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The most popular reviews in /r/ChemicalEngineering:
From the description given, it's got to be:
A Working Guide to Process Equipment, Norm & Liz Lieberman
Truly an excellent book, hands down the most clearly written and practical book in the entire ChemEng pantheon... It even has some funny anecdotes to keep you engaged, who could ask for more?
Ooo, something I can contribute to!
We've got a copy of the Handbook of Sugar Refining on the bookshelf at work. It covers the purpose and design of most major sugar processing operations. Here's a Link.
If you have any general questions about specific decolorization techniques, I'm happy to help. Won't be much help on anything like affination or evaporation, though - no experience there.
Felder’s Principles Of Chem E is the best book I could recommend. Chapter 2-3 will get you used to very basic engineering calculations, 4 is the heart of material balances and will I had an entire class spend 3 months just on chapter 4 of this book. 5-6 will give you some single comp and multicomp multiphase systems such as vapor pressure. 7-11 will give you a detailed look at energy balances. The book has several case studies with questions for practice at the end, each chapter has tons of problems all with easily accessible solutions manuals. The third edition onward will suffice. It’s one of the best written text books for chem e.
The 9th edition is available for preorder and will be released August 17th, 2018 according to Amazon!
Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 9th Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0071834087/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_6jaZAbW79CFH7
It's an absolute gem of practical insight into how to think about, and then deal with real-world process issues, which helps you relate your theoretical knowledge into actually fixing problems.
It's also sufficiently well written (and humorous), that it's not a pain to work through the whole book as a general interest read, rather than treating it like a textbook or reference.
​
I second u/MintJulip255's recommendation of Crane TP410, if your plant was designed with metric units in the specs get TP410M instead, if it has a mix of both, I'd genuinely consider buying both versions to avoid having to dick around with unit conversions.
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes was the book used in my first ChemE major class. It discusses a lot of the big ideas in chem e without getting too specific. You can find the international edition for around 10 dollars online.
Goal: Resume feedback. Find an entry level process engineer position.
Industry: Biotech.
Experience: Student with 1.5 years industry experience, Graduating May 2016.
Mobility: Live in greater Boston area but willing to relocate anywhere.
Resume: http://imgur.com/zFlaOyH
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-vetrano-626197b2
Chemist here who works occasionally around H2S.
Be aware that there are lots of molecules that can give a rotten egg odour, not just H2S- molecules containing sulfur, generally. As someone else mentioned, humans are really really good at detecting this odor at very low concentrations.
There are specific detectors that you can use to detect H2S. These can tell you if H2S is present and if it exceeds the safe exposure level. Here's an example of one on Amazon. Your workplace should have these on hand if there is any chance of H2S being emitted, and everyone should be evacuated from the area if the alarm goes off.
Bleach or hydrogen peroxide can be used to destroy H2S, but it's hard to say if this is effective in your case without more details. Another common option to treat H2S is a solution of sodium hydroxide.
I'm no expert on soap manufacturing, but my hunch would be that the odour is coming from something other than H2S. However, this situation should be dealt with quickly and carefully- H2S exposure can be fatal at high concentrations (where you would not be able to smell it). You should keep a written record of your concerns to your supervisor, such as a journal or an email (this is a good idea for any employee, generally).
Probably most economical to find the bulk powder prices and then purchase a mill and v-blender to grind the powders into a usable catalyst mixture.
Alibaba is a decent place to start to find bulk powder prices:
http://www.alibaba.com/showroom/aluminium-oxide-price.html
I'm using alumina in the automotive catalysts I manufacture, I'm currently paying around $1175/ton for powder milled to our specs and assayed for quality control.
I've been playing with neural networks. It's been a fun project.
Check out pytorch. It's a fairly straight forward library that lets you build neural networks easily.
Here are some simple examples:
https://pytorch.org/tutorials/beginner/pytorch_with_examples.html
You might try looking for a job as a wastewater operator depending the qualifications required. This would be great if you plan on working in wastewater treatment. I second the idea of working on other skills too like SQL. Also, picking up a programming language is easier now than ever before with the wealth of sites that exist for that exact purpose. codecademy and hackerrank are two that I have enjoyed. Best part is that they have free offerings.
Actually, a refiner I work with (not for) has posted a couple positions on indeed so it does happen.
Note that a lot of times the employer is working with a recruiter, and it's up to the recruiter to decide where to post the job oferrings.
