Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with the chemical production and manufacture of products by chemical processes. It includes the design of systems, processes and equipment, for the refining of raw materials and for the mixing and processing of chemicals to produce valuable products.
Chemical engineers have a huge impact on many products that we use every day, since chemicals are involved in many products. Chemical engineers design and manage processes and equipment for the large-scale manufacture of chemicals used in a variety of products. They can work in different industries, other than direct chemical production, such as those that produce medicines, electronics, food, clothing and energy.
Chemical engineers can be good candidates for U.S. Department of Energy jobs.
The activity of chemical engineers
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, chemical engineers apply different principles from biology and chemistry, but also from physics, and mathematics to solve problems related to the production or use of chemicals (fuels, drugs, food and many other products).
These specialists work in a variety of fields. As employees of the U.S. Department of Energy, they can work on converting oil into gasoline, diesel, solvents, lubricants and petrochemicals, but also in the field of the nuclear energy. These jobs rely on chemical engineers to examine the composition of raw materials and products. On the other hand, nuclear engineering often uses chemical engineers to evaluate the interaction between materials in the nuclear plant, including the manufacture of radioisotopes.
Nuclear engineers are developing a variety of applications for nuclear energy. Many of them work with nuclear reactors, the source of power for power plants, to provide heat and electricity to many homes and businesses.
About a third of nuclear engineers in the United States are working on generating power, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The employers of these specialists include different hospitals and clinics, national laboratories, construction contractors, equipment manufacturers, as well as the army and the government.
The attributions of a chemical engineer may include:
- Development of nuclear equipment such as reactor nuclei and radiation shielding
- Monitoring the design, construction and operations of nuclear power plants to ensure that they comply with safety standards
- Writing down clear and comprehensive instructions for the safe handling and disposal of nuclear waste
- Testing whether the methods of use of nuclear material, the recovery of nuclear fuel or the disposal of nuclear waste are acceptable
- In the case of an emergency, taking corrective action and even ordering plant shutdowns
- Examination of nuclear accidents and collecting data that can be used for prevention, in the future.
Chemical engineering is a complex field that requires critical skills, including complete understanding of nuclear physics, nuclear materials, chemistry and mathematics. Considering the new technologies, chemical engineers also rely more and more on CAD systems, when it comes to design systems and equipment. They are also required, nowadays, to be familiar with computerized control equipment for accelerators and reactors, as well as with computer simulations used for modeling different systems and equipment.