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Development of a problem-based learning elective in green engineering

A.T. Harris , S. Briscoe-Andrews
Laboratory for Sustainable Technology, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney, Darlington, NSW, 2006, Australia

a r t i c l e
Article history:

i n f o

a b s t r a c t
Green engineering is the design of products and processes that maximise resource and energy efciency, minimise waste and cause reduced harm to the environment. In modern society, engineers equipped with the skills to develop these sustainable technologies are particularly valuable. In 2004 the University of Sydney offered an elective course in green engineering for the rst time in Australia, during which students were introduced to

Received 25 September 2007 Accepted 3 December 2007

Keywords: Green engineering Problem-based learning Sustainable technology

cutting edge examples of sustainable technologies relevant to chemical and biomolecular engineering. Five assessable case studies were delivered using a problem-based learning (PBL) methodology which involved substantial group work as well as self-directed learning. This learning approach was a challenge for the majority of students who had not previously been exposed to it. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In particular, overall student satisfaction with the course, measured during the formal evaluation, had a mean score of 4.43 (out of 5) with all students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement Overall I was satised with the quality of this unit of study. Students were also satised with the way the course helped to develop valuable generic attributes (4.43). Individual students commented that the think outside the box nature of the unit was a highlight they would like to see incorporated more widely into their degree programme. 2008 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

Increasingly there is awareness that the way human society is progressing may well cause problems for future generations (e.g. IPCC, 2007a,b,c). This is, of course, the basis for the sustainability movement. Green engineering, eco-technology and sustainable technology are all interchangeable terms for the design of products and processes which maximise resource and energy efciency, minimise (or preferably eliminate) waste and cause reduced harm to the environment. In modern society, engineers equipped with the skills to develop sustainable technologies are particularly valuable. Chemical engineers are uniquely placed to act upon these concerns because they have complementary skills in; (i) traditional engineering, e.g. reactor design, heat and mass transfer, (ii)

economic analysis, (iii) environmental analysis, (iv) social assessment, and (v) process modelling. In 2004, the University of Sydney offered an elective in green engineering to nal year undergraduate and coursework masters students in the Faculty of Engineering, for the rst time in Australia. In 2004 the course had an enrolment of 10 students (and a value of 4 credit points), and when it ran again in 2006, it had an enrolment of 18 students (and a value of 6 credit points; the standard for all courses in the University). In this paper we discuss some of the background leading to the development of the course, describe the teaching and learning rationale, briey present typical assessment items and give two case studies in detail. Finally we conclude with an assessment of student reaction to the course, in terms of content and delivery.

Corresponding author. Tel.: +61 2 9351 2926; fax: +61 2 9351 2854. E-mail address: a.harris@usyd.edu.au (A.T. Harris). 1749-7728/$ see front matter 2008 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ece.2007.12.001

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Table 1 The 12 principles of green engineering (Anastas and Zimmerman, 2003)

Principle 1 Principle 2 Principle 3 Principle 4 Principle 5 Principle 6 Principle 7 Principle 8 Principle 9 Principle 10 Principle 11 Principle 12 Designers need to strive to ensure that all material and energy inputs and outputs are as inherently nonhazardous as possible It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed Separation and purication operations should be designed to minimize energy consumption and materials use Products, processes, and systems should be designed to maximise mass, energy, space, and time efciency Products, processes, and systems should be output pulled rather than input pushed through the use of energy and materials Embedded entropy and complexity must be viewed as an investment when making design choices on recycle, reuse, or benecial disposition Targeted durability, not immortality, should be a design goal Design for unnecessary capacity or capability (e.g. one size ts all) solutions should be considered a design aw Material diversity in multi-component products should be minimized to promote disassembly and value retention Design of products, processes, and systems must include integration and interconnectivity with available energy and materials ows Products, processes, and systems should be designed for performance in a commercial afterlife Material and energy inputs should be renewable rather than depleting

2. Previous examples of green engineering in an educational context

The idea of green engineering has been around in various forms for many years, however it was not until 1992 that a coherent set of guidelines was formalised in a recognizable way. These were known as the Hannover principles (McDonough and Braungart, 1992), and were prepared to guide the redevelopment efforts that were to be undertaken in Hannover in preparation for the year 2000 World Exposition. More recently, a conference was held in San Destin, Florida where participants formulated the San Destin Principles of Green Engineering (Abraham and Nguyen, 2003) and Anastas and Zimmerman (2003) published (independently) the 12 principles of green engineering (Table 1). The 12 principles of green engineering, reproduced in Table 1, provide a framework (rather than rules dedicated to specic chemical engineering practices) for scientists and engineers to engage in when designing new materials, products, processes, and systems that are benign to human health and the environment. A design based on these 12 principles moves beyond baseline engineering quality and safety specications to consider environmental, economic, and social factors (Anastas and Zimmerman, 2003). Anastas and Zimmerman (2003) further report that the breadth of the principles applicability is important:

3.

