Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with designing and operating processes that convert raw materials into useful products through chemical, physical and biological transformation, at a scale ranging from the laboratory bench to the industrial plant. It grew out of industrial chemistry in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as chemists and mechanical engineers combined their skills to design continuous, large scale production processes rather than one off batches.
Facts
Core ConcernConverting raw materials into useful products through chemical and physical processes at scale. 1 Core PrincipleChemical engineering applies chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology and economics together to design, produce, transport and transform energy and materials efficiently at industrial scale. 2 Disputed
Origin YearThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology introduced the first dedicated course of study in chemical engineering in 1888; the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the discipline first professional body, followed in 1908. Connections
Associated With
Source Aerogel (Wikipedia)
Source Agricultural Engineering (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Invented dynamite, a landmark of industrial explosives chemistry.
Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section
First isolated aluminum metal and pioneered organic synthesis, foundational to industrial chemistry.
Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section
Invented the friction match, an early product of practical industrial chemistry.
Source Lithium Cobalt Oxide (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Refining crude oil into usable fuels and feedstocks is chemical engineering territory adjoining petroleum engineering own upstream focus.
Developed rubber vulcanization processes alongside Goodyear.
Includes
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Source Nylon (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Source Polyethylene (New World Encyclopedia)
Source Technology: A World HistoryDaniel R. Headrick
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Source Encyclopaedia BritannicaEncyclopaedia Britannica editors
Source A History of TechnologyCharles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors
Open Questions
Source Chemical Engineering (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Technology: A World History
2. Chemical Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationOpening section
Chemical engineering uses principles of chemistry, physics, mathematics, biology, and economics to efficiently use, produce, design, transport and transform energy and materials.
Lead section, opening definition of chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production.
View the Source 3. Encyclopaedia Britannica
Encyclopaedia Britannica editors, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.View the Source A History of Technology
Charles Singer, E. J. Holmyard, A. R. Hall and Trevor I. Williams, editors, Oxford University Press, 1954- Includes: Charles Goodyear
- Includes: Thomas Hancock
View the Source Agricultural Engineering (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Agricultural Engineering, Lead sectionView the Source Nylon (Wikipedia)
Polyethylene (New World Encyclopedia)
Aerogel (Wikipedia)
WikipediaAssociated With: Aerogel, IntroductionQuote, Associated With: Aerogel, Introduction
Aerogels can be made from a variety of chemical compounds.
Lithium Cobalt Oxide (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Lithium Cobalt Oxide, IntroductionQuote, Associated With: Lithium Cobalt Oxide, Introduction
Lithium cobalt oxide is a black powder, and is commonly used in the positive electrodes of lithium-ion batteries especially in handheld electronics.
Open Questions (1 open question)
When and by whom was the term "chemical engineering" actually coined: an 1839 reference cited by James F. Donnelly, George E. Davis's later claimed coinage, or the approximately 1890 date given by The History of Science in the United States: An Encyclopedia?
Wikipedia's own chemical engineering article records three competing accounts in one paragraph: "A 1996 article cites James F. Donnelly for mentioning an 1839 reference to chemical engineering...George E. Davis...was credited with having coined the term...The History of Science in United States: An Encyclopedia puts the use of the term around 1890." The sources disagree with each other and the article does not adjudicate between them.
What would resolve this A dedicated etymological study tracing first use of the exact phrase "chemical engineering" in primary 19th-century sources, rather than secondary encyclopedic accounts that already disagree.
Wikipedia contributors, Chemical Engineering (Wikipedia)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is chemical engineering the same as chemistry?
No. A chemist studies chemical reactions and substances at the laboratory scale. A chemical engineer takes a reaction a chemist has characterized and designs the industrial-scale process, the reactors, separation equipment, piping and control systems, that turns raw materials into a useful product safely, economically and at volume. Chemical engineering draws on chemistry as one of several foundational sciences, alongside physics, mathematics and increasingly biology, but its core work is process design and scale-up rather than discovering new reactions.
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