Educators can use MATLAB and Simulink to enhance teaching and learning experiences in courses and labs. You can:
- Develop interactive learning modules using live scripts, apps, and virtual labs
- Provide instant feedback to coding assignments (with MATLAB Grader) in courses like numerical methods, process control, and introduction to computing
- Use self-paced online courses and curriculum material for process control and numerical methods
- Design and test control systems for chemical engineering equipment
- Integrate MATLAB and Simulink with hardware and other computational tools (process simulators, multi-physics tools) and programming languages
Industry Examples
Symbolic Calculations
Symbolic Math Toolbox lets you symbolically derive and solve algebraic and differential equations commonly encountered in transport phenomena, thermodynamics, reaction kinetics, and control theory. You can perform unit conversions, evaluate and visualize symbolic expressions, and transition between symbolic and numeric computations.
Featured Offerings
- Heating of Finite Slab - Example
- Balancing Chemical Equations - GitHub
- Introduction to Symbolic Math with MATLAB - Online Course
“MATLAB can be used to automate complex math calculations, which allows more time for students to learn engineering problem-solving skills and extrapolate those skills to more complex, real-world applications beyond just heat and mass transfer.”
Donald Sebastian, professor of chemicals and materials engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology
Numerical Methods
You can use the built-in functions in MATLAB to solve algebraic, differential, and partial differential equations. Partial Differential Equation Toolbox lets you solve domain-specific (heat transfer) partial differential equations via finite element analysis. You can explore and analyze results using built-in postprocessing and visualization capabilities. You can also implement your own numerical solution algorithms using MATLAB.
Featured Offerings
- Numerical Methods with Applications - File Exchange
- Partial Differential Equation Toolbox - Heat Transfer - Documentation
- Solving Ordinary Differential Equations with MATLAB - Online Course
- MATLAB Grader Assessment Content for Numerical Methods - Assessment Collection
- Numerical Differentiation for Chemical Engineers - Activity, New Jersey Institute of Technology
- Applied PDEs Curriculum Modules for Diffusion, Reaction-Diffusion, and Heat Transfer - GitHub
FREE TUTORIALS
Self-Paced Online Courses
Optimization
Optimization Toolbox and Global Optimization Toolbox enable you to define and solve process optimization and parameter estimation problems. Live Editor Task lets you get started quickly using a visual interface. You can call the built-in solvers directly or use a problem-based modeling approach. Additionally, you can interface with GAMS. For larger problems, you can enable parallel computations with Parallel Computing Toolbox.
Featured Offerings
- Fit ODE Parameters Using Optimization Variables in Reaction Kinetics - Example
- Reduce Waste and Increase Efficiency with Process Optimization (46:55) - Video
- Mathematical Modeling with Optimization - Video Series
- Optimization Onramp - Online Course
Statistics, Machine Learning, and AI
Statistics and Machine Learning Toolbox, Deep Learning Toolbox, and Reinforcement Learning Toolbox offer low-code apps for designing, tuning, assessing, and optimizing statistics and AI models for various applications, including statistical process control, visual inspection for quality control, prediction of chemical properties or process parameters, and predictive maintenance.
Featured Offerings
- Employing Machine Learning to Correlate Fluid Properties (21:22) - Video
- Machine Learning for Engineers Curriculum Modules - File Exchange
- Process Control with Reinforcement Learning (15:34) - Video
- Ridge Regression with Reaction Data - Example
- Predictive Maintenance of a Heat Exchanger (14:06) - Video
Featured Offerings
- Thermodynamics Course Modules - File Exchange
- Statistical Mechanics Course Modules - GitHub
- Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Project - Activity, University of Houston
Transport Phenomena
Using MATLAB, Symbolic Math Toolbox, and Partial Differential Equation Toolbox, you can solve transport phenomena problems analytically and numerically and then visually analyze the results. Simscape Fluids lets you graphically represent and dynamically simulate fluid flow and heat transfer systems.
