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Moving toward a funding standard similar to that for clinical services for roles essential to the functioning of education, research and leadership services within divisions of general surgery is necessary to strengthen divisional resilience. We aimed to identify roles and underlying tasks in these services central to sustainable functioning of Canadian academic divisions of general surgery.Between June 2018 and October 2020, we used a 4-step modified Delphi method (online survey, face-to-face nominal group technique [The expert panel agreed that a framework for role allocation in education, research and leadership services was relevant and necessary. Consensus was reached for 7 roles within the educational service, 3 roles within the research service and 5 roles within the leadership service.Our framework represents a national consensus that defines role standards for education, research and leadership services in Canadian academic divisions of general surgery. The framework can help divisions build resiliency, and enable sustained and deliberate advances in these services.

How liquid transport occurs in confined spaces is relevant to many industrial and lab-scale processes, ranging from enhanced oil recovery to drug delivery systems. In this work, we investigate propelling microdroplets that form from liquid-liquid phase separation in a quasi-2D chamber, focusing on the direction and speed of microdroplets in response to local composition gradients. The confined ternary solution in our experiments comprises a model oil, a good solvent (ethanol) and a poor solvent (water). Depending on the initial solution composition, water-rich or oil-rich microdroplets, form and move spontaneously as the ternary solution mixes with and is displaced by water diffusing from a deep side channel. Microdroplet movement is followed in situ using high-speed bright-field imaging or fluorescence imaging when the solution is doped with a dye. Local ethanol composition gradients are estimated from the variation of fluorescence intensity in the local continuous liquid surrounding the mobile microdroplets. From phase separation of the ternary solution with high oil concentration, mobile oil-rich microdroplets form in a water-rich zone, accompanying the formation of water-rich microdroplets in an oil-rich zone. The fast movement of oil-rich microdroplets induces directional flow transport that mobilizes water-rich microdroplets close to the water-rich zone. The average microdroplet speed increases with the initial oil concentration in the ternary solution. The fastest speed of oil-rich microdroplets observed in our experiments is ~150 ${\mu}$m/s along the surface of a hydrophobic wall. The presence of a sharp ethanol composition gradient is the primary driving force for the fast movement of oil-rich microdroplets in confinement. Our results demonstrate the potential of enhancing liquid transport in confinement through composition gradients arising from phase separation., Comment: This is the authors' submitted version of the manuscript to Energy & Fuels

Flow transport in confined spaces is ubiquitous in technological processes, ranging from separation and purification of pharmaceutical ingredients by microporous membranes and drug delivery in biomedical treatment to chemical and biomass conversion in catalyst-packed reactors and carbon dioxide sequestration. In this work, we suggest a distinct pathway for enhanced liquid transport in a confined space via propelling microdroplets. These microdroplets can form spontaneously from localized liquid-liquid phase separation as a ternary mixture is diluted by a diffusing poor solvent. High speed images reveal how the microdroplets grow, break up and propel rapidly along the solid surface, with a maximal velocity up to ∼160 μm s-1, in response to a sharp concentration gradient resulting from phase separation. The microdroplet propulsion induces a replenishing flow between the walls of the confined space towards the location of phase separation, which in turn drives the mixture out of equilibrium and leads to a repeating cascade of events. Our findings on the complex and rich phenomena of propelling droplets suggest an effective approach to enhanced flow motion of multicomponent liquid mixtures within confined spaces for time effective separation and smart transport processes. This journal is

This chapter discusses Black fife and drum music in Tennessee during Reconstruction. It looks at the two earliest Black benevolent societies to appear in Memphis, the Sons of Ham and the SBs (the Social Benevolent Society), which were founded in the 1850s before the end of slavery. The absence of life insurance made benevolent and burial societies an absolute necessity to Black people in the Reconstruction South, and the activities of these societies actually played a big role in the development, spread, and continuance of Black fife and drum music. As early as the first year of Reconstruction in Tennessee, Black fife and drum music was used for political rallies; for parades and processions in celebration of national holidays; for days of importance to the race, such as Emancipation Day; for picnics and other festive occasions; for demonstrations and protests, such as the attempt to march into the State Colored Convention; and for funerals. The chapter then considers the growing backlash from white Tennesseans against this music, primarily because of its association with Black assertiveness and militancy, Black political activity, and the hated Radical party.

