What is chemical engineering?

This question previously had details. They are now in a comment.

Sarang Nath

B.Tech. in ChemE at IIT DelhiUpvoted by

Vedhikha Parthasarathy

, MS Chemical Engineering, University of Illinois at Chicago (2015) and

Mingchuan Zheng

, PhD Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge (2025)7y

Originally Answered: What is chemical engineering? What does a chemical engineer do?
This is actually a vast question! So let me elaborate my views about the chemical
engineering profession through a story. This tale is quite long but I hope you will find it
informative and interesting.

X is a chemical engineer. A chemical engineer par excellence. One fine day, he is summoned
by his boss and given a new assignment. The chemists of the company have found that if
reactants A and B are mixed, then the valuable product P will be formed. X's boss tells him
to engineer this reaction into being. And so X sets to work.

1. Thermodynamics and Kinetics: Being a healthy skeptic, X is not entirely

convinced about the chemists' calculations. So he first studies
the thermodynamics of the process to understand the conditions at which it
would be feasible to carry out the
reaction. Temperature, pressure, composition, solvent nature ... all are variables
which X can adapt and fine-tune to the process at hand. He also understands the
factors that affect the reaction rate to use them favorably. Apart from the reaction
being feasible and fast, he also has to worry about side reactions, stability of all
 concerned species and phase homogeneity. These are complex calculations and
so he uses computational techniques and softwares to help him in making
decisions. He also requests the chemists to double-check his results in some lab
experiments.
2. Targets and Material Balances: Once X is satisfied that the reaction can be
implemented, he establishes targets and goals. The scope and ambition of the
process is decided at this step. He identifies the sources of A and B - nearer the
better. If they're very far, he wonders if he can make them himself. A few
calculations give him an estimate as to how much P will need to be produced
for economically viable operation, and he deduces the quantities
of A and B from that as well. To help explain the concept of material
balances, X always likes to show the following diagram:

1. Reactor Design: Now X turns to the heart of the process, the reactor. He has
briefly looked at possible catalysts when studying the kinetics, but this time he
goes deeper. He plays around with some molecular simulation tools to find what
catalyst could give the best results in terms of conversion, yield and selectivity.
He also factors in the catalyst stability into his calculations. Once he's done on
this front, he wonders what reactor design to use. A fixed bed? A fluidized bed? A
stirred tank? A membrane reactor? Is it advantageous to use multiple reactors?
How large should these reactors be? Of what material should they be made? He
pays special attention to the physical phases and chemical natures of the
participating species while making this decision. When asked, he shows some
 schematic reactor designs labelled with typical chemical engineering
abbreviations:

1. Equipment Design: X realizes early on that just the reactor isn't sufficient.
Unfortunately, A and B are not obtained in very pure form and so he must do
some 'preprocessing'. He considers a variety of techniques such as washing with
a solvent, selective chemical reactions, filtration, crystallization, distillation ...
and chooses the one that is the most suitable. These processes need special
equipment and he designs them accordingly. There's also some 'postprocessing'
he has to accomplish, for P is not the sole product obtained. So depending on the
exact requirements, he installs equipment like absorbers, adsorbers or liquifiers.
To simplify his task, he uses a computer which returns him the design once he
specifies the layout. His distillation towers and gas absorption scrubbers often look
like what are shown here:
1. Energy Balances: "Nothing comes for free" - this is one of X's favorite lines. For
effective operation, he needs to supply energy to specific equipment and take
away energy from others. He also learns that the reaction of interest
is exothermic and thus wants to make sure there is no chance
of hotspots forming in the reactor. He has to decide whether he prefers fluid-
carrying coils or jackets or resistive heating or chemical heat carriers ... and
also how to ensure efficient heat transfer between these devices and the
equipment. Exchanging heat between multiple streams is one of X's best bets and
so he develops a heat exchanger network. He also has to consider declining
efficiency with time due to effects like fouling or wearing out of mechanical parts.
Due to the large number of variables and calculations, X relies on some special
computational tools, some aspects of which he has tweaked and improved. His
heat exchanger networks are usually somewhat as shown below, full of small
symbols and fine print.
1. Piping and Instrumentation: To avoid high levels of unconsumed
reactants, X considers the possibility of having a recycle stream for multiple runs.
A purge stream might also be needed to avoid accumulation of inert substances
and impurities. He also explores methods to transport the reaction mixture from
one equipment unit to another. This could be achieved by gravity or
using pumps or perhaps even conveyor belts. He designs these as well and
optimizes the connecting pipes on the basis of pressure drop and space
considerations. He also sets up measuring devices to monitor important
parameters like the temperature, pressure, flow rate and composition during
operation, most of which he has designed himself too. These are all compiled into
a piping and instrumentation diagram (P&ID), and X is always immensely proud
of these! Look at him showing off one of his diagrams:
1. Control and Automation: It's important to ensure that the system conditions stay
within certain limits for stable operation. This is why X implements a large number
of sensors and actuators which enable him to control the process. He has a large
number of options here as well, with different types and mechanisms
of controllers (PID, Adaptive, Fuzzy logic etc.) as well as a variety of valves with
different configurations. Also, X decides how much of this control should
be automated and how much of it should be manually operated. During this
process, he keeps in mind his motto, "Safety first", for it's better to be safe than
sorry every time. Here's one of X's photographs of a refinery control room that
he'd worked in:
1. Environmental Concerns: X is an environmentally-sensitive engineer. And so he
makes sure that no potentially harmful substances are released into the
environment. This requires special units or isolation measures - he could employ
methods like chemical treatment, electrostatic precipitation, combustion-
dispersal or controlled dumping. If possible, he also tries to find a use within his
own industry for any toxic products that are produced. Here are some images he
shows to pictorially describe some measures undertaken:

