Chemical Engineers and the Work They Do

Name: Pewee Datoo Kolubah

Student ID: 6316000021

+8613702151169

pewee2g6@yahoo.com

School of Chemical Engineering and Technology

Tianjin University

Course Lecturer: Professor Yuxin Wang (王宇新)

BEng, MSC, PhD

Course Title: Introduction to Chemical Engineering

Signature: ____________________: December 27, 2016

Table of Content

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1

Section 1.0:

Overview of Chemical Engineering As a Profession…………………………………………………………………2

1.1: What is Chemical Engineering…………………………………………………………………………………..…………2

1.2: Importance of Chemical Engineering …………………………………………………………………………………..2

1.3: Transferable Skills You Get While Working As a Chemical Engineer…………………………………….3

1.4: Early Beginning of Chemical Engineering ……………………………………………………………………………..4

Section 2.0:

Chemical Engineers; Their Work, Organizations, Job Placement and Salary statistic……..6

2.1: What Do Chemical Engineers Do?............................................................................................6

2.2: Chemical Engineering Organizations………………………………………………………....7

2.3: Chemical Engineering Job Placements and Salary Statistic………………………………….7

Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………..9

References………………………………………………………………………………………..10

Introduction

Beginning from the food we eat to the clothes we wear, extending to the technological devices we

use, to the gasoline and fuel that power our engines as well as the instituting of measures to protect

our environment, chemical engineers play major roles that can be seen and use by us every day.

Have you ever try to ask yourself this question; “If there were no chemical engineers, what would

be the look of our planet?” We can agree to say that there would have not been any refined fuel or

gasoline to power our engines; the production of the drugs that cure our diseases would have been

a complex adventure. There would be no sheets of paper or pens to take our notes in class, and we

would have a planet that is as complicated and difficult in which to live our daily lives. The works

of Chemical Engineers are so numerous, and they can be scientifically considered to a wider

extends as one of the profession that contributes to the building blocks of human existence. Their

ability to design and operate chemical plants and equipment are unique attributes that distinguish

them from other engineers.

However, most people and even some first-year chemical engineering college students fail to

conceptualize the work of Chemical Engineers.

As a first year chemical engineering student, I have been asked to piece together this term paper

to outline some of the many works that chemical engineers do in different industries such as:

Chemical Industrials, Pharmaceutical Industrials, Food Processing Industrials, Petrochemical

industrials, Petroleum Industrials, Biotechnology Industrial, among others, as a partial fulfillment

in completing my first chemical engineering course in college title “Introduction to Chemical

Engineering.”

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Section 1: Overview of Chemical Engineering as a Profession

1.1: What is Chemical Engineering?

1.2: Importance of Chemical Engineering

1.3: Transferable Skills You Get While working as a Chemical Engineer

1.4: Early Beginning of Chemical Engineering

1.1 What is Chemical Engineering?

Chemical Engineering is a distinct branch of engineering that utilizes the knowledge of unite

operation, transport phenomena, and thermodynamics to analyze and process raw materials into

consumer products on an industrial scale.

Moreover, chemical engineering can be considered as a unique branch of engineering that uses

scientific principals and the application of engineering fundamentals to design and manufacture

consumer products as well as to derive suitable measures to protect our environment from the hard

risk of health hazards caused by the processing of various raw materials.

1.2 Importance of Chemical Engineering

Chemical Engineering is a unique branch of engineering that plays a very important role in our

everyday life. The production of materials that covers a range of categories, which include the

food we eat, the medicines that cure our diseases, the clothes we wear, the energy that powers our

engines as well as the technological devices we use. They all heavily depend on the involvement

of chemical engineers. Because of the ingenious role Chemical Engineers play in finding solutions

to real world problems, there are often referred to as the “Universal Engineers.”