Teaching and learning rationale

The teaching and learning objectives of the course were

(i) to introduce nal year chemical engineering students to a different engineering paradigm, within a studentcentered, inclusive learning environment; (ii) to demonstrate to students how their studies relate to the actual practice of engineering in the real world; (iii) to improve the quality of student learning by engaging students as active partners in their education; (iv) to introduce students to cutting edge research in chemical engineering so as to spark their curiosity.

When dealing with design architecture, whether it is the molecular architecture required to construct chemical compounds, product architecture to create an automobile, or urban architecture to build a citythe same green engineering principles must be applicable, effective, and appropriate. Otherwise, these would not be principles but simply a list of useful techniques that have been successfully demonstrated under specic conditions.

In the green engineering course at Sydney we referred to all of the published principles, rules and heuristics of green engineering at various times, but in formulating solutions to the problems they had been posed, most students made use of the 12 principles listed in Table 1, because they were exible and could be usefully applied to solve the problems they had been set.

These objectives were achieved using a case study based approach, supported by keynote lectures, workshops and other resources (e.g. learning topics, journal articles, laboratory experiments and some on-line resources). The case studies were delivered using a problem-based learning (PBL) methodology and thus involved substantial group work as well as self-directed learning. The PBL methodology was developed in conjunction with medical education specialists at the University of Nottingham in the UK (Seigel, 2003). Problem-based learning is a student-centered, contextualized approach to learning (Barrows, 1985), whose application to chemical engineering has previously been reported (Woods, 1996). PBL is a generic term; forms of PBL that have been used include research, case studies, guided design, engineering design projects and small self directed learning groups (Woods, 1996). In problem-based learning, the majority of time is spent learningby identifying what you need to know, nding out, teaching each other and then applying your new knowledge (Woods, 1996). Thus, the primary aim of the exercise is the learning, not the completion of the project. The project is simply the means to this end (Woods, 1996). Our experience from the green engineering course at Sydney was that this learning approach was a signicant challenge for many students who had not previously been exposed to it. The contemporary student at Sydney prefers to be lectured to, and then to rote learn material ready to regurgitate this during a written exam. We suspect however, that this phenomenon is not conned to students at the University of Sydney. There were also challenges during the delivery of the coursethe approach requires skilled and knowledgeable

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tutors, as well as a bank of suitable case studies. We solved these problems by using PhD students as tutors who were intimately familiar with the material being studied through their own research work. We are aware of only one other attempt to develop a course in sustainable technology using the PBL methodology (Hmelo et al., 1995). In this work Hmelo et al. describe three case studies offered to students during their course: (i) a study of the Bhopal industrial accident, (ii) chlorine contamination in the Great Lakes, USA and (iii) an impact assessment of the sheet molding manufacturing process. They then related each of these back to the core principles of sustainable development.

4.

Assessment

The assessment items were real life projects, drawn from our research and consulting experience, i.e. the entire course was an example of research-led teaching. This was advantageous for monitoring instances where students, either advertently or inadvertently, were guilty of plagiarism. Because the course material (and underlying published reference material) was very well known to the teaching and learning staff, it was comparatively simple to identify cases where plagiarism had occurred. However, because the material presented during the course is at the cutting edge of sustainable engineering research, it is challenging to continually maintain an up-todate syllabus. The cases were chosen to illustrate the diversity of industries in which the contemporary chemical engineer is equipped to practice. Students were presented with a technologically complex, real life situation with no single correct answer. Their challenge was to develop a solution that was technologically sound as well as cost effective and, most importantly, in line with the general heuristics of sustainable engineering (e.g. those in Table 1). Students were assessed on the quality of a written report and in some cases, a presentation. There was no mid-semester or nal exam. In most cases students were expected to work in teams to explore the underlying issues, but prepare an individual report for assessment. In addition, with each assessment item, students were required to complete a peer and self-assessment, during which they quantitatively and qualitatively rated their own contribution and the contributions of their peers during the project. A satisfactory peer and self assessment includes the following sections:

The numerical scores from these assessments were then factored into the nal project mark. The case study assessments offered to students in 2006 are summarised in Table 2, along with the key teaching and learning objectives for each. The course was only offered as an elective to students in their nal year, because the skill set required to effectively develop sustainable engineering solutions is effectively that of a fully qualied engineer, i.e. students were called upon to use their knowledge of mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology, economics, materials science, product and process design and engineering practice during the different case studies. Both technical and non-technical attributes were emphasised throughout the case study assessments. This required students to develop and demonstrate technical knowledge as well as skills in research and enquiry, information literacy, personal and intellectual autonomy, communication and ethical, social and professional understanding, consistent with the teaching and learning aims of the University. We deliberately chose to begin the course with an essay; something many engineering students have not grappled with since high school, and to nish with a literature review and presentation. We believe being able to prepare a concise, critical literature review and then present this to an audience, clearly and coherently, is a highly under-rated skill, and certainly one that graduate engineers should be better at. In Table 2, it is clear that many of the teaching and learning outcomes are reinforced during each problem.

5. Sample case studies in green engineering

To give an idea of the working process for each new case, we will briey present two examples used in the course in 2004 and 2006, the rst on industrial ecology (the idea of mimicking natural systems in industrial situations) and the second on the concept of bio-sequestration. The industrial ecology example is used as an in-class exercise which is run over 2 weeks (and does not contribute to a students nal grade), whereas the bio-sequestration project is an item of assessment, valued at 15% of the course mark.

5.1.

Industrial ecology

(i) a short paragraph documenting what contribution(s) the student has made to the project; (ii) a mark (out of 100) for the students technical achievements; (iii) a mark (out of 100) for each of the other students, non-technical contributions (e.g. attendance at group meetings, overall preparedness, initiative, team spirit, etc); (iv) short paragraphs documenting the contributions of the other group members to the project; (v) a mark (out of 100) for the technical achievements of every other member of the group; (vi) a mark (out of 100) for the other, non-technical contributions of every other member of the group; (vii) the students signature and date at the bottom of the document.

Students were given a brief, 30 min lecture on the Kalundborg Industrial park in Denmark (Fig. 1, after Allenby and Graedel, 1994). Fig. 1 shows the industries located within the park, the material and energy ows between them, and the nature and fate of outgoing material and energy streams. They were then tasked with investigating opportunities for implementing the same approach in Australia. This was investigated in small groups (4 people) during a 2-h workshop following the lecture. Two possibilities were identied, both comparatively well known; Kwinana in WA and Gladstone in QLD. Once the sites and their local industries had been identied students proceeded to investigate possible synergies between industries by developing mass and energy balances. The following week students then had an opportunity to present their answers to the class and compare them with what is actually happening at those sites (Fig. 2). Fig. 2 shows existing synergies and material and energy ows for the Kwinana Industrial area.

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Table 2 Assessment items offered in 2006

Case 1 Topic and assessment format Prepare an essay on green engineering Specic teaching and learning outcomes (i) To dene and develop an appreciation of the underlying principles of green engineering (ii) To develop an appreciation of the wider engineering context, including social, economic, ethical and commercial implications of industry practice in the context of sustainability (iii) To develop effective written communication skills (i) The ability to critically analyse the methods of manufacture of different products and processes (in this case energy) and to improve these consistent with the principles of green engineering (ii) To appreciate the non-technical dimensions of large-scale energy supply (e.g. social, environmental, political) (iii) To select appropriate engineering principles to solve open-ended problems and apply engineering and scientic principles in new or novel situations (iv) To develop effective written communication skills (i) The ability to critically analyse the methods of manufacture of different products and processes (in this case CO2 sequestration using algae) and to improve these consistent with the principles of green engineering (ii) The development of an integrated suite of problem-solving skills needed to successfully handle novel (and previously unseen) engineering situations (iii) To select appropriate engineering principles to solve open-ended problems and apply engineering and scientic principles in new or novel situations (iv) To develop effective written communication skills 4 Prepare a project report on replacing organic solvents with sustainable alternatives, e.g. supercritical uids (i) The ability to critically analyse the methods of manufacture of different products and processes and to improve these consistent with the principles of green engineering (ii) The development of an integrated suite of problem-solving skills needed to successfully handle novel (and previously unseen) engineering situations (iii) To select appropriate engineering principles to solve open-ended problems and apply engineering and scientic principles in new or novel situations (iv) To develop effective written communication skills (i) An ability to independently research new areas and be critical of what is found (ii) To enhance the student learning experience by enabling an appreciation of the process behind delivering a lecture (iii) To develop effective written and oral communication skills

