Chemicalengineering

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Chemicalengineeringisabranchofengineeringthat
appliesphysicalsciences(physicsandchemistry)and
lifesciences(microbiologyandbiochemistry)
togetherwithappliedmathematicsandeconomicsto
produce,transform,transport,andproperlyuse
chemicals,materialsandenergy.Essentially,chemical
engineersdesignlargescaleprocessesthatconvert
chemicals,rawmaterials,livingcells,microorganisms
andenergyintousefulformsandproducts.

Contents
1 Etymology
2 History Chemicalengineersdesign,
2.1 Newconceptsandinnovations constructandoperateprocess
2.2 Safetyandhazarddevelopments plants(distillationcolumns
2.3 Recentprogress pictured)
3 Concepts
3.1 Chemicalreactionengineering
3.2 Plantdesignandconstruction
3.3 Processdesignandanalysis
3.4 Transportphenomena
4 Applicationsandpractice
5 Relatedfieldsandtopics
6 Seealso
7 References
8 Bibliography

Etymology
A1996BritishJournalfortheHistoryofSciencearticlecitesJamesF.Donnellyfor
mentioningan1839referencetochemicalengineeringinrelationtotheproductionof
sulfuricacid.[1]Inthesamepaperhowever,GeorgeE.Davis,anEnglishconsultant,was
creditedforhavingcoinedtheterm.[2]TheHistoryofScienceinUnitedStates:An
Encyclopediaputsthisataround1890.[3]"Chemicalengineering",describingtheuseof
mechanicalequipmentinthechemicalindustry,becamecommonvocabularyinEngland
after1850.[4]By1910,theprofession,"chemicalengineer,"wasalreadyincommonuse
inBritainandtheUnitedStates.[5]
History
Chemicalengineeringemergeduponthedevelopmentofunit
operations,afundamentalconceptofthedisciplinechemical
engineering.MostauthorsagreethatDavisinventedunit
operationsifnotsubstantiallydevelopedit.[6]Hegaveaseriesof
lecturesonunitoperationsattheManchesterTechnicalSchool
(laterpartoftheUniversityofManchester)in1887,consideredto
beoneoftheearliestsuchaboutchemicalengineering.[7]Three GeorgeE.Davis
yearsbeforeDavis'lectures,HenryEdwardArmstrongtaughta
degreecourseinchemicalengineeringattheCityandGuildsof
LondonInstitute.Armstrong'scourse"failedsimplybecauseitsgraduates...werenot
especiallyattractivetoemployers."Employersofthetimewouldhaveratherhired
chemistsandmechanicalengineers.[3]Coursesinchemicalengineeringofferedby
MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology(MIT)intheUnitedStates,OwensCollegein
Manchester,England,andUniversityCollegeLondonsufferedundersimilar
circumstances.[8]

Startingfrom1888,[9]LewisM.NortontaughtatMIT
thefirstchemicalengineeringcourseintheUnited
States.Norton'scoursewascontemporaneousand
essentiallysimilarwithArmstrong'scourse.Both
courses,however,simplymergedchemistryand
engineeringsubjects."Itspractitionershaddifficulty
Studentsinsideanindustrial convincingengineersthattheywereengineersand
chemistrylaboratoryatMIT
chemiststhattheywerenotsimplychemists."[3]Unit
operationswasintroducedintothecoursebyWilliam
HultzWalkerin1905.[10]Bytheearly1920s,unitoperationsbecameanimportantaspect
ofchemicalengineeringatMITandotherUSuniversities,aswellasatImperialCollege
London.[11]TheAmericanInstituteofChemicalEngineers(AIChE),establishedin1908,
playedakeyroleinmakingchemicalengineeringconsideredanindependentscience,and
unitoperationscentraltochemicalengineering.Forinstance,itdefinedchemical
engineeringtobea"scienceofitself,thebasisofwhichis...unitoperations"ina1922
reportandwithwhichprinciple,ithadpublishedalistofacademicinstitutionswhich
offered"satisfactory"chemicalengineeringcourses.[12]Meanwhile,promotingchemical
engineeringasadistinctscienceinBritainleadtotheestablishmentoftheInstitutionof
ChemicalEngineers(IChemE)in1922.[13]IChemElikewisehelpedmakeunitoperations
consideredessentialtothediscipline.[14]

Newconceptsandinnovations

Bythe1940s,itbecameclearthatunitoperationsalonewasinsufficientindeveloping
chemicalreactors.Whilethepredominanceofunitoperationsinchemicalengineering
coursesinBritainandtheUnitedStatescontinueduntilthe1960s,transportphenomena
startedtoexperiencegreaterfocus.[15]Alongwithothernovelconcepts,suchprocess
systemsengineering(PSE),a"secondparadigm"wasdefined.[16][17]Transport
phenomenagaveananalyticalapproachtochemicalengineering[18]whilePSEfocusedon
itssyntheticelements,suchascontrolsystemandprocessdesign.[19]Developmentsin
chemicalengineeringbeforeandafterWorldWarIIweremainlyincitedbythe
petrochemicalindustry,[20]however,advancesinotherfieldsweremadeaswell.
Advancementsinbiochemicalengineeringinthe1940s,forexample,foundapplicationin
thepharmaceuticalindustry,andallowedforthemassproductionofvariousantibiotics,
includingpenicillinandstreptomycin.[21]Meanwhile,progressinpolymerscienceinthe
1950spavedwayforthe"ageofplastics".[22]