You don't need a PhD for IB and the amount of time you'll spend in a PhD program is not worth it just to get an IB job. Read this: https://www.quora.com/Is-it-worthwhile-to-attend-a-PhD-program-in-order-to-be-a-quant-in-hedge-funds-and-investment-banks
It sounds like you should probably switch careers. Even better, you found something you actually do enjoying learning AND it seems like you're able to be ok financially!
You're in an awesome position, and I think the hardest part is emotionally deciding to make the switch. Your time so far is a big "sunk cost", and that feels bad but it's ok. I made the switch into a tech career (growth marketing) during my 5th year in college after a year of chemE co-ops, and that felt similar. I was losing motivation during my last internship but fortunately channeled it into learning about tech stuff.
Losing the signing bonus is a tough call you'll have to make, and it probably is a bit tougher now to make the job switch bc of corona/economy - but it's still very doable!
Check out this article, very similar journey - https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/how-i-went-from-newbie-to-software-engineer-in-9-months-while-working-full-time-460bd8485847/
Good luck and DM me if you have any questions!
I'd recommend the Bogleheads wiki and forum. Although I don't agree with many of them in their view of efficient markets, there is a lot of valuable info on there.
https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started
Also, Mint is a good tool for getting your finances and budget in order. Once it is laid out in front of you that you're spending over $100 on coffee per month, it's kind of hard to justify.
Quantum chemistry is part of physical chemistry. In fact, this textbook starts off with quantum and then progresses to statistical mechanics/thermo. Some schools put quantum and stat mech/thermo together as part of a year-long physical chemistry sequence:
Physical Chemistry 1 - Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Physical Chemistry 2 - Quantum Chemistry
Other schools, like yours, have a single physical chemistry course and a separate "Quantum Chemistry" course.
At my school, we had the year-long physical chemistry sequence. "Quantum chemistry" is a senior elective for chemistry majors specializing in physical chemistry, where they learn the intense math theory about computational chemistry calculations (Hartree-Fock, DFT) and use software like Gaussian to simulate chemical processes at the molecular level. It's research-y stuff.
I learned reaction engineering from Fundamentals of Chemical Reaction Engineering by Davis and Davis. I thought it pretty clearly explained concepts and the examples were decent. It also has the great low price of free from the University of Virginia as an open-source textbook. If you prefer a hard copy amazon has them for like $25.
Maintaining centrifugal or reciprocating pumps is probably the most universal item to pretty much any plant or refinery, since they'd have a multitude of pumps that need things like mechanical seal changes, changing volutes, repairing shafts, etc. I'd probably start there.
After that, I'd look into maintaining instrumentation, which are things like level, flow, or pressure transmitters or indicators. These are pretty universal as well.
Maintenance Fundamentals is a good introductory book to review that goes over things that someone with no experience in Industrial Maintenance should take a look at to get started.
NALCO Water Handbook seems good. I think there may be a chapter specifically on boiler water chemistry. It is sort of pricey, but there are older editions out there.
Congrats, my friend! Hard work and good interviewing skills will give you the world.
To everyone looking fundamental tips for doing well in interviews, I recommend this article from linkedin
I just did a quick skim on indeed, and it appears that although most have mechanical engineering in the job description, more than half also have chemical/process engineering.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/passion
I believe 5b makes most sense for this use:
b : a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept <a passion for chess> <a passion for opera>
Personally I don't think I'd have been able to make it through school without a passion for Chem E. I also really struggle to understand why you're confused about what the word "passion" means in this context. The context it's being used in has got to be the most common context nowadays for the word.
Our Budget is around $500-600. We have around 5 weeks left to complete this project. I am a ChemE undergrad student This is basically my Heat Transfer course semester project. I am using a pdf I found online for doing my calculations. PDF Link: https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?cid=79C427B0E41B608E&resid=79c427b0e41b608e%21324&app=WordPdf
I learned how to navigate steam tables by visualizing it graphically. Look up a temperature-enthalpy diagram for steam like this one - http://en.citizendium.org/images/8/8b/Steam_Temperature-Enthalpy_Diagram.png The bell curve is the region that has two phases inside of it. There are many combinations of properties and many 'points' within this region. When you look up a saturated steam value, only one output comes out. Thats because the saturated line will only have one output and is an actual line on this graph. The critical point separates the saturated liquid on the left from the saturated steam on the right. When you look up saturated steam at a temperature, you get a single table value because saturated steam only exists at one temperature. I heard it over and over again, but it didn't click until I locked it into my head with this visual graph that superheated has a higher temperature than the bell curve. Superheated is a range and not a discrete line of values, so you will need more than just one piece of information to look it up, as you can see from its spread on the graph.
