to proceed with anexisting VLE platformfor submission of answer-sheets.This study highlights stakeholder reflections from the academic and student communityduring the implementation of this approachculminating in a mock examination to gauge readiness of the infrastructure as well as the student population.Our survey found that the majority of students (>80%) managed to follow the written instructionsand readily engaged with scanning technologies and the uploading process.In the main, students did not have to adapt their learning or writing style. All stakeholdersprovided constructive suggestions at the end of the mock exam resulting in a relatively smooth transition to this new mode of examination. This study highlights challenges and reflections on making the summer year end examsremote in a very short timeframein a large and diverse Chemical Engineering department at very short notice

Adsorptive reactor technology for VOC abatement

The use of the monolith as an adsorptive reactor (MAR) is proposed as a viable and novel alternative for VOC disposal. The MAR combines adsorptive separation and catalytic combustion of the VOC in a single reactor unit and is thought to make effective utilisation of energy due to efficient heat integration. Theoretical studies on the feasibility and application of the adsorptive reactor concept for VOC oxidation is presented in this paper. Thus unlike previous work, present studies focus on an exothermic reaction system and the ability of the MAR to control thermal runaway. A two dimensional mathematical model accounting for non isothermal adsorption and reaction, mass transfer limited adsorption kinetics and non linear (Tóth) adsorption equilibria, has been developed. The process is operated cyclically in two steps: adsorption and desorption/reaction. The VOC is fed into the reactor in the adsorption step and captured to produce a pure carrier gas effluent. Concentration and thermal swing is induced in the second step by means of an air feed. The most outstanding feature of the MAR is its ability to prevent thermal runaway whilst maintaining a high VOC conversion. Simulation results indicate that the careful selection of step times for adsorption and desorption, feed temperatures and inlet velocities lead to stability and energy requirements which outperform equivalent conventional designs. The MAR is thermally more stable due to the controlled release of the reactant from the adsorbed phase into the reaction zone, and also the heat integration of endothermic desorption and exothermic reaction. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved