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. Chemical Engineering
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FAQs
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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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 Vulcanization (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Source W. Harmon Ray (Wikipedia)
Source Waldo L. Semon (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Source Wikipedia: William Henry Perkin
Source Ziegler-Natta catalyst - Wikipedia
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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.
View the Source 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.
View the Source Jacques E. Brandenberger (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Includes: Jacques E. Brandenberger, Inductee pageQuote, Includes: Jacques E. Brandenberger, Inductee page
Invented in 1908, cellophane came from Swiss chemist Jacques Brandenberger's desire
View the Source Hannibal Goodwin (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Includes: Hannibal Goodwin, Inductee pageQuote, Includes: Hannibal Goodwin, Inductee page
Goodwin made his flexible photographic film by dissolving nitrocellulose in nitrobenzole and then diluting the thick mixture with alcohol.
View the Source Otto Wichterle (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Includes: Otto Wichterle, Inductee pageQuote, Includes: Otto Wichterle, Inductee page
Wichterle earned his Ph.D. from the Prague Institute of Chemical Technology
View the Source Waldo L. Semon (National Inventors Hall of Fame inductee page)
Includes: Waldo L. Semon, Inductee pageQuote, Includes: Waldo L. Semon, Inductee page
then received his Ph.D. in chemistry in 1923
View the Source Water fuel cell (Wikipedia)
Includes: Stanley Allen Meyer, Lead or Career sectionQuote, Includes: Stanley Allen Meyer, Lead or Career section
The water fuel cell purportedly split water into its component elements, hydrogen and oxygen.
View the Source Humphry Davy (New World Encyclopedia)
Includes: Humphry Davy, Opening paragraphQuote, Includes: Humphry Davy, Opening paragraph
was an esteemed British chemist and physicist
View the Source Frances H. Arnold Facts 2018 (NobelPrize.org)
Includes: Frances Arnold, Facts page, LifeQuote, Includes: Frances Arnold, Facts page, Life
earned a doctorate in chemical engineering in 1985
View the Source Irving Langmuir - Biographical (NobelPrize.org)
Includes: Irving Langmuir, Biographical, career paragraphQuote, Includes: Irving Langmuir, Biographical, career paragraph
Langmuir's studies embraced chemistry, physics, and engineering
View the Source Erik Rotheim (Wikipedia)
Includes: Erik Rotheim, Lead sentence, professionQuote, Includes: Erik Rotheim, Lead sentence, profession
Norwegian professional chemical engineer and inventor
View the Source Patsy O'Connell Sherman (Wikipedia)
Includes: Patsy O'Connell Sherman, Career, At 3MQuote, Includes: Patsy O'Connell Sherman, Career, At 3M
Sherman holds 13 patents with Smith in fluorochemical polymers and polymerization processes.
View the Source Rutherford Aris (Wikipedia)
Includes: Rutherford Aris, Lead paragraph and career sectionsQuote, Includes: Rutherford Aris, Lead paragraph and career sections
was a chemical engineer, control theorist, applied mathematician
View the Source Vitaly Abalakov (Wikipedia)
Includes: Vitaly Abalakov, Education or career sectionQuote, Includes: Vitaly Abalakov, Education or career section
was a Soviet chemical engineer, mountaineer and inventor
View the Source W. Harmon Ray (Wikipedia)
Includes: W. Harmon Ray, Education or career sectionQuote, Includes: W. Harmon Ray, Education or career section
earned his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1963 from Rice University
View the Source George E. Davis (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: George E. Davis, CategoriesQuote, Includes: George E. Davis, Categories
British chemical engineers
View the Source Wikipedia: Fritz Haber
Includes: Fritz Haber, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Fritz Haber, Categories
German chemical engineers
View the Source Vulcanization (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Vulcanization, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Vulcanization, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Pyrolysis (Wikipedia)
Includes: Pyrolysis, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Pyrolysis, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Haber process (Wikipedia)
Includes: Haber-Bosch Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Haber-Bosch Process, Categories
Catalysis
View the Source Solvay process (Wikipedia)
Includes: Solvay Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Solvay Process, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Contact process, Wikipedia
Includes: Contact Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Contact Process, Categories
Catalysis
View the Source Fischer-Tropsch process, Wikipedia
Includes: Fischer-Tropsch Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Fischer-Tropsch Process, Categories
Catalysis
View the Source Kraft process, Wikipedia
Includes: Kraft Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Kraft Process, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Steam reforming - Wikipedia
Includes: Steam Reforming, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Steam Reforming, Categories
Catalysis
View the Source Ostwald process (Wikipedia)
Includes: Ostwald Process, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Ostwald Process, Categories
Catalysis
View the Source Reverse osmosis - Wikipedia
Includes: Reverse Osmosis, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Reverse Osmosis, Categories
Separation processes
View the Source Electrolysis, Wikipedia
Includes: Electrolysis, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Electrolysis, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Electrodialysis - Wikipedia
Includes: Electrodialysis, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Electrodialysis, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Alkylation - Wikipedia
Includes: Alkylation, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Alkylation, Categories
Chemical processes
View the Source Cracking (chemistry) - Wikipedia
Includes: Hydrocracking, Categories
Chemical processes
Includes: Thermal Cracking, Lead section
In petrochemistry, petroleum geology and organic chemistry, cracking is the process whereby complex organic molecules such as kerogens or long-chain hydrocarbons are broken down into simpler molecules such as light hydrocarbons, by the breaking of carbon-carbon bonds in the precursors.
