So what exactly is chemical engineering?
Well it's an industry that impacts your life in more ways than you can ever imagine.
From your laptop the face wash in your shower the orange juice you drank earlier, or those perfect pair of jeans.
Chemical engineers have had an input in making all of these but how?
Just imagine three oranges are used to make one glass of OJ (Orange Juice)
but what about making a thousand glasses... a minute?
Well that's an entirely different process.
Here we don't start with oranges in our kitchen, no.
We have to pick them, sort them, wash them, squeeze them,
then the process changes entirely, we need to think about pasteurisation, concentration, enzyme treatment and so much more.
Only then can we pour this juice into plastic bottles
and package them up to be sent all around the world for millions of juice lovers!
Now that's a lot of plastic bottles used for OJ (Orange Juice).
If you watched our Environmental Video you'll know all about the issues of plastic pollution.
But fear not Chemical Engineers have teamed up with Environmental Engineers to create bottles that decompose themselves.
Bottles made of seaweed they're actually used last year during the London marathon.
Remember those jeans I mentioned
well with clothing Chemical Engineers not only focus on creating the dyes for the colours
and the actual material itself, but also designing elements like protection.
Where do you think firefighters get their flame retardant clothing from?
This has been specially designed by Chemical Engineers,
to withstand serious temperatures, some temperatures that tend to go above a thousand degrees celsius.
And of course you knew this was coming the petrochemical industry.
This industry tends to be split into two areas, upstream and downstream.
Upstream involves identifying the location of crude oil and gas in its raw form and extracting it.
Whilst some Chemical Engineers work in these areas alongside Petroleum Engineers
most work further downstream making crude oil usable.
Looking downstream, Chemical Engineers work on refining crude oil
to produce things like gas to heat our homes, petrol, diesel and kerosene for transport,
nylon for waterproofs, asphalt for laying roads and so much more.
It's basically chemistry surprise, surprise!
Usage of crude oil has always been a sensitive topic, the carbon emissions, the pollution
and this is exactly why Chemical Engineers work closely with Environmental Engineers to reduce the amount we use
by improving the efficiency of car engines to even using waste coffee beans to power London buses
yeah you heard me right, waste coffee beans!
Chemical Engineers don't just work towards keeping our planet healthy but the inhabitants too,
welcome to the pharmaceutical industry.
As you would expect, Biologists, Statisticians and Pharmacists are at the front line designing the drugs for trials and testing.
Now when this goes into mass production when billions of people around the world need it
Chemical Engineers are here to save the day.
But how would we go about doing that?
If part of the process requires you to cool the substance down from 80 degrees to 15
for a small quantity this is easy, throw it in the fridge for a couple of hours
like a similar sized one to what you have at home.
But we have thousands and thousands of litres to cool down there just isn't enough fridge space.
Chemical Engineers design entire plants and factories that can change making a handful of pills a day,
to making millions of pills being produced an hour.
But we mustn't forget about the quality control that's required here,
remember some of these substances are extremely powerful,
everything has to meet standards set out by world health organisations.
And even outside of the pharmaceutical industry Chemical Engineers are always working alongside governments and STEM leaders
to ensure what we do on Earth is safe.
But what about trying to kill germs and bacteria like cleaning agents detergents or deodorant?
Sure a lot of this is chemistry and biology but they need to think about packaging,
how will it be used, spout sizes, concentration, oh and the safety.
The last thing we want is the kind of citrus blossom air freshener exploding in the boot of your car.
And safety is always a big aspect,
I know we mention this all the time, but things like the BP Oil Spill, Chernobyl or the Texas City Refinery.
Engineers here look at ways to ensure that these things don't ever happen again,
by changing rules and processes.
Chemical Engineers are always working very closely with leaders in STEM,
to take raw materials here on earth and turn them into incredible usable products.
Whether this is plastic for trainers, vaccines for viruses, or even developing new materials that allow for interstellar travel.
They are everywhere and changing our world in incredible ways.
Now a lot of this sounds very exciting and just imagine yourself as a young future leader where
you could be doing the same experiments that Chemical Engineers are doing.
Like filtering dirty water or using forensics to solve mysteries?
Well with the Aveea Projects you can do just that!
Monthly boxes with everything you need to flex your brain muscles with everything included.
It's perfect for our future leaders,
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