final essay for chemical engineering PDF

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not for chem1a but for CHNG1008. should be good...

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CHNG1108 - 510432465

Throughout the course CHNG1108, I strengthened, enriched and deepened my understanding of what a chemical engineer is, does and the principles they use in many sectors of the workforce. In CHNG1108 I learnt valuable skills related to teamwork and project planning, design and production along with strengthening my understanding of the knowledge and safety that engineers must have. During the semester I learnt about engineering design through creating a prototype that responds to the United nations sustainability goal and a current issue. This taught me the skills required in designing a prototype in teams, including communication, organisation and the need for feedback. Furthermore, I learnt how to apply the key principle of engineering and how they are used in industry on large scale projects by chemical engineers through interviews and lectures from industry professionals, ultimately deepening my understanding of the role of chemical engineers in society, as is evident between both essays. What I learnt: Through taking CHNG1108 in semester 1, I had many learnings, through both the content of the course, including the topics of safety and hazards in workforce, the engineering design process and the processes that occur in unit operations along with the team project and interview of an engineer. Taught through lectures, videos and virtual tours. The topic of safety taught me about the need for control measures in every part of a design process, especially when using chemicals. Specifically, I learnt about the storage of chemicals and the use and protection of tools in industry, as well as the measures taken to ensure health and safety in industry. The processes that occur in unit operations including the fundamental laws of conservation of mass and energy taught me about the key mathematics and chemical principles that chemical engineers use in industry. Another learning from the semester was in the design and construction of the team project. This was the first time I had worked on a major team project that included the construction and testing of a prototype. Through this project I learnt the key skills required in team projects, including communication skills, responsibility and how to work effectively with others. One of the key learnings was the need for specific roles in group work, which can be allocated by recognising each other’s strengths, such as being creative, a great leader or a problem solver. Another learning was the importance of planning and creating a specific timeline for work, which can be achieved through continuous reassurance that everyone is pulling their weight on a collaborative space, such as google docs. Finally, the design and construction of a prototype highlighted the need for communication between members and sharing of ideas in order to collate everyone’s different ideas and combine the best elements to create a product that can be continually modified and improved. Ultimately through this first exposure to a project on this scale, I learnt about the people-based skills required in projects, along with the difficulty in producing a testing solution to major world problems, even on a small scale. Finally, the assessment ‘Interview an Engineer’ changed my perceptions of what fields and elicited a deeper understanding of the work of chemical engineers. Before taking the course, as can be seen in my essay, I had a vague understanding of what chemical engineers did; design processes in fields such as pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals and food processes. However, through the interview with a chemical engineer I gained a deeper understanding of how the skills developed in a chemical engineering degree are transferrable into different fields, such as how my interviewee uses her chemical engineering degree in business management, where the problem solving and

CHNG1108 - 510432465 teamwork skills are helping in managing people and choosing people for certain tasks, which they are best suited to. This project showed me that chemical engineering degrees don’t simply lead you down a path which leads you to have a choice between the same job in different fields, but instead provides a backbone of knowledge that can be applied in many fields and even in different industries. Through these assessments and the content learnt my understanding of chemical engineers shifted from a narrow lens to a wider view. Initially I thought all chemical engineers’ job were very similar, such as management of projects or design of processes, however through CHNG1108 my understanding of the astonishingly large different fields, jobs and options that are available in the industry. Through the virtual tour of a water treatment plant in Sydney and lectures from guests in industry, I was exposed to many practices of chemical engineers, including management, process design and testing where team-based solutions to problems are a major part of the work. My favourite part of the course was the team project, meeting new people and working with them on a project that responded to an issue that is prevalent in society. This was the first time I had participated in a project on this scale and the building and testing of the prototype was very fun and engaging. In my team project, we designed a filtered water bottle, that uses membrane filtration and UV light in order to remove bacteria from dirty water in order to make it safe to drink. Central to this design was the principles of chemical engineering. The prototype used the principles of mass transfer. Mass transfer was used to justify our use of a membrane filter, with this knowledge of how substances move across surfaces and the forces they need to move across surfaces, we attempted to connect a pump, however this added economical costs and made the product more cumbersome. Using the mass transfer principles, we knew we needed to squeeze the bottle heavily on use, along with using nano-filtration to ensure that we can remove particles and filter them out. This is how we applied the principles of mass transfer, as a means to show that our prototype will work whilst designing it, which occurred as the water in bottle was able to move from an area of high concentration to low concentration through a semi-permeable filter membrane. This understanding allowed us to create a design that ultimately was highly successful. Without this understanding of the need for pressure and how to move substances across membranes, this process would have taken longer and been less effective. Before taking CHNG1108, as can be seen in my previous essay, I was unaware of the importance of team-based projects in chemical engineering along with the key principles that chemical engineers follow, including those of engineering design. Strengthened my understanding and providing me a more accurate basis for my chemical engineering studies in the future. Ultimately shifting a narrow mindset about a couple of roles of chemical engineers into an understanding of the wider scale and different works of chemical engineers.