This book is an epic history of a little-known African American instrumental music form. The book follows the music from its roots in West Africa and early American militia drumming to its prominence in African American communities during the time of Reconstruction, both as a rallying tool for political militancy and a community music for funerals, picnics, parades, and dances. Carefully documenting the music's early uses for commercial advertising and sports promotion, the book follows the strands of the music through the nadir of African American history during post-Reconstruction up to the form's rediscovery by musicologists and music researchers during the blues and folk revival of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Although these researchers documented the music, and there were a handful of public performances of the music at festivals, the story has a sad conclusion. Fife and drum music ultimately died out in Tennessee during the early 1980s. Newspaper articles from the period and interviews with music researchers and participants reawaken this lost expression, and specific band leaders receive the spotlight they so long deserved. The book is a journey through African American history and Tennessee history, with a fascinating form of music powering the story.

This concluding chapter illustrates how, contrary to the white opinion of fife and drum bands as a militant or military music, Black communities used this music in numerous ways. These include recreational activities such as picnics and dances. It also appeared in connection with labor organizing, Sunday school picnics, funerals, and even advertising, particularly in Nashville. By the dawn of the twentieth century, references to fife and drum bands in Black communities had largely disappeared from Tennessee newspapers, but it does not necessarily follow that Black fife and drum activity ceased. The music would have likely remained hidden in rural Black communities had there not been a folk and blues revival in the years following World War II. The Tennessee Arts Council has been involved in recent years in efforts to reintroduce the Black fife and drum genre to West Tennessee.

This chapter explains that by 1942, Black fife and drum music was largely invisible to the larger society. Unmentioned in newspapers and magazines, unrecorded by record labels, the genre had an ephemeral existence in rural Black communities at funerals and picnics. Things might have remained that way forever, but a number of factors came together in postwar America that resulted in the rediscovery of the Black fife and drum tradition. One factor was the activities of folklorists and musicologists such as Alan Lomax. In 1942, he and Louis Jones were commissioned by the Library of Congress to go to the Mississippi Delta and make field recordings. The chapter then looks at the discovery of fife and drum bands such as the Southern Fife and Drum Corps; the Broadnax Brothers; the Fredonia Fife and Drum Band; the United Sons and Daughters of Zion No. 9 Fife and Drum Band; and the Independent Pole Bearers Society No. 9.

This chapter looks at Black fife and drum music in Tennessee during segregation. The period of time beginning in the late 1890s and continuing into the early twentieth century represented perhaps the lowest point of race relations in America, an era that some historians refer to as the Nadir. During this time, Black people were summarily stripped of their right to vote and hold office, and state constitutions were rewritten to take away the franchise through poll taxes, literacy tests, and other devices. Laws requiring segregation were enacted in many states, and not always strictly in the South. Under such conditions, it is not surprising that Black fife and drum music began to be encountered less and less in the pages of newspapers. Although there were rallies and political meetings involving fife and drum bands during this era, they were few and far between, mostly involving the Republican Party, or a few third-party efforts, such as the Populists or the American Protective Association. By contrast, the vast majority of fife and drum activity in Tennessee surrounded the Nashville minor league baseball team, the Vols, and the Black fife and drum band hired to promote them.

This chapter traces the beginnings of Black fife and drum music, which is not well documented. The general assumption is that its beginnings are the result of the similarity between certain flute and drum ensembles in West Africa and the early American military tradition of fifers and drummers. Indeed, the emergence of Black fifers and drummers is associated with their contact with the military traditions in colonial America. Black drummers were almost always mentioned in early American newspapers, even in the South, in conjunction with military activities. There are also accounts of Black drummers and fife and drum bands in the state of Tennessee, although the earliest dates associated with the phenomenon seem to occur in much later articles, in which residents are recalling the early history of their communities. After the first year of the Civil War, references to Black fifers and drummers almost disappear from the newspapers. Newspapers in Tennessee were silent about fife and drum bands until after Nashville had fallen to the Union.

This introductory chapter provides an overview of Black fife and drum music. Black fife and drum music, as found in the Mississippi Hill Country today, is a predominantly rural form of instrumental music, usually played at picnics. Most fife and drum bands consist of at least three musicians, although bands can be larger, or occasionally smaller, such as one fifer and one drummer. One of the difficulties with all of the existing research about Black fife and drum bands is a lack of discussion of its past, or of its context. The chapter explains that the book demonstrates how African Americans, newly emancipated from slavery at the dawn of Reconstruction, chose Black fife and drum music as a representation of a developing self-image as Black Americans.

