Process Simulation Failure as a Learning Tool

Chemical process simulators have become ubiquitous in chemical engineering education. Students frequently view them as a black box of wonder that will make their engineering life much easier, when in fact the simulator may actually more closely resemble Pandora's Box. When given a choice amongst an analytical solution to model equations, a numerical solution to model equations, or a simulator solution, students often trust the simulator results over their model, not realizing the simulator uses the same (or possibly an inappropriate) model. This paper discusses an approach of "learning through failure", where students develop simulations for systems that produce results not matching reality. The goal is to make students aware of the need to critically validate any results obtained from a process simulator.