Wastewater treatment problem statement:

You are appointed as a process engineer in small scale pharmaceutical industry named ABC in the
outskirts of the city. The company is planning to produce bulk drugs, antibiotics, pain killers, food
additives, personal care products and others. It is important for the industry to develop its own
wastewater treatment system before discharging the effluent in order to meet the norms of the
Pollution control Board (PCB). Reduction of pollutants in the wastewater down to permissible
concentrations is necessary for the protection of ground water and the environment.

The company has given you the responsibility to provide a suitable solution to solve the issue in
hand.

You are asked to make a thorough analysis of the issue, and present it orally in front of the CEO of
the company immediately and convince him. Make sure your explanation consists of proper scrutiny
of the problem followed by step-by-step execution from the scratch. Your solution could be a
generalised idea or a technical explanation of solving the issue. You could also explain to him about
the ill-effects of such effluents in the water bodies and come up with the water treatment methods
that you’d prefer to make the entire system cost effective.

To make things easier, ensure that your solution consists of proper initiation, planning, execution,
and closing arguments. Since the problem statement is abstract, you can make suitable assumptions
with respect to the issue, if necessary and proceed with the discussion.

Process plant safety problem statement:

You are appointed as a process engineer in an olefin production plant. In the past, there has been a
fire and series of explosions due to hydrocarbon release in a similar production plant which led to an
injury of 18-20 employees within the plant.

As a precautionary measure, the higher authorities have asked you to provide solutions to prevent
such an accident to take place in future.

You are asked to make a thorough analysis and provide step-by-step execution from the scratch, as
to how you’re going to proceed with the issue in hand. Your solution could be a generalised idea or a
technical explanation of solving the issue. You could also be more specific about the importance of
safety in industries along with the various process plant safety measures & technicalities pertaining
to it.

To make things easier, ensure that you talk about how you’re going to initiate, plan and execute
your ideas systematically. Since the problem statement is abstract, you can make suitable
assumptions with respect to the issue, if necessary and proceed with the discussion.

Petroleum & petrochemical industry problem statement:

You are appointed as a process engineer in a small-scale petroleum refining industry. These
refineries produce harmful airborne emissions such as SO2, NOx etc., which react with water to
create acid gases and cause acid rain. These are also responsible for causing severe respiratory and
health problems to living beings.
Hence, new air pollution norms have been introduced by the government and, the industry is asked
to bring in new equipment and suitable solutions to reduce SOx, NOx and other pollutants in the
atmosphere from the industrial manufacture.

The higher authorities have asked your opinion about how to proceed with the issue along with
suitable solutions to solve it.

So, you need to make a thorough analysis and provide step-by-step execution from the scratch to
bring out the best possible solution. You can provide generalised idea or a proper technical
explanation to solve the issue. You can also be more specific about the various advancements that
have come up in the field of chemical process industries to reduce air pollution in petroleum
industries.

But, it’s your duty to convince the officials about the importance of bringing such a change within
the plant to prevent air pollution, and offer solutions to align with the norms set by the government.

To make things easier, ensure that you talk about how you’re going to initiate, plan and execute
your ideas systematically. Since the problem statement is abstract, you can make suitable
assumptions with respect to the issue, if necessary and proceed with the discussion.