Prepare a project report on sustainable energy options for Australia

Prepare a basic preliminary design (e.g. description and PFD), costing and sustainability assessment (an LCA or similar) for a bio-sequestration plant to be located in the Hunter Valley

Prepare a concise, critical literature review and lecture on one of the following topics: (i) The preparation of biomimetic materials (e.g. articial spider silk) (ii) The carbohydrate economy (the preparation of bulk chemicals from renewable materials) (iii) The atom economy (e.g. novel synthesis routes for ibuprofen) (iv) The preparation of biodegradable polymers (v) Photosynthetic hydrogen production from water (vi) Industrial ecology (vii) The concept of design for recycle (viii) Biodiesel manufacture

5.2. Bio-sequestration and the production of biodiesel from algae

Bio-sequestration is the process of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere using biological rather than physical capture and storage processes. It can be performed in aquatic or terrestrial environments, using any plant or micro-organism capable of photosynthesis. Micro-algae have attracted interest because they can generate considerably more biomass per unit of area and time than terrestrial plants, and hence have enhanced bio-sequestration potential. In theory, bio-sequestration is an effective method of mitigating the consequences of combusting fossil fuels to generate electricity, however this is dependent upon the long-term storage of the biomass, which can be problematic. As a background to the bio-sequestration assignment, students were given the following brief: You work in the technical projects department of an international engineering consultancy. Your employer has

asked you to prepare a basic preliminary design (e.g. description and PFD), costing and sustainability assessment (an LCA or similar) for a bio-sequestration plant to be located in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Your boss wants to know what bio-sequestration is, whether it works, how it works, how much it costs, and whether the benets outweigh the costs of implementation. He has also heard that it is possible to synthesise biodiesel from this process, and so he wants to know about this as well. At this stage of the project the students were also given literature references on how to undertake a preliminary life cycle assessment, LCA (e.g. Khan et al., 2002; Azapagic, 1999). Note this material is covered in some detail in the second year of the Sydney curriculum. The range of answers presented by students for this assessment item was diverse. A good answer comprised the following elements:

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Fig. 1 Schematic of the industrial ecopark located in Kalundborg, Denmark showing the industries located within the park, the material and energy ows between them, and the nature and fate of outgoing material and energy streams (after Allenby and Graedel, 1994).

(i) A concise, comprehensive review of the scientic literature. (ii) A short summary of recent commercial literature on the process. (iii) A description of the advantages of generating bio-fuels from algal feedstocks. Algal biomass contains large quantities of lipids (vegetable oils), carbohydrates and proteins, which are all suitable as feedstocks for the manufacture of bio-fuels, e.g. biodiesel, bio-ethanol and methane gas. The combustion of bio-fuels releases their carbon back into the atmosphere, so if exhaust gases are used to farm algae for the purpose of producing bio-fuels,

the carbon sequestration value is largely lost, since the carbon from the coal (or other fossil fuel combusted in the power plant) is released into the atmosphere fairly quickly. Nevertheless, bio-fuels can be used to replace or extend petroleum fuels, and their use can therefore displace some of the demand for petroleum-based products, and reduce related emissions. From a greenhouse perspective, this has a net positive impact. (iv) A description of the techniques available for converting algal biomass into useful fuels. This can include: (a) biodiesel can be synthesised from the oil fraction, via a simple transesterication reaction with alcohol (e.g.

Fig. 2 Schematic of symbiotic opportunities in Kwinana, WA (van Beers et al., 2005).

