LE 1 - Scope of Chemical Engineering Flashcards
As chemical engineers we must learn how to manufacture these products in?
an economical way
a safer way
an environmentally friendly way
takes the idea developed at the laboratory and scales it up for production at the industrial scale
process engineer
For instance, the energy released in a particular unit can be recovered in another unit via heat exchangers by a process called?
the heat integration
This allows optimum process design and the ability to predict process costs and economics under changing conditions.
Cost Estimates
As our basic understanding of chemical and engineering systems has advanced, it has become easier to mathematically model many process systems.
Development of System Models
He is trained to identify the areas in a plant where improvements can be made.
Chemical Engineer
In these cases, the chemical engineer, in collaboration with other engineers, needs to design a system that will achieve the desired goals, but within practical limitations.
Design of Processes and Process Equipment
These are usually dictated by?
market demands
it affords a possibility to have a decentralized way of producing and analyzing chemicals
scaling-down approach
This may come from the advancement over time of newly hired engineers based on demonstrated capabilities (including technical, decision making, and people interaction and motivational skills), as well as the need to transfer chemical engineers with one area of management and technical expertise into another needing, but not having those skills.
Business and Executive Management
a laboratory a demonstration plant of an intermediate scale or size
pilot plant
Examples of Chemical Engineering Research
- design of artificial organs (remember: the heart is a pump and the kidney is a filter),
- the study of atmospheric diffusion to study the impact of environmental emissions
- the design and optimization of process control algorithms
- alternative energy sources and processes
- and the recovery of energy from waste products in an economical and environmentally acceptable way
In order to write rules and regulations, it is important to understand the basic limitations of chemical processes, laws of thermodynamics, and the limits of measurement capabilities.
Safety and Environment
Though certainly not unique to the domain of chemical engineers, the ______________________ for chemical plant operations is critical.
design of utility support systems
to make new materials or lower cost/less environmentally impactful routes to existing materials
scale‐up of new and modified chemical processes
Commercial plants are typically
Big
The ability to understand the customer’s process may be critical to the ability to sell a material to a customer, especially if it is a new material or requires substantial change in a customer’s operation.
Sales and Marketing
Pilot plants for demonstration of a technology can be significantly?
large in size
identifies a feasible route or mechanism to obtain the end product at the laboratory scale
product engineer or chemist
In universities and in advanced laboratories within many large corporations, basic _________________________ is done by advanced degreed chemical engineers, many times in association with other disciplines.
chemical engineering research
This type of training helps chemical engineers find their skills used in a variety of ways
unique combination of chemistry, mechanical engineering, and physics
Regulations and enforcement actions relating to hazardous material transport also require chemical engineering expertise, especially in bulk pipeline, rail car, and truckload shipping.
Safety and Environment
it helps in designing a portable system for analyzing water samples in remote areas.
scale-down approach
What do Chemical Engineers do?
- Scaling Up or Down
- Design of Processes and Process Equipment
- Design of Utility Support Systems
- Sales and Marketing
- Safety and Environment
- Cost Estimates
- Supervision of Actual Chemical Plant Operations
- Chemical Engineering Research
- Business and Executive Management
- Study of Biological Systems
- Development
In this role, the understanding of equipment design and performance is critical, but more importantly the management of plant operations to minimize safety incidents and environmental releases, as well as complying with permits under which the plant is allowed to operate.
Supervision of Actual Chemical Plant Operations
The chemical engineer is concerned not only with the manufacture of these compounds but also?
improving their quality
In this role, chemical engineers have additional unique responsibilities including labor relations with operating plant personnel as well as the need, in some cases, to interface with the surrounding community in a public communications role.
Supervision of Actual Chemical Plant Operations
This includes not only the previously mentioned human organs such as the heart (pumps) and kidneys (filters) but also absorption and conversion of food ingredients into the human body.
Study of Biological Systems
comes in when a microorganism or enzyme is used to manufacture a product
Biology
In large plants, the opportunities for this are more as the freedom to
innovate, integrate, and modify
This requires the knowledge of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and economics along with considerable innovation.
Scaling Up or Down
What makes chemical engineers versatile?
physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics combined with engineering principles
This requires the combination of chemical engineering skills with knowledge of mathematical models and software that, in many cases, minimizes the cost of system scale‐up and evaluation.
Development of System Models
For instance, the energy released in a particular unit can be recovered in another unit via?
heat exchangers
With the availability of today’s computer horsepower, it is possible to evaluate and compare many possible process options as a function of raw material pricing, geographic location, energy cost, and cost projections
Cost Estimates
Scaling Up or Down requires the knowledge of
mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and economics along with considerable innovation