Moreover, chemical engineers can be considered as the pillar of modern day chemical industries,

manufacturing industries, pharmaceutical industries, and petrochemical industrials. The road to sustainable

development and a vibrant and growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any nation is a well-developed

industrial sector that will provide basic health and social welfare to its citizens through its social cooperative

responsibilities, which is one important factor that makes chemical engineering an important branch of

engineering that contributes to nation’s developmet.

Chemical engineers often are involved with research that provide answers to challenging

engineering problems. Because of the high importance of this profession, it has been clearly stated

in scientific articles, by research institutions, and by professional engineering organizations and

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societies that chemical engineers will play key roles in finding suitable solutions to the grand

challenges of engineering facing the world now and in the future.

1.3 Transferable Skills You Get While Working As a Chemical Engineer

Because of the diverse scientific principals and skills acquire by chemical engineers during their

studies in college and whilst working, they often develop transferable skills that can be applied in

different work environments. There are lots of transferable skills chemical engineers possess. This

section outlines five (5) important ones that are very common. They include:

1. Team Work: Teamwork is an easily driven tool that yields a good result within any work

environment. Most chemical engineers possess this skill because within the work

environment of Chemical engineering, chemical engineers often work together in teams in

order to maximize productivity and minimize cost.

2. Analytical and Technical Skills: Your ability to analyze and provide suitable solutions to

internal and external problems within a company is a key skill employer will always look

for when they are recruiting new employees. This skill can be considered as one of the

exceptional attributes of chemical engineers because every chemical engineer must learn

this in college and be able to apply it in any giving real world problem that may be

encounter in their professional journey.

3. Excellent Communication Skills: Your ability to communicate effectively in a professional

environment demonstrates your capability to represent your organization or company at an

international forum, public gathering, or government meetings. From the first semester in

college of chemical engineering students to the final year, chemical engineering students

are often given responsibilities to do presentations and to write academic papers that are

intended to strengthen their communication skill.

4. Computer Skills: This is one of the very important driving tools for the smooth operation

and growth of any institution and industry. Our world has become a global village so the

need for employees with excellent computer knowledge is one of the employment criteria

for most companies, financial institutions, and government ministries and agencies. The

excellent ability of chemical engineers to work with process simulation

software’s and other real-world computer applications is another unique attribute that

chemical engineers can apply in any work environment in order to produce efficient results.

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5. Time Management: Time is natural; time is a resource that cannot be increased, and it

cannot be saved for future use. Time has value like currency. Proper time management is

a unique way to get things done efficiently. Your ability to manage your time properly

determines how well you will achieve your set goals within a reasonable time limit.

Chemical engineers often manage their time well, which enables them to set priorities in

their daily tasks in order to achieve their maximum quality output.

1.4: Early Beginning of Chemical Engineering

The origin of the chemical engineering profession can be dated back to the involvement of

industrial and analytical principals of chemistry and separation techniques principally in the

production of fine chemicals, which served as a getaway to the production of bulk chemicals. The

practice of chemistry and mechanical engineering principals goes back to the 1700s and 1800s by

passionate men like John Roebuck, Nicoles Lablanc, and others who created passion for chemistry

and decided to get involve with research in order to design processes for the production of highly

need chemicals. The development of the lead-chamber process for the production of sulfuric acid

(H2SO4) and the development of the Leblanc process for the production of soda ash (Na2Co3) by

John Roebuck and Nicoles Lablanc respectively were major achievements that revolutionize the

industrial sector between the 1700s and 1800s. However, despite these achievements, the

profession of chemical engineering was not recognized.

In addition to Roebuck and Lablanc, there were other individuals like Peregrine Philips who

develop an easy method called Contact Process for the production of H2S04, Ernest Solvay

developed the Solvay process, a process that uses Sodium Chloride and Calcium Carbonate

(NaCO3) for the production of Soda ash. Hou Debang is remembered as the man who uncovered

the secret behind Soda Ash production in his publication titled “Manufacture of Soda”; a soda ash

production process that uses NH3, CO2, NaCl, and H2O. Despite the many achievement by Germen

chemists in the designing and developing of different processes for the production of chemicals,

the chemical engineering profession did not begin in Germany because most of the chemicals that

were produced were fine chemicals, which were produced in small quantities and did not need

complex engineering techniques to be applied in the production processes.