Principles of design

CHNG1108 - 510432465 The principles of engineering design, including identifying the need for a solution and the process in which the solution is carried out, keeping the solution simple, whilst ensuring good communication. The design process we followed was first identifying the problem, which in our case was the United Nations sustainability goal #6. Recognising the current lack of solutions, with the exception of the life straw, which still has issues with availability in the developing world, who need a solution the most. This solution will only be achieved if we could create a problem, similar to the life straw that can be produced on a large scale for cheaper and hopefully through crowd and industry funding can be distributed for free in developing countries, such as Uganda. The next step we took following engineering design was to collect data, about the need for the problem; where 785 million people lack access, and 800 children die from a lack of clean water every day. Other information we needed to get was the access to resources available, obviously on in a small-scale production, this was a limitation, with a specific budget and a lack of access to certain equipment as well as low levels of experience in building and designing prototypes. The next step of the engineering design process we took was to generate multiple solutions and designs, which occurred through everyone creating a design individually and then collectively modifying each and choosing parts from each. These designs were compared to previous solutions and the existing products as a guide as to how they would be introduced into the market. Using the process of engineering design, we learnt in CHNG1108, we analysed the strengths and weaknesses of our design, some notable strengths were the portability of the device, however some drawbacks were the need for a power source in order to recharge the UV light, these were discussed and refined in the final design. Ultimately the principles of process design and process control were used in the project. In order to get desired outcomes, these engineering principles must be met. Without using these principles, the design process will not be as effective, with more wastage, testing and manpower needed to find a solution. The principles of chemical engineering must be integrated into any design for a solution to ensure that the product can work as desired. Without an understanding of mass transfer, processes can’t work effectively. Without understanding key principles such as mass transfer, the efficiency of processes and design would be much less, especially involving movements of solvents and fluids. The basic teambased design and approach also enables workers to create a solution using less resources whilst being more effective on a large scale. This success was evident in the virtual tour of the water plant in parramatta, where the processes in all sections of the project ensure that the water is being cleaned, moved and recycled.

Ultimately, CHNG1108 has played a major role in building a basis for what to expect in my future endeavours as a chemical engineer, providing a framework for the skills that I will need as a chemical engineer in the future. Ultimately through both course content and assessment, I developed a clearer idea of the role of chemical engineers in society, both more broadly and more accurately. It is evident between the first essay and this final essay that my knowledge has been expanded, granting me better understanding for the future in the way chemical engineering principles and practices can be used by me and by industry professionals.

CHNG1108 - 510432465 References: -Bibliography – notsure what referencing to use – lost marks on initial essay  https://www.mendeley.com/careers/news/careers-jobs-field/chemical-engineering-what-itand-what-are-career-opportunities http://navier.engr.colostate.edu/whatische/ChEL01Body.html

https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/ -Not sure how to integrate images in the essay – some discussion points.

Image 1: Chemical Plant.

Image 2: Chemical Safety

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