Chemical engineering is a discipline influencing numerous areas of
technology. In broad terms, chemical engineers conceive and design processes to
produce, transform and transport materials — beginning with experimentation in
the laboratory followed by implementation of the technology in full-scale
production.
Chemical Engineering was originally developed for
the production of chemicals on an industrial scale. However, from then to now,
Chemical Engineering has sure come a long way. Today, other than chemicals,
Chemical Engineering techniques are used for the production of usable, high
quality products such as fibres, fabrics, paints, medical drugs, biomaterials,
gasoline, lubricants etc used in various industries such as textile, food,
plastics, automotive, aerospace, petroleum, oil and gas, biomedical,
biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, thereby increasing the scope of Chemical
Engineering. Chemical engineers design, maintain and operate large scale
machinery, industrial plants and chemical processes required for the production
of various usable products as mentioned above. Therefore, this field is not
just related to chemistry. In order to design the equipments and scale up the
products from lab to industrial scale manufacturing, you will be studying a lot
of concepts in physics, mathematics and economics as well.
Chemical engineers now a days are in great demand because of the
large number of industries which are depend on the synthesis and processing of
chemicals and materials. In addition to traditional careers in the chemical,
energy and oil industries, chemical engineers enjoy increasing opportunities in
biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, electronic device fabrication and environmental
engineering. The unique training of the chemical engineer becomes essential in
these areas when processes involve the chemical or physical transformation of
matter.
For example, chemical engineers working in the chemical
industry investigate the creation of new polymeric materials with important
electrical, optical or mechanical properties. This requires attention not only
to the synthesis of the polymer, but also to the flow and forming processes
necessary to create a final product. In biotechnology, chemical engineers help
design production facilities that use microorganisms and enzymes to synthesize
new drugs. Problems in environmental engineering that engage chemical engineers
include the development of processes (catalytic converters, effluent treatment
facilities) to minimize the release of or deactivate products harmful to the
environment.
To do these jobs, the chemical engineer must have a
complete and quantitative understanding of both the engineering and scientific
principles underlying these technological processes. This is reflected in the
curriculum of the Chemical Engineering Department, which includes the study of
applied mathematics, material and energy balances, thermodynamics, fluid
mechanics, energy and mass transfer, separations technologies, chemical
reaction kinetics and reactor design, and process design. These courses are
built on a foundation in the sciences of chemistry, physics and biology.
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