Abstract:

The multiphase flow-meter is a new feature for experimental instruments educational laboratory for teaching and learning in higher education institutions especially for Electrical or Chemical Engineering courses. The approach of this work is to support the local higher educational institutions laboratories to have multipurpose instruments electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) flow-meter used to monitor multiphase liquid. The hook is how the multiphase liquid material (water /gas and gas /oil) can be reliably monitored without separation in a flow measurement instrument in our educational laboratory today? The current existing flow measuring instruments at our local laboratories is non-multiphase flow, it was bulky and not portable and not user friendly. The system can only meter the component material (gas or liquid) separately and need to fill into some sort of tank or vessel to measure the volume or weight. The flow-meter used was not able to visualize the feature of flow regime and it is difficult to see what is within them. Thus introducing the ECT flow-meter, the multipurpose instruments which are able to monitor the multiphase liquid, will make it portable and easy to install. The compilation of the new ECT Flow-meter provides the most complete combination for flow instrument compare to the existing system that currently used in the laboratories in the local higher education institutions. Besides to produce new lab-equipment, the problem-based learning (PBL) approach also will use as instructional strategies in laboratory classroom with the lab-equipment. The instrument gives opportunity for instructors or lecturers apply the PBL for teaching and learning as well as for students to learn and gain knowledge throughout the system part by part. In the laboratory, students need to finish the task given in limited time. Integrate the pedagogical method of instructive and constructive with PBL elements, the PBL approach can be conducted in the laboratory as new learning strategies. Instructors or lecturers will facilitate students a lab sheets for each task which they had to complete. Students can come to the lab not during the schedule; they can do their experiments based on their own time. That is the different between the traditional methods of laboratory current practice, with PBL they can complete the task and it will save the official time in lab. Laboratory classroom with PBL provides intellectual maturity by allowing students to become independent learners, not only acquiring knowledge about what they know but also making them aware what they do not know hence keeping their expectations real and protecting them from what they do not know.

Keywords:

Problem-based learning, lab-equipment, multiphase flow-meter, laboratory classroom.