什麼是化學工程

研究物料發生物理或化學狀態變化的工業生產過程及所用裝置的設計和操作的一門技術科學。源起於西歐以無機和煤為基礎的化學工業，以及北美的煉油工業。在兩次世界大戰期間因對化學制品的需求而刺激化學工程的發展。在化學工程領域內有六項主要工作，即研究、設計、施工、操作、銷售和管理。化學工程師必須精通三門主要學科，即化學、物理學和數學。他們不僅要關心化學反應的性質，還要關心諸如温度和壓力對反應平衡的影響和催化劑對反應速率的影響等方面，在工程科學和技術上，則需注意流體流動、傳熱、蒸發、蒸餾、吸收、過濾、萃取、結晶和各種其他操作。除在化學工業和石油工業中工作外，化學工程師還任職於諸如食品工業和造紙工業等多種其他加工工業中，一些較新工業（核工業、生物工程）也需要越來越多的化學工程師。

chemical engineering

Academic discipline and industrial activity concerned with developing processes and designing and operating plants to change materials' physical or chemical states. With roots in the inorganic and coal-based chemical industries of western Europe and the oil-refining industry in North America, it was spurred by the need to supply chemicals and products during the two World Wars. The field includes research, design, construction, operation, sales, and management activities. Chemical engineers must master chemistry (including the nature of chemical reactions, the effects of temperature and pressure on equilibrium, and the effects of catalysts on reaction rates), physics, and mathematics. The engineering aspect, involving fluid flow (see deformation and flow) and heat and mass transfer, is broken down into “unit operations,” including vaporization, distillation, absorption, filtration, extraction, crystallization, agitation and mixing, drying, and size reduction; each is described mathematically, and its principles apply to any material. Chemical engineers work not only in the chemical and oil industries but also in such processing industries as foods, paper, textiles, plastics, nuclear, and biotechnology.