Festivals of Chemistry Industry Partner Site Visit

As Stage 3 of the Salters’ Industry Festivals of Chemistry in partnership with ExxonMobil, 86 students from the surrounding areas of Fife took advantage of a unique opportunity to visit the ExxonMobil Fife Ethylene Plant on Thursday 18th September.

Following their Discovery Day at Heriot-Watt University four weeks prior, which was spent synthesising aspirin in the lab, the students were given the chance to witness the chemistry from their textbooks come to life at the ExxonMobil site on their doorsteps. Many commenting that they had often driven past the site, so the opportunity to step inside the gates was really exciting!

The full day on site started with breakfast and a welcome talk from ExxonMobil representatives, introducing students and teachers to the structure of the day.

One half of the students began with a bus tour of the site, where they were able to listen to engineers who explained pieces of equipment giving the tour attendees a real insight into how the science they learn in the classroom is applied on a large scale in chemical industry. It is occasions like these that do so well at providing context to the curriculum.

To spark their curiosity, the students were invited to take part in a competition guessing the number of footballs that could fit inside a large column that was pointed out to them on the tour. This did a great job of allowing the students to visualise the sheer size of some of the components on site.

The other half of the students explored a range of activities based in th

e onsite training centre. Students rotated between several activity stations including the experiments room, where they took on the challenge of identifying solutions based on their concentrations.

Next, they were able to chat with ExxonMobil colleagues, each with different journeys into the company, which sparked many insightful questions and engaging discussions. Students seemed particularly interested to hear about apprenticeships as an alternative route into the chemical industry.

The final (and possibly most exciting) activity was the F1 car which made a special appearance at the event. Students, teachers, and staff alike posed for photos beside the car for which ExxonMobil produce fuel and lubricants.

The afternoon saw the groups swap so that all students took part in both the site tour and activities stations. Both groups then came together again for the end of the day, which drew to a close with the announcement of the football estimate competition winner – rounding the day off on an excellent note with a tie-breaker question between two students with the closest guesses.

Not only did this day allow students to see how the chemistry they learn about at school is applied in the real world, but it also provided them with a really great insight into the work that takes place at a large, local industrial chemistry plant. Hopefully, they have been inspired to consider a future career in the chemical industry.