Role of Universalities in Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Chemical engineering has survived and thrived for over 100 years, while many other branches of engineering have vanished or faded. This survival may be attributed to several factors, one of which is the more pervasive and effective utilization of universalities in the form of generalizations, simplifying concepts, and analogies. At the same time, many of the generalities, simplifying concepts, and analogies in current textbooks, handbooks, and even computer design packages are wrong or obsolete and should be deleted or noted to be only of historical interest. The radical changes that are currently afoot in chemical engineering and in the world in which it is now practiced can be expected to make many more obsolete or irrelevant, thereby creating a need and/or opportunity for the formulation of new ones. The origin and the past, present, and future role, if any, of the generalizations are examined in Parts I and II; that of the simplifying concepts are examined in Part III, and that of the analogies are examined in Part IV.

Pressure Loss and Transfer Rates in Microstructured Devices with Chemical Reactions

“…In many cases, the pressure loss shows asymptotic behavior for laminar (∼1/Re) and turbulent flow conditions (∼con-stant). To interpolate between the flow regimes, Churchill [16] proposed the following equation for arbitrary parameters such as pressure loss coefficient k f , Nu number, or others:…”

Is there any Beauty, Charm and Challenge Left in Chemical Engineering?

“…The changing face of chemical engineering and chemical industry has been discussed in scholarly articles by eminent chemical engineers from all over the world [4][5][6]. Chemical engineering has survived and thrived for over 100 years, while many other branches of engineering have vanished or faded [7]. This survival may be attributed to several factors.…”

“…At the same time, many generalities, simplifying concepts and analogies in current textbooks, handbooks and even computer design packages are wrong or obsolete and should be deleted or noted to be only of historical interest. The radical changes that are currently afoot in chemical engineering and the number of different problems chemical engineers are handling -in the world in which it is now practiced -can be expected to make many more obsolete or irrelevant, thereby creating a need and/or opportunity for the formulation of new ones [7].…”

Product Design and Engineering in Chemical Engineering: Past, Present State, and Future

“…Similarly, when discussing the role of universalities in chemical engineering, Churchill stressed that “with many of the most recent products the scale of manufacture is so small that processing costs are less important than precision, reliability, and flexibility” and therefore “associated changes in the curriculum are obviously necessary”. He then added that while PDE “has been proposed to fulfill this need” and “it has great potential as a generalization”, “the commonalities have not yet received widespread identification and/or acceptance” .…”