This chapter examines Black fife and drum music and Black political organizing in Tennessee in 1872–77. Although the Constitution of 1870 imposed a poll tax, it proved to not make much of a difference in Black people voting or running for office. Indeed, Blacks voting and running for office became extremely contentious, and Black fife and drum music became the occasion for outrage at times. As the year 1872 dawned, the Black community in Memphis and nearby areas of Mississippi seemed focused on a different and more pressing issue: the use of convict labor to build the Selma, Marion, and Memphis Railroad. Relations between whites and Blacks in Tennessee began to deteriorate rapidly in 1874. Much of it was the result of bitterness springing from politics, as white Southern Conservatives began to realize that Black voters were never going to abandon the Republican Party in large numbers as they had hoped. On the contrary, Blacks were becoming more insistent in their demands for full and equal rights in America. By 1874, the Independent Pole Bearers had seemingly replaced the Sons of Ham as the primary Black organization in Memphis.

This chapter explains how, from 1878 onward, the number of mentions of Black fife and drum activity declines year by year in Tennessee newspapers until, in the early years of the twentieth century, it disappears altogether. With the end of Reconstruction, there were fewer Black parades in public places and fewer Black political rallies. What events there were, such as picnics, were more private and less likely to be covered by the press. The rise of segregation also limited white exposure and contact with Black fife and drum music, at least outside of rural areas. Regardless of the lack of public visibility, there is reason to believe that Black fife and drum music continued throughout this period.

Concerns over the environmental impacts of thermal production methods for bitumen and heavy oil have led to the exploration of alternative technologies including solvent-assisted production methods...

Nanocolloids (nanoparticle + solvent mixtures) and nanocolloid + non-adsorbing polymer mixtures arise in fields as diverse as pharmaceutics, hydrocarbon production, and environmental science. While...

Instructors with a diverse mix of industrial and academic experience teach our process design courses. The instructors work in close collaboration with working professional engineers including industrial technical specialists, entrepreneurs, and academic colleagues with an industrial focus. We prepare unique process design projects and advise student teams collectively. Many of the industry advisors are long-term contributors and over time some have become instructors for the design course. Our community of practice offers students a window on engineering design practice and innovation as they transition to the professional community. This paper explores how a community of practice contributes to student development, the achievement of the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes, and the development of an innovation ecosystem. By providing targeted direction to industrial participants in a process design course community of practice, we show that the focus of the community and their motivation for participation can be shifted over time from benchmarking competence to innovation competence that also supports student innovation and leadership capacity development.

Displacing liquid in a confined space is important for technological processes, ranging from porous membrane separation to CO$_{2}$ sequestration. The liquid to be displaced usually consists of multiple components with different solubilities in the displacing liquid. Phase separation and chemical composition gradients in the liquids can influence the displacement rate. In this work, we investigate the effects of liquid composition on the displacement process of ternary liquid mixtures in a quasi-2D microchannel where liquid-liquid phase separation occurs concurrently. We focused on model ternary mixtures containing 1-octanol, ethanol, and water. These mixtures are displaced with water or with ethanol aqueous solution. The spatial distribution of subphases arising from phase separation and the displacement rates of the solution are impacted by the initial ternary solution composition. The boundary between the solution and displacing liquid changes from a defined interface to a diffusive interface as the initial 1-octanol composition in the solution is reduced. The displacement rate also varies non-linearly with the initial 1-octanol composition. The slowest displacement rate arises in the intermediate 1-octanol concentration, where a stable three-zone configuration forms at the boundary. At very low 1-octanol concentration, the displacement rate is fast, associated with droplet formation and motion driven by the chemical concentration gradients formed during phase separation. The excessive energy provided from phase separation may contribute to the enhanced displacement at intermediate to high 1-octanol concentrations, but not at the low 1-octanol concentration with enhancement from induced flow in confinement. The knowledge gained from this study highlights the importance of manipulating phase separation to enhance mass transport in confinement for a wide range of separation processes., This is the authors' submitted version of the manuscript to Energy & Fuels

This article is the first of three projected IUPAC Technical Reports resulting from IUPAC Project 2011-037-2-100 (Reference Materials for Phase Equilibrium Studies). The goal of this project is to select reference systems with critically evaluated property values for the validation of instruments and techniques used in phase equilibrium studies of mixtures. This report proposes seven systems for liquid–liquid equilibrium studies, covering the four most common categories of binary mixtures: aqueous systems of moderate solubility, non-aqueous systems, systems with low solubility, and systems with ionic liquids. For each system, the available literature sources, accepted data, smoothing equations, and estimated uncertainties are given.