However, their achievements led to series of lectures on chemical engineering, which provided a

complete summary of the chemical industries was presented in Britain. The lectures created

interest in the United Stated of America and motivated Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(MIT) chemistry Professor Lewis M. Nonton to start the first chemical engineering degree program

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at MIT in 1888. Over the next 10 to 15 years, many Universities in The United State of America

and other parts of the world began offering chemical engineering degrees. Despite the

establishment of a chemical engineering degree program at MIT, there were no prescribed

chemical engineering text books that were used to teach the course. It was not until 1923 and later

did individuals stated to publish text books on chemical engineering, transport phenomena, unit

operations and other related chemical engineering topics. The publication of the book “Transport

Phenomena” marks the beginning of the modern chemical engineering profession. Since the

beginning of a degree-granting program in chemical engineering at MIT, the profession has

experienced rapid growth and gain lots of smart attractions to other engineering professions and

industries, which led to the establishment of many international chemical engineering societies

and organizations to provide more opportunities for chemical engineers and to regularly update

the curriculum content of chemical engineering courses in order to meet the growing needs for

more qualify chemical engineers within the many different professional work environments around

the globe.

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Section 2.0: Chemical Engineers; Their Work, Organizations, Job Placement and Salary

Statistic

2.1: What do Chemical Engineers do?

2.2: Chemical Engineering Organizations

2.3: Chemical Engineering Job Placements and Salary Statistic

2.1: What do Chemical Engineers do?

The work that chemical engineers do includes many areas of work and can be seen in the

production of raw material that have been processed and manufactured on an industrial scale.

Chemical engineers are mostly employed by large-scale manufacturing companies. Most chemical

engineers work 24 hours a day, 365-days a year optimizing productivity by translating

manufacturing processes developed in the lab into real world applications for the industrial

production of consumer products and the maintenance and improvement of processes. They apply

the concept of mass balance, thermodynamics, transport phenomena, and unit operations to

develop, as well as monitor and optimize the processing of raw materials and the production of

consumer products on an industrial scale.

Chemical engineers work in numerous fields and their impact on products we use on a daily basis

is so vast to mention. Outlining all of the work chemical engineers do would take too much space

but by knowing what industries they work in will give a clear picture of the many works they do.

Chemical engineers work in industries like; manufacturing, pharmaceutical, petrochemicals, food

processing, petroleum, design, construction, health care, and biotechnology. Collaterally, they also

work in law, education, medicine, and financial institutions. Whilst working in any of the above-

mentioned industries, chemical engineers are often tasked with any of the following

responsibilities; design and developing chemical processes, plants and equipment management

and operation, optimization and control of industrial operations, applied laboratory research to full

industrial manufacturing scale, environmental management and pollution control, process and

product monitoring, project delivery, and bioprocesses. A chemical Engineer can be employ by

financial institutions or government agencies to serve as a consultant to provide technical advice

on industrial investment or other negotiations. Chemical engineers are creative problem solvers

who always research new ways to develop processes that can be used on an industrial scale to

maximize productivity and product quality while minimizing production costs.

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2.2: Chemical Engineering Organizations

Due to the diverse and interesting nature of the chemical engineering profession, there are lots of

international and local chemical engineering organizations and societies that have been organized

to coordinate the affairs of chemical engineers by improving chemical engineering degree-granting

standards, serve as guardians for the profession, and to create platforms that chemical engineers

can use in their job searches as well as provide professional networks with other chemical

engineers. In addition to these, there are many other opportunities that are intended to help

chemical engineers meet up with the growing challenges of the general engineering profession.