Goal: Job and Resume feedback
Desired industry: Chemicals, Consulting, or Environmental
Industry experience level: 2 years chemical manufacturing and environmental engineering
Mobility: Can relocate anywhere, located in Houston, TX Resume Link: https://www.amazon.com/clouddrive/share/8eGt9CwnBj9VdcXYcSlm15JCSOb1t2Rm1s6lWdMjvcg
You sound knowledgeable, if you had a minute would you be able to check my LinkedIn page :D ?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/williamlooby
I'd love if you had the time, but ignore my profile photo I haven't been to many formal events with suits and ties :)
Also Godon your LinkedIn profile is intimidating to me, with your projects attached :D
In college, after I took gen-chem, I worked at a tutor for the school. The best text book I came across was Trio's "Chemistry: A Molecular Approach." here is the link for a $12 older edition.
I would recommend getting a cheap text book and use it as a reference while watching Khan Academy videos.
I really enjoyed The Alchemy of Air which talks about some of the origins of the field. I had to practice public speaking after getting some negative feedback on my presentation skills at work, and ended up co-opting a lot of the story for this TEDx talk
See if your university library has this book. It’s a little old but should help you.
Excel for Scientists and Engineers: Numerical Methods https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471387347/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_XJ7YFb2VM1EEP
- The Goal, E. Goldratt,
- Antifragile, N. Taleb,
- Thinking, Fast and Slow, D. Kahneman,
- Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman, Feynman
and many more. But really, you should try to read the classics as well, even though you don't see an immediate reason to. It will make you a more well-rounded person. Read Dostoevski, Tolstoi, Seneca, Steinbeck, Camus, Kierkegaard, Orwell, Huxley, Borges, García Márquez, Unamuno, any of the Greeks, Kafka, Montaigne, Hemingway, Feyerabend, Popper. You have more than a life's worth of reading here.
this book will teach you how to regress interaction parameters: https://www.amazon.com/Using-Aspen-Thermodynamics-Instruction-Step/dp/1118996917/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=ME6ALQV1TPU&keywords=thermodynamics+aspen&qid=1671231269&sprefix=thermodynamics+aspen%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-1&ufe=app\_do%3Aamzn1.fos....
I agree with the community college suggestion. If you feel that you're not that far behind, as in if algebra/trig/pre-calc still slightly rings a bell, I would refresh with some Khan Academy courses to see just where you should be placed so you won't waste money taking classes that you already know about.
No sense in placing low in the math entrance exam to a community college and be placed in lower classes just because you needed a little freshening up. Also, Khan Academy is extremely helpful in Calculus classes and beyond as well. I hope this helps and good luck in the future!
I was in the Process Control discipline for almost a decade and I found this book by Paul Murril to be one of the best beginner's book available about this topic:
https://www.amazon.com/Fundamentals-Process-Control-Theory-3rd/dp/155617683X
Now, in terms of real-life experience I recommend you start by understanding how physical process control elements work and the best and easiest way to do that is by attending manufacturer's training courses. Some things like control valves have an universal theory that is useful to understand any model or make, but there will still be many specifics pertaining some manufacturer's design and applications.
Going straight to understanding PID controllers, DCSs, PLCs or whatever control architectures is possible but I would not recommend that if you want to be able to grasp the whole picture (which I think most people in this bussines don't).
Other stuff like Safety Instrumented Systems is way too specific for a beguinner. Don't go that way unless that's specifically what you're trying to learn in the first place.
I wish you luck.
Probably not helpful, but hand drawings work. Templates help a lot in that case.
The 1st month free trial of Visio Plan 2 looks like it includes the PID templates. Maybe you could stand the $15/month fee for a few months if you needed more?
If you have access to another PC, like in a school computer lab, you can use that, but otherwise, I don't know if you have a change other than reinstalling everything...
You can reinstall only the mission critical apps to save time, but it's never going to be perfect time to do it. You can also use https://ninite.com/ to save time installing some of the most commonly used programs
Maybe OP wants the VDI Wärmeatlas. Definitely has everything about heat. Just dish out 1.5k and learn German.