Experimental vapor–liquid equilibrium (VLE) data for long-chain n-alkane + naphthenic mixtures are scarce in the open literature. In this study, VLE data for representative binary mixtures of naphthenes with long-chain n-alkanes are presented. The selected compounds include two n-alkanes (n-hexadecane and n-eicosane) and three naphthenes (cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, and ethylcyclohexane). The experimental data are compared with computed bubble pressures using the Peng–Robinson and PC-SAFT equations of state in order to evaluate the accuracy of predictions and to obtain regressed kij values. Expected applications of these contributions include improved phase behavior model accuracy for hydrocarbon production, transport, and refining applications.

Summary The two-order-of-magnitude mismatch between solvent-assisted bitumen theory and experimental production rates is analyzed with dimensionless groups. This analysis suggests that natural convection does not play a role at bitumen/solvent interfaces and that the interfacial tension (IFT) is an important parameter in solvent-production methods but not in thermal-production methods. This fundamental difference leads to a hypothesis that supports accelerated-solvent mass transfer by way of discontinuous flow events at the solvent/bitumen interface coined “sloughing.” This paper focuses on the production of bitumen-rich bitumen + solvent mixtures at the bitumen/solvent interfaces, and it references a chapter in Robert Stewart's PhD thesis, University of Alberta, 2016 (Stewart 2016).

Heat capacities of the antiviral and antiparkinsonian drug amantadine hydrochloride in the crystalline state were measured by adiabatic and differential scanning calorimetry in the temperature range from 5 K to 470 K. Two unresolved low-enthalpy solid-to-solid phase transitions with peak maxima at 120.0 K and 123.1 K were detected. Thermodynamic functions for crystalline amantadine hydrochloride were derived from the data obtained. Decomposition of amantadine hydrochloride was studied by the Knudsen effusion method. Quantum chemical calculations supported completeness of the amantadine hydrochloride ionic pair disintegration under the effusion conditions. A data treatment model considering the difference in effusion rates of the decomposition products, anisotropy failure in the vicinity of the orifice, and vapor undersaturation in the effusion cell was developed. Thermodynamic parameters for the decomposition were thus derived and shown to be consistent with available literature data on decomposition of s...

Learning is a cultural construct. Beliefs, perceptions and values regarding learning shape the culture of a classroom and a program of study. A framework for engineering education grounded in the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) Graduate Attributes and engineering practice is proposed. Methods and activities to shape a learning culture in engineering design education consistent with a community of practice and lifelong learning are also proposed. This transformational approach offers an opportunity to teach lifelong learning and integrate engineering practice and engineering education, while entrenching graduate attributes more deeply in the engineering curriculum. Accountability, engagement, recognition, motivation, appreciation, credibility, and continual improvement are key elements of a functional learning culture. Learning moments are a concise way to make learning to learn a relevant part of each session and encourage student reflection and metacognition.

Abstract – The capstone Chemical Engineering Course was used to pilot blended learning as part of an ongoing digital learning initiative at the University of Alberta. A blended learning course structure was designed, implemented, evaluated, and redesigned using a Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) Graduate Attribute (GA) based continuous improvement process over a two-year pilot period. Graduate Attributes were measured using student self-assessments, instructor assessments, and through an arms length study on student engagement and satisfaction conducted with student cohorts. This contribution focuses on the results of independent interviews conducted with student cohorts during the pilot period, instructor interviews, and the data analysis of the student satisfaction and engagement surveys. Instructors were satisfied with the increased interaction with students during class time even with increased enrollment. Student satisfaction was higher for students with lower self reported GPAs, and student engagement improved in the second year of the pilot. Details of these and other outcomes are presented and discussed.

