Haber-Tech: A Slmulatlon ot t h e Industrial Synlhesls ot Ammonla Donald Bauder. COMWess, A Divfsion of Wadsworth. Inc.. P.O. Box 102, Wentworth. NH 03282 Hardware: Apple II family Software: Applesoft. DOS 3.3 Components: One dlsk. one archlval dlsk, manual Level and Sublect: lunior hiahlhlah " schoollgeneraichemistry Cost: $75.00 Summary Ratings:
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Reviewer I
Category Ease of Use:
ReYIewer I1
Excellent Goad
Sublecr Maner Content: Good Pedagogic Value: Good StudentReaotion: Excellent
VeryGoad Very Good
Excellent
Revlew I Haber-Tech by Donald Bauder is a slickly done program with exceptionally good, colorful graphics which treats a subject rarely given much coverage in either high school or college chemistry. In the program the student functions as the operator of an ammonia synthesis plant by making changes in the operating conditions and observing the effect of those changes on the production of ammonia and on the profithoss situation of the plant. There is the potential for the students to treat this as a competition which should add some student interestto theprogram. It seems to this reviewer that the program is more likely to he used at the high schoollevel where the students have a greater amount of free time to spend "playing" with a program of this type; this reviewer has some doubts that the time spent on this program in a college program would he justified by the amount of material that is learned by college students who are already well motivated toward learning. However, college students who are not already motivated to learn might be reached by such a program; thus, it may he of use in college
-Reviewed
programa for this type of student. I t is also somewhat doubtful that the subject matter of the program fits well within the standard collegiate program. Nonetheless, the program is quite addictive and serves as a pleasant diversion for those who take the time to run through it. This is nowhere more true than just after the operator has made a mistake which results in an explosion destroying the plant and ends up with a monumental loss on the company balance sheet. The program begins with an introductory section which gives the user the option of "taking a tour of the plant" or proceeding directly to operating the plant. First-time users are advised hy the handout that accompanies the program to take the tour. The "tour" provides a good historical hackground to the Haher process and to the importance of ammonia in the modern world ,and then proceeds to give information on the actual equipment involved in the manufacturing process. This is quite well done with good use of drawings to give the overall picture followed by larger drawings discussing each of the major components in detail. For one trained as a chemist rather than as a chemical engineer the "tour" was quite fascinating and informative. The student is given the option of backing up to review previous material at many places during the tour. After the tour is completed the program automatically reboots to present the student the same two options that were offered a t the beainnina. If the student takes the ooeratine ootion. ~, he or she a requested tosign in. This set* up the program to be ahle to save intermediate results so that the student can interrupt the plant operations and return to the same point in the process when he or she returns. At this point the student is given the option of running the plant or of going into a training session to learn how to operate the plant. The first-time operator is advised to enter the training section of the program and to use the handout provided with the program which provides detailed directions telling what changes to make during the training phase. During this training the student changes parameters in such a way as to in~
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vestigate the effect of temperature on the equilibrium constant, the effect of a catalyst on the rate of attainment of equilibrium and on the equilibrium constant itself, the relationship between temperature and pressure in a gaseous system, and the stoichiometric relationships involved in the production of ammonia. At one point in this procedure the suggested conditions cause the plant to explode. The explosion is depicted on the computer screen by avery colorful and beautiful simulation of the effects of such an explosion. During this entire proceas the student is directed to record the observations of the condition of the system after the changes are made. At some places the handout goes into an explanation of the chemical and/or engineering principles being illustrated. There are some places at which the principles could he more explicitly called to the attention of the student. Far example, the discussion of the equilibrium state neither mentions the fact that an equilibrium constant exists nor has the student calculate the value of an equilibrium constant. Additionally there is no quantitative treatment of the gas laws given in the programor in the handout. Nonetheless, it does do a nice job in pointing out the trsdeoffs such as the tradeoff between rapid rate of formation of ammonia, favored by a high temperature; and large equilibrium eonstant, favored by a low temperature. Suhjectssuchas these are rarely,if ever, covered in principles courses such as the normal General Chemistry course and would be a valuable addition to the education of the chemist. Throughout the operation of the plant the student is permitted to call upon the use of a "computer" to analyze the operation. When the computer is used it looks a t the operating conditions and the current conditions and provides hints as to what might he changed to improve the performance of the plant.The operator is charged far this advice just as would happen in a real situation. The hints take the formof"cousider the effect of temperature on the rate of formation of ammonia" or "the pressure is not high enough." Should more than one thing he
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In This Issue
Computer Leaning Package Review
Revlewer
Donald Bauder, Haber-Tech: A Simulation of t h e Industrial Synthesis of Ammonia
David N. Bailey Dennis Sievers
A178
Books
Peter Eduard Verkade, A History of t h e Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry Gwendy Caroe, The Royal Institution, An Informal History Raymond S. Seymour and Tai Cheng History of Polyoleflns: The World's Most Widelv Used Polvmers Janes S. Doddand Marianne C. Brogan, The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors
