ARTICLE IN PRESS G Model ECE-259; No. of Pages 11 Education for Chemical Engineers xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Education for Chemical Engineers jo ur nal home page: www.elsevier.com/locate/ece KMS platform: A complete tool for modeling chemical and biochemical reactors Raúl Molina a,∗ , Gisela Orcajo b , Yolanda Segura a , Jovita Moreno a , Fernando Martínez a a Department of Chemical and Environmental Technology, Spain b Department of Chemical, Energy and Mechanical Technology, University Rey Juan Carlos, Tulipán s/n, Móstoles, 28933, Spain a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Received 23 April 2020 Received in revised form 9 September 2020 Accepted 25 September 2020 Available online xxx Keywords: Kinetic modeling and simulation Conventional activated sludge Computer-based learning Virtual laboratory Matlab ® code a b s t r a c t Computer-based activities to study chemical kinetic principles have been widely used in engineering education for the last 60 years. These academic tools must be user-friendly for teachers and students and easy to adapt to practical cases. The Chemical and Environmental Engineering Group (GIQA) at University Rey Juan Carlos (URJC) has developed a Kinetic, Modeling and Simulation (KMS) platform for chemical and biochemical processes. The KMS platform provides different simulation applications programmed in Matlab ® with a friendly interface design environment for users. In this work, we will focus on the Kinetics in Conventional Activated Sludge (KCAS) application, as part of the KMS platform. The design of kinetic models and the dynamic simulation of wastewater treatment plants are typically implemented by a variety of dedicated software, mostly developed for research and development purposes at universities, institutes or consulting companies. These programming tools have inherent weaknesses as simulators in virtual laboratories for academics, needing steep learning curves and lacking flexibility to evaluate complex problems, particularly in bachelor degrees programs that are not completely devoted to the mathematical modeling of processes. The simplicity and versatility of KCAS simulator make it very useful for students as starting educational tool to define kinetic models and to make the dynamic simulation of a conventional activated sludge reactor followed by a secondary decanter using different inlet streams or operation conditions. The students interact with the program through a friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI), and the results can be easily exported to a conventional spreadsheet in EXCEL© format files. With KCAS, the students can formulate kinetic models (potential models, diffusional models, Monod equations, etc.) to simulate the evolution from simple reaction systems, to complex biochemical models such as ASM (Activated Sludge Models) from the International Water Association (IWA). The KCAS simulator allows the students to enhance the understanding of complex interactions among the physical, chemical, and biological processes, reinforcing the acquisition of competences and learning skills in Environmental Engineering. The KCAS application was implemented as laboratory demonstration practice in subjects of different Engineering Degrees at URJC. © 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The overall goal of engineering education is to prepare stu- dents in the technical profession of being practicing engineers. Consequently, instructional laboratory work and practical work are principal features of undergraduate and also even graduate degree programs in any engineering discipline (Feisel and Rosa, 2005). Laboratory work allows the students to get used to han- dling instruments and devices, as well as working in teams formed from people with differing abilities and work methods. Thus, prac- ∗ Corresponding author. E-mail address: raul.molina@urjc.es (R. Molina). tical work helps students to develop different skills such as dealing with experimental set-ups, developing and following experimental procedures, problem-solving, data analysis, interpersonal commu- nication, and technical judgement of professional practices (Davies, 2008; Gibbs et al., 1997). Despite the advantages and benefits of laboratories in the engineering curriculum, implementation of this practical work entails several handicaps, such as high running costs, and the need for specialists to purchase and maintain equipment. Moreover, engineering is an evolving field, so laboratories needs to be continuously updated. Limited budgets and the large number of students at engineering schools often make the facilities available at laboratories insufficient for demand. Thus, student cohorts are often divided into working teams for performing sequentially labo- ratory classes that may not be properly time-coordinated with the https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2020.09.003 1749-7728/© 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Molina, R., et al., KMS platform: A complete tool for modeling chemical and biochemical reactors, Educ. Chem. Eng., https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ece.2020.09.003