1. Chemical Processes

2. Chemical engineering products, processes, and challenges
Commodities Molecules Nanostructures
Key cost speed to market function
Basis unit operations discovery properties

3. A commodity: TiO2 (titanium oxide)
Extremely white, opaque, edible, dirt resistant. Used in paper, food,
cosmetics, paint, textiles, plastics. World consumption: 4 million tons/yr.
Cost: $2,000/ton. Total world value = $8 billion/yr.
A 1% increase in production efficiency = 0.01*2*103 *4*106 $/yr = $80 million/yr.

4. Molecules Small and simple: ammonia (NH3) sulfuric acid (H2SO4)
ethylene (C2H4)
sugar (C12H22O11)
Large and complex: insulin C257H383N65O77S6
Large and simple (polymers): polyethylene[-CH2-CH2]n
Insulin
1st produced in the pancreas of fetal calves
Now mass produces synthetically using E. coli or yeast
See for a very
good introduction to polymers.

5. Polymers, e.g. polyethylene
is made up of many monomers:

6. Copolymers
are made up of two kinds of monomers, say A and B

7. SBS rubber (tires, shoe soles)
The polystyrene is tough;
the polybutadiene is rubbery

8. Nano applications of polymers
Organized block copolymer of PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate)
and PS (polystyrene).
Spin casting in electric field
produces cylinders of PS embedded
in the PMMA which are oriented
in the direction of the electric field
PMMA cylinders are 14nm diameter,
24nm apart.
PS can be dissolved with
acetic acid to leave holes.
Use as a microscopic filter?

9. Computer application:
Cylindrical holes are electrochemically
filled with magnetic cobalt. Each cylindrical
hole can then store 1 “bit” of information.
bit/cm = 1 / (2.4*10-7)
bit/cm2 = 1.7*1011 = 170 Gbits/cm2
CD’s = 0.14 Gbits/cm2
DVD’s = 0.34 Gbits/cm2
Blu-ray = 1.16 Gbits/cm2

10. Genetic engineering: production of synthetic insulin
1) Extract a plasmid (a circular molecule of DNA) from the
bacterium E-coli
2) Break the circle
3) Insert a section of human DNA
containing the insulin-producing
gene
4) Insert this engineered gene
back into the E-coli bacterium
5) The E-coli and its offspring
now produce insulin

11. Chemical Engineering
Two strategies for obtaining chemical compounds and materials:
1) Create the desired compound from raw materials
via one or more chemical reactions in a “reactor”
2) Isolate the compound where it exists in combination
with other substances through a “separation process”

12. Reactors Reactor fermenters in a brewery pharmaceuticals reactor
raw materials
energy
product + contaminants
byproducts
catalyst
Reactor
fermenters in a brewery
pharmaceuticals reactor

13. Separations
Based on differences between individual substances:
Boiling point
Freezing point
Density
Volatility
Surface Tension
Viscosity
Molecular Complexity
Size
Geometry
Polarization

14. Separations
Based on differences in the presence of other materials
Solubility
Chemical reactivity

15. Separations: Garbage

16. Garbage separation (cont.)

17. Garbage separation (cont.)

21. Counter-current processes

25. Counter-current heat exchangers in nature

26. Counter-current heat exchangers How do they work?
appendage
body
Tb-out
Tb-in
heat loss
exchanger
body
appendage
Tb-out
Tb-in
exchanger
limited
heat exchange
good
heat exchange