Asphaltenes are a poorly defined class of self-assembling and surface active molecules present in crude oils. The nature and structure of the nanoaggregates they form remain subjects of debate and speculation. In this exploratory work, the surface properties of asphaltene nanoaggregates are probed using electrically neutral 5 nm diameter gold-core nanoparticles with alkyl, aromatic, and alkanol functionalities on their surfaces. These custom synthesized nanoparticles are characterized, and their enthalpies of solution at near infinite dilution and the interfacial tensions of solutions containing these nanoparticles are compared with the corresponding values for Athabasca pentane asphaltenes. The enthalpies of solution of these asphaltenes in toluene, heptane, pyridine, ethanol, and water are consistent with the behavior of gold-alkyl nanoparticles. The interfacial tension values of these asphaltenes at toluene–water and (toluene + heptane)–water interfaces are consistent with the behavior of gold-biphenyl...

The Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (PC-SAFT) equation of state correctly predicts Type I phase behavior for binary n-alkane + aromatic and naphthenic mixtures, while cubic equations of state (Peng-Robinson (PR) and Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK)) predict a transition from Type I to Type II phase behavior within these families of mixtures, unless unconventional large and negative interaction parameters (kij) are used. In this work, bubble pressures and L = V critical loci are evaluated for 13 binary n-alkane + benzene mixtures, including new data obtained for benzene + n-C20, n-C24, n-C28 and n-C36 binary mixtures. Computed bubble pressures for the Peng-Robinson (PR), Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) and Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (PC-SAFT) equations of state are compared with one another and with experimental measurements. The PC-SAFT EOS, with pure component parameters rescaled to conform with critical temperatures and pressures following the recommendation of Alfradique and Castier (2007), and interaction parameter values set to zero, yield accurate bubble pressures and critical loci for all benzene + n-alkane mixtures. By contrast, the PR and SRK EOS require mixture specific kij values in order to provide quantitative bubble pressure and critical loci estimates, and best-fit kij values exhibit significant temperature dependence. In the absence of experimental bubble pressures, options for estimating interaction parameters for cubic EOS for binary benzene + n-alkane mixtures, and for aromatic or naphthenic + alkane mixtures more broadly are discussed. While subject to further testing, selection of interaction parameter values for cubic EOS such that computed bubble pressures closely mimic bubble pressures predicted by the scaled PC-SAFT EOS is recommended.

A detailed understanding of the impacts of trace compounds and asphaltene adsorption on the behavior of clays contributes to the development of production processes for heavy oils and bitumen with lower environmental impacts, to the treatment of tailings from mined bitumen, and to the mitigation of impacts from oil spills in natural environments. Probes, such as solution calorimetry, are sensitive to species transfer to and from clay surfaces and outcomes can be interpreted unambiguously when supplemented with thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy measurements. In this study, the effects of asphaltene coating on the enthalpy of solution of kaolinite and illite clays in toluene, n-heptane, and deionized water were investigated at 60 °C and atmospheric pressure. Asphaltene coating increases organic compound sorption but does not impact water sorption vis-a-vis uncoated clay particles or water displacement from clay particles by organic liquids as solvents or as trace contaminants in wa...

Clays, due to their specific surface area and electrical charge density, are among the most active minerals in aquifers, oil and gas reservoirs, and tailings ponds. Important problems, such as limited yield of oil recovery during petroleum exploration, involve the interaction of process fluids with minerals which constitute reservoir pore walls. During mine tailings treatment and management, water chemistry impacts the aggregation and settling of clays. Solution calorimetry is a sensitive probe for species transfer to and from clay surfaces, and for the measurement of the effects of water chemistry (temperature, pH, salinity) on clay particle surfaces, in this case, kaolinite, illite, and montmorillonite. In this work, we show that interactions between clays and surrounding water are temperature-independent for all three clay types and that water chemistry has no measurable effect on the surface properties of illite. For kaolinite, water pH does impact surface properties and has a synergistic impact with ...

Propane and mixtures including propane as a principal component are among the leading potential candidates for co-injection along with steam for improving the process and environmental efficiency of oil sands bitumen production processes. Phase diagrams and thermophysical property data enable technologies for the development and optimization of such processes. In this work, phase behavior, phase composition, and phase densities of propane + Peace River bitumen mixtures are reported in the temperature range 303 to 393 K at pressures ranging from 1 to 6 MPa. The phase behavior of this pseudobinary mixture can be categorized as Type III according to the van Konynenburg–Scott nomenclature. Pressure–temperature at fixed composition, and pressure–composition at fixed temperature phase diagrams, and pressure–temperature phase projections are presented, along with saturated compositions and densities of the coexisting bitumen-saturated propane liquid (L1) and propane-saturated bitumen liquid (L2) phases. Saturate...

