Top Skill For Chemical Engineering
Date: November 02, 2021 |Published by: MIU
Chemical Engineering is one of the branches of engineering that is needed today. Chemical Engineering involves the process and design that converts raw material to valuable products. Various industry applications require chemical engineering, such as petroleum refinery, biorefinery, energy, pharmaceutical, etc. Chemical engineering requires different skills for preparation before graduation. Among them are process modeling, technical documentation engineering, and soft skills.
Process modeling
Process modeling is a computer modeling technique used to design a chemical process using specific software. Various softwares can be used for this modeling process, such as ASPEN, SuperPro, and many others. This technique is essential for industries to start or to develop the chemical process. In addition, using this modeling process can maximize the product produced and increase the efficiency of the product delivered. Furthermore, this process can be studied in advance the effect on the process and give an accurate picture of when the process occurs at the industrial scale. As a result, this process can reduce the cost of process construction and minimize human error.
The use of software for this modeling process can be trained when studying at the university by entering subject courses offered at the university. Students can further strengthen the understanding and use of software that is efficient in developing the chemical process. Students also can learn by finding articles related to the chemical process and application in the software. Various articles can be achieved, such as the steam reforming methane process [1], oil and gas refining process [2] and synthesis of molybdenum disulfide [3]
Production of Urea using software
Sources: Semester 8 Design Project 2 Group 4 ( intake February and October 2017)
Technical documentation engineering
Technical documentation engineering is very much needed nowadays. Technical documentation for chemical engineering focuses on process flow diagram (PFD), plant instrument and design (P&ID), plant layout, list of the materials necessary to be used, and instruments. Process flow diagram requires an understanding of the process performed using the primary unit operation such as reactor, distillation column, and others. Plant instrument and design (P&ID) focuses on understanding the control of product output or input to the operation unit involving valves and controls. The materials and instruments list are essential requirements during the preparation for the construction of the plant. These skills can be trained through design projects offered at the university. In addition, students also can enhance their skills through industry training by looking at the documentation provided in the industry.
Plant instrument and design (P&ID) of steam methane reforming plant
Sources: Semester 8 Design Project 2 Group 1 ( intake February and October 2017)
Individual Plant instrument and design (P&ID) Equipments Process of Formic Acid
Sources: Semester 8 Design Project 2 Group 3( intake February and October 2017)
Soft skills
Students need to know and master various soft skills while studying at university, such as communication skills. Usually, the chemical engineer will work together with the mechanical engineer and civil engineer to construct the chemical process in the industry. Therefore, communication skills are essential for a chemical engineer to provide specific information about the chemical process to other engineering disciplines. For example, chemical engineering needs to describe the process to be developed, the list of materials, and the instrumentation required. One of the activities to enhance these skills through the presentation projects involves curricular activities such as debates, clubs activities, and faculty.
Student activities participate such as IEM Gold Medal Awards, 3rd AiNEX 2019 (Advanced Innovations & Engineering Exhibition) and IQ showdown
References
[1] Amran UI, Ahmad A, Othman MR. Kinetic based simulation of methane steam reforming and water gas shift for hydrogen production using aspen plus. Chemical Engineering Transactions 2017;56:1681–6. https://doi.org/10.3303/CET1756281.
[2] Uddin F, Kumar Mondal S, Rakib Uddin M, Majumder S, Pokhrel J. HYSYS Simulation of Chemical Process Equipments Phase development in cement hydrate systems View project HYSYS Simulation of Chemical Process Equipments n.d. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.4186.9289.
[3] Hachhach M, Akram H, Hanafi M, Achak O, Chafik T. Simulation and Sensitivity Analysis of Molybdenum Disulfide Nanoparticle Production Using Aspen plus. International Journal of Chemical Engineering 2019;2019. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/3953862.