Featured Offerings
Fluid Mechanics
- Fluid Mechanics Curriculum Modules - File Exchange
- Pressure Loss and Mass Flow Rate in a Thermal Liquid Pipe - Example
- Three Constant Head Tanks - Example
- CFD Modeling Using MATLAB - Blog
- Friction Factor Determination for Fluid Flow Inside Pipes - Activity, Mapua University
Heat Transfer
- Heat Conduction Through Iron Rod - Example
- Live Scripts for Online Teaching: Solving a Heat Equation Example (23:56) - Video
- Heat Transfer with MATLAB - Curriculum Materials
- Conduction and Convection in a Fin of Uniform Cross Section - Activity, Washington State University-Tri Cities
- Examples in Heat Transfer - (GitHub)
Mass Transfer and Separation Processes
- Mass Transfer (User Community Submissions) - File Exchange
- Distillation (User Community Submissions) - File Exchange
Reaction Kinetics
MATLAB and Curve Fitting Toolbox let you visualize, analyze, and fit models to reaction kinetics data. You can design, optimize, and control chemical reactors using MATLAB, Simulink, Simscape, Optimization Toolbox, and Control System Toolbox. You can also develop pharmacokinetic models using SimBiology.
Featured Offerings
- Web Apps for Chemical Reaction Engineering - File Exchange
- MATLAB Apps for Chemical Reaction Engineering - File Exchange
- Optimization of Reactor Volume for a Series of CSTRs - File Exchange
- Chemical Reactor Design Toolbox - File Exchange
- Chemical Kinetics with MATLAB - File Exchange
- SimBiology Tutorials for QSP, PBPK, and PK/PD Modeling and Analysis - Video Series
Process Control
You can design, test, and implement control systems using MATLAB and Simulink. You can teach process control concepts ranging from PID control to model predictive control with interactive lecture material, videos, and self-paced online courses such as Control Design Onramp with Simulink.
Featured Offerings
- Process Dynamics and Control Course - File Exchange
- Control 101 Toolbox - File Exchange
- Teaching Modeling and Controls with the MATLAB Live Editor (37:52) - Video
- Control Systems Tech Talks - Video Series
- System Dynamics and Control MATLAB Grader Assessment Content - Product
- Model Predictive Control - Chemical Engineering Examples - Documentation
Chemical Engineering Labs
You can acquire data from hardware such as thermocouples and control lab equipment such as reactors and heat exchangers. MATLAB lets you analyze, visualize, and build models from experimental data, and you can document your lab work using Live Editor. You can interactively design graphical user interfaces using App Designer to share your analysis or create virtual labs to teach chemical engineering concepts like process control, transport phenomena, or reaction kinetics. With low-cost hardware and ThingSpeak (Internet of Things platform with MATLAB analytics), you can give your students the opportunity to work with real-world data, such as process data.
Featured Offerings
Testing and Measurement, Interfacing, and Hardware
- MATLAB for Test and Measurement - Solutions
- Connect MATLAB and Simulink to Hardware - Hardware Support
- Connect MATLAB and Simulink with NI products - Products
- Connecting Low-Cost Hardware Platforms to MATLAB and Simulink - Technical Articles
Data Analysis, Visualization, and Sharing
- MATLAB for Data Analysis - Product
- Data Visualization - Discovery
- MATLAB for Data Processing and Visualization - Online Course
- App Building Onramp - Online Course
Virtual Labs
- QLabs Virtual Coupled Tanks - Product
- Model Predictive Control for the Quanser Coupled Tanks - File Exchange
- A Virtual Process Control Experiment - File Exchange
- Online Teaching and Virtual Labs with MATLAB and Simulink (32:29) - Video
Process Design and Capstone
You can design chemical unit operations from scratch to master the process design methods. MATLAB and Simulink let you interface process simulators to incorporate your custom designs with flowsheets, design control strategies, and optimize processes. You can challenge your students with industry-relevant projects, such as monitoring and controlling bioreactors for pharmaceutical production.
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