Safetyandhazarddevelopments

Concernsregardingthesafetyandenvironmentalimpactoflargescalechemical
manufacturingfacilitieswerealsoraisedduringthisperiod.SilentSpring,publishedin
1962,alerteditsreaderstotheharmfuleffectsofDDT,apotentinsecticide.The1974
FlixboroughdisasterintheUnitedKingdomresultedin28deaths,aswellasdamagetoa
chemicalplantandthreenearbyvillages.The1984BhopaldisasterinIndiaresultedin
almost4,000deaths.Theseincidents,alongwithotherincidents,affectedthereputationof
thetradeasindustrialsafetyandenvironmentalprotectionweregivenmorefocus.[23]In
response,theIChemErequiredsafetytobepartofeverydegreecoursethatitaccredited
after1982.Bythe1970s,legislationandmonitoringagencieswereinstitutedinvarious
countries,suchasFrance,Germany,andtheUnitedStates.[24]

Recentprogress

Advancementsincomputersciencefoundapplicationsdesigningandmanagingplants,
simplifyingcalculationsanddrawingsthatpreviouslyhadtobedonemanually.The
completionoftheHumanGenomeProjectisalsoseenasamajordevelopment,notonly
advancingchemicalengineeringbutgeneticengineeringandgenomicsaswell.[25]
ChemicalengineeringprincipleswereusedtoproduceDNAsequencesinlarge
quantities.[26]

Concepts
Chemicalengineeringinvolvestheapplicationofseveralprinciples.Keyconceptsare
presentedbelow.

Chemicalreactionengineering

Chemicalengineeringinvolvesmanagingplantprocessesandconditionstoensure
optimalplantoperation.Chemicalreactionengineersconstructmodelsforreactoranalysis
anddesignusinglaboratorydataandphysicalparameters,suchaschemical
thermodynamics,tosolveproblemsandpredictreactorperformance.

Plantdesignandconstruction

Chemicalengineeringdesignconcernsthecreationofplans,specification,andeconomic
analysesforpilotplants,newplantsorplantmodifications.Designengineersoftenwork
inaconsultingrole,designingplantstomeetclients'needs.Designislimitedbyanumber
offactors,includingfunding,governmentregulationsandsafetystandards.These
constraintsdictateaplant'schoiceofprocess,materialsandequipment.[27]

Plantconstructioniscoordinatedbyprojectengineersandprojectmanagers[28]
dependingonthesizeoftheinvestment.Achemicalengineermaydothejobofproject
engineerfulltimeorpartofthetime,whichrequiresadditionaltrainingandjobskills,or
actasaconsultanttotheprojectgroup.InUSAtheeducationofchemicalengineering
graduatesfromtheBaccalaureateprogramsaccreditedbyABETdonotusuallystress
projectengineeringeducation,whichcanbeobtainedbyspecializedtraining,aselectives,
orfromgraduateprograms.Projectengineeringjobsaresomeofthelargestemployersfor
chemicalengineers.[29]

Processdesignandanalysis

Aunitoperationisaphysicalstepinanindividualchemicalengineeringprocess.Unit
operations(suchascrystallization,filtration,dryingandevaporation)areusedtoprepare
reactants,purifyingandseparatingitsproducts,recyclingunspentreactants,and
controllingenergytransferinreactors.[30]Ontheotherhand,aunitprocessisthe
chemicalequivalentofaunitoperation.Alongwithunitoperations,unitprocesses
constituteaprocessoperation.Unitprocesses(suchasnitrationandoxidation)involvethe
conversionofmaterialbybiochemical,thermochemicalandothermeans.Chemical
engineersresponsibleforthesearecalledprocessengineers.[31]

Processdesignrequiresthedefinitionofequipmenttypesandsizesaswellashowthey
areconnectedtogetherandthematerialsofconstruction.Detailsareoftenprintedona
ProcessFlowDiagramwhichisusedtocontrolthecapacityandreliabilityofanewor
modifiedchemicalfactory.

Educationforchemicalengineersinthefirstcollegedegree3or4yearsofstudystresses
theprinciplesandpracticesofprocessdesign.Thesameskillsareusedinexisting
chemicalplantstoevaluatetheefficiencyandmakerecommendationsforimprovements.