View the SourceDistillation (Wikipedia)
Includes: Distillation, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Distillation, Categories
Separation processes
View the Source Fractional Distillation (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Fractional Distillation, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Fractional Distillation, Categories
Distillation
View the Source Mauveine (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Mauveine, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Mauveine, Categories
Chemical mixtures
View the Source Polyvinyl chloride - Wikipedia
Includes: Polyvinyl Chloride, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Polyvinyl Chloride, Categories
Commodity chemicals
View the Source Fluidized bed reactor - Wikipedia
Includes: Fluidized Bed Reactor, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Fluidized Bed Reactor, Categories
Chemical reactors
View the Source Ziegler-Natta catalyst - Wikipedia
Includes: Ziegler-Natta Catalyst, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Ziegler-Natta Catalyst, Categories
Catalysts
View the Source Hydrogenation - Wikipedia
Includes: Hydrogenation, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Hydrogenation, Categories
Homogeneous catalysis
View the Source Liquid-liquid extraction - Wikipedia
Includes: Solvent Extraction, CategoriesQuote, Includes: Solvent Extraction, Categories
Extraction (chemistry)
View the Source Gunpowder (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Gunpowder, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Gunpowder, Lead section
Gunpowder, referred to as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive.
View the Source Lighter (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Lighter, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Lighter, Lead section
Some lighters use a consumable chemical fuel, others use electricity from a battery.
View the Source Fuel Cell (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Fuel Cell, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Fuel Cell, Lead section
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions.
View the Source Synthetic Rubber (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Synthetic Rubber, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Synthetic Rubber, Lead section
They are polymers synthesized from petroleum byproducts.
View the Source Chloralkali Process (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Chlor-Alkali Process, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Chlor-Alkali Process, Lead section
It is the technology used to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), which are commodity chemicals required by industry. 35 million tons of chlorine were prepared by this process in 1987.
View the Source Ion exchange - Wikipedia
Includes: Ion Exchange, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Ion Exchange, Lead section
Ion exchange is used in softening or demineralizing of water, purification of chemicals, and separation of substances.
View the Source Catalytic reforming (Wikipedia)
Includes: Catalytic Reforming, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Catalytic Reforming, Lead section
Catalytic reforming is a chemical process used to convert naphthas from crude oil into liquid products called reformates, which are premium "blending stocks" for high-octane gasoline.
View the Source Emulsion polymerization (Wikipedia)
Includes: Emulsion Polymerization, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Emulsion Polymerization, Lead section
In polymer chemistry, emulsion polymerization is a type of radical polymerization that usually starts with an emulsion incorporating water, monomers, and surfactants.
View the Source Bunsen burner (Wikipedia)
Includes: Bunsen Burner, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Bunsen Burner, Lead section
The gas can be natural gas, which is mainly methane, or a liquefied petroleum gas, such as propane, butane, a mixture or, as Bunsen himself used, coal gas.
View the Source Friedrich Wohler (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Friedrich Wohler, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Friedrich Wohler, Introduction
Friedrich Wöhler FRS(For) HonFRSE (German: [ˈvøːlɐ]; 31 July 1800-23 September 1882) was a German chemist known for his work in both organic and inorganic chemistry, being the first to isolate the chemical elements beryllium and yttrium in pure metallic form.
View the Source Dynamite (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Dynamite, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Dynamite, Introduction
Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and stabilizers.
View the Source Alfred Nobel (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Alfred Nobel, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Alfred Nobel, Introduction
Nobel's most famous invention, dynamite, was an explosive made using nitroglycerin, which was patented in 1867.
View the Source Papermaking (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Papermaking, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Papermaking, Introduction
In papermaking, a dilute suspension consisting mostly of separate cellulose fibres in water is drained through a sieve-like screen, so that a mat of randomly interwoven fibres is laid down.
View the Source Herbert Henry Dow (Wikipedia)
Includes: Herbert Henry Dow, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Herbert Henry Dow, Introduction
Herbert Henry Dow (February 26, 1866, October 15, 1930) was an American chemical industrialist who founded the American multinational conglomerate Dow Chemical.