1. Alternative Energy Sources: X's boss often tells him they will soon run out of
oil. X doesn't believe him because he is aware of the untapped reserves of heavy
oils but agrees that they pose a threat to the environment. Hence, he too is often
on the lookout for alternative sources of energy that can be used to run his
operations. Being in a closed environment, he can't directly take advantage of
renewable sources like wind and water, but the prospect of biofuels excites him
for they could originate from natural sources like sugarcane. He's trying to adapt
his systems to run using fuel cells which could be of different types (PEM,
 methanol, solid-state, etc.) and often looks at figures like the one below to digest
their variety and versatility:

1. Bioengineering Approaches: One of X's biologist colleagues has also succeeded

in making him enthusiastic about the potential of bioengineering. He now knows
about mutations and plasmids as well as the advantages of using enzymes to
carry out reactions. Metabolic engineering is a new coinage wherein he's learnt
that one can change the properties of organisms like bacteria to attain desirable
functionalities. The growing use of computational models for cellular networks and
advancement in wet lab technologies has meant that X also
considers bioreactors whenever he is given a task. This is why it's not uncommon
to see X poring over such cellular networks to understand biological processes
better:

1.
2. New Materials: Another of X's colleagues has enlightened him about new
materials. He has to come to learn of new membranes that can filter better and
improved materials that increase adsorption efficiency. Polymers have found their
way into his dictionary and he is learning to take advantage of their different
properties. Bio-inspired materials are also growing in prominence by adapting
the systems already in existence in Nature and X keenly reads the latest research
on these, a schematic of which is shown below:

1. Nanotechnology: X has also been alerted to the advantages of using very fine
particles for industrial applications. Nanoemulsions and nanoparticle
catalysts are hot areas in the modern day. These particles also have the ability to
act as supports or carriers for other chemicals as well as dispersing agents. He
carries out many simulations on these systems using diverse types of nanosystems,
some of which are shown here:

1. Scale Down: Before investing heavily in a plant, X ponders about making

a prototype to test his analysis. He reduces the size by conserving
certain dimensionless groups across scales - the choice of this dimensionless no.
is different for different equipment and constitutes an important decision. Here are
some basic dimensionless numbers that X uses very often:
1. Microfluidics: Having taken a cue from some of his chemist friends, X is now
thinking of microfluidic reactors. Using small tubes in a controlled fashion can be
advantageous in many ways, especially for testing purposes. The dynamics in such
systems might also be very different from that at the larger scales, so he is actively
studying the phenomenon observed in microchannels and chips like the one
shown here.

1. Startup: One of the most important and tense times for X is 'startup day'. Much of
his analysis has been for situations when things are at steady state and he's had
to rely on correlations and simplifications to model and analyze the events
occurring during startup. He ensures the feed is properly preconditioned, the
equipment are functioning properly, the sensors are working and the controls are
responding before switching on the operation. During this day, he monitors all
readings carefully and takes appropriate action, often manually, to ensure things
progress smoothly in the run up to steady state.
2. Packaging and Delivery: Now the product P is being steadily obtained but it
needs to be converted to the appropriate form and delivered. Perhaps it needs to
be made into tablets, perhaps it needs to be packaged as a powder, perhaps it
needs to be compressed as a gas. X calls the shots and ensures
proper formulation, handling and delivery. He also expresses his sentiments
 about the product appeal and target group to the designers and promoters, and
this picture is one of his prized exhibits.

1. Operation and Troubleshooting: A year after startup, the quality of

product P has degraded. X is worried that one of the equipment units is
malfunctioning and runs some detection tests - the product batches obtained
during this time have to be discarded. He does not want to shut down the plant
and attempts to make some modifications to the existing conditions to improve
performance. In the meantime, he tries to identify and isolate the faulty point to
take necessary corrective action, often taking the help of fault trees, event trees, or
the like.

1. Redesign: After a few more years, the source of A has run out and a new source is
found and tapped. But X finds that the quality and nature of this new
feed material is different from that of the earlier case. Unfortunately, it is too
expensive to dismantle the entire operation and customize it anew so he
must adapt to these new conditions as best as he can. This might need a change
in operating conditions, or even an add-on unit, and X has to make an
appropriate decision. Another year later, the government issues a notice increasing
the minimum concentration of P in the product. Some more changes
and redesigning is therefore necessitated to continue to conform to norms
without raising the price excessively. To illustrate his point, X often shows this
picture to illustrate the different crude oil grades and the resulting difference in
properties:
 1. Decommission: Many years have passed and the process and system in place are
now too old. The system in place has to be dismantled and it is old man X who is
still in charge. He decides which components can be re-used, which can
be modified and adapted and which has to be sent away as scrap. He chalks out
a disposal plan and ensures that all the raw material is consumed before
dismantling. The size and scale of this process can be imagined when one looks at
some of the mammoth plants that X has setup and run, one picture of which is
shown here.

1. Reporting and Documentation: Through all of this, X maintains an extensive

and exhaustive set of documents for both internal and external use.
Periodic presentations and discussions enable him to improve the design and
efficiency of the processes that he is tasked to 'engineer into reality'.

Moral of the Story: Chemical engineering is a diverse field which transcends boundaries
by incorporating elements from many disciplines. A chemical engineer could be devising or
characterizing catalysts, designing new and more efficient plant equipment,
improving control strategies, formulating new fuels and energy sources,
engineering biological systems, innovating novel materials, going meso or nano,
ameliorating packaging and transport, and much more. A chemical engineer could also be
attacking fundamental questions in fluid hydrodynamics, solid flows, chemical
interaction modelling, plant startup and shutdown, polymer theory, biosystem
analysis, and many other areas all of which have numerous unsolved mysteries.

Hope you found this story interesting and enjoyable.