Archived-Announcements-2014

Previous announcements for 4M3 (in reverse time order), or check out the Twitter feed: Follow @4m3separations

• 08 Dec: There have been intermittent outages on the webserver. We are watching it closely over this week to reduce any issues to a minimum.
• 07 Dec: All solutions for assignments and midterms have been posted. Solutions to the prior final exams are embedded in the various assignments; most questions you've covered in the assignments have come from these older exams.
• 05 Dec: A small error was in the solution of assignment 5, question 1. Please use the bulk density. The solutions have been updated.
• 02 Dec: a new set of notes for class on Wednesday has been posted (optional to print).
• 29 Nov: a small missing piece of information was added to question 3 in assignment 5. Please use 40 kg/hr of solvent for the counter-current system.
• 27 Nov: Don't forget about course evaluations for 4M03 - these really help me keep improving the course every year.
• 26 Nov: details about the final exam are found here, with some suggestions, and copies or prior final exams.
• 25 Nov: a neat way of understanding and trying out the osmotic effect cheaply and easily at home.
• 24 Nov: a new and final assignment has been posted for you to work on, and is due on 3 December. These questions are all based on (or directly) from final exams.
• 24 Nov: there are new set of notes posted for the next section in the course, on Drying (heat-based separations).
• 21 Nov: the slides for the Adsorption section were slightly updated: 3 new slides (including 2 practice problems, with final answers) have been added. This is based on the mid-semester feedback you gave me, that you wanted more problems to work on.
• 17 Nov: at this point in the course you should be able to understand exactly the technology that this Canadian company is applying to treat industrial and municipal wastewater. Also watch their company video.
• 14 Nov: as mentioned in class today, there will be no class on Tuesday, 18 November. This is some extra time you can use to finalize your project.
• 13 Nov: the midterm grades (and assignment grades so far) are posted on Avenue.
• 12 Nov: The midterms are now completely graded, but the TA's and I are still getting the grades entered into Avenue and finishing the collaborative calculations. The midterms will be returned in Friday's class.
• 11 Nov: there are new notes posted for the next topic on adsorption separations.
• 05 Nov: Midterm grades are coming soon. With over 100 students registered in the class - the largest elective in ChemEng - and the collaborative midterm creating about 25% extra scripts to grade, that it is not going to be a quick process. The grading is over 50% now 90% completed. The TA's and are just entering the grades into Avenue. Midterms will be returned at Friday's class.
• 03 Nov: we continue on with liquid-liquid extraction this week. Please review the notes from Friday, and we will start on Tuesday with a quick review and then get started on the calculations.
• 03 Nov: also note that the next assignment 4 is posted. It is due on 11 November. The due date was shifted to accommodate other midterms and the course project that you should be mostly wrapping up your research for.
• 28 Oct: the new notes for the next section are posted. Please print them for class on Wednesday.
• 20 Oct: details about the course project are posted. We will cover them in class on Tuesday, and then continue on with the slides about membranes.
• 13 Oct: one hint and one piece of information for assignment 3, question 4:
  • the "resistances" refer to \(R_\text{m}\) and \(R_\text{c}\) respectively; and note that \(R_\text{c}\) is a time-varying resistance
  • the missing piece of information is that there are 5 plates in the plate-and-frame press; please use this value if you haven't already assumed another.
• 10 Oct: we a guest lecture on Wednesday next week, 15 October. A former 4M3 student that graduated in 2012 and now working at GE Water will be here to talk about membranes; including making a membrane in the class. Hope to see you all here.
• 07 Oct: the new notes, on membrane separations are posted. Please bring them to class on Wednesday morning.
• 04 Oct: The next assignment is posted and is due 10 days from now: 14 October. No late hand-ins and MSAFs for this one please. Solutions will be posted right at the due time.
• 03 Oct: the McMaster Water Week is approaching next week, and so are the course projects for 4M3. At least one of the 4 projects will be related to water treatment, and I recommend you all attend the poster presentations on Wednesday, 08 Oct, from 2:30 to 4:30pm, in the MSUC atrium.

If you would like to earn 10% bonus credit for your project, you should attend the poster presentation and interview at least one of the 60 poster presenters. Ask him/her what aspect of water treatment, pollution, or monitoring they are researching; how their work impacts society, and which technological tools they are using. Add this as an extra half-page to your project report.

• 02 Oct: New slides have just been posted for the section on Cyclones. Please print and bring them to class on Friday.
• 24 Sep: the depth of the vessel is likely not required for question 1 in the second assignment. If required, make a reasonable assumption to work with. Once you do so however, redo your calculation with a different depth and see if your answers changed. This way you can confirm the requirement for that assumption.
• 23 Sep: as pointed out on this page laptops will be useful in Wednesday's class. Lots of messy calculations.
• 23 Sep: some new slides are posted for later this week. Please download and bring them to class.
• 19 Sep: as mentioned in class today, the second assignment is now posted, and is due on Friday - a week from today.
• 18 Sep: the notes for the next section, on Centrifuges, are now posted. We should start that section near the end of Friday's class.
• 16 Sep: the notes for the next section are posted.
• 12 Sep: as mentioned in class today, please pay attention to the Water Week that is happening on campus next month, particularly the distinguished lecture on 08 October.
• 11 Sep: The first assignment is posted; it is fairly short, and due in class on Wednesday. Electronic submissions are preferred for all work in this course, and the process to submit electronically must be followed exactly, as described in the link just below here.
• 09 Sep: The notes for Wednesday's class, on sedimentation processes, are posted. See you in class tomorrow.
• 08 Sep: The notes for Tuesday's class, an overview of the Separations course's technical content, are posted. See you in class tomorrow.
• 04 Sep: the course notes for the first class are posted now. See you tomorrow for the first class.
• 29 Aug: the first class will be Friday, 05 September, in PC 155, at 9:30. See you there.
• 26 Aug: the material for the 2014 course will be added soon. Please check back later.