Understanding the rheological properties of mixtures of heavy oil or bitumen and diluents, specifically at low temperatures, is key in designing different processes employed in the production or transportation of these resources reliably and efficiently. The effect of diluents (n-heptane, toluene, and toluene + butanone (50:50 vol %)) on the non-Newtonian behavior of Maya crude oil including shear thinning and thixotropy at temperatures from 258 to 333 K are discussed. Toluene + butanone (50:50 vol %) addition to Maya crude oil induces the greatest reduction in shear thinning behavior irrespective of temperature. Thixotropic properties of mixtures of Maya crude oil and diluent were studied through startup experiments. It was shown that toluene + butanone (50:50 vol %) is the best diluent in moderating the thixotropic effect, whereas n-heptane showed the most pronounced thixotropic effect. It was shown that toluene + butanone (50:50 vol %) is more promising in decreasing oil viscosity in comparison to two ...

At atmospheric pressure, hydrocarbon resources, such as bitumen and Maya and other heavy oils, have been shown to exhibit non-Newtonian behavior at or below typical ambient temperatures. This work is devoted to investigating the effect of pressure on the non-Newtonian rheological properties of Maya crude oil (a commercial heavy oil blend from Mexico). Measurements were performed from 258 to 333 K, using a stress-controlled rheometer, at pressures up to 150 bar and over a broad range of shear rates. Maya crude oil was shown to be a shear-thinning fluid below 313 K exhibiting thixotropy below 293 K, at atmospheric pressure, in a prior work. At fixed temperature, the magnitude of the non-Newtonian behaviors of Maya crude oil appears to increase with increasing pressure, and shear thinning is shown to persist to higher pressures below 313 K. Boundaries of the non-Newtonian region with respect to temperature, pressure, and viscosity are identified and discussed. The thixotropic behavior of Maya crude oil is al...

This paper first presents the history of ideas on s-form formation, with an emphasis on meltwater models. The main approach is based on form similarity between modern erosional marks and subglacial s-forms. Form similarity is then extended to process similarity, which promotes understanding of s-forms. Three classes of erosional marks are identified: obstacle scours, basin-shaped erosional marks and landforms related to escarpment flow. Identification is based on form, with recognition of elements, though it mainly depends on recognition of the whole form in much the same way as we recognize family members or familiar flowers. Flow conditions related to the various flow features are determined by flow visualization and computational fluid dynamics. Some s-forms are produced in flume models, though most are natural features observed in the field. Examples from beneath past ice-sheets are seen in the field and illustrated by air and ground photographs, satellite images and DEM (digital elevation model). The results of this work show remarkable similarity between modern erosional marks and ancient, subglacial s-forms. Consequently established processes are attributed to ancient forms. In turn, s-forms may be used abductively to interpret subglacial, hydrological conditions. The lack of waning stage bedforms scoured into primary forms, suggests that erosional marks form under abruptly terminating, catastrophic flow.

Process design is taught by instructors with adiverse mix of industrial and academic experience. Theinstructors work in close collaboration with workingprofessional engineers including industrial technicalspecialists, entrepreneurs, and academic colleagueswith an industrial focus to prepare unique processdesign projects and to advise student teams. Many of theindustry advisors are long term contributors and overtime some have been recruited as instructors for thedesign course. This community of practice offersstudents a window on engineering design practice andinnovation as they transition to the professionalcommunity. This paper explores the contribution of thecommunity of practice to student development, theachievement of the Canadian Engineering AccreditationBoard (CEAB) graduate attributes, and the developmentof an innovation ecosystem.

The Capstone Chemical Process DesignCourse instructors engaged with Writing Across theCurriculum to develop and then provide writing seminarsfor students taking the second blended learning iterationof the design course to address needs identified bystudents in a pre course skill self assessment. The goals ofthis initiative were to further develop students’ technicalwriting abilities, encourage ongoing writing during thecourse, and to help students develop better strategies toprepare preliminary and final design project reports.Students’ attendance and reaction to the voluntaryseminar sessions were measured as part of an armslength survey and used as input to the course continuousimprovement process. The results and follow up steps arereported.

