What Does a Chemical Engineer Do?

Everyone is familiar with the image of a scientist working in a laboratory with different chemicals or raw materials to discover wonderful innovative products from new drugs, plastics, and solvents to new hair care products or foodstuffs. This image involves the scientist working with test tubes or beakers, essentially low volumes of materials.

A chemical engineer’s role is to take processes from small-scale laboratory experiments and to design, operate and optimise large-scale production plants to supply the desired products to satisfy the demands of consumers. One example of this type of work is the role we perform at Esso and Exxon, taking crude oil as our raw material and refining it, or converting it, into useful products which we use in our every day lives such as petrol for our cars or rubber for car tyres.

Mathematics is a critical tool used in engineering of all descriptions and chemical engineering is no different.

We continue by considering two areas of mathematics used daily in refineries.

The first case will consider direct proportionality and the second simultaneous equations.

Each case will set a real life problem and demonstrate through a worked example how to solve the problem. Then will follow a series of questions which pupils can work through to practise their mathematical skills in a real life setting. Answers are provided.