- Introduction
- 1.1 A Brief History of Chemical Engineering
- 1.2 Types of Jobs Chemical Engineers Perform
- 1.3 Industries in Which Chemical Engineers Work
- 1.4 Sustainability
- Self-Assessment Test
- 1.5 Ethics
- Self-Assessment Test
- Summary
- Glossary
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
1.3 Industries in Which Chemical Engineers Work
A chemical engineering education exposes the graduate to the fundamentals of process engineering and develops the graduate’s ability to deal with complex problems. As such, chemical engineers are ideally suited to work in a wide variety of industries. Figure 1.1 shows the primary areas in which chemical engineers work.
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Figure 1.1 The primary areas in which chemical engineers work (Source: AIChE)
Following are brief descriptions of these primary CPI:
Refining: Refining involves processing crude oil to produce fuels and lubrication oils for automobiles, trucks, and airplanes. In addition, refineries produce a wide range of chemical intermediate products, that is, products that serve as feed stocks for other processes (e.g., propylene for a process that produces polypropylene plastics). Refineries are typically large-scale processes having feed rates up to 600,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
Chemicals: The chemical industry can be categorized as producing commodity, specialty, or fine chemical products. Commodity chemicals are high-volume products that are used as feed stocks for other chemical processes. For example, a petrochemical plant, which produces large volumes of chemical intermediates, is usually a part of most large-scale refineries. Specialty chemicals are relatively low-volume products that are often produced in batch operations. Examples of specialty chemicals include certain agricultural chemicals, paint pigments, and special-purpose solvents. Fine chemicals are commodity chemicals that are produced on a relatively small scale and are used as feed stocks for specialty chemicals.
Environmental: Environmental engineers work to ensure that human health and nature’s ecosystems are protected from emissions resulting from industry and human activity. Common efforts of environmental engineers include wastewater management, air and water quality control, waste disposal, processing or recycling waste streams, and documentation of these efforts (e.g., required reports to the Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] or environmental impact statements for proposed projects).
Equipment design and construction: This category relates to the design and construction of new processes or expansion projects for existing processes. The design process involves determining the type and sequence of equipment and the sizing of this equipment, and this effort is typically performed by consulting companies that specialize in process design. Once the design is completed, chemical engineers are typically involved during the construction and startup of the process.
Pharmaceuticals and health care: The pharmaceutical industry develops, produces, and markets synthetic drugs that can be administered to patients to treat or alleviate symptoms or protect against disease (e.g., vaccines). These products are usually produced using biological reactions.
Biotechnology: Biotechnology uses living systems by harnessing cellular processes and biomolecular processes to develop products ranging from medicines to fuels to food. Although biotechnology is currently a developing research area, it has been used by humans for thousands of years to make or preserve foods (e.g., beer and wine, bread, and sauerkraut), to improve livestock and plants by selective breeding, and to improve agricultural soils by introducing bacteria that are able to fertilize crops and protect against attacks from insects.
Biomedical applications: Biomedical engineers are involved with the application of engineering principles combined with knowledge of biology and human physiology for health care purposes. Application areas include diagnosis, monitoring, and therapy as well as the development of new technologies, such as artificial tissue and artificial organs.
Food production: Chemical engineers work in a variety of ways for the “farm to fork” food industry, including agrochemicals and food processing, such as making potato chips, granola bars, candy, beer, or yogurt.
Government: Chemical engineers work for certain government regulatory agencies [e.g., EPA or the Occupational, Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)] or government laboratories (e.g., Sandia National Laboratory and the National Institutes of Health).
Professional: This category includes professions (e.g., patent lawyers and medical doctors) that require certification as well as specialized education (e.g., university professors).