View the Source Wikipedia: Leo Baekeland
Includes: Leo Baekeland, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Leo Baekeland, Introduction
He has been called "The Father of the Plastics Industry" for his invention of Bakelite, an inexpensive, non-flammable and versatile plastic, which marked the beginning of the modern plastics industry.
View the Source Lithography (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Lithography, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Lithography, Introduction
The stone was then treated with a mixture of weak acid and gum arabic ("etch") that made the parts of the stone's surface that were not protected by the grease more hydrophilic (water attracting).
View the Source Bakelite (Wikipedia)
WikipediaIncludes: Bakelite, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Bakelite, Introduction
Bakelite ( BAY-kə-lyte) is the first plastic made from synthetic components.
View the Source Rayon - Wikipedia
Includes: Rayon, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Rayon, Introduction
Rayon, also called viscose, is a semi-synthetic fiber made from natural sources of regenerated cellulose, such as wood and related agricultural products.
View the Source Cellophane - Wikipedia
Includes: Cellophane, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Cellophane, Introduction
Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose.
View the Source Ultrafiltration - Wikipedia
Includes: Ultrafiltration, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Ultrafiltration, Introduction
Ultrafiltration (UF) is a variety of membrane filtration in which forces such as pressure or concentration gradients lead to a separation through a semipermeable membrane.
View the Source Nanofiltration - Wikipedia
Includes: Nanofiltration, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Nanofiltration, Introduction
Nanofiltration is a membrane filtration process that uses nanometer sized pores through which particles smaller than about 1-10 nanometers pass through the membrane.
View the Source Cellulose acetate (Wikipedia)
Includes: Cellulose Acetate, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Cellulose Acetate, Introduction
In biochemistry, cellulose acetate refers to any acetate ester of cellulose, usually cellulose diacetate.
View the Source Steam cracking - Wikipedia
Includes: Steam Cracking, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Steam Cracking, Introduction
Steam cracking is a petrochemical process in which saturated hydrocarbons are broken down ("cracked") into smaller, often unsaturated, hydrocarbons.
View the Source Freeze drying - Wikipedia
Includes: Freeze Drying, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Freeze Drying, Introduction
Freeze drying, also known as lyophilization or cryodesiccation, is a low-temperature dehydration process that involves freezing the product and lowering pressure, thereby removing the ice by sublimation.
View the Source Supercritical fluid extraction (Wikipedia)
Includes: Supercritical Fluid Extraction, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Supercritical Fluid Extraction, Introduction
Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is the process of separating one component (the extractant) from another (the matrix) using supercritical fluids as the extracting solvent.
View the Source Pervaporation - Wikipedia
Includes: Pervaporation, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Pervaporation, Introduction
Pervaporation (or pervaporative separation) is a processing method for the separation of mixtures of liquids by partial vaporization through a non-porous or porous membrane.
View the Source Greek fire (Wikipedia)
Includes: Greek fire, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Greek fire, Introduction
Historians have variously speculated that it was based on saltpeter, sulfur, or quicklime, but most modern scholars agree that it was based on petroleum mixed with resins, comparable in composition to modern napalm.
View the Source Fireworks (Wikipedia)
Includes: Fireworks, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Fireworks, Introduction
Fireworks are low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes.
View the Source Polywater (Wikipedia)
Includes: Polywater, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Polywater, Introduction
Polywater was a hypothesized polymerized form of water that was the subject of much scientific controversy during the late 1960s, first described by Soviet scientist Nikolai Fedyakin.
View the Source Film tinting (Wikipedia)
Includes: Film Tinting, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Film Tinting, Introduction
Film tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion.
View the Source Autoclave (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: Autoclave, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Autoclave, Introduction
Autoclaves are also commonly used in the chemical industry to cure coatings, vulcanize rubber, and for hydrothermal synthesis.
View the Source Gas mask (Wikipedia)
Includes: Gas Mask, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Gas Mask, Introduction
Gas masks only protect the user from ingesting or inhaling chemical agents, as well as preventing contact with the user's eyes (many chemical agents affect through eye contact).
View the Source Bomb (Wikipedia)
Includes: Bomb, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Bomb, Introduction
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy.
View the Source Soxhlet extractor (Wikipedia)
Includes: Soxhlet Extractor, IntroductionQuote, Includes: Soxhlet Extractor, Introduction
It was originally designed for the extraction of a lipid from a solid material.
View the Source Wikipedia: William Henry Perkin
Includes: William Henry Perkin, IntroductionQuote, Includes: William Henry Perkin, Introduction
Sir William Henry Perkin (12 March 1838-14 July 1907) was an English chemist and entrepreneur best known for his serendipitous discovery of the first commercial synthetic organic dye, mauveine, made from aniline.
