Chemical Engineering

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the application of physical science (e.g. chemistry and physics), with mathematics, to the process of converting raw materials into valuable forms. As well as producing useful materials, chemical engineering is also concerned with pioneering valuable new materials and techniques; an important form of research and development. It largely involves the design and maintenance of chemical processes for large-scale manufacture. As a matter of fact, Chemical Engineering is responsible for the availability of modern high quality materials that are essential for running an industrial economy.

Chemical engineering has a vast scope for research and can be classified according to the area of study. There are three major areas into which it is classified: 'Modeling and simulation', 'Separation Technology' and 'Nanotechnology'.

Modeling and Simulation can be categorized as one of the most important areas of the modern chemical engineering. The process of modeling can be defined as the development of a model for the manufacture of a particular product, where a 'model' is a simplified representation of a system which helps in understanding of the real system. Simulation can be said as the next step of modeling which is a computerized version of the model. Modeling and simulation is such an important area of chemical engineering that no chemical industry can be run without using a model. It has found its application in variety of industries like pharmaceutical, electro-chemical and polymer industries.

Separation Technology is another important area of chemical engineering. A separation process is used to transform a mixture of substances into two or more compositionally distinct products. Barring a few exceptions, almost every element or compound is found naturally in an impure state such as a mixture of two or more substances. Many times the need to separate it into its individual component arises. Hence, Separation applications in the field of chemical engineering are very important. A good example is that of crude oil. Crude oil is a mixture of various hydrocarbons and is valuable in this natural form. Demand is greater, however, for the purified various hydrocarbons such as natural gases, gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricating oils, asphalt, etc.

Separation