Elementary Principles of

Chemical Engineering
Date: 12.1.15
Lecturer: Dianne Plummer

Objectives

General Class Introduction

What is expected
Course Outline
Tutorials
Project
Group Work

What is Expected

Respect classmates and lecturer

Read and practice
Complete assignments
If you miss a class, collect notes from class
mates
Participation in class activities

Course
Seven Units :Engineer in Industry, Process
Variables, Material Balances, Single Phase,
Multiphase, Energy Balances, Energy Balances in
Non Reactive Systems
Two tests 10% each
Assignments / Quiz / Class Participation 10%
Project 20%
Exam 50%
Complete Unit 1 and Start Unit 2 today
Assignments on Unit 1 & 2 given today

Elementary Principles of
Chemical Engineering

Unit 1:
The Role of Chemical Engineer
in the Industry

Class Activity
Get in groups of 3
Discuss and write definition of chemical
engineer.
One group member presents to class and
submit group work.

Who is a chemical Engineer

Design of processes that change materials from
one form to another more useful (more valuable)
form, economically, safely and in an
environmentally acceptable way.
Application of basic sciences (math, chemistry,
physics & biology) and engineering principles to
the development, design, operation &
maintenance of processes to convert raw
materials to useful products and improve the
human environment.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
ChemEs involves specifying equipment,
operating conditions, instrumentation and
process control for all these changes.
Knowledge

Skills
Chemistry
Mathematics

Air

Natural Gas
Coal
Minerals
Energy

Economics

Physics
Biology

Attitudes

Class Activity 2
In your same group write 5 industries in which
chemical engineers work

WHAT ARE THE FIELDS OF CHEMEs?

Traditionally
Petrochemicals, petroleum and natural gas
processing
Plastics and polymers
Pulp and paper
Instrumentation and process control
Energy conversion and utilisation
Environmental control

WHAT ARE THE FIELDS OF CHEMEs?

Contd
Biotechnology
Biomedical and Biochemical
Food processing
Composite materials, Corrosion and Protective
Coatings
Manufacture of microelectronic components
Pharmaceuticals

WHAT ARE THE FIELDS OF CHEMEs?

ChemEs also work in supplier, consulting and

governmental agencies related to the Chemical
processing Industry, CPI by engaging in
equipment manufacture, plant design,
consulting, analytical services and standards
development.

WHAT ARE THE FIELDS OF CHEMEs?

They hold lead positions in industrial firms and
governmental agencies concerned with
environmental protection since environmental
problems are usually complex and require a
thorough knowledge of the Social Sciences,
Physics, Biology, Mathematics and Chemistry for
their resolution.

Chemical engineers have been referred to as

universal engineers.

WHAT CHEMEs DO?

Design, development and maintain operation of
process plants
Research and development of novel products and
processes

Management of technical operations and sales

Hence, convert raw materials to useful products
and improve the human environment.

A LITTLE HISTORY
From its beginning chemical engineering was
tailored to fulfill the needs of the chemical
industry which, in the USA, was mostly based on
petroleum derived feedstocks.

Competition between manufacturers was brutal,

and all strove to be the "low cost producer."
However, to stay ahead of the pack chemical
plants had to be optimized.

A LITTLE HISTORY
This necessitated things such as; continuously
operating reactors (as opposed to batch operation),
recycling and recovery of unreacted reactants, and
cost effective purification of products. These advances
in-turn required plumbing systems (for which
traditional chemists where unprepared) and detailed
physical chemistry knowledge (unknown to
mechanical engineers). The new chemical engineers
were capable of designing and operating the
increasingly complex chemical operations which were
rapidly emerging.

Unit operations
A unit operation is a basic step in a process. Unit operations
involve bringing a physical change such as separation,
crystallization, evaporation, filtration etc. For example, in milk
processing, homogenization, pasteurization, chilling,
and packaging are each unit operations which are connected to
create the overall process. A process may have many unit
operations to obtain the desired product.
Other examples of this include
drying
distillation
grinding
Physical/
sedimentation
Chemical operations
combustion
heat exchange
coating, and so on.

Unit operations
These "unit operations" repeatedly found their way into
industrial practice, and became a convenient manner of
organizing chemical engineering knowledge.

Additionally, the knowledge gained concerning a "unit

operation" governing one set of materials can easily be applied
to others
driving a car is driving a car no matter what the make .
So, whether one is distilling alcohol for hard liquor or petroleum
for gasoline, the underlying principles are the same!

Unit operations
The "unit operations" concept had been embedded in the
chemical engineering profession ever since its inception and was
used to separate chemical engineering from other professions
While mechanical engineers focused on machinery, and
industrial chemists concerned themselves with products, and
applied chemists studied individual reactions, no one, before
chemical engineers, had concentrated upon the underlying
processes common to all, chemical products, reactions, and
machinery.
The chemical engineer, utilizing the conceptual tool that was unit
operations, could now make claim to industrial territory by
showing his or her uniqueness and worth to the industrial and
chemical manufacturing worlds.

Class Activity
Based on the previous discussion about unit
operations, in your words what is a unit
operation?
Give five examples of the physical/chemical
operations.
Submit your group paper

Next Class Reading

Process, Process Streams & Process
Variables
Density
Specific Volume
Specific Gravity
Mole and Mass fractions
Concentration
Temperature
Pressure