Transportphenomena

Transportphenomenaoccurfrequentlyinindustrialproblems.Theseincludefluid
dynamics,heattransferandmasstransfer,whichmainlyconcernmomentumtransfer,
energytransferandtransportofchemicalspeciesrespectively.Basicequationsfor
describingthethreephenomenainthemacroscopic,microscopicandmolecularlevelsare
verysimilar.Thus,understandingtransportphenomenarequiresathoroughunderstanding
ofmathematics.[32]

Applicationsandpractice
Chemicalengineersuse
computerstocontrol
automatedsystemsin
plants.[33]
research.Bothappliedandresearchfacetscouldmakeextensiveuseofcomputers.[33]
Chemicalengineers
"developeconomicways
ofusingmaterialsand
energy".[34]Chemical
engineersusechemistry
andengineeringtoturn
rawmaterialsintousable
products,suchas Operatorsinachemicalplant
medicine,petrochemicals usinganolderanalogcontrol
andplasticsonalarge board,seeninEastGermany,
scale,industrialsetting. 1986.
Theyarealsoinvolvedin
wastemanagementand

Achemicalengineermaybeinvolvedinindustryoruniversityresearchwheretheyare
taskedindesigningandperformingexperimentstocreatenewandbetterwaysof
production,controllingpollution,conservingresourcesandmakingtheseprocessessafer.
Theymaybeinvolvedindesigningandconstructingplantsasaprojectengineer.Inthis
field,thechemicalengineerusestheirknowledgeinselectingplantequipmentandthe
optimummethodofproductiontominimizecostsandincreaseprofitability.Afterits
construction,theymayhelpinupgradingitsequipment.Theymayalsobeinvolvedinits
dailyoperations.[35]Chemicalengineersmaybepermanentlyemployedatchemical
plantstomanageoperations.Alternatively,theymayserveinaconsultantroleto
troubleshootproblems,manageprocesschangesandotherwiseassistplantoperators.

Relatedfieldsandtopics
Today,thefieldofchemicalengineeringisadiverseone,coveringareasfrom
biotechnologyandnanotechnologytomineralprocessing.

Biochemical Fluiddynamics Plasticsengineering

engineering Foodengineering Polymers
Bioprocess Fuelcell Processcontrol
engineering Gasification Processdesign
Bioinformatics Heattransfer Processdevelopment
Biomedical Industrialgas Processengineering
engineering Processminiaturization
 Biomolecular Industrial Paperengineering
engineering catalysts Safetyengineering
Biotechnology Masstransfer Semiconductordevicefabrication
Biotechnology Materialsscience Separationprocesses(seealso:
engineering Metallurgy separationofmixture)
Catalysts Microfluidics Crystallizationprocesses
Ceramics Mineral Distillationprocesses
Chemicalprocess processing Membraneprocesses
modeling Molecular Syngasproduction
Chemical engineering Textileengineering
Technologist Nanotechnology Thermodynamics
Chemicalreactor Natural Transportphenomena
Chemicalweapons environment Unitoperations
Cheminformatics Naturalgas Watertechnology
Computational processing
fluiddynamics Nuclear
Corrosion reprocessing
engineering Oilexploration
Costestimation Oilrefinery
Electrochemistry Petroleum
Environmental engineering
engineering Pharmaceutical
Earthquake engineering
engineering
FischerTropsch
synthesis

Seealso
Contemporaryfoodengineering
EducationforChemicalEngineers
EnglishEngineeringunits
Listofchemicalengineeringsocieties
Listofchemicalengineers
Listofchemicalprocesssimulators
Outlineofchemicalengineering

References
1.Cohen1996,p.172.
2.Cohen1996,p.174.
3.Reynolds2001,p.176.
4.Cohen1996,p.186.
5.Perkins2003,p.20.
6.Cohen1996,pp.172173.
7.Cohen1996,p.175.
8.Cohen1996,p.178.
 9.Cohen1996,p.180.
10.Cohen1996,p.183.
11.Cohen1996,p.184.
12.Cohen1996,p.187.
13.Cohen1996,p.189.
14.Cohen1996,p.190.
15.Cohen1996,p.185.
16.Ogawa2007,p.2.
17.Perkins2003,p.29.
18.Perkins2003,p.30.
19.Perkins2003,p.31.
20.Reynolds2001,p.177.
21.Perkins2003,pp.3233.
22.Kim2002,p.7S.
23.Kim2002,p.8S.
24.Perkins2003,p.35.
25.Kim2002,p.9S.
26.AmericanInstituteofChemicalEngineers2003a.
27.Towler&Sinnott2008,pp.23.
28.Herbst,AndrewHansVerwijs(Oct.1922)."ProjectEngineering:Interdisciplinary
CoordinationandOverallEngineeringQualityControl".Proc.oftheAnnualIACconference
oftheAmericanSocietyforEngineeringManagement1(ISBN9781618393616):1521
29."WhatDoChemicalEngineersDo?".
30.McCabe,Smith&Hariott1993,p.4.
31.Silla2003,pp.89.
32.Bird,Stewart&Lightfoot2002,pp.12.
33.Garner2003,pp.4748.
34.AmericanInstituteofChemicalEngineers2003,ArticleIII.
35.Garner2003,pp.4950.

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