Chemical engineering

Chemical engineering
User:Luigi Chiesa · CC BY 3.0 · source
Name	Chemical engineering
Caption	Industrial chemical plant
Field	Engineering
Related	Chemistry, Physics, Materials Science

Contents

History

Origins trace to industrial developments influenced by innovators including James Watt, whose steam engine advances impacted energy-intensive plants, and inventors like Gottlieb Daimler and George Stephenson that enabled industrial scale-up. The emergence of unit operations was formalized by educators at University of Leeds, Columbia University, University of Birmingham, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Minnesota in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Key figures such as Arthur D. Little, W. H. Walker, John Perry (engineer), Franklin O. Myer and George E. Davis influenced curriculum and practice. Wartime demands during World War I, World War II, and projects like the Manhattan Project accelerated chemical process development, while postwar industrial expansion involved corporations such as BASF, Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Royal Dutch Shell, and ExxonMobil. Regulatory and safety milestones followed events involving Seveso disaster, Bhopal disaster, and policy responses by bodies like Occupational Safety and Health Administration and European Chemicals Agency.

Fundamental frameworks include conservation laws articulated by Isaac Newton and Daniel Bernoulli, thermodynamics developed by Rudolf Clausius and Sadi Carnot, and transport theories from Ludwig Prandtl and Osborne Reynolds. Chemical reaction engineering builds on kinetics from Svante Arrhenius and Humphry Davy, while phase behavior employs models by Josiah Willard Gibbs and Joseph Fourier. Process design integrates unit operations inherited from pioneers at MIT, University of Cambridge, and University of Sheffield. Control theory contributions from Norbert Wiener and Rudolf Kalman inform process dynamics, while materials selection references work by Henry Clifton Sorby and Harry Brearley. Safety and risk analysis draw on concepts formalized by Heinrich (safety engineer) and methodologies promoted by International Organization for Standardization and American National Standards Institute.

- Process Engineering: scale-up and design influenced by firms such as Fluor Corporation and Bechtel Corporation and academic groups at Princeton University and University of Texas at Austin. - Reaction Engineering: catalytic and homogeneous systems studied at Max Planck Society institutes and Caltech laboratories. - Transport Phenomena: theory developed in courses at MIT and textbooks by R. Byron Bird, W. E. Stewart, and Edwin S. Lightfoot. - Materials and Polymers: innovation driven by researchers at DuPont Central Research, Bayer AG, and Dow Corning. - Process Control and Automation: industrial practice shaped by companies like Siemens, ABB, and Honeywell; research in feedback theory from Claude Shannon. - Biochemical and Biomedical Engineering: interfaces with Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins University, and biotech firms such as Amgen and Genentech. - Environmental Engineering: remediation and emissions control advanced at United Nations Environment Programme, Environmental Protection Agency, and European Environment Agency. - Energy and Fuels: developments at Schlumberger, BP, Chevron Corporation, and national labs like Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Engineers employ computation and modeling using software from ANSYS, AspenTech, COMSOL, MATLAB, and Siemens PLM Software; numerical methods trace to Carl Friedrich Gauss and Leonhard Euler. Experimental techniques use instrumentation from Agilent Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Horiba; characterization methods rely on instruments developed at Bell Labs and techniques such as spectroscopy pioneered by Gustav Kirchhoff and Robert Bunsen, chromatography advances from Mikhail Tsvet, and microscopy contributions by Ernst Abbe. Process safety methodologies include hazard and operability studies (HAZOP) formalized in industry practice and reliability engineering concepts from Walter A. Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming. Data-driven methods integrate machine learning tools inspired by work at Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and research from Carnegie Mellon University and Stanford University.

Chemical engineering underpins sectors including petrochemicals and refining dominated by Saudi Aramco, PetroChina, and TotalEnergies; pharmaceuticals driven by Pfizer, Roche, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson; specialty chemicals producers like Clariant and Evonik Industries; food and beverage companies such as Nestlé and PepsiCo; pulp and paper firms including International Paper; and materials industries led by 3M and Corning Incorporated. Energy transition efforts involve projects at National Renewable Energy Laboratory, International Energy Agency, and firms pursuing green hydrogen, battery manufacturing with partners like Tesla, Inc., and carbon capture initiatives funded by Global CCS Institute. Infrastructure and utilities work with operators such as Siemens Energy and Iberdrola.

Degree programs are offered by universities including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, University of Cambridge, National University of Singapore, and Tsinghua University leading to licensure and certification processes overseen by bodies like Engineers Australia, Institution of Chemical Engineers, Board of Engineers, and national engineering councils. Professional development includes conferences organized by AIChE, IChemE, European Federation of Chemical Engineering, and publications in journals published by American Chemical Society, Royal Society, and Elsevier. Career paths span roles in research at Bell Labs-style industrial labs, plant operations at companies such as Shell, regulatory positions in agencies like Food and Drug Administration, and entrepreneurship supported by incubators associated with Y Combinator and Cambridge Innovation Center.

Category:Engineering