History of chemical engineering
Encyclopedia
Chemical engineering
as a discipline is a little over one hundred years old. It grew out of mechanical engineering
in the last part of the 19th century, because of a need for chemical processors. Before the Industrial Revolution
(18th century), industrial chemicals were mainly produced through batch processing
. Batch processing is similar to cooking. Individuals mix ingredients in a vessel, heat or pressurize the mixture, test it, and purify it to get a saleable product. Batch processes are still performed today on expensive products, such as perfumes, or pure maple syrups, where one can still turn a profit, despite batch methods being slow and inefficient. Most chemicals today are produced through a continuous "assembly line" chemical process. The Industrial Revolution was when this shift from batch to continuous processing occurred.
and soda ash. This meant two things: one, the size of the activity and the efficiency of operation had to be enlarged, and two, serious alternatives to batch processing, such as continuous operation, had to be examined. This created the need for an engineer who was not only conversant with how machines behaved, but also understood chemical reaction
s and transport phenomena
(how substances came together to react, how the required conditions could be achieved, etc.), and the influence the equipment had on how these processes operated on the large scale. Thus, Chemical Engineering was born as a distinct discipline; distinct from both Mechanical Engineering
on one hand and industrial chemistry on the other.
in 1908. The Institution of Chemical Engineers
was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter
in 1957. In 1959, the Instituto Mexicano de Ingenieros Quimicos (IMIQ) was founded in Mexico.
meant machines, Electrical Engineering
meant circuitry, and Civil Engineering
meant structures. So chemical engineering can be symbolised as chemicals production.
to the President of MIT, was to emphasize the approach chemical engineers took to the design and analysis of processes rather than a process or a product. The concept of Unit operation
s was developed to emphasize the underlying unity among seemingly different operations. For example, the principles are the same whether one is concerned about separating alcohol from water in a fermenter, or separating gasoline from diesel in a refinery, as long as the basis of separation is generation of a vapor of a different composition from the liquid. Therefore such separation processes can be studied together as a unit operation (in this case called distillation
). The concept has stood the profession in good stead in its phase of growth, and has even been used to understand the way the human body
functions.
s, reduction
s, alkylation
s etc. formed separate unit processes and were studied as such. This was natural considering the close affinity of chemical engineering to industrial chemistry at its inception. Gradually however, the subject of chemical reaction engineering
has largely replaced the unit process concept. This subject looks at the entire body of chemical reactions as having a personality of its own, independent of the particular chemical species or chemical bonds involved. The latter does contribute to this personality in no small measure, but to design and operate chemical reactors, a knowledge of characteristics such as rate behaviour
, thermodynamics
, single or multiphase nature, etc. are more important. The emergence of chemical reaction engineering as a discipline truly signaled the severance of the umbilical cord connecting chemical engineering to industrial chemistry, and served to cement the truly unique character of this discipline.
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
as a discipline is a little over one hundred years old. It grew out of mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
in the last part of the 19th century, because of a need for chemical processors. Before the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
(18th century), industrial chemicals were mainly produced through batch processing
Batch production
Batch production is a technique used in manufacturing, in which the object in question is created stage by stage over a series of workstations. Batch production is common in bakeries and in the manufacture of sports shoes, pharmaceutical ingredients , inks, paints and adhesives. In the manufacture...
. Batch processing is similar to cooking. Individuals mix ingredients in a vessel, heat or pressurize the mixture, test it, and purify it to get a saleable product. Batch processes are still performed today on expensive products, such as perfumes, or pure maple syrups, where one can still turn a profit, despite batch methods being slow and inefficient. Most chemicals today are produced through a continuous "assembly line" chemical process. The Industrial Revolution was when this shift from batch to continuous processing occurred.
Origin
The Industrial Revolution led to an unprecedented escalation in demand, both with regard to quantity and quality, for bulk chemicals such as sulfuric acidSulfuric acid
Sulfuric acid is a strong mineral acid with the molecular formula . Its historical name is oil of vitriol. Pure sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive, colorless, viscous liquid. The salts of sulfuric acid are called sulfates...
and soda ash. This meant two things: one, the size of the activity and the efficiency of operation had to be enlarged, and two, serious alternatives to batch processing, such as continuous operation, had to be examined. This created the need for an engineer who was not only conversant with how machines behaved, but also understood chemical reaction
Chemical reaction
A chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
s and transport phenomena
Transport Phenomena
Transport Phenomena is the first textbook that is about transport phenomena. It is specifically designed for chemical engineering students...