A178
Journal of Chemical Education
Kauffman
A180
John H. Wotiz George Kauffman
A180 A181
George
George
~au'ffman
A181
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wrong, the student is given only one hint witheachuse of the computer. Unfortunately, should more than one thing be wrong with the system and the student call on the computer two times in succession, the same advice is repeated; a change must be made in the system prior to asking the computer for further advice. While the nlant oueration is halted the student o n e r a k can make other changes in nlfrogen feed mte, hydrogen feed rate, operatme: temperature, P ~ Cas desired. The inputs for these are cheeked and errors are properly trapped so that the program will not abort because of an input data error. This reviewer was unable to cause the computer to "crash" despite repeated efforts to do so. The students who ran the oromam were " all q u m enthus~asticabout 11. The program was awgned as an opt~onalextra to a group of high school students a t Normal Community High Sehool in Donald Gore's classes. A mixed group of students took the opportunity to use it. The group included several students who had never used the computer before. The program is so self explanatory that these students needed no help in running it other than the usual advice on how to insert the disk in the drive and turn on the cumputer. The time u, complete the program ranged from slightly less than 2 h to slirhtly more than 2 h (110-135 m i d . Gore commented that the students using it were often tempted to go back and run the program again in an attempt to increase the amount of money that they made beyond that made by one of their classmates. In summary, Haher-Tech is a refreshing use of the computer to teach a subject which is little covered in normal high school or college curricula. While the curriculum would he m i t e comnlete with a less elaborate discussion of the Haher process. the treatment of the material in this prlrgram may serve to interest some students who would not otherwise become interested in studying the equilibrium and kinetics concepts that are used in the program. The handout, especially if it were modified to include calculation of actual equilibrium constants and to deal ouantitetivelv with the gas laws, is very useful and r h d d he conridered nn intpgral part of the program. While the hardware requirements are listed as a 48K computer with a disk and a monitor, this reviewer feels that acolor monitor is a real necessity. Not only is color used to g w d advantage in the program, but also without a color monitor the screen has too little contrast to he able to read it easily in many places. If a color monitor is available the program would he a good investment for either the high school or the college that wishes to provide additional opportunities to "turn on" those hard to reach students who are most effectively reached by computers in this computer age. DAVID N. BAILEY lllinols Wesleyan University Bloomington, IL 61701
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Haber-Tech represents an entertaining and educational simulation of the Haber ammonia synthesis. This program differs
~ignificantlyfrom similar software in a Feat mnny frntures. Its graphirs, animation, and werall method of presentation place this package in a class by itself. The program is very easy to use. Once booted, all prompts are clearly displayed leaving few questions. The boot time seems long but considering that several custom graphic routines must be Loaded, it is not excessive. While the diskette is copy pratected, a backup copy is provided. The program is well guarded against improper key strokes. Should a student accidentally press an unacceptable key, the input is ignored and the prompts reappear. A reset key press simply reboots the disk. All text is displayed in a very attractive graphics format that makes for interesting viewing but does take more time for display. Once hooted, several interesting animated logo screens appear followed by a novel menu display. Two doors are offered t o the student in the manner of "the lady or the tiger." One gives a guided tour of a Haher process ammoniaplant; while, a second door allows the user to enter a thought provoking and very real simulation of plant operation, The guided tour begins with a funny Looking, animated, hard-hatted guide giving some initial instructions. The guide then leads the student on a slow, accurate, detailed exploration of the chemistry and eeonamics of ammonia production. This tour is verv disk intensive as numerous maohie image; are loaded and animated. The speed of display ia under the control of the student. \'wwmg time can for slow readers or drdicated note takers last several hours; yet, the average student should he able to complete this in one class period. Little advanced preparation in the topics of equilibrium, kinetics, or thermodynamics is needed because the basics are presented during the tour. At any time the student may press a key to review any of the material previously presented. The level of this tutorial is well suited to the high school student hut may he ton simple for the university level. As the user completes the tour, the opportunity to operate a simulated industrial plant is provided. Students control the plant operations by changing the hydrogen and nitrogen feed rates, the pressure and temperature, the presence of a catalyst, ammonia removal rate and more. These controls are similar to several other simulations of this process; however, in this instance, the user's selection affects the plant's profitability. Using a catalyst will increase efficiency in the ammonia production hut will decrease profits. Each action taken by the student has an effect upon the corporate profits. For those having difficulty in this management process, acomputer is available to make suggestions and report on plant performance. Needless to say, using this computer is costly and profits decrease. Most simulation sequences will need more than one class period ta be effective. To this end, the program allows students to save all control parameters and financial data to a disk file for later recall.
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(Continued on page A180) Volume 63
Number 7
July 1986
A179