The grad’s employer should provide most resources, access to books (digital), tools, etc. between information security and safety rules, you may not be able to pick out something electronic he could us at work and be certain he/she could use it, say a camera or flashlight, digital recorder etc. if he drives or rides maybe an audible subscription. Depending on where he works there are probably interesting books. “the poison squad” for someone in foods (fda history), or “volt rush” for someone working around batteries, battery metals, EV’s, etc. does the grad have a job? What industry? If he’s moving perhaps a nice framed picture of something around his home area or college. I like the idea of a good pencil mentioned by others, though, prob won‘t that will be better than what’s avail at work. For example this set at Amazon of : https://www.amazon.com/Pentel-Graphgear-1000-Automatic-Drafting/dp/B01AEAIBKQ/ref=pd\_lpo\_2?pd\_rd\_w=sucDU&content-id=amzn1.sym.116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf\_rd\_p=116f529c-aa4d-4763-b2b6-4d614ec7dc00&pf\_rd\_r=EBXTV2THF22...
Limited-time deal: VAYDEER Tiny Mouse Jiggler USB Port Mouse Mover Supports Multi-Track, Driver-Free, Plug-and-Play with ON/Off Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B093WN48SD/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_dl_Z638MBS8CSX92PXRACJT
Trust me on this, I used the Fogler textbook and it is trash. Most of the diagrams and figures are incorrectly numbered of labeled as well as the solutions to the questions. Please be careful and be alert when you are looking for answers.
However, I have found a link that has the fourth edition solution manuals and some of the questions are very similar to the fifth edition questions. My suggestion is to compare the fifth and fourth edition questions to ensure that everything matches. Unfortunately, I don't have a PDF of the fourth edition textbook. Hope the link helps! Also, good luck to you in taking Kinetics.
Fourth Edition Solutions: https://www.slideshare.net/LauriceGarcia1/elements-of-chemical-reaction-engineering-4th-ed-solution-manual
I thought of one other thing you could check out. Coursera has a bunch of classes on energy topics. I think some of them are renewable focused.
https://www.coursera.org/courses?query=renewable%20energy&languages=en
- Goals: Job, resume feedback
- Industry: Petrochemical, gas processing, pharmaceutical
- Experience: Recent graduate, no industry experience
- Mobility: Lafayette Louisiana, willing to move anywhere
- Resume: Resume
There is also this. This guy went into web dev but what he did could be applied to data science also.
This book and the solutions manual which you can find online^^^
If you are interested in process control, you may want to check this book out. It’s a bit pricey, but may give you a bit of insight to what a process control engineer does: Process Control for Practitioners
It’s a bit technical, and most process controls engineers are dealing with basic logic and configuration, as other have pointed out
Goal: Entry level Engineering position
Industry: Pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, biotech are top choices, but all industries will be considered.
Mobility: East coast preferred, but nationwide is possible.
Experience: 3 semester co-op in process and controls engineering at a paper mill, specifically in the powerhouse and chemical recovery areas. Graduates May 2016
Goa: Entry Level Job, Resume Feedback
Desired Industry: Environmental, Food or Consumer Products,Application
Experience: 0, 10 years working experience outside of engineering industry
Mobility: Can move anywhere, in texas
Good question. I would recommend learning some basics on data structure and algorithms first. I followed the MIT 6.006 Introduction to Algorithms course (you can find the full course on YouTube). Then I started to practice some coding problems on Leetcode.com. I started with easy problems in each category and worked my way up to some medium to hard problems. 200-300 problems should be sufficient for an internship interview. A lot of people recommend the book Cracking the Coding Interview, which I found useful too. It summarizes different types of data structures and problem sets. The discussion forum on leetcode is helpful to get you prepared for interviews with a specific company. I am sure there are more detailed advice on r/cscareerquestions. Good luck!
Use www.libgen.is Download any book you want For your book, https://libgen.is/search.php?req=Christie+Geankoplis&lg_topic=libgen&open=0&view=simple&res=25&phrase=1&column=def Click on any of the mirrors and click on get
I would recommend YNAB ("You Need A Budget"). It's normally $60 USD but you can get it for free as a student.
YNAB is focused on planning/budgeting towards your goals, while forcing you to track every purchase.
Not to mention, Mint has its own privacy concerns.
I'm really hoping Julia takes off. I use Python regularly, but I still go back to MATLAB frequently because it's made with numerical computing in mind. If I ever have to do a quick analysis or something that isn't very computationally expensive, it's just so much easier to crank out something in MATLAB than it is in Python. It would be nice to see a programming language focused on numerical computing that isn't proprietary (and also is blazing fast).
