Chemical Engineering: An Introduction

Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that concerns with the application of physical
sciences (e.g., chemistry and physics), and life sciences (e.g., biology, microbiology and
biochemistry) with mathematics, to the process of conversion of raw materials or chemicals into
more useful or valuable products necessary of our life. Beside this, modern chemical engineering is
also involved with pioneering valuable new materials and techniques- such as nanotechnology,
micro-electronics, fuel cells and biomedical engineering.

Historical Development of Chemical Engineering Courses*

o 19th Century: Industrial Chemistry. An industrial Chemist specialized in each area. For

example manufacture of Sulphuric Acid, manufacture of Soda etc.

o 1920s: Unit Operations at MIT, USA

o 1950s: Transport Phenomena (Chemical Engineering Science)
o 1970s: Mathematical Modeling and use of Computer in Process Control
o 1980s: Biochemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Material Science
o 1990s: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology

Roles of Chemical Engineers

o To design, scale-up, optimise and maintain different synthesis processes

o To utilize his/her knowledge in Engineering Economics and Management to transfer a
technology from laboratory to industry
o To contribute in the field of process safety, waste management, energy and environment

Apart from these, the respective workstations will direct chemical engineers about the activities
which will be dealt with. Some of the chemical engineers will work in chemical, biochemical,
biomedical or material science laboratories conducting research and development or quality
engineering, at computer workstations designing and simulating processes and products and control
systems, at plant locations managing the construction and startup of manufacturing plants, on
production areas supervising and troubleshooting and improving operations, on the road transacting
technical sales and service, in government agencies responsible for environmental and occupational
health and safety, in executive offices doing administrative functions, in law offices specializing in
chemical process-related patent activities, in hospitals and clinics practicing medicine or
biomedical engineering, and in classrooms teaching the new generation of chemical engineering
students.

 Source: Lecture note of Dr. M. A. A. Shoukat Choudhury, Professor of the ChE Department of BUET
Chemical and Allied Industries for Chemical Engineers

o Basic chemical industries (acids, alkalis, salts and organic chemicals)

o Specialty chemical industries (pharmaceuticals, paints, dyes and cosmetics)
o Fertiliser industries
o Food industries
o Polymer, petroleum and petro-chemical industries
o Pulp and paper industries
o Glass, ceramic and cement industries
o Energy and environment
o Biotechnological industries
o Microelectronics
o Research and development
o Higher education

The Difference in Job Roles between a Chemist and Chemical Engineer

Preparation of H2 gas in the laboratory. Zn reacts with H2SO4 to produce ZnSO4 and H2.

Zn (s) + H2SO4 (l) = ZnSO4 (s) + H2 (g)

Production of 1 kg or 20 kg ZnSO4 per day

- Probably a chemist can make it.

Production of 100 ton (100,000 kg) ZnSO4 per day

- A chemist cannot handle or make it. Here comes, Chemical Engineering

A chemist is good in running a laboratory. He/she is used to work in a laboratory, does not know
how to transfer a technology from laboratory scale to industrial scale and cannot design and build
an industrial plant. On the contrary, a chemical engineer is capable of running a laboratory, is
comfortable working in an industrial environment, knows how to transfer a technology from
laboratory to industry and can design, build, operate and run an industrial process.

Unit Operations and Unit Processes

Haber process is considered as an example. The reaction involved with the process is as follows.

N2 + 3H2 2NH3 occurs at around 500 0C and 200 atmosphere over iron catalysts. A simple
process flow sheet is-

Reactor
Reactor

Condenser
Condenser
In the process, reactor is a unit process as processing of reactant in the feed takes place, i.e.
reactants in feed get converted into products (by chemical reaction) with the help of energy
supplied to the system. Some examples of unit processes are Alkylation, Isomerisation,
Hydrogenation, Oxidation, Nitrogenization etc. Condenser is a unit operation since only ammonia
is separated from the non-condensable gases. Unit operation involves physical changes to feed. It
will bring changes in size, shape, density, concentration etc. Some unit operations are-

Heat flow, Fluid flow Mixing

Drying Absorption
Evaporation Adsorption
Distillation Condensation
Crystallization Vaporization
Size reduction or Crushing Separation
Extraction Sedimentation
Filtration Screening
It is noted that a process may include a series of unit operations either with the combination
of unit processes or not and the raw materials are treated through physical steps (unit operations)
to make it suitable for either chemical reactions or process requirements.

Pilot Plant Study for Developing an Industrial Plant

Pilot plant is carried out before the industrial plant is built. In the pilot plant, production scale is
larger than the laboratory scale but smaller than the industrial scale. Pilot plant is necessary to test
the industrial scale design whether it has scaling issues or not. If there are some discrepancies only
for the larger scale production with the same technology, troubles are found out and solved in the
pilot plant study. Successful result from this step will lead to build the industrial plant. A pilot plant
for ZnSO4 production may be as follows-

Zn (s) + H2SO4 (l) = ZnSO4 (s) + H2 (g)

Laboratory Scale Pilot Plant Scale Industrial/Plant Scale

20 Kg/Day 100-10,000 Kg/Day 1,00,000 Kg/Day

Prepared by, Dr. M. N. Rahman, Lecturer, CFPE Department, RUET.