Micro Changes Initiate Giant Impact for Unit Operation Laboratory Future

By Elan Patria Nusadi

An ideal chemical engineering graduate is required to have certain competencies in

order to carry out his functions and skills when working in a chemical plant. One of the
competencies that must be possessed is knowledge of operating and understand how the work
of instruments which commonly used in plant process activities. The main function of the Unit
Operation Laboratory is to provide educational services in operating tools related to chemical
engineering and research in order to improve the quality of learning outcomes. The practical
material carried out at the Unit Operation Laboratory Undip are wetted wall column,
fluidization, filtration, size reduction, heat transfer, drying, and fluid flow. Due to the
importance of the existence of the unit operation practicum, innovations both from the system
to the practicum material must be held from year to year so its always revelant with the changes
of era.

In general, the unit operation practicum that is currently being implemented has been
going well. Even so, it still needs to be updated so that the objectives and the implementation
of the practicum always bring goodness to the assistants and practicant. An understanding of
importance of the unit operation practicum must be instilled to practicant since the preface, this
can be done by inviting guest speakers with industrial backgrounds to explain that the
knowledge they will learn is very important to support their future careers. Guest speakers can
come from Undip Chemical Engineering alumni, or even former unit operation laboratory
assistants.

In addition, the quality of the facilities in the operating unit laboratory must also be
maintained and updated. Laboratory assistants need to always report the condition of the
equipment to the lecturer in charge, and fight for funding for the sake of laboratory needs. For
example, in the filtration practicum, the rubber connecting the bulkheads on the equipment has
leaked a lot, such a condition, although it seems trivial, can have implications for the quality
of the data obtained by the practicant. So it’s important to replace it with a new rubber. In
addition, innovations that can be applied are by decorating the tools to make them look more
attractive, for example in the fluidization practicum, where the plywood board looks
monotonous and looks gloomy, laboratory assistants can innovate by decorating the board so
that the practitioners do the practicum with more excitement.
 The following has presented several innovations resulting from the author's thinking on
the operation of the unit operation practicum from system to technical needs. It is hoped that
this innovation can be used as a reference to always maintain the quality of the operating unit's
laboratory. Because the author believes: micro changes initiate giant impact for unit operation
laboratory future.