Chemical Engineering 1
Why study Engineering? What is Chemical Engineers? What do Chemical Engineers do? (Chemical Engineers Job profile) Branches of Chemical Engineering 2
Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that applies the physical sciences (e.g. chemistry and physics) and/or life sciences (e.g. biology, microbiology and biochemistry) together with mathematics and economics to processes that convert raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms. 3
Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is basically applied chemistry. It is the branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and operation of equipments and plants that perform chemical reactions to make useful products. 4
Chemical Engineering Like all engineers, chemical engineers use math, physics and economics to solve technical problems. The difference between chemical engineers and other types of engineers is that they apply a knowledge of chemistry in addition to other engineering disciplines. Chemical engineers sometimes are called 'universal engineers' because their scientific and technical mastery is so broad. 5
What Do Chemical Engineers Do? Chemical Engineers work in Process Design R & D Marketing Chemical engineers have helped to develop atomic science, polymers, paper, dyes, drugs, plastics, fertilizers, foods, petrochemicals... pretty much everything. They devise ways to make products from raw materials and ways to convert one material into another useful form. Chemical engineers can make processes more cost effective or more environmentally friendly or more efficient. 6
Chemists and chemical engineers Chemists are the base of chemical engineers. Chemical engs. practicalize the findings of chemists. Chemists are the brains behind the commercial designs of chemical engineers. In other words, chemists discover and design theoretically while chemical engineers design in a more physical and larger scale. 7
Chemists and chemical engineers Both disciplines deal with many of the same things and there is much overlap, but the basic differences are novelty and scale. A chemist is more likely to be developing new compounds and materials; a chemical engineer is more likely to be working with existing substances. A chemist deals with small amounts of materials in glassware on a laboratory bench. The chemical engineer deals with large scale reactions with factory scale equipment. 8
Chemists and chemical engineers A chemist may make a few grams of a new compound, while a chemical engineer will scale up the process to make it by the ton and at a profit. The chemical engineer will be more concerned with heating and cooling large reaction vessels, pumps and piping to transfer materials and plant design and operation, while a chemist will be more concerned with establishing the details of the reactions before the plant is designed. 9
Chemists and chemical engineers Suppose a chemist creates a new compound or chemical 'x' by reacting 'a' & 'b', it is the chemical engineers job to see that how to make that compound on industrial scale, study the heat involved in the process and other details. 10
Chemical Engineering Typical chemical processes Chemical engineering Unit operation Mass Transfer Heat Transfer Chemical Reaction etc. Unit Process Oxidation Ozonation Chlorination etc. 11
Broad areas of Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics Fluid Mechanics Heat Transfer Mass Transfer Reaction Engineering Separation Processes Process Dynamics and Control Biochemical Engineering Nanotechnology Ceramic Textile Rubber Paint Others - Design, Safety, Green Engineering etc. 12