– To encourage innovation and positive team behavior, a bonus innovation assignment is included at the start of the introductory design course. Students are encouraged to choose from a reading list and insert themselves in the material to explore how leadership, creativity, and innovation might impact their design team experience. Students are then introduced to CATME and asked to evaluate themselves and their team members on a monthly basis as they work on lab assignments and project work in a cooperative learning environment. Capstone and introductory design students assess their individual skills relative to the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) graduate attributes (GA) pre and post course, including teamwork skills. In addition, capstone student design teams use reflection to self-assess team function based on their perceived attainment of team level, and confidence in their ability to perform categorized skills related to team performance, technical performance, planning and logistics performance. The goals of these changes are to provide a collaborative framework for students to construct activities to learn and develop innovation, team, and leadership skills. This report focuses on the structure of the cooperative learning framework and the development of five cooperative learning criteria: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of interpersonal skills, and regular assessment of group functioning. Assignment effectiveness is demonstrated.

Phase equilibrium calculations based on 150 n-alkane + aromatic and n-alkane + naphthenic hydrocarbon binary mixtures were performed. These calculations were compared with experimental measurements whenever possible, and additional measurements were made as part of this work. The widely used Peng–Robinson (PR) and Soave–Redlich–Kwong (SRK) equations of state are shown to predict nonphysical liquid–liquid phase behavior for long-chain n-alkane + aromatic and long-chain n-alkane + naphthenic hydrocarbon binary mixtures with standard pure-component parameters (Tc, Pc, ω). Incorrect phase behavior prediction is shown to be insensitive to the selection of correlations for estimating pure-component properties for n-alkanes that are not available from experimental data. For cubic equations of state, correct phase behaviors are obtained only when negative values of the binary interaction parameters (kij) are used. For PC-SAFT, a noncubic equation of state (with standard parameter values defining molecules and wit...

Asphaltene aggregation and deposition are common concerns in reservoirs, and during production, transport, and refining of petroleum fluids. Polymer addition provides one approach for the modification and control of asphaltene behavior. Asphaltene nanoaggregates are stable in toluene, but when a nonadsorbing polymer like polystyrene is added, two liquid phases, one enriched in asphaltenes and toluene, and one enriched in toluene and polymer, are formed due to depletion flocculation. This phase separation mechanism impacts nanoaggregate but not molecular behaviors. In this work, an experimental phase diagram for Athabasca asphaltene + toluene + polystyrene mixtures including a two-phase critical point is presented, at 298 K. The compositions of phases and the critical point are compared with those arising in equivalent mixtures with Maya asphaltenes published previously. These experimental outcomes are also interpreted using a modified Fleer–Tuinier model, and the possibility of the development of an aspha...

Polystyrene, a non-adsorbing polymer, has been shown to cause Maya and Athabasca asphaltene + toluene mixtures to split into two stable liquid phases at room temperature. One phase is enriched in polystyrene and toluene. The other phase is enriched in asphaltene and toluene. The phase boundaries, tie lines, and critical points for Maya asphaltene + toluene + polystyrene (Mw = 393 000 and 700 000 g/mol) and Athabasca asphaltene + toluene + polystyrene (Mw = 393 000 g/mol) have also been simulated at room temperature using a modified Fleer–Tuinier colloid phase behavior model. In this work, the temperature dependence of the depletion flocculation-driven phase behavior is investigated for Maya asphaltene + toluene + polystyrene (Mw = 393 000 g/mol) mixtures both experimentally and theoretically. The coincidence of experimental two-phase to one-phase boundaries, including liquid–liquid critical points and tie lines at 248 and 298 K, illustrates the temperature-independent nature of this phase behavior. This o...

Diffusive mass transfer is expected to play a key role in existing and proposed solvent-added processes for heavy oil production. Composition–distance profiles arising during free diffusion scale as a function of the joint variable (distance/time^nw). Simple fluids are governed by Fickian diffusion, where nw = 0.5. For nanostructured fluids, the value of nw can be as low as nw = 0.25, known as the single-file limit, but more typically, the value for the exponent falls between these two limits and is composition-dependent. In this work, five published data sets, comprising free diffusion composition profiles for Athabasca bitumen fractions and for Cold Lake bitumen + light hydrocarbons obtained using diverse apparatus, are probed from this perspective. Additional experimental results are provided for Athabasca bitumen + toluene mixtures over the temperature range of 273–313 K, and results from positive and negative control experiments for two well-defined mixtures—(0.25 mass fraction carbon nanotubes + pol...