Introduction to Chemical Engineering

Q: So what is chemical engineering anyway?
Chemical engineering is an integrative engineering discipline that ranges from the typical oil refinery industry to the recently rising pharmaceutical research, not to mention the food design industry as well! Contrary to the common belief, chemical engineers not only focus on the chemical aspect of production, but they also apply extensive math and physics into process/reactor designs.

Q: What real world applications does chemical engineering have?

Chemical engineering is well known for its flexibility. High demands for chemical engineers have ramified to many areas of marketing and production such as pharmaceuticals, high performance materials in the aerospace and automotive industries, semiconductors in the electronics industry, paints and plastics, petroleum refining, synthetic fibers, artificial organs, bio-compatible implants and prosthetics. Nowadays, chemical engineers are marching into the newly developing chemical sensors targeted for drug delivery, exciting environmental technologies, and the puzzling yet intriguing area of nanomaterials.

Q: What sort of classes do you take while studying chemical engineering?

The typical chemical engineering curriculum consists of heavy loads of advanced math and physics. Courses like fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, etc make up the gist of chemical engineering applications.

Q: What are typical career path taken after graduating with a degree in chemical engineering?

Although more than half of the chemical engineering graduates go on working for engineering firms, their options are not limited to pure engineering. In fact, the break down for rest can usually be categorized into graduate school, professional schools (include med and business schools), and other non-engineering related fields such as finance and marketing.
Despite where chemical engineering students might end up, the incredible skills that they have developed from the four years of rigorous training will enable them to outshine the others in any place, any discipline. Who knows, you might even end up working for Nabisco, coming up with their next hit cookie!

Chemical Energy

Energy is conserved in chemical reactions. If there are stronger bonds formed in the product than there are broken in the reactants, heat is released, and the reaction is exothermic.

If there are weaker bonds formed in the product than there are broken in the reactants, heat is absorbed, and the reaction is endothermic.

In chemical reactions, energy is either released or absorbed in the form of heat.

TCL's urea, a trusted farming companion

When farmers buy urea made by Tata Chemicals, they do so in the knowledge that they have in their hands a product that bears the Tata stamp of quality and reliability

By using Tata Chemicals' urea and taking advantage of the Tata Kisan Sansars (TKSs) run by the company, farmers can optimise the yield from their land.

Urea is an important nitrogenous fertiliser and Tata Chemicals is a major manufacturer of the product in India. The Babrala facility, among the best of its kind in India and comparable to the best in the world, has set new standards in technology, energy conservation, productivity and safety. It is the only fertiliser plant in the country to use dual feedstock: natural gas or naphtha, or a combination of both.

The nature of the soil in many Indian regions is such that nitrogenous fertilisers are an important input for most crops. It is, thus, important that farmers have access to good urea at low cost.

Millions of farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, where the TKSs currently operate, utilise the basket of services offered by these farm centres, including advice on what crops to grow and which fertilisers to use.

TKSs stock seeds, pesticides and fertilisers for farmers to buy at affordable prices. They also lease out farm equipment and implements to farmers who cannot afford to buy expensive modern machinery.

Helping farmers reap bumper crops

Urea is an important nitrogenous fertiliser and Tata Chemicals is a major manufacturer of the product in India

Tata Chemicals makes urea at its fertiliser complex in Babrala. The complex has an installed capacity of 8,64,000 tonnes per year, which constitutes nearly 12 per cent of the total urea produced by India's private sector.

The Babrala facility, among the best of its kind in India and comparable to the best in the world, has set new standards in technology, energy conservation, productivity and safety. It is the only fertiliser plant in the country to use dual feedstock: natural gas or naphtha, or a combination of both.

The nature of the soil in many Indian regions is such that nitrogenous fertilisers are an important input for most crops. It is, thus, important that farmers have access to good urea at low cost.

Government aid

To make fertilisers available to farmers at affordable prices and to encourage balanced use, the Indian government regulates the sale price of fertilisers and provides a subsidy on urea and concessions on decontrolled phosphatic and potassic fertilisers. The government provides subsidy for the production and use of fertilisers under the retention price-cum-subsidy scheme (RPS), which was introduced in 1977.

The main objective of the scheme is to insulate farmers from fluctuations in fertiliser costs. It is also intended to ensure that fertiliser consumption does not suffer, as its growth was an essential ingredient of the Indian green revolution.

The RPS scheme is aimed at assuring a reasonable return on investment to indigenous manufacturers and to attract further investment in the fertiliser sector. The scheme has proved its worth in terms of stimulating higher production and use of fertilisers, thereby contributing to increased agricultural production in the country.

Sodium bromide (photographic grade)

Specification: IS: 5380-1976 (reaffirmed in 1997).

Description: The material is in the form of small white crystals or crystalline powder, free from extraneous impurities. It absorbs moisture from the air but it is not deliquescent.

Appearance of solution: A freshly-prepared solution of 20g of the material in 100 ml of distilled water is clear, colourless and free from sediments.

Properties and storage: Sodium bromide absorbs moisture when exposed to the atmosphere. It should, therefore, be stored in a well-closed container in a cool, dry place.

Uses: The PQ grade is specially made for its use in photography.

Packing: 50-kg HM / HDPE drums with polythene liner.

LIFE SCIENCES AND FINE CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES

For the life sciences and fine chemical industries, Evonik Degussa offers a broad range of precious metal powder and activated base metal catalysts and services throughout the metal loop. The life sciences and fine chemicals industries use catalytic reactions in a wide variety of applications, typically conducted in batch processes. These industries have an extensive range of catalytic needs from the optimum catalyst and reaction conditions in the process, to health and safety, strict confidentiality, right through to final product recycle or disposal.
POLYMERS
Polyolefins such as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) make possible many of the items we use in our daily lives. These materials are widely used in the automotive industry, for instance in the production of bumpers, as well as in the manufacture of plastic shopping bags. As one of the world leaders in catalysis, we utilize all of our know-how for research and development of new materials. Our product line includes: magnesium ethoxide (a highly active support material for Ziegler-Natta catalysts), silane donors (used as additives for increasing the isotacticity in PP catalysts), and AEROCAT (a new silica support material for metallocenes and for Ziegler-Natta or phillips catalysts).

COST-EFFECTIVE CHEMICAL EVAPORATORS

The evaporator programme includes a variety of falling film evaporators, natural and forced circulation evaporators and TVR and MVR evaporators.

The company's evaporators are based on original technologies from both Anhydro and Dedert. Evaporators derived from Dedert technology are specifically designed for applications within the starch and ethanol industries, while Anhydro evaporator technology is recommended for evaporators intended to serve the dairy, food, brewing, chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

DEWATERING SCREW PRESSES

Screw presses are used to dewater materials of different consistencies. The purpose of dewatering varies according to the material:

Improve the material behaviour for further processing
Improve storage life / conservation of the material
Reduce weight and / or volume in order to reduce transportation or dumping costs
Increase gross calorific value

Vetter screw presses are used to dewater various materials in different industries, such as corn husks, corn germs and wheat gluten, brewery spent grains, spent coffee grounds (extracted), potato pulp, residues of various vegetables and fruits, barley mash, compost, organic waste, reject sludge, ensilage material (grass, rye, corn) and many more.