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Process engineering is often a synonym for Chemical engineering and focuses on the
design, operation and maintenance of chemical and material manufacturing processes.
Process engineering and process engineers are found in a vast range of industries,
including the Chemical Process Industries(CPI), Mineral process Industries (MPI),
Material Process Industries (MatPI), Food Process Industries(FPI), Biotechnological
Process Industries (BPI).
Example
Overview
Chemical engineers are aiming for the most economical process. This means that the
entire production chain must be well planned and controlled for costs. A chemical
engineer can both simplify and complicate “showcase” reactions for an economic
advantage. Using a higher pressure or temperature makes several reactions easier;
ammonia, for example, is simply produced from its component elements in a high-
pressure reactor. On the other hand, reactions with a low yield can be recycled
continuously, which would be complex, tiring work if done by hand in the laboratory. It
is now usual to build 6-, or 12-step evaporators to reuse the vaporization energy for an
economic advantage. In contrast, laboratory chemists evaporate samples in a single
step, wasting the energy.
Three primary physical laws underlying chemical engineering design are Conservation of
mass, Conservation of momentum and Conservation of energy. The movement of mass
and energy around a chemical process are evaluated using Mass balances and energy
balances which apply these laws to whole plants, unit operations or discrete parts of
equipment. In doing so, Chemical Engineers use principles of thermodynamics, reaction
kinetics and transport phenomena. The task of performing these balances is now aided
by process simulators, which are complex software models (such as Aspen Plus, Pro II
and Hysys) that can solve mass and energy balances and usually have built-in modules
to simulate a variety of common unit operations.
The modern discipline of chemical engineering encompasses much more than just
process engineering. Chemical engineers are now engaged in the development and
production of diverse range of products, as well as in commodity and specialty
chemicals. These products include high performance materials needed for aerospace,
automotive, biomedical, electronic, environmental and military applications. Examples
include ultra-strong fibers, fabrics, adhesives and composites for vehicles, bio-
compatible materials for implants and prosthetics, gels for medical applications,
pharmaceuticals, and films with special dielectric, optical or spectroscopic properties for
opto-electronic devices. Additionally, chemical engineering is often intertwined with
biology and biomedical engineering. Many chemical engineers work on biological
projects such as understanding biopolymers (proteins) and mapping the human
genome.
What is Process?
What is engineering?
“Process Engineering is nothing else but it is the practical and creative application of the
chemical engineering knowledge to a certain process so that existing process can be
improved and some new design for it can be developed which will be more cost effective
and more profitable one”.
In other words, process engineering is another name for chemical engineering.
Whatever we have studied earlier during the course of chemical engineering, all that
knowledge will be combined so that certain design heuristics or as such some thumb
rules can be fixed and then according to these thumb rules, existing process can be
made much more effective, much more environmental friendly, much more economical
and much more improved qualitatively as well as quantitatively. This is what nothing but
process engineering.
Licensor is the person who knows everything about the process. So before going to
develop a process, the function of process engineering is to know and understand the
facts concerned with certain process from licensor of process and transform them in
suitable language.
once the process is understood by all means, then next work is to check or develop P&I
diagram for that process. If it is not proper, then that should be reviewed and
developed, i.e. here we have to decide, how the process should be sequenced, what
should be the sequence of unit operations involved in that process, how should be the
linkage or connection between them, what is the instrumental part related to these
operation, positioning of valves, fittings, etc.
Once we develop P&I diagram, then the task remains is of selecting the particular
equipments for selected process. Once we understood that what process we are going
Once everything is decided, then we have to concern with other engineering disciplines
like civil, mechanical, electrical etc. Detail knowledge about the process should be
provided to these various disciplines as well as basic knowledge of all these disciplines
should be obtained by process engineer so that best process configuration can be
developed.
e.g. when we are using equipments like HE, Distillation column or any other equipment
where it is required to supply the power for various purposes, then in order to have an
idea about energy loads, process engineer has to concern with the electrical
department; for designing the base supports/foundations to various equipments,
process engineer has to consult with civil engineering department.
Once the process has been finalized, then process engineer has to carry out various
activities as below:
These are the various activities that PE has to carry out before developing the actual
process at site.
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