Advances in Chemical Engineering & Technology

Heat Transfer is the process of transfer of heat from high temperature reservoir to low temperature reservoir. In terms of the thermodynamic system, heat transfer is the movement of heat across the boundary of the system due to temperature difference between the system and the surroundings. The heat transfer can also take place within the system due to temperature difference at various points inside the system. The difference in temperature is ‘potential’ that causes the flow of heat and the heat itself is called as flux.

Heat exchangers are devices built for efficient heat transfer from one fluid to another. They are widely used in engineering processes and include examples such as intercoolers, preheaters, boilers and condensers in power plants. Heat exchangers are becoming more and more important to manufacturers striving to control energy costs.

The field of nuclear and radiochemistry is wide-reaching, with results having functions and use across a variety of disciplines. This includes nuclear medicine and chemical aspects of nuclear power plants, namely the problems of nuclear wastes and nuclear analysis (both bulk and surface analysis), with the analytical methods based on the interactions of radiation with matter. Furthermore, special attention is paid to thermodynamics of radioisotope tracer methods, the very diluted system (carrier-free radioactive isotopes) and the principles of chemical processes with unsealed radioactive sources. 

Inorganic chemistry is concerned with the properties and behavior of inorganic compounds, which include metals, minerals, and organometallic compounds. While inorganic chemistry is defined as the study of carbon-containing compounds and inorganic chemistry is the study of the remaining subset of compounds other than organic compounds, there is overlap between the two fields (such as organometallic compounds, which usually contain a metal or metalloid bonded directly to carbon).

Extensive application of bioprocesses has generated an expansion in biotechnological knowledge, generated by the application of biochemical engineering to biotechnology. Microorganisms produce alcohols and acetone that are used in industrial processes. The knowledge related to industrial microbiology has been revolutionized by the ability of genetically engineered cells to make many new products. Genetic engineering and gene mounting has been developed to enhance industrial fermentation. Ultimately, these bioprocesses have become a new way of developing commercial products.

Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology demonstrates the application of biological sciences in engineering with theoretical and practical aspects to enhance understanding of knowledge in this field.

Reservoir engineering has advanced rapidly during the last decade. The industry is drilling wells on wider spacing, unitizing earlier, and recovering a greater percentage of the oil in place. Techniques are better, tools are better, and background knowledge of reservoir conditions has been greatly improved. In spite of these general advances, many reservoirs are being developed in an inefficient manner, vital engineering considerations often are neglected or ignored, and individual engineering efforts often are inferior to those of a decade ago. Reservoir engineers often disagree in their interpretation of a reservoir's performance

Modelling and Simulation is the use of models – physical, mathematical, or otherwise logical representation of a system, entity, phenomenon, or process – as a basis for simulations – methods for implementing a model over time – to develop data as a basis for managerial or technical decision making. Using simulations is generally cheaper, safer and sometimes more ethical than conducting real-world experiments. Simulation-based optimization integrates optimization techniques into simulation analysis. Because of the complexity of the simulation, the objective function may become difficult and expensive to evaluate.

Once a system is mathematically modelled, computer-based simulations provide information about its behaviour. In physics-related problems, Monte Carlo methods are useful for simulating systems with many coupled degrees of freedom, such as fluids, disordered materials, strongly coupled solids, and cellular structures. Agent-based modelling is related to, but distinct from, the concept of multi-agent systems or multi-agent simulation in that the goal of ABM is to search for explanatory insight into the collective behaviour of agents obeying simple rules, typically in natural systems, rather than in designing agents or solving specific practical or engineering problems.

Chemical Engineering is a multi-disciplinary branch of engineering in which Designing, manufacturing and operating plants and machinery for carrying out large-scale industrial, chemical, biological or related processes  or Developing new substances for a wide range of products combines natural and experimental sciences (such as chemistry and physics), along with life sciences (such as biology, microbiology and biochemistry) plus mathematics and economics to design, develop, produce, transform, transport, operate and manage the industrial processes that turn raw materials into valuable products. Many of the processes within chemical engineering involve chemical reactions, and the field takes cues from chemists who are looking for new ways to create products and to investigate the mechanisms within chemical reactions. Chemical engineers then translate this chemical information to formulate designs.

Chemical engineers may be specialized in one or the other subgroup but work from both sides will be required to create a final product. They will need to consider economic viability, management of resources, health and safety, sustainability and environmental impact.

Polymer Science and Engineering is an engineering field that designs, analyses, or modifies polymer materials. A Polymer is a large molecule or a macro molecule which essentially is a combination of many sub units. The term polymer in Greek means ‘many parts.

Polymers have the capacity to solve most of the world's complex problems like Water purification, energy management, oil extraction and recovery, advanced coatings, myriad biomedical applications, building materials, and electrical applications virtually no field of modern life would be possible without polymeric materials. Polymer chemistry is combining several specialized fields of expertise. It deals not only with the chemical synthesis, Polymer Structures and chemical properties of polymers which were esteemed by Hermann Staudinger as macromolecules but also covers other aspects of Novel synthetic and polymerization methods, Reactions and chemistry of polymers, properties and characterization of polymers, Synthesis and application of polymer bio conjugation and Polymer Nano composites and architectures. Polymers are a highly diverse class of materials which are available in all fields of engineering from avionics through biomedical applications, drug delivery system, bio-sensor devices, tissue engineering, cosmetics etc. and the improvement and usage of these depends on polymer applications and data obtained through rigorous testing. The application of polymeric materials and their composites are still increasing rapidly due to their below average cost and ease of manufacture.

