Simulators are instrumental to engineers and scientists, in general, and to chemical engineers,more specifically, which enable the optimization and analysis of alternative solutions in a time‐efficient and cost‐effective way. Thus, their integration into Chemical Engineering studies has gained traction over the years in supporting traditional lectures or as the sole tool for knowledge transmission. However, despite their proven benefits in Higher Education, limitations exist, as the application of the tool may result in deficient learning. In fact, the algorithms and design equations that are used to transform inputs into results are not identifiable by the students, thereby instilling a “superficial understanding” of the problem. Thus, the objective of this paper is to provide some guidelines through three simple case studies, which may help minimize the so‐called “black box” effect. Two different state‐of‐the‐art computational tools were used in parallel. Aspen One simulations provided the reference point, which was used by the students to verify the process models built by them with Mathcad Prime. A survey taken by the students then allowed conclusions to be made, which concurred that the experience had been very successful.

中文翻译：

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在化学工程教育中使用过程模拟器：是否有可能最大限度地减少“黑匣子”效应？

一般来说，模拟器对工程师和科学家很有帮助，更具体地说，对化学工程师很有帮助，它能够以一种既省时又划算的方式优化和分析替代解决方案。因此，多年来，它们与化学工程研究的整合在支持传统讲座或作为知识传播的唯一工具方面受到了广泛关注。然而，尽管它们在高等教育中被证明有好处，但仍存在局限性，因为该工具的应用可能会导致学习不足。事实上，用于将输入转化为结果的算法和设计方程是学生无法识别的，从而灌输对问题的“肤浅理解”。因此，本文的目的是通过三个简单的案例研究提供一些指导，这可能有助于最小化所谓的“黑匣子”效应。并行使用了两种不同的最先进的计算工具。Aspen One 模拟提供了参考点，学生用它来验证他们使用 Mathcad Prime 构建的过程模型。然后由学生进行的一项调查允许得出结论，他们一致认为这次经历非常成功。