What is Chemical Engineering?
Chemical Engineering is a discipline influencing numerous areas of technology. In broad terms chemical engineers conceive and design processes to produce, transform and transport materials beginning with experimentation in the laboratories followed by implementation of the technology in full-scale production.
Basically, chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with chemical production and the manufacture of products through chemical processes for refining raw materials and for mixing compounding and processing chemicals to make valuable products.
Brief Introduction to B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering
The B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering course is an undergraduate course that is divided into 8-semesters. The course mainly deals with the designing, supervision, construction, installation and operation of plants and equipment for manufacturing chemical products and developing new methods of production.
The course involves the design and maintenance of chemical plants and the development of chemical processes for converting raw materials or chemicals into valuable forms including those to remove chemicals from waste materials to enable large scale manufacture. The course combines the knowledge of chemistry and engineering to produce chemicals and engineers to produce chemicals and related products. The course covers varied fields like biotechnology, nanotechnology, chemical technology, petrochemical plants, pharmaceuticals, synthetic fibres, petroleum refining technology, biotechnology, etc.
Eligibility for B.Tech/BE
The students who have passed PUC or 10+2 with a science background can join B.Tech/BE courses. The students interested in joining B.Tech/BE courses are required to qualify competitive exams like CET/COMED-K/JEE with high marks in order to get merit seats in various colleges.
Admission Procedures
The students with relevant qualifications can join B.Tech/BE courses by two modes. The first one is Merit based admission and the second one is Direct admission.
Let’s discuss in detail
Merit Admission
The students who are interested to join B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering degree should mandatorily appear for CET/COMED-K/JEE or institutional-based entrance exams and undergo counselling to choose their desired colleges for merit seats. The engineering college allotts the merit seats to the students according to their rankings and marks obtained by them in their entrance exams and marks scored in PUC or 10+2.
There are two types of counselling for the B.Tech/BE students
1. Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) Counselling
The students who are interested to join the government engineering colleges and other engineering colleges affiliated to the government should undergo the counselling procedures of Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).
The students who intend to join for the merit seats under government quota are required to complete the counselling procedures and join for the B.Tech/BE programmes in their chosen colleges. The Engineering colleges under the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) are affiliated to the Visveswaraya Technological University (VTU).
2. COMED-K Counselling
The students who are interested to join the private autonomous engineering colleges and deemed universities that are affiliated to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are required to apply for the COMED-K counselling procedures. The students should qualify the COMED-K counselling procedures to get admission to their desired private autonomous engineering colleges or deemed universities for Engineering programmes.
Direct Admission
The students have another option of getting admission to B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering course by direct admission process. Under this mode of admission, the students are given direct admission to their desired colleges under management quota. The direct admission students enjoy many special privileges like that they are not required to apply for any entrance exam for getting admissions. They have an option to choose their desired colleges and universities and book their seats in advance even before the starting of the academic year. The students who are interested in direct admissions are required to contact Galaxy Educational Services for more details.
Course Curriculum
The students of B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering will be studying the following subjects during their course duration
| Sl No | Subjects of Study |
|---|---|
|
1. |
Engineering Mathematics |
|
2. |
Engineering Physics |
|
3. |
Engineering Chemistry |
|
4. |
CAD |
|
5. |
Computer Programming |
|
6. |
Chemical Process Calculations |
|
7. |
Introduction to Chemical Engineering |
|
8. |
Engineering Immersion |
|
9. |
Energy, Balance and Thermodynamics |
|
10. |
Fluid Mechanics |
|
11. |
Mechanical Operations |
|
12. |
Instrumental Methods of Analysis |
|
13. |
Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics |
|
14. |
Heat Transfer |
|
15. |
Chemical Technology |
|
16. |
Membrane Separation Technology |
|
17. |
Chemical Reaction Engineering |
|
18. |
Optimization Techniques |
|
19. |
Diffusional Mass Transfer Operations |
|
20. |
Statics and Strength of Materials |
|
21. |
Probability and Statistics |
|
22. |
Mass Transfer Laboratory |
|
23. |
Strength of Materials |
|
24. |
Process Dynamics and Control |
|
25. |
Materials Technology |
|
26. |
Equilibrium Staged Operations |
|
27. |
Numerical Methods |
|
28. |
Process Equipment Design and Drawing |
|
29. |
Modelling, Computer Simulation & Optimisation |
|
30. |
Polymer Technology |
|
31. |
Transport Phenomena |
|
32. |
Process Design and Integration |
|
33. |
Food Technology |
|
34. |
Fluidization Engineering |
|
35. |
Process Optimisation |
|
36. |
Air Pollution and Control |
|
37. |
Green Chemistry and Engineering |
|
38. |
Drugs & Pharmaceutical Technology |
|
39. |
Industrial Management |
Career & Scope
Chemical engineering is one of the most established engineering branches in the world. There are ample job opportunities for skilled professionals. They are hired in many chemical industries and petroleum refineries.
Salary & Emoluments
The fresh B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering students will be earning around 4 lakhs to 6 lakhs per annum. The experienced professionals will be earning around 6 lakhs to 10 lakhs per annum.
Top Organisations hiring B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering students
Some of the top organisations hiring B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineering students are:
- HPCL
- BPCL
- IOCL
- MPCL
- Shell Petrochemicals
Placement Opportunities
Some of the job roles available are
Plant Manager: The roles and responsibilities of a Plant Manager include overseeing projects and the daily operations of the company’s manufacturing or processing plants. The plant manager is also in charge of managing employees for productivity and safety. Some employers will assign one Plant Manager to one location; other companies assign their Plant Managers to certain departments such as Production or Processing Units
Operations Manager: An Operations Manager directs the organization in its production – whether it is services or products. His/her job may vary from one employer to another on a specific level. But on a general level, an Operations Manager acts as the coordinator between his department to other departments as well as between his/her employees and superiors, such as C-level Executives and Shareholders.
Chemical Engineer: The Chemical Engineers are responsible to ensure that all work is done according to expectations. He/she monitors the performances of his/her employees and confronts them as needed. Professionals should also help recent students; get them accustomed to the working environment, chemicals, biomedical materials, technology, systems and everything else within a workplace.
Production Engineer: The production engineers need to study all such special equipment in detail, learn about the Suppliers / designers/ fabricators and try to think of them being used elsewhere in other unit operations also with minor changes. They should also focus on handling large volumes of chemicals, especially their storage systems. The production engineers are responsible for smooth flow of production of the products and are required to ensure that all the raw materials are available for producing final products from the production units.
Concluding Lines
The B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineers can find ample job opportunities in chemical engineering sectors. They are required in large numbers especially in refinery plants, petrochemical production units. The B.Tech/BE Chemical Engineers are well-paid and can expect excellent career growth in the field. The students with a passion towards chemical engineering can join this course.