(how substances came together to react, how the required conditions could be achieved, etc.), and the influence the equipment had on how these processes operated on the large scale. Thus, Chemical Engineering was born as a distinct discipline; distinct from both Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
on one hand and industrial chemistry on the other.
Professional associations
These early programmes married industrial chemistry with mechanical engineering, with the emphasis most decidedly on engineering. But chemical engineers still needed to clearly define their activity as something more than a mishmash of chemistry and engineering. To emphasize their identity and thus help the growth of their profession, chemical engineers formed the American Institute of Chemical EngineersAmerican Institute of Chemical Engineers
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers is a professional organization for chemical engineers.AIChE was established in 1908 with the purpose of establishing chemical engineers as a profession independent from chemists and mechanical engineers.As of 2010, AIChE had over 40,000 members,...
in 1908. The Institution of Chemical Engineers
Institution of Chemical Engineers
The Institution of Chemical Engineers is a global professional engineering institution with over 33,000 members in over 120 countries worldwide, founded in 1922, and awarded a Royal Charter in 1957.-Structure:...
was founded in 1922 and awarded a Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
in 1957. In 1959, the Instituto Mexicano de Ingenieros Quimicos (IMIQ) was founded in Mexico.
Definitions
For the other established branches of engineering, there were ready associations in the mind of the common man: Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
meant machines, Electrical Engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
meant circuitry, and Civil Engineering
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
meant structures. So chemical engineering can be symbolised as chemicals production.
Unit operation
The answer, provided by Arthur D. LittleArthur D. Little
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm originally headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and formally incorporated by that name in 1909 by Arthur Dehon Little, an MIT chemist who had discovered acetate. Arthur D. Little pioneered the concept of contracted...
to the President of MIT, was to emphasize the approach chemical engineers took to the design and analysis of processes rather than a process or a product. The concept of Unit operation
Unit operation
In chemical engineering and related fields, a unit operation is a basic step in a process.Unit operation involves bringing a physical change such as separation, crystallization, evaporation, filtration etc.. For example in milk processing, homogenization, pasteurization, chilling, and packaging are...
s was developed to emphasize the underlying unity among seemingly different operations. For example, the principles are the same whether one is concerned about separating alcohol from water in a fermenter, or separating gasoline from diesel in a refinery, as long as the basis of separation is generation of a vapor of a different composition from the liquid. Therefore such separation processes can be studied together as a unit operation (in this case called distillation
Distillation
Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatilities of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction....
). The concept has stood the profession in good stead in its phase of growth, and has even been used to understand the way the human body
Human body
The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...
functions.
Unit processes
In the early part of the last century, a parallel concept called Unit Processes was used to classify reactive processes. Thus oxidationRedox
Redox reactions describe all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed....
s, reduction
Redox
Redox reactions describe all chemical reactions in which atoms have their oxidation state changed....
s, alkylation
Alkylation
Alkylation is the transfer of an alkyl group from one molecule to another. The alkyl group may be transferred as an alkyl carbocation, a free radical, a carbanion or a carbene . Alkylating agents are widely used in chemistry because the alkyl group is probably the most common group encountered in...
s etc. formed separate unit processes and were studied as such. This was natural considering the close affinity of chemical engineering to industrial chemistry at its inception. Gradually however, the subject of chemical reaction engineering
Chemical reaction engineering
Chemical reaction engineering is a specialty in chemical engineering or industrial chemistry dealing with chemical reactors. Frequently the term relates specifically to catalytic reaction systems where either a homogeneous or heterogeneous catalyst is present in the reactor...
has largely replaced the unit process concept. This subject looks at the entire body of chemical reactions as having a personality of its own, independent of the particular chemical species or chemical bonds involved. The latter does contribute to this personality in no small measure, but to design and operate chemical reactors, a knowledge of characteristics such as rate behaviour
Chemical kinetics
Chemical kinetics, also known as reaction kinetics, is the study of rates of chemical processes. Chemical kinetics includes investigations of how different experimental conditions can influence the speed of a chemical reaction and yield information about the reaction's mechanism and transition...
, thermodynamics
Thermodynamics
Thermodynamics is a physical science that studies the effects on material bodies, and on radiation in regions of space, of transfer of heat and of work done on or by the bodies or radiation...
, single or multiphase nature, etc. are more important. The emergence of chemical reaction engineering as a discipline truly signaled the severance of the umbilical cord connecting chemical engineering to industrial chemistry, and served to cement the truly unique character of this discipline.
External links
- "History of ChEn: Struggle for Survival"
- "About AIChE" (from www.stevens-tech.edu)
- Chemical Achievers: Chemical Engineering, discusses several individuals associated with defining the field of chemical engineering during its early stages