Material Science and Engineering involves the discovery and design of new materials.  Many of the most pressing scientific problems humans currently face is due to the limitations of the materials that are available and, as a result, major breakthroughs in materials science are likely to affect the future of technology significantly. Materials scientists lay stress on understanding how the history of a material influences its structure, and thus its properties and performance. All engineered products from airplanes to musical instruments, alternative energy sources related to ecologically-friendly manufacturing processes, medical devices to artificial tissues, computer chips to data storage devices and many more are made from materials. The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy.

The interdisciplinary field of Materials Science, also commonly termed Materials Science and Engineering involves the discovery and design of new materials, with an emphasis on solids. The intellectual origins of materials science stem from the Enlightenment, when researchers began to use analytical thinking from chemistry, physics, and engineering to understand ancient, phenomenological observations in metallurgy and mineralogy.

Electrochemical Engineering combines the study of heterogeneous charge transfer at electrode/electrolyte interphases with the development of practical materials and processes. Fundamental considerations include electrode materials and the kinetics of redox species. Electrochemical Engineering is applied in industrial water electrolysis, electrolysis, electrosynthesis, electroplating, fuel cells, flow batteries, decontamination of industrial effluents, electrorefining, electrowinning.

Many natural phenomena are depending on Electrochemical Methods, such as the corrosion of metals, the ability of some sea creatures to produce electrical fields, and the workings of the nervous systems of humans and other animals. They also play an important part in modern Chemical technology, most prominently in the storage of electrical power in batteries, and the electrochemical process called electrolysis is important in modern industry. Neurons use electrochemical processes to transmit data through the nervous system, allowing the nervous system to communicate with itself and with the rest of the body. The electrochemical instruments market is segmented based on products, methodologies, end user, and region. The global electrochemical instruments market was valued at $1,713.0 Million in 2014 and is poised to increase at a CAGR of 5.2% during the forecasted period.

The methods of each Electrochemical instrument are accomplished for a specific purpose they are all bound together by fundamental principles that govern the operation. Collectively known as the principles of Electrochemical Engineering includes transport processes, current and potential distribution phenomena, thermodynamics, kinetics, scale-up, sensing, control, and optimization.

In general change of state of a thermodynamic system results from existence of gradients of various types within or across its boundary. Thus, a gradient of pressure results in momentum or convective transport of mass. Temperature gradients result in heat transfer, while a gradient of concentration promotes diffusive mass transfer. Thus, if internal or cross-boundary gradients of any form as above exist with respect to a thermodynamic system it will undergo change of state in time. The result of all such changes is to annul the gradient that in the first place causes the changes. This process will continue till all types of gradients are nullified.

Biomass is an industry term for getting energy by burning wood, and other organic matter. Burning biomass releases carbon emissions but has been classed as a renewable energy source in the EU and UN legal frameworks, because plant stocks can be replaced with new growth. Forest-based biomass has recently come under fire from several environmental organizations, including Greenpeace and the Natural Resources Défense Council, for the harmful impacts it can have on forests and the climate. Greenpeace recently released a report entitled "Fuelling a Biomes" which outlines their concerns around forest-based biomass. Because any part of the tree can be burned, the harvesting of trees for energy production encourages whole-tree harvesting. Green energy comes from natural sources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, plants, algae and geothermal heat. These energy resources are renewable, meaning they're naturally replenished. In contrast, fossil fuels are a finite resource that take millions of years to develop and will continue to diminish with use.

Oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is transformed and refined into more useful products such as petroleum naphtha, gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, liquefied petroleum gas, jet fuel and fuel oils. Petrochemicals feed stock like ethylene and propylene can also be produced directly by cracking crude oil without the need of using refined products of crude oil such as naphtha.

The driving force for mass transfer is typically a difference in chemical potential, when it can be defined, though other thermodynamic gradients may couple to the flow of mass and drive it as well. A chemical species moves from areas of high chemical potential to areas of low chemical potential. Mass transfer is used by different scientific disciplines for different processes and mechanisms. Mass transfer occurs in many processes, such as absorption, evaporation, drying, Crystallization, membrane filtration, and distillation. Distillation is a widely used method for separating mixtures based on differences in the conditions required to change the phase of components of the mixture. Absorption is the process in which a fluid is dissolved by a liquid or a solid (absorbent). Adsorption is the process in which atoms, ions or molecules from a substance (it could be gas, liquid or dissolved solid) adhere to a surface of the adsorbent.

Chemical Reaction Engineering and Catalysis is the field that studies the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions and the design of the reactors in which they take place. Every industrial chemical process is designed to produce economically a desired product from a variety of starting materials through a succession of treatment steps.

Pharmaceutical and biological engineers are also helping produce faster and cheaper diagnostic solutions, repurposing and developing new drugs to treat patients, isolating antibodies against the present coronavirus, and testing new vaccines. Janssen Research & Development and Moderna are accelerating the development of potential vaccines, while a team at the Wyss Institute is developing a surrogate non-COVID coronavirus for use in studies.

Meanwhile, services companies such as Ginkgo Bioworks and Twist Biosciences have offered their platform to help support technology development. And universities are putting research on hold and shifting their focus to COVID-19. In the upcoming May CEP, you can read an article that describes such work underway at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).