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LoginWhat is Chemical Engineering?
The chemical engineer develops a chemical process from its laboratory beginning through semi-works equipment to full-scale production. Chemical engineering is based on applications of chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, mathematics and economics. The chemical engineering curriculum includes the study of applied mathematics; material and energy balances; properties and physics of gases, liquids, and solids; fluid mechanics; heat and mass transfer; thermodynamics; chemical and biological reaction kinetics and reactor design; and the integrating subjects of process design, control, and economic optimization. Because of this broad-based foundation, emphasizing both basic and engineering science, the chemical engineer is considered the universal engineer.
Chemical Engineering Projects
Chemical engineers work on a wide variety of projects: basic and applied research, product development, design and modification of processes and equipment, and plant operation. Some enter sales, marketing, management, consulting, government agencies, consulting, or teaching. Because of the breadth and flexibility of the chemical engineering major, it is chosen by some students who plan to pursue graduate study in medical sciences, materials science, business administration, or patent and environmental law.
Chemical Engineering Operations
Chemical engineering deals with operations such as materials handling, mixing, fluid flow and metering, extrusion, coating, heat exchange, filtration, drying, evaporation, distillation, absorption, extraction, ion exchange, combustion, catalysis, and processing in chemical and biochemical reactors. These operations are vital to the commercial success of industries based on the chemical and physical transformation of matter. While of course a chemist or a biologist uses these operations in a laboratory, developing these operations for complex and large-scale industrial processes requires a complete and quantitative understanding of the chemical engineering principles as well as the scientific principles on which the operations rest.
What do chemical engineers do?