Chemical
Engineering Studies in the USA
Length study undergraduate
and graduate level
B. S. -
4 years
M. S.
- 18-24 months
PhD -
4 - 6 years
Approximate number of students
starting and graduating each year (1997
estimate)
B. S. -
9161
M. S.
- 1231
Ph. D -
719
Major areas of employment for
chemical engineers
| |
BS |
MS |
PhD |
| Chemicals and Fuels |
36.9 |
33.9 |
34.9 |
| Electronics |
11.4 |
12.8 |
14 |
| Food/Consumer |
14.6 |
8.9 |
9.9 |
| Design and Construction |
7.2 |
13.3 |
3.0 |
| Materials |
6.0 |
13.3 |
10.9 |
| Biotechnology |
4.6 |
7.8 |
12.4 |
| Environmental |
2.6 |
3.3 |
1.5 |
| Pulp and Paper |
2.9 |
2.2 |
0 |
Major areas of emphasis in curriculum
Very broad emphases in undergraduate curriculum
159 Chemical
Engineering Programs and 119 PhD Granting Institutions
(These lists are in .pdf format - to read them you need
the Adobe
Acrobat Reader)
Process
Systems Engineering Courses
Typical PSE Undergraduate Courses
One semester of Process Control
One-two semesters of Process Design
e.g., at Carnegie Mellon
Process synthesis and preliminary design (1 semester)
Design project (1/2 semester)
Process optimization (1/2 semester)
Established Textbooks for Design
Baasel, "Preliminary chemical
engineering plant design"
Douglas, " Conceptual Design of Chemical Processes"
Peters and Timmerhaus, "Plant Design and Economics
for Chemical Engineers"
Ulbrich, "A Guide to Chemical Engineering Process
Design and Economics"
Transition away from Plant and Equipment Design and
Economics to Process Synthesis (and even Product Design)
Emphasis on Computer Tools - Modeling, Simulation and
Optimization
Still has Capstone Design Project
Three recent textbooks
Biegler, Grossmann and Westerberg,
"Systematic Methods of Chemical Process Design"
1. Decomposition and shortcut calculations
to identify process trends
2. Physical insights related to process synthesis
3. Development of optimization strategies for synthesis
Seider, Seader and Lewin, "Process
Design Principles: Synthesis, Analysis and Evaluation"
1. Emphasis in process simulation
and detailed equipment design
2. Heat recovery and separation synthesis for practical
viewpoint
3. Synthesis of control structures and practical emphasis
for dynamic simulation
Turton, Bailie, Whiting and Shaewitz,
"Analysis, Synthesis and Design of Chemical Processes"
1. Project oriented textbook, very
broad coverage of project execution
2. Extension coverage of nontechnical areas including
communications, ethics, health and safety
Textbooks for Process Control
Coughanowr, "Process Systems
Analysis and Control"
Luyben,, "Process Modeling, Simulation and Control
for Chemical Enigneers"
Seborg, Edgar and Mellichamp, Process Dynamics and Control"
Smith and Corripio, "Principles and Practice of
Automatic Process Control"
Stephanopoulos, "Chemical Process Control - An
Introduction to Theory and Practice"
Two Recent Textbooks
Marlin, "Process Control"
Emphasis on advanced and model predictive control (MPC)
Emphasis on control synthesis
Ogunnaike and Ray, "Process Dynamics
Modeling and Control"
Emphasis on advanced and model predictive control
Emphasis on digital control and discrete systems
Key
components of Control
Dynamic modeling -
from linear SISO models to state space nonlinear dynamic
models
Analysis -
evolution from Laplace transforms and frequency domain
to time domain and state space models.
Controller Design -
evolution to MIMO controllers and MPC,
More emphasis on digital systems and
synthesis of control structures
Less emphasis on modeling and on Laplace
transforms and linear systems
Present and Future
challenges in PSE education
What are in your view the biggest
challenges in promoting and improving the education
of PSE?
- Paradigm shifts in industry
- Rapidly changing commodities market
with significant outsourcing of PSE in operating companies
- Consolidation of vendors; little
comparative advantage
- Evolution from process design to
product design
- Disparate Background of PSE in
academia
How motivated are students in your
country to study PSE courses?
- Process Insights - mostly for process
synthesis and control synthesis
- Computer Science - programming,
system development
- Applied Mathematics and Operations
Research - sophisticated theory to solve practical
problems
How is PSE regarded by other academics
in Chemical Engineering?
- Core discipline? control vs. design
- Industrial Impact
- Funding sources - industry vs.
government
- Culture of PSE
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