It's probably not necessary for you to take an actual class. There are a bunch of books and pre-recorded course materials. I think you'd be best served right now by learning Python. It has strong, Matlab-like capabilities for numerics, and a huge, huge variety of libraries have been written in Python to help with almost any computery thing you can think of. I see a book called Automate the Boring Stuff recommended to beginners on r/Python all the time. If you do choose Python, make sure the materials are teaching you Python 3, not Python 2.
I suggest joining a site like CodeWars to practice.
You should also start learning the basics of Git. Git is the most widely used version control system in software development, by far. An example of a special-purpose VCS that you've probably used is the "track changes" feature in Microsoft Word.
Last thing: A lot of engineers rapidly develop a snotty attitude about "coding" as they learn. Please try to be humble and learn from the computer scientists and software engineers. There's a lot more to building quality software than just "coding".
one more thing, idk wether you have choosen an ide yet but if not maybe consider https://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/features/ (the community edition should do it for solitair). i found jetbrais' IDEs really comfortable to work with (and for free...)
Hey, saw your post: this is a bit out of what you asked (the tools mentioned above), but I have been working on a tool that is just coming out of Beta, called Zenreader. We built it to overcome some of the note-taking and organisational issues with tools like the ones you asked about.
Would love your thoughts on this!
Goal: Entry-level employment
Desired Industry: All
Experience Level: 0-2 years
Education: BS in Chemical Engineering
Mobility: Willing to relocate anywhere in the country
Resume: https://www.docdroid.net/Q7egSI5/resumeanon.pdf.html
I see those as two extremes. My current resumé lies inbetween. I don't like the full-serif no-color style of the first but the second looks too much design noise to fill a lack of content.
I highly recommend this template to get what I mean.
OP fits as Operating Procedures, and it makes sense that the C would be some area of the company. I think CPAR is corrective and preventative action request, as per this. Thanks for your help
One of the first steps is finding and reviewing relevant literature (papers, publications) for the process you are designing. That should give you a rough idea of what temperatures, pressures, flows are reasonable in your process. You will likely find kinetic parameters and the correct kinetic model in this literature review. For example, for my senior project I found out that my reactions needed to be modeled with the LHHW kinetic model on Aspen PLUS.
In a senior project, once you have all this information you can then start chugging and plugging on the simulator. By this point you know the fundamentals of materials and energy balances, transport phenomena, kinetics, and thermodynamics. You can perform simple calculations on paper or an Excel spreadsheet using those fundamentals as a sanity check for the simulator results. In fact, if I remember correctly, one of the first things we did for our senior project was a material and energy balance because we had distillation trains and multiple recycle streams. That gave us an idea of how much should go where in the simulation.
Once the simulation is converged and done, you then perform detailed equipment design. For that we used correlations from a chemical process design textbook (Towler & Sinnott) for heat exchangers. I don't remember if we used any equations from here to design the distillation columns.
Oh, I wasn't suggesting you get a nice "industrial" one, you can get a crafting one very cheaply https://www.amazon.com/HUBEST-Professional-0-2mm-0-3mm-0-5mm-General-purpose-Model-railroad/dp/B01HFWWNT6/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?dchild=1&keywords=spray+gun+paint+sprayer+craft&qid=1632582111&sr=8-5
I used something like this for spraycoating catalyst on membranes in undergrad, it worked well. We had compressed air on a house line, but I think you could buy a cheap air pump too.
This book:
https://www.amazon.com/Numerical-Methods-Chemical-Engineers-MATLAB/dp/1466575344/ref=nodl_ Alongside a few of the O Reilly books on VBA should set you up to learn enough VBA to do anything you would need to do. I like the VBA cookbook one as a reference since I can quickly find what I’m working with and write some code.
Hi All,
I'm the developer of the "Drug Bible" and other apps such as Smart Pill ID ( an AI powered pill identifier).
Available on the App Store and Play Store.
I worked with users in the FDA, NIH, and other health organizations to complete the ultimate drug guide. This handy tool has all the information you will ever need as a consumer, prescriber, or researcher. The Drug Bible has information on over 100,000 prescription and over the counter drugs, both brand name and generics.
