Unit 10: What is chemical engineering?

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Unit 10 What is chemical engineering?

• Department of Chemical Engineering

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? Four questions

• I. What is Chemical Engineering?
• II. What are the differences between Chemical
  Engineering and Chemical technology?
• III. Can you list some core courses of chemical
  engineering?
• VI. What are the future trends in chemical
  engineering?

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Products
Raw Materials
Processes
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Definition of Chemical Engineering

• In its simplest form, chemical engineering is
  the design, development and management of a wide
  and varied spectrum of industrial processes.
• IChemE definition, 2005

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Definition from our textbook

• Thus, chemical engineering is that branch of
  engineering which is concerned with the study of
  the design, manufacture, and operation of plant
  and machinery in industrial chemical processes.
• ? How to make a definition?

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Main subjects of chemical technology

• ?material and pre-trement
• ? routine of production
• ? equipment and accessory
• ? catalyst
• ? effect of other material on the process
• ? operating condition
• ? process flow
• ? separation and by-product
• ? use of energy
• ? evolution of technical economy

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Job opportunities and Industries(1)

• Chemical engineering are employed across a huge
  variety of sector including
• Chemical and allied products
• Pharmaceuticals
• Energy
• Water
• Food drink
• Oil gas
• Process plants equipment
• Biotechnology
• Business and management
• Consultancy

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Job opportunities and Industries(2)

• Chemical engineers are, on average, the highest
  paid of the "Big Four". Additionally, many
  chemical engineers have found their way into
  upper management.

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Jobs in foreign countries

• A chemical engineer is either currently, or has
  previously, occupied the CEO position for 3M, Du
  Pont, General Electric, Union Carbide, Dow
  Chemical, Exxon, BASF, Gulf Oil, Texaco, and B.F.
  Goodrich. Even a former director of the CIA, John
  M. Deutch, was a chemical engineer by training.

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Jobs in China

• Chemicals, electronics, petroleum refining,
  paper, and related industries
• Professional, scientific, or technical
  services/firms/university that design chemical
  plants or perform RD for chemical companies.

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Core curriculum

• More typically, chemical engineers concern
  themselves with the chemical processes that turn
  raw materials into valuable products. The
  necessary skills encompass all aspects of design,
  testing, scale-up, operation, control, and
  optimization, and require a detailed
  understanding of the various "unit operations",
  such as distillation, mixing, and biological
  processes, which make these conversions possible.

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• Chemical engineering science utilizes mass,
  momentum, and energy transfer along with
  thermodynamics and chemical kinetics to analyze
  and improve on these "unit operations."

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Chemical Engineering Today Tomorrow

• The "Big Four" engineering fields consist of
  civil, mechanical, electrical, and chemical
  engineers. Of these, chemical engineers are
  numerically the smallest group. However, this
  relatively small group holds a very prominent
  position in many industries.

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Future of Chemical Engineering

• In the past, chemical engineering has focused on
  large scale, low value chemical processes e.g.
  minerals, oil and gas, chemicals.
• Increasingly, high value molecular engineering is
  giving sophisticated products spawning a new
  molecular
• engineering industry.

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Biotechnology

• Molecular design of bio-products, tissue
  engineering etc.
• Research at the interface between health,
  biotechnology and engineering.
• Constructing a pilot-scale facility for the
  production of biomolecules.

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Nanotechnology

• ?Creating products bottom-up using
  nano-assembly methods.
• ?Synthesis of novel nanoporous carbon materials
  for membranes and catalysts.
• ?Self assembly of colloidal nanomaterials.
• ? Synthesis of nanostructured carbons for
  hydrogen storage.
• ?Fluidisation and reaction kinetics in beds of
  nanoparticles.

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Nanotechnology-example

• ?Carbon nano-tubes extremely strong,
  lightweight.
• Diameter 1.2-1.5nm
• 10,000 times stronger than steel
• ?Applications
• Strengthen structures
• Electronic/optical
• Hydrogen storage
• Space elevator?

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Environment

• Increasing environmental awareness is creating
  new opportunities in the energy and
  sustainability industries.

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Future of Chemical Engineering -Examples

• Hydrogen fuel
• 500 km on 4kg of H2
• Only product of combustion is water
• Methanol Fuel Cells
• Mobile phone battery will last 6 months
• 2 weeks power for a laptop!

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Note

• ?Chemical engineering is not a profession that
  has to dwell on the achievements of the past for
  comfort, for its greatest accomplishments are yet
  to come.

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That is to say, you are the future of chemical
engineering.
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So if you want to be successful you must study
hard!