UNMSM/FQIQ/EPIQ/DAADP/INGLÉS TÉCNICO/EF12/2020-I

Chapter 4. Chemical Product Design

What You Will Learn
• There is a difference between process design and product design.
• There is a strategy for chemical product design.
The subject of most of this book is chemical process design, the traditional capstone experience in
chemical engineering curricula. For most of the history of chemical engineering, graduates have
gone to work in chemical plants that manufacture commodity chemicals. Commodity chemicals
are those manufactured by many companies in large quantities, usually in continuous processes
like those illustrated in this textbook. There is little or no difference in commodity chemicals
produced by different companies. The price for which a commodity chemical can be sold is
essentially the same for all producers, and, because most raw materials are also commodity
chemicals, the price of raw materials is also the same for all producers. For the most part,
innovations regarding manufacture of commodity chemicals have occurred a long time in the past.
Therefore, the only real way to be more profitable than a competitor is to have lower ancillary
costs, such as a favorable union contract, a better deal on the costs of different sources of energy,
superior automation, a better catalyst, and so on.
Before a chemical became a commodity, it was probably a specialty. A specialty chemical is one
made in smaller quantities, often in batch processes, usually by the company that invented the
chemical. Perhaps the best examples of specialty chemicals evolving into commodity chemicals
are polymers. Polymers such as nylon, Teflon, and polyethylene were specialties when they were
invented in the first half of the twentieth century, and they were seen only in selected applications.
Now, they are ubiquitous commodities.
The chemical industry has also become more global. At one time, chemicals and products from
chemicals for the entire world were manufactured in the centers of the chemical industry: the
United States and Western Europe. This meant that a large, rapidly growing chemical industry in
the United States and Western Europe was needed to serve the needs of developing countries.
Now chemicals are manufactured all over the world, closer to where they are used, as are the raw
materials for these chemicals. Therefore, the traditional commodity chemical industry is not in a
growth phase in places such as the United States and Western Europe. Existing chemical
processes continue to operate, and chemical engineers trained to understand and work with
continuous, commodity chemical processes are still needed.
It has been suggested that the future of chemical engineering—that is, the place where chemical
engineers can innovate—is in chemical product design [1, 2]. This is also the place where more
and more chemical engineers are being employed [2]. It could be argued that the future is identical
to the past. Since the 1970s, most large, commodity chemical companies have trimmed their long-
range research, focusing instead on support for the global growth of commodity chemical
production. They believed this to be a necessary shift of emphasis as chemicals that were once
specialties evolved into commodities.
What is a chemical product? One possibility is a new specialty chemical. A new drug is a chemical
product. A new catalyst or solvent for use in the commodity chemical industry is a chemical
product. Post-it Notes are a chemical product. A fuel cell is a chemical product. A device for indoor
air purification is a chemical product. Technologies employing chemical engineering principles
could be considered to be chemical products. Even the ChemE Cars that many students build as
part of the AIChE competition could be considered chemical products.
In this chapter, an introduction to procedures used for chemical product design is provided. It will
be seen that there are similarities to chemical process design; however, the focus of this chapter is
on the differences between process and product design.
1. (10 points) Translate to spanish the highlighted text

Antes de que una sustancia química se convirtiera en una mercancía, probablemente era
una especialidad. Un químico de especialidad es uno fabricado en cantidades más
pequeñas, a menudo en procesos por lotes, generalmente por la empresa que inventó el
producto químico. Quizás los mejores ejemplos de productos químicos especializados que
se convierten en productos químicos básicos son los polímeros. Los polímeros como el
nailon, el teflón y el polietileno eran especialidades cuando se inventaron en la primera
mitad del siglo XX y solo se vieron en aplicaciones seleccionadas. Ahora, son productos
omnipresentes.
La industria química también se ha vuelto más global. En un momento, los productos
químicos y productos de productos químicos para el mundo entero se fabricaban en los
centros de la industria química: Estados Unidos y Europa Occidental. Esto significaba que
se necesitaba una gran industria química de rápido crecimiento en los Estados Unidos y
Europa occidental para atender las necesidades de los países en desarrollo. Ahora los
productos químicos se fabrican en todo el mundo, más cerca de donde se utilizan, al igual
que las materias primas para estos productos químicos. Por lo tanto, la industria tradicional
de productos químicos básicos no se encuentra en una fase de crecimiento en lugares
como Estados Unidos y Europa Occidental. Los procesos químicos existentes continúan
operando, y aún se necesitan ingenieros químicos capacitados para comprender y trabajar
con procesos químicos básicos continuos.
Se ha sugerido que el futuro de la ingeniería química, es decir, el lugar donde los
ingenieros químicos pueden innovar, es en el diseño de productos químicos. Este es
también el lugar donde cada vez más ingenieros químicos están siendo empleados. Se
podría argumentar que el futuro es idéntico al pasado. Desde la década de 1970, la
mayoría de las grandes empresas de productos químicos básicos han recortado su
investigación de largo alcance, centrándose en cambio en el apoyo al crecimiento mundial
de la producción de productos químicos básicos. Creían que se trataba de un cambio
necesario de énfasis a medida que los productos químicos que alguna vez fueron
especialidades evolucionaron hacia productos básicos.
¿Qué es un producto químico? Una posibilidad es un nuevo químico especializado. Una
nueva droga es un producto químico. Un nuevo catalizador o disolvente para su uso en la
industria de productos químicos básicos es un producto químico. Las notas post-it son un
producto químico. Una pila de combustible es un producto químico. Un dispositivo para la
purificación del aire interior es un producto químico. Las tecnologías que emplean los
principios de la ingeniería química podrían considerarse productos químicos. Incluso los
ChemE Cars que muchos estudiantes construyen como parte de la competencia AIChE
podrían considerarse productos químicos.
En este capítulo, se proporciona una introducción a los procedimientos utilizados para el
diseño de productos químicos. Se verá que existen similitudes con el diseño de procesos
químicos; sin embargo, el enfoque de este capítulo está en las diferencias entre el diseño
de procesos y productos.

Read the text and response in english:

2. (2,5 points) What are the comodity chemicals?

Commodity chemicals are those manufactured by many companies in large quantities,
usually in continuous processes.

3. (2,5 points) What makes a product better accepted than a competitor?

The only real way to be more profitable than a competitor is to have lower ancillary costs,
such as a favorable union contract, a better deal on the costs of different sources of energy,
superior automation, a better catalyst, and so on.

4. (2,5 points) What was necessary to meet the needs of developing countries?
Rapidly growing chemical industry in the United States and Western Europe was needed to
 serve the needs of developing countries.

5. (2,5 points) What has been suggested for the future of chemical engineering?
It has been suggested that the place where chemical engineers can innovate is in chemical
product design. This is also the place where more and more chemical engineers are being
employed.