Bongcawil, Kyla Camille A.

BS ChE – Y1

ChE 10 Reviewer

History of Chemical Engineering ➢ George Davis – British chemist, inspector for

Chemical engineering answers the questions: the Alkali Act in the late 19th century.
1. What can we do with these chemicals? ➢ Davis’ talks formed the basis for his two-
2. How can we make them? volume Handbook of Chemical Engineering
3. Where can we go from here? which organized basic operations that are
4. What are the possibilities? common to many industries such as
➢ Chemical engineering unofficially began transporting liquids and gases or distillation.
around the time of the American ➢ By the 20th century, there had been the
Revolutionary War. need to make gasoline which could be
➢ During the war, blockades were put up to produced from refined crude oils. Refineries
stop trade between American colonies and or giant chemical plants were required.
Europe. ➢ Cracking – heavy hydrocarbons are broken
➢ France was especially affected by these down into lighter molecules by heat and
blockades. pressure.
➢ America supplied sodium carbonate (soda ➢ Polymerization – combination of propylene
ash - which was used for a whole bunch of and butylene into molecules of two or three
things) to France. times their original molecular weight
➢ The French Royal Academy offered up a ➢ Arthur D. Little first introduced unit
prize in 1775 to anyone who could make operations in 1915 and it breaks down each
sodium carbonate from sodium chloride part of a chemical plant into individual units.
(common salt). ➢ The percentage of chemical engineering
➢ Nicolas LeBlanc (a French chemist and graduates who took jobs in cpis and govt.
physician) figured how to do it around 1789. declined due to the emergence of
➢ LeBlanc Process – Nicolas’ method. biotechnology – focused on research and
1. Heating NaCl with H2SO4 to produce development, applying technology to
Na2SO4 (salt cake) biological systems and living organisms.
2. Mixing salt cake with crushed limestone ➢ Biomass – renewable organic material that
and coal and fired comes from plants and animals
3. Combining sodium carbonate and
calcium sulfide (black ash) Chemical Engineering as a discipline
4. Lixiviation – Extraction and separation ➢ branch of engineering concerned with
of sodium carbonate (NasS) from black the development and application of
ash (CaS) by washing with water which chemical and/or physical changes of
was then evaporated. involved materials.
➢ By 1971, LeBlanc opened a small factory in ➢ Field of applied science that employs
Saint Denis and began a large-scale physical, chemical and biochemical rate
production of soda ash. processes for the betterment of
➢ Alkali Act – early piece of environmental humanity.
legislation in response to LeBlanc process. (from video 1-3)
An act requiring soda manufacturers to ➢ Engineering is a branch of science and
reduce the amount of HCl gas they release technology concerned with the design,
into the atmosphere. building, and the use of machines,
engines, and structures.

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Bongcawil, Kyla Camille A.
BS ChE – Y1

➢ Engineering is also about creating new - Put it through a small-scale processing

ways of doing things and to provide system.
solutions to problems. - Pulped: convert into a soft, fleshy mass
➢ Chemicals and chemistry are not the of matter
same. Chemical engineers have less to - Extruder: machine or process that forms
do with how electrons interact with each a material by forcing it through a die
other; but rather how a chemical can be ➢ Chemical engineers minimize the bad
of use and of value and how it can be impacts of processes in the environment.
produced.
➢ Chemical engineers need to know the Fields of Application (ACDMP2RQ)
size of reactors, the operating cost, rate 1. Academe/Education
of reactions and the quality of the final 2. Consultancy
products. 3. Design
Example: cooking rice – chemical 4. Maintenance
engineers are involved in the science of 5. Process
rice cookers, the time required for 6. Production
cooking, and the ratio of water to rice. 7. Research and Development
➢ Stoichiometry tells how much reactants 8. Quality Control
to put into the reactors.
➢ Rate equations tells how fast products Chemical Engineering as a profession
are formed. a. Functions
➢ Thermodynamics demonstrates the 1. Apply the chemistry of a process
energy changes in a reaction. using engineering principles
➢ Ideal gas law (PV=nRT) is the basis of 2. Develop research laboratory
discussion of non-ideal gases. results of the chemist into an
economical chemical process
Factors related to the production of b. Role in the Industry
chemicals: 1. Develop, design, and supervise
1. Pressure both the complete process and
2. Volume equipment
3. Temperature 2. Choose the proper raw
4. Concentrations materials
5. Catalyst 3. Operate plant efficiently, safely
6. Reaction time and economically
7. Side reactions 4. Ensure that the products meet
8. Reactants the requirement set by the
9. Reactor sequence customer.
➢ Chemical engineers apply chemistry to
industrial processes to make something Field of Specialization
new and more environmentally sound. ➢ Chemical engineering is a combination of
➢ Scale it up = take from experiment size to unit processes (chemical changes) and
full production size unit operations (physical changes)
Example: Stinging nettle (weed) to fiber

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Bongcawil, Kyla Camille A.
BS ChE – Y1

➢ Unit operations – physical changes 4. Composite materials, corrosion and

connected with the industrial handling of protective coatings
chemicals or other materials 5. Energy conversion and utilization
➢ Unit processes – commercialization of a 6. Environmental control
chemical reaction under certain 7. Biomedical and biochemical
conditions to make it economically 8. Pharmaceuticals
profitable. 9. Agricultural chemicals (fertilizers)
➢ Unit operations and unit processes are 10. Food processing
both needed to be applied in diverse 11. Pulp and paper
manufacturing procedures which are Examples:
found in chemical process industries Coca-Cola
(CPI). San Miguel Brewery Inc.,
Flour Mill of San Miguel Mills in Batangas
Chemical Process Industry (CPI) – industry B-Meg
where raw materials undergo processing into Dairy Products Plant in Cavite
finished products. Petron Bataan Refinery

Some Traditional Fields of ChE (WRT CPIs) Three majors in UPLB ChE:
1. Petrochemicals, petroleum, and 1. Gen. Curriculum
natural gas processing 2. Sugar Technology
2. Chemicals (salts, acids, potassium, 3. Pulp and paper technology
etc.)
3. Plastics and polymers

CAREER TALKS

Date of Talk Name of the Speaker Topic of Interest

September 2 Dr. Apollo Arquiza Space exploration
September 9 Engr. Jerwin Aguiba Technopreneurship
September 23 Engr. Grizelda Gonzales- Manufacturing and Product
Galero Development
October 7 Engr. Jeck Candelaria Design and Consultancy
October 21 Engr. Dedet Javier-Barroso ChE in Market QA
October 28 Dr. Rex Demafelis Research
November 4 Engr. Maricris Vines ChE Law; PiChE as prof. organization
November 25 Dr. Michael Promentilla Academe