Quickly search for drugs or by application to view drug images, labels, documents (research, reviews, letters, and others), as well as clinical and consumer information. Consumer information includes general information, side effects, news, and drug prices. Clinical information includes the following information:
- Adverse Reactions
- Clinical Pharmacology
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- Dosage and Administration
- Drug Interactions
- How Supplied
- Indications and Usage
- Mechanism of Action
- Overdosage
- Pediatric Use
- Pregnancy
Once a medical application has been chosen, you may filter the drugs by Brand Name, Generic Name, Substance Name, Manufacturer Name, Chemical Structure Class, Established Pharmacologic Class, Pharmacological Class, and Mechanism of Action. Drug information is updated monthly.
Any and all feedback is much appreciated!
If it's steady state you can use excel to solve differential equations, although I would really not recommend it. I did it in uni like 8 years ago because I was stubborn. No book, except maybe my calculus texts, papers on reaction rates and this bad boy: https://www.amazon.ca/Elements-Chemical-Reaction-Engineering-5th/dp/0133887510/
I wrote the equations to describe the situation and then used an iterative method to solve. Should have just learned MATLAB.
You will always continue learning in this field. As another poster mentioned, this field is huge and near impossible to conquer all of the different facets that come along with it. College gives you some basic knowledge and skill sets to continue learning. No one expects you to have all of the answers today.
For a great overview of the major different processes in a refinery, I highly recommend Petroleum Refining in Nontechnical Language by Leffler which gives an overview of common subunits and how they fit together in the O&G field. Also take the time to understand basic unit ops. If possible, try to understand why they are arranged as they are (no text recommendation here, but there is a lot of into online if you search for specific operations) and the book I linked above walks through some of this. After that, take the time to understand controls from an operations perspective and to be able to know what will happen to your unit if things change in the process. This understanding will be vastly different from what you were taught in school which focuses on the theory and not the practical aspect. Once you understand the function of controls, start to ask yourself what would cause a change in the process from steady state and walk yourself through the effects on downstream (and upstream) equipment and controls.
I have been in O&G (designing units, but I deal with start ups and understanding how to operate what I design and thinking through the potential effects of a bad design) for 2 years now. I worked on mastering what I outlined above and have now started picking up my college textbooks to review some concepts that I would like to develop my knowledge of. So once you get a grasp of the big picture, you can start looking into the finer details that you are rusty on or would like to understand better.
It depends on the service whether it is on pump suction or whether pressure drop os critical or not. There are many criteria regarding velocity and pressure drop depending on the fluid and the service. Velocity is much more critical as high velocities can cause pipe erosion.
For liquid service, maximum velocity on a pump discharge is 4.5 m/s as per API 15E. In case of pump suction, it is in a range of 2-5 m/s. For gas service, it's in a range of (90 - 120) / sqrt (density) ft/s. This is the case if pressure drop in the pipe is not critical.
So you must check as well if the pressure drop shall affect the system, this depends on some empirical equations the most famous of which is Colebrooke equation.
This application can help you sizing your pipe properly: Process engineer Toolbox Android
I am a chemical engineer and has been working for 10 years as a process engineer in an oil and gas project contractor. I have lately started learning programming and I can just say: this is a treasure that most chemical engineers should explore.
May be the most basic tool I believe chemical engineers should learn about is the VBA as long as they are using excel. It will help automate most of their work and reduce donkey work tasks run everyday with zero errors once the macro is run and tested well. This can even be linked with famous softwares as hysys and help collect data and use it much easier.
I am planning nowadays to learn more to automate most of the work carried out. I believe this can drastically reduce the consumed hours with much less or almostly zero errors.
I have also learned mobile application development and created an app for performing some calculations through a mobile app. It's available on both ios and android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bebro85.process_engineer_toolbox
https://apps.apple.com/eg/app/process-engineer-toolbox/id1503615240
Not to mention python and machine learning. Although I didn't dig in this direction much, people are saying they can help a lot in the field of operation control and predictive maintenance.
Process Dynamics, Modeling and Control; by Ogunnaike and Ray.
This is really in depth (about 1300 pages long) and a vast textbook. But I learned a LOT. My undergrad used the older Coughnowr book, but that is badly outdated.
You may also want to look into:
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Fluid-Mechanics-Faith-Morrison/dp/1107003539
Fluid Mechanics by Dr. Faith Morrison
She is very keen on the physics/math derivation of everything, and is not the type of person to let the details get sloppy in the textbook. I haven't read the textbook, but I still use her early drafts as my primary reference material today. For these courses, I learned from the Geankoplis text, and found that it was good. Morrison's drafts were a bit better for me, personally.
Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes by Richard Felder and Ronald Rousseau.
It is now in the 4th edition. When I used it many, many years ago it was probably in the first edition.
https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Blocking-Over-Glasses-PaleoTech%C2%AE/dp/B07SW6Y5X3
or something like it, really any lens that blocks blue and green make red things easier to see.
Idk what gas has to do with it sorry
Bird Steward Lightfoot's "Transport Phenomena" was the text I used in graduate school. It's very math intensive, lots of partial differential equations. But it's the standard in most graduate programs. Lots of examples and problem sets.
Amazon link:
https://www.amazon.com/Transport-Phenomena-Revised-Byron-Bird/dp/0470115394
for more industry specific (such as heat exchangers) heat transfer topic matter:
https://www.amazon.com/Heat-Transfer-Process-Engineering-Eduardo/dp/0071624082
What exactly does a graphing calculator do? In the UK, they're not terribly common - I did my degree with the same calculator I had in school plus Excel.
Depends how deep into chemistry they go, and if they branch into organic, analytical, etc. However, I would recommend a general chem book, personally I like that of Tro, Fridgen, and Shaw: https://www.amazon.ca/Chemistry-Molecular-Approach-Canadian-Mastering/dp/0134145062
That sort of book gives you the basic insights into all the details of the chemistry you’ll work with as a chemical engineer, though the nitty gritty details we never really deal with unless you go to grad school.
The 2004 NCEES PE Exam is pretty hard to come by. Originally I got it on Amazon
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932613188/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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But the price has gone up significantly. You can use EBay as well to try and find a copy.
Forget some of the others comments about running aspen, it is a very expensive program and chances are your school will only have it on their desktops. My department had really shitty desktops with intel pentium or celeron processors and they ran aspen fine since our simulations were usually pretty small anyway.
You will use Excel, Google Docs, and MATLAB the most, all which can be run on pretty much any new computer. If I were to do my undergrad again i would just focus on buying a PC with a SSD as the top priority as I hated all the slow load and boot times that come with a HDD.
Honestly after a brief amazon search something like this for $450 would be more than enough spec wise, or if you want to do some light gaming here is one for $550 which would be also great. To me battery life did not matter as i always had the charger in my bag and there are outlets everywhere, and as far as any programs I ran I could have got away using a $100 laptop. There were some students who didnt even own laptops as they just exclusively used school computers. Others had Macs which couldnt even run some of our software. Dont overthink it and just get something half decent you will enjoy.
What an excellent post. It's true that there's too many conventions running around, even within a discipline. Some of these issues are easy to solve (e.g. only teaching chemists and physicists pV=nRT, and only teaching engineers pV=mRT) whilst others are much harder (how many different terms do we really want to be calling V??). I published a databook this year which lays out sign conventions and units after seeing too many webpages and textbooks with formula which don't make it explicite what they're using.
I'll take your ideas on-board, although I think I'm at the maximum 2 stickies, instead I will probably later add this sort of stuff to the [Wiki](/r/thermodynamics/wiki/index) or to the FAQ. If you'd be interested in contributing to the wiki or becoming a moderator at /r/thermodynamics drop me a pm (more work for no pay, yay!).
You should just get Crane TP-410 . It is widely heralded as the "bible" in industry, that is - if you want practical information. If you want more theoretical, semi-practical information then you can use
Munson, Young and Okiishi's Fundamentals of Fluid Mechanics
Got it, glad you understand that it's hard to provide specific advice w/o knowing your experience. As for general advice, network your ass off - go to Meetups, call your second cousins, shamelessly reach out on LinkedIn. Make sure you are offering something, not just "picking their brain" - so look between your experiences and aspirations and try to find projects that you can volunteer on to prove your value.
Read "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big" by Scott Adams.
Good luck!
See if your library has a copy of this book: https://www.amazon.com/Petroleum-Refining-Nontechnical-Language-William/dp/1593701586
Know how and why a distillation column works the way it does and maybe the basic equations for sizing a heat-exchanger.
Know what kind of refinery they have, do they have a coker? If so ask about how fracking has changed their economic environment. Find out why fracking would have changed the economic environment in case they ask you to clarify.