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ethanol or methanol). This fuel has similar properties to petroleum diesel fuel, and can be used in unmodied diesel engines; (b) ethanol can be produced via the fermentation of the carbohydrates; (c) synthesis gas containing methane can be obtained by the thermal gasication of any or all of the algae fractions, and (d) direct combustion of the biomass to produce steam for electricity generation (NREL, 1998). Most of the work reported in the literature concerning the growth of algae for fuels has centred on biodiesel, which appears to be the most promising alternative, based on the observation that some species of algae can contain up to 60% lipids (per unit mass of dry biomass). The remaining dry biomass consists of carbohydrates and proteins in roughly equal proportions (Benemann, 1993). (v) A preliminary design for a bio-sequestration facility. The optimum design for a bio-sequestration facility in the Hunter Valley of NSW would utilise the high concentrations of carbon dioxide in power station ue gases to grow algae in a farm of large, shallow, raceway style ponds mixed with paddlewheels. The biomass would be recovered using occulation and settling, and converted to biodiesel using a simple transesterication reaction with alcohol. Annual average algal growth rates of 10 t dry biomass/(km2 day) have been achieved when farmed in this way, and growth rates of 50 t/(km2 day) have been experienced when conditions are near-ideal (NREL, 1998). The amount of accumulated biomass, and thus the potential for sequestration is highly dependent upon the growth rate of the algae. (vi) A preliminary capital and operating cost assessment. We have calculated the capital cost for a 100 km2 installation as being between AU$1.5 and 2 billion. At low algal growth rates (10 t/[km2 day]), the system has a negative NPV, and a payback period of 70 years (for a plant with an operational lifetime of 30 years). Under these conditions, abating greenhouse gas emissions would cost approximately AU$ 60 t1 of carbon dioxide, while forestry carbon credits can be purchased for around one third of this price. At high growth rates (50 tonne/[km2 day]) the NPV is $5 billion. (vii) A basic sustainability assessment. An algae farm and biodiesel plant covering an area of 100 km2 would have the potential to reduce CO2 emissions by 480,000 t per annum at an average algal growth rate of 10 t dry biomass/(km2 day). This can be increased to 3,350,000 t at higher algal productivities. Investment is highly sensitive to the sale price of biodiesel, and therefore crude oil prices. If oil prices drop during the lifetime of the facility, biodiesel may no longer be economically competitive, and the protability of the plant would be drastically reduced. The feasibility of the investment also relies upon the availability of large areas of land near existing power stations, and large volumes of wastewater requiring treatment.

studies and (ii) having students prepare and deliver their own lectures. The enthusiasm with which students responded to these ideas, and the responsibility they demonstrated in taking control of their own learning were both positive outcomes. Student feedback in the form of the Unit of Study (UoS) evaluation (a condential paper-based survey, managed by the Universitys Teaching and Learning centre) was overwhelmingly positive and demonstrated the impact of the teaching and learning style on student outcomes. In particular the overall student satisfaction with the course, measured during the UoS evaluation, had a mean score of 4.43 (out of 5), with all students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement Overall I was satised with the quality of this unit of study. Students were also very satised with the quality of the teaching (4.29), the responsiveness of the staff (4.29), the relevance of the unit to their broader degree (4.43), and the way the unit helped to develop valuable generic attributes (4.43). Individual students commented that the think outside the box nature of the unit was a highlight they would like to see incorporated more widely into their degree. In 2004 all 10 students completed the survey questionnaire. In 2006 the student scores and responses were consistent with those from the 2004 class.

7.

Conclusions

Green engineering is the design of products and processes that maximise resource and energy efciency, minimise waste and cause reduced harm to the environment. The green engineering elective offered by the University of Sydney in 2004 was the rst undergraduate unit exploring the principles of green engineering in Australia, using the problem-based learning methodology. The material presented in the course lies at the cutting edge of sustainable engineering research, and consequently, it is challenging to continually maintain an upto-date syllabus. Overall student satisfaction with the course, measured during the formal evaluation, had a mean score of 4.43 (out of 5) with all students agreeing or strongly agreeing with the statement Overall I was satised with the quality of this unit of study. Individual students commented that the think outside the box nature of the unit was a highlight they would like to see incorporated more widely into their degree programme.

Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nicholas Florin and Susie Wood for their work as tutors in 2004 and 2006, respectively, and Rajinder Kaur for assistance with the development of new course materials in 2006. AH is grateful to the University of Sydney for a Teaching and Learning Award for funding the development of new course materials in 2006.

references

6.

Student feedback

When the course was offered for the rst time in 2004 we were able to test several new teaching and learning ideas, as a precursor to including them in the new Chemical Engineering curriculum implemented at Sydney in 2005 (Gomes et al., 2006). These included: (i) problem-based learning case

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