This student-design project, consisting of three types of experiments, involves the development of a continuous colorimetric method for analyzing phenol. With the goal of enhancing student motivation, this open-ended experiment is presented as a fictitious industrial problem concerned with off-flavors from phenol in fermented beverages. Experience has shown that students are more motivated when working in an interactive and realistic way. The goal is the development of a continuous-analysis spectrophotometric method. Accomplishing this goal requires more than simply carrying out procedural instructions. Instead, thought and experimentation by the students are necessary to improve and automate the analysis method. The students start with an established batch analysis method for phenol. Using suitable components, the process is made continuous (continuous flow analysis) and finally a flow injection method (flow injection analysis) is designed. Because of the modular concept of the unit, dispersion experiments, colorimetric procedures, and other exercises can be carried out alternatively. The system used can be easily and rapidly modified to apply different methods. As in a real-life situation, the experimental results should not be considered only in terms of their analytical aspects, but also as a means of gathering chemical information in a simple, rapid, and economical manner.
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