subject: Career in Chemical Engineering [print this page] Author: Kamaldeep Author: Kamaldeep
Chemical engineering, traditionally speaking, is about the design and operation of chemical plants. It is a combination of industrially relavant chemistry and many physical process such as fluid motion, energy transfer and diffusion of chemicals. It has evolved into an inter-disciplinary filed that combines biology with engineering and technology.
Difference between chemical technology and chemical engineering.
Chemical technology was precursor of chemical engineering. It was recipe based manufacture of useful goods at an industrial scale and was more an art than science. So people studied, in spearate strams, how to make paper, dyes, plastics etc. Chemal engineering was born out of the abstractions taken from the manufacturing prcesses of many products, so, for instance, heating something or separating two chemicals was common to many technologies, so they came to be studied and designed in their own right. Chemical engineering does include chemistry but only about 10-20 per cent. Chemical engineering, traditionally speaking, is about the design and operation of chemical plants but it is now an interdisciplinary field.
As technology moves ahead by leaps and bounds, those studying chemical engineering today have to deal with new topics such as surface science, nanomaterials (nanotechnology), energy science, and biological processes of industrial importance. Many elements of these areas are taught in chemical engineering, and chemical engineers now look at some of these fundamental things instead of large-scale (industrial) plants...
"The discipline has evolved by subsuming these newer things and also by pursuing the understanding of problems with more and more of science, at smaller and smaller levels. A modern curriculum has far more fundamental stuff than the more application-oriented curriculum of yesteryears."
This interaction between sister sciences has thrown open new professional vistas for chemical engineers, beyond traditional employers such as chemical, paints, oil and gas, pharmaceutical, polymers (plastics), glass, cement and steel and aluminium industries. More information about Chemical Engineering or Branches of Engineering log on to India AcademicAbout the Author:
Kamaldeep Write this article in behalf of India Academic The complete education protal.
