What is a solvent?

defined as a liquid which has the capability to suspend, dissolve or to take out
other chemicals where they do not perform any chemical change to the
material or solvent. The main process of solvents is to clean, apply, process or
to separate materials.

Explain the third law of thermodynamics?

The third law of thermodynamicsstates that “when a system reaches absolute

zero, a minimum value is reached by the entropy of the system”.

What is quicklime and what are its uses?

Quicklime is calcium oxide which is in dehydrated stage and an effective

scavenger. When a comparison is made with other scavenger’s as silica,
oxazolidines, it is cheap. These are usually found in water sensitive paint
formulations.

What are the three classes of organic solvent?

Organic solvents are usually classified as hydrocarbon, oxygenated, and

halogenated solvents. They also take into account ketones, alcohol, esters,
glucometers, and glycol ether esters. When hydrocarbon solvents are
considered they include aromatics and aliphatics. Ones which are chlorinated
usually fall under halogenated solvents.
What is Gibbs free energy?

It is mentioned as the maximum amount of mechanical work or available

energy which is done by the system under stable temperature and pressure.
It is the available energy or the greatest amount of mechanical work done by a system at constant
temperature and pressure.

What happens when the paint dries?

In the manufacturing process of paints, solvents are being added to them so

that paint thinner is made. This solvent is used in order to apply to different
surfaces. After the application of the paint, the solvents are evaporated and
the pigments and resins make the paint form a solid and thin coating on the
surface.

What is an isochoric process?

An isochoric process is defined as a thermodynamic process at a constant

value. This is also mentioned as an isovolumetric process.
It is a thermodynamic process at constant volume. Also called isovolumetric process

What are the disadvantages and advantages of PFR?

The advantages of PFR are high conversion rate, continuous operation, and
operating at less cost. The disadvantages of PFR are high maintenance costs
and temperature gradients..
Advantages: Continuous operation, high conversion rate, less cost for operation. Disadvantages:
temperature gradients, high maintenance cost.
What is a CSTR and what are its basic assumptions?

The abbreviation for CSTR is continuous stirred tank reactor. Here

assumptions are steady state, constant temperature, constant density and one
irreversible first order reaction.

What is meant by global warming in engineer’s perspective and common man?

When a common man perspective is considered, he thinks that global

warming is the rise in world temperature. The average temperature
enhancement at the surface of the earth is mentioned as global warming by an
engineer’s view. This is because of the enhanced effect of the greenhouse
gasses. The greenhouse gasses are ones that capture heat which is emitted by
the globe into the atmosphere which leads to temperature rise.
In a common man’s perspective, the increase in world temperatures is global warming. In an engineer’s
perspective, it is the average temperature increase in the surface temperature of the earth, mainly due to
increased concentration of greenhouse gases. The greenhouse gases capture the heat radiated by the
earth, inside the atmosphere, enabling the increase in temperature.

List the greenhouse gasses found in the earth’s atmosphere?

Few greenhouse gases in the atmosphere of the earth are water vapor,
methane, carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and CFC.

Define octane number?

An octane number is defined as a resistance to an explosion of fuel specifically

in spark engine ignition when made a comparison with the isooctane-n-
heptane mixture.
What is a black body?

A black body is considered as an ideal object that absorbs all the

electromagnetic radiation.
These are a few interview questions and answers specifically for chemical
engineers.

What is the Driving force for fluid flow?

Driving force for fluid flow is Energy per unit mass or total head available at the point of location

What are some common causes of gas pipeline vibration 20 Carbon Steel line?chemical interview
questions.docx
The upper pressure range and /or the smaller pipe diameters prompts me to investigate the possibility
that the gas is reaching critical flow somewhere downstream within the pipe. When a gas gets to critical
flow, sonic booms (producing vibration) are expected. In fact, one of the main means by which the
additional pressure in the pipe is lost.
If the source is a compressor, look for surging.

If the source is a tower, look for pressure cycling in the tower

Look at critical flow through any control valve that may be in the line.

Are there any vapors in the line, which can condense and produce two-phase flow? Two-phase flow can
cause vibration.

In chemical plant design, if we suspect two-phase flow, we instruct the piping designers to provide special
anchoring.

What is entropy?
Entropy is a measure of disorderliness. It explains the system’s closeness to equilibrium.

At what temperature does water have maximum density?

At 4 deg C the density of water is 1000 kg/cu.m.

Definition of NPSH?
NPSH is an acronym for Net Positive Suction Head. In any cross-section of a generic hydraulic circuit, the
NPSH parameter shows the difference between the actual pressure of a liquid in a pipeline and the
liquid’s vapor pressure at a given temperature.
NPSH is an important parameter to take into account when designing a circuit: whenever the liquid
pressure drops below the vapor pressure, liquid boiling occurs, and the final effect will be cavitation:
vapor bubbles may reduce or stop the liquid flow, as well as damage the system.
Considering the circuit shown in the picture
where
hL is the head loss between 0 and 1
p0 is the pressure at the water surface
pv is the vapour pressure (saturation pressure) for the fluid at the temperature T1 at 1
Δz is the difference in height z1 − z0 (shown as H on the diagram) from the water surface to the location 1
ρ is the fluid density
g is gravitational acceleration

What is the significance of the minimum flow required by a pump?

The minimum flow that a pump requires describes the flow below which the pump will experience what is
called “shutoff”. At shutoff, most of the pump’s horsepower or work is converted to heat that can vaporize
the fluid and cause cavitations that will severely damage the pump. The minimum flow of a pump is
particularly important in the design of boiler feed pumps where the fluid is near its boiling point.

How does a cyclone separator work?

It works as gas-solid separation equipment using vortex formation.