Chemical engineering combines scientific principles and engineering practice to turn raw materials, energy, and biological resources into useful products. This lesson introduces the profession, the range of work chemical engineers do, and how the field developed alongside industry and safety practice.
Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes that convert raw materials into useful products. Their work draws on chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and economics to design and improve ways of using, producing, transporting, and transforming materials and energy.
All flashcards
Plant design
Creating plans, specifications, and economic analyses for a pilot plant, new facility, or plant modification.
Unit operation
A physical step in a process, such as filtration, drying, crystallization, or evaporation.
Unit process
A chemical conversion step, such as nitration, hydrogenation, or oxidation.
Process Flow Diagram (PFD)
A diagram recording the main process equipment and how it is connected.
Process safety
The systematic application of safety principles to prevent or reduce hazards in process plants.
Quiz questions
What is a central purpose of chemical engineering?Answer: To develop economical processes that transform raw materials and energy into useful products.
Which group of disciplines supports chemical engineering?Answer: Chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and economics.
Why did chemical engineering increasingly emphasize transport phenomena in the 1940s?Answer: Unit operations alone did not fully explain or guide the design of chemical reactors.
What does process safety mean in chemical and other process plants?Answer: Systematically applying safety principles to prevent or reduce hazards.
How did major industrial accidents affect chemical engineering practice?Answer: They helped increase attention to industrial safety and environmental protection.