This project, for use in senior level chemical engineering laboratory courses, addresses the chemical reaction engineering principles relevant to the treatment of waste water from microelectronics processing and from metal finishing and refining industries. Its purpose is to demonstrate to students that waste water containing dilute toxic metal ions (50-200 ppm) can be treated by electrodeposition of the metals at a porous cathode; to enhance students' experience with chemical reaction engineering by determining the reaction rate constant of the electrodeposition reaction, its activation energy, and the rate-determining step; to improve students' economic consciousness by evaluating the current efficiency and energy consumption of the process; and to perform a scale-up process design and cost estimate of the electrolytic treatment process, comparing the results to a competing process such as precipitation and landfill. Participants assemble the equipment, carry out preliminary experiments, develop a lab manual, and integrate the project into an undergraduate chemical engineering laboratory course.