View the Source James Dewar (Grace's Guide)
Includes: James Dewar, BiographyQuote, Includes: James Dewar, Biography
extensive research into the liquefaction of gases
View the Source Peregrine Phillips (Grace's Guide)
Includes: Peregrine Phillips, BiographyQuote, Includes: Peregrine Phillips, Biography
Peregrine Phillips Junior was the inventor of the Contact Process for Sulphuric Acid, for which he obtained Patent No. 6096 in 1831.
View the Source Grace's Guide to British Industrial History: Ludwig Mond
Grace's Guide to British Industrial HistoryIncludes: Ludwig Mond, BiographyQuote, Includes: Ludwig Mond, Biography
Mond developed a valuable method known as the Mond process for extracting nickel from its ores by use of this carbonyl.
View the Source John Walker, inventor (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia FoundationIncludes: John Walker, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: John Walker, Lead section
John Walker (29 May 1781-1 May 1859) was an English chemist and pharmacist credited with inventing the friction light, the first commercially successful friction match, in either 1826 or 1827.
View the Source Wikipedia: Ernest Solvay
Includes: Ernest Solvay, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Ernest Solvay, Lead section
Ernest Gaston Joseph Solvay (French: [sɔlvɛ]; 16 April 1838-26 May 1922) was a Belgian chemist, industrialist and philanthropist.
View the Source Wikipedia: Franz Joseph Emil Fischer
Includes: Franz Joseph Emil Fischer, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Franz Joseph Emil Fischer, Lead section
Franz Joseph Emil Fischer (19 March 1877 in Freiburg im Breisgau, 1 December 1947 in Munich) was a German chemist.
View the Source Wikipedia: Hans Tropsch
Includes: Hans Tropsch, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Hans Tropsch, Lead section
Hans Tropsch (October 7, 1889, October 8, 1935) was a chemist responsible, along with Franz Fischer, for the development of the Fischer-Tropsch process.
View the Source Wikipedia: Franz von Soxhlet
Includes: Franz von Soxhlet, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Franz von Soxhlet, Lead section
Franz Ritter von Soxhlet (12 January 1848-5 May 1926) was a German agricultural chemist and inventor.
View the Source Paul Sabatier (Wikipedia)
Includes: Paul Sabatier, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Paul Sabatier, Lead section
Paul Sabatier (French: [sabatje]; 5 November 1854-14 August 1941) was a French chemist, born in Carcassonne.
View the Source Callinicus of Heliopolis (Wikipedia)
Includes: Callinicus of Heliopolis, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Callinicus of Heliopolis, Lead section
620 AD) was a Byzantine architect and alchemist of Jewish or Egyptian origin.
View the Source Roy J. Plunkett - Science History Institute
Includes: Roy J. Plunkett, Page text
Plunkett’s first assignment at DuPont was researching new chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants-then seen as great advances over earlier refrigerants like sulfur dioxide and ammonia, which regularly poisoned food-industry workers and people in their homes.
Includes: Teflon, Page text
From the 1930s to the present, beginning with neoprene and nylon, the American chemical industry has introduced a cornucopia of polymers to the consumer.
View the SourcePhotographic film (Wikipedia)
Includes: Photographic Film, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Photographic Film, Lead section
Photographic film is a strip or sheet of transparent film base coated on one side with a gelatin emulsion containing microscopically small light-sensitive silver halide crystals, for the purpose of taking photographs.
View the Source Mass spectrometry (Wikipedia)
Includes: Mass Spectrometer, Lead sectionQuote, Includes: Mass Spectrometer, Lead section
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions.
View the Source Karl Ziegler and Giulio Natta (Science History Institute)
Includes: Karl Ziegler, Page text
In the early 1950s Ziegler and Natta discovered a new process for synthesizing polymers that made possible a lot of common plastics, including high-density polyethylene and polypropylene.
Includes: Giulio Natta, Page text
In the early 1950s Ziegler and Natta discovered a new process for synthesizing polymers that made possible a lot of common plastics, including high-density polyethylene and polypropylene.
View the SourceSpencer Silver (National Inventors Hall of Fame)
Includes: Spencer Silver, Inductee pageQuote, Includes: Spencer Silver, Inductee page
In 1968, Spencer Silver was a senior scientist working to develop new classes of adhesives at 3M when he discovered an acrylic adhesive with unique properties.
View the Source Francis Aston (Nobel Prize)
Includes: Francis Aston, BiographicalQuote, Includes: Francis Aston, Biographical
He quickly achieved success in this by his invention of the mass spectrograph, an apparatus in which the ingenious use of electromagnetic focusing enabled him to utilize the very slight differences in mass of the two isotopes to effect their separation.
View the Source 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)
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