>Contains information for the morning/afternoon session
morning session means the general one and afternoon means specific one right? so if i get the one you are recommending, would i have any need for this??
also that book is expensive........
would just using my school textbooks be good enough?
Well all/any of your coruses will assign a course textbook...
Felder and Rousseau Intro to Chemical Process is a good 101 for material and energy balances // process //reactions.
The international version is exactly the same as the others, just lower quality. Costs waaay less though.
http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Principles-Chemical-Processes-Richard/dp/047168757X
I really liked Petroleum Refining in a Non-Technical Language and it gave a great overview of the oil refining business which is what I ended up in.
http://www.amazon.com/Petroleum-Refining-Nontechnical-Language-Edition/dp/1593701586
in all honesty, there is no way to prep for ChE courses. You havent seen anything about it, nor had any prior education in it, so you dont know how to prep for something you dont know what the material is on.
The best thing you can do is brush up on basic 1st year uni stuff, such as college chemistry, physics, and calc.
if you REALLY want to prep for ChE, buy the intro book.
http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Principles-Chemical-Processes-Richard/dp/047168757X
gaurenteed your school will use this book. 99% of ChE programs use this book for the intro ChE course.
>-How many hours a day should I be studying for these courses?
as much as you personally need.
>-Any other tips that I wouldn't know?
dont stress/over think this. your first year wont be any ChE at all. its all basic first year courses such as chemistry, physics, etc etc.
The book we are using is Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes by Felder, 3E. I have the solution manual but even then in my head I think "how am I supposed to know that is what I'm supposed to do".
Thanks. The guy wrote a lot of books, I assume you meant this one?
Thanks, I used the "FE Review Manual" by Michael R. Lindeburg. It had the basics (thermo, mass transport, mass balance, physics, math, economics, ethics, finances...etc). I just did the problems and looked over material that I had forgotten about. I used my thermo textbook for heat/mass balance which helped a lot. It's a pretty thick book and has a lot of things you don't need like circuits/dynamics.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591263336?ref_=cm_lmf_img_1 -> FE Review
This is the standard introductory ChemE textbook: http://www.amazon.com/Elementary-Principles-Chemical-Processes-Richard/dp/047168757X
We spend two terms on it during the second year at university. I'd recommend finding an older edition if you're studying independently (I don't think concepts have changed significantly).
not engineering per-say, but i think all engineers should read "the drunkard's walk"
Depends on your area of interest but I read this before my internships and it did a lot to help me understand refining crude oil. It's only a little over 100 pages if I remember correctly.
http://www.amazon.com/Petroleum-Refining-Nontechnical-Language-Edition/dp/1593701586
Process Safety expert. Worked on developing the HAZOP and HAZAN methodologies for systematically assessing the design of process plant. Fathered the concept of 'inherently safer design'. Was a seminal and insightful contributor to the IChemE's Loss Prevention Bulletin.
After retirement he became a prolific author, writing detailed and informative analysis of process industry accidents.
If you read one book in your life time on process safety, make it this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Programmable-Logic-Controllers-Hardware-Programming/dp/1605259454
This book has a demo version of Allen bradley RSlogix 500, which is a simpler version of RSLogix 5000. I've just started reading it, so I can't vouch for the quality of it yet.
Control Engineering is a complex thing, and something you don't pick up quickly. Simply knowing ladder logic as a chem e and how PLC's operate will put you way ahead of most.
You're welcome. First, they won't ask anything that isn't in the manual. So, as long as you know where to find what you need for that particular question, you are good. However, it may be in a different form than what you are used to. Using the book that you have to study is the best way to do it. It is what I used and is a pretty good representation of what will be on the exam. I wouldn't waste time going through old textbooks unless you want to read a little background on whatever topic it is.
The chemical engineering portion was a lot harder than I expected but since it is multiple choice, you have a decent shot at flat out guessing the answers. This is the book that I used to prep for it. However, I wouldn't recommend it because the problems are far harder in this review than are actually on the exam.
The best way to prep for the chemical part of the test is just to brush up on the basics of chemical engineering. Know how to convert units, stoichiometry, calculating reynolds numbers and other dimensionless quantities, and key chemical engineering concepts. I would say, the most helpful thing you can do for yourself is to know what units things should be in. Example: acceleration should be m/s^2. This will help tremendously when you have no idea how to work a problem. You take the units you are given, the units the answer is given in, look up the formula and figure out how to make the units work out. This method could possibly score a lot of points without knowing exactly how to work something out.