Vallejo Molina, Luis Francisco;
López Gómez, Sebastián;
Soto Gomez, David Alejandro;
Ortiz Prada, Andres Fernando;
Molina Escobar, Jorge Martin;
Copete Lopez, Henry;
Woodrow, Michael;
... Molina Ochoa, Alejandro; + view all
(2024)
An educational module on fire and explosion safety for undergraduate chemical engineering students.
In:
Encuentro Internacional de Educación en Ingeniería.
(pp. pp. 1-9).
Asociación Colombiana de Facultades de Ingeniería - ACOFI
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Abstract
Incidents, such as the fire that occurred between December 21st and 23rd 2022 at the fuel tank storage facility in Barranquilla, remind Colombian industries of the risk of fires. Chemical engineers are responsible for designs and technologies that prevent fires and explosions. Yet, fire and explosion safety is not a subject that is explicitly addressed in the Chemical Engineering curriculum. This study describes an educational module that fosters in Chemical Engineering undergraduate students competencies relevant in fire safety. Through an analysis of a pool fire that occurred in a chemical plant in Colombia, an educational module on fire and explosion safety was developed. The module describes basic concepts related to fire safety such as pool fires, dikes, vapor pressure, and flammability limits, and highlights the differences between prescriptive vs. performance-based design. It also illustrates the use of Physical Modeling Tools (PMTs) as an example of emerging technologies in fire safety. The module was presented to first-semester students in the Introduction to Chemical Engineering class and advanced students in the Process Engineering class at Facultad de Minas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medellín. The impact of the module was evaluated by surveying the students on the perceived importance of the competencies for fire and explosion safety, before and after taking the module, and comparing the results with the order of importance of the competencies as defined by a group of experts in fire and explosion safety. The module was deemed an effective way to increase the awareness of Chemical Engineering students on fire and explosion safety.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | An educational module on fire and explosion safety for undergraduate chemical engineering students |
| Event: | 2024: Encuentro Internacional de Educación en Ingeniería ACOFI 2024 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.26507/paper.3549 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.26507/paper.3549 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright 2024 Colombian Association of Engineering Faculties - ACOFI. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License . |
| Keywords: | fires and explosions safety; pool fire; engineering education. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10216609 |
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