Every chemical engineering organization or society has its standards and activities that are

intended to keep the organization active. The Institution of Chemical Engineers (ICHEM) is the

global professional organization for chemical engineering professionals and anyone involve with

the process industries. ICHEM is responsible for setting the standards for Chemical and Process

Safety Engineering Professionals. Apart from ICHEM, there are other chemical engineering

organizations according to countries and regions. Some of them include:

1. American Institute of Chemical Engineers (ALCHEM)

2. Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering (CSCHE)

3. Chinese Chemical Engineering Society

4. European Federation of Chemical Engineering

5. Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK

6. Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers

7. Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers

8. Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers

9. Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Australia

10. South African Institution of Chemical Engineers

2.3: Chemical Engineering Job Placements and Salary Statistic

The entry-level salaries of any profession vary based on your areas of expertise, experience,

education, supervisory responsibility, accountability for projects, and the geographic location,

size, and industry of employer. Chemical engineering is a unique and well-paid profession that has

a very attractive entry-level salary globally. Moreover, there are so many large employers in the

chemical engineering sector with endless employment opportunities. Employment opportunities

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in the profession are diverse giving chemical engineering graduates the privilege to get hands-on

job experience immediately after graduation. According to the Institution of Chemical Engineers,

2016 salary survey in the United Kingdom; Chemical Engineering ranked third place among the

top paid jobs in the United Kingdom with an annual entry level salary of 28,600 Euros.

Additionally, the United Stated Department of Labor reported in 2015 that there are 32,230

employed chemical Engineers who are working in different industries across America.

According to the report, employment in the chemical industrial in America is expected to rise by

2.7 percent, and the mean hourly wage of chemical engineering professionals in America will

experience a 0.9 percent increase in the coming years. The annual entry level salary for chemical

engineers in America is $67,600 which makes the profession the third highest pay engineering

profession in America next to Petroleum Engineering and Computer Engineering.

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A qualify chemical engineer can be employ in a wide range of sectors but

the most common ones are outline in the diagram above.

BIOTECHNOLOGY

& BIOMEDICAL

INDUSTRIES

PHARMACEUTICAL

INDUSTRIES

YES!!!!!!!! I Am Innovative………..I Can

Design and Operate Chemical Plants………..

CHEMICAL

INDUSTRIES

Conclusion

As the demand for more consumer products increases, the need for more professional chemical

engineers will increase in response to the demand. The work that chemical engineers do is unique

and interesting. They are involved in the design, modification, and operation of processes to

produce the things we rely on every day - food, petrol, cosmetics, electricity, cars, aspirin,

medicines, technological devices, clothes, and the list is endless. Due to the transferable skills

chemical engineers learn at university, they are employed across a huge range of sectors including

energy, healthcare, food, water, and many more. They work 24 hours a day 365-days a year

optimizing processes to maximize productivity and minimize production cost. The entry level

salary of chemical engineers is very astrictive and is consider as one of the well paid profession in

many countries across the globe.

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References

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Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, P.R China.

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http://web.mit.edu/cheme/about/history.html.

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Bioengineering Section 1.2. Retrieved from http://www.informit.com.

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http://www.pafko.com/history/h_chem20.pdf.

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www.sokanu.com/careers/chemical-engineer/#waht-does-a-chemical-engineer-do.

6. American Chemical Society. (2016). Chemical Engineering; Education, Licensing,

Workplace, Technical skills, Career Path, and Future Employment Trends. Retrieved from

http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/college-to-career/chemistry-careers/chemical-

engineering.html.

7. US Department of Labor (May 2015). Occupational Employment and wages report. (17-

2041 Chemical Engineering). Retrieved from

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172041.htm#nat

8. Institution of Chemical Engineering. (2016), United Kingdom salary survey, Benefit and

salaries of chemical engineers. Retrieved from

www.whynotchemeng.com/information/benefits-and-salary-information.aspx

9. Institution of Chemical Engineering. (2016). About IChemE. Retrieved from

www.icheme.org/about_us.aspx.

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