Description
It would be hard to imagine a world without gasoline and petroleum. But what about petroleum derivatives, better known as petrochemicals, like propane? These petrochemicals, discovered by engineers have an overwhelming impact on all of our lives. Petrochemicals are derived from petroleum sources, such as oil and natural gas.
Applying scientific and mathematical principles, petrochemical engineers develop processes like catalytic cracking to break down complex organic molecules found in crude oil into much simpler substances. These building blocks are then separated and recombined to form many useful products including: lubricating oils, plastics, polymers, synthetic rubber and synthetic fibres. Without this petrochemical process, much of modern life would cease to function. Examples of petroleum derivatives are ethylene, polypropylene, benzene, methanol and butane. Polypropylene, for instance, serves as both a plastic and a fibre. In its plastic form, it makes dishwasher-safe containers (ones that will not melt in high heat) and in the fibre form it can produce indoor-outdoor carpeting, such as on mini-golf courses.
Petrochemical engineers are constantly putting their creativity to work, synthesizing new materials, transforming combinations of elements of matter and developing the processes to do it all safely, efficiently and on a large scale. Using petrochemicals, engineers process and package many of the foods we eat, clothes we wear, help power our cars and heat our homes and develop new materials from garbage. Petrochemical engineers are like alchemists; they turn raw materials into valuable products. They usually work with a team of chemists and other scientists.
Petrochemical engineers will often specialize in a particular area once they become established, including biochemistry, the environment or petrochemical refining. Nevertheless, they all perform the same general duties as engineers. They extract existing data and design methods to design products, petroleum energy derivatives and operating specifications for industrial plants. They take into account cost, safety and environmental concerns when conducting research and performing experiments. Petrochemical engineers working in plants must ensure that the equipment is operating efficiently, safely, according to environmental regulations and that the desired quantity and quality of product is produced.
They often meet with manufacturers, lawyers and clients to make sure that design plans are safe and will withstand a number of conditional variables, such as safety. They create engineering plans on computers using computer-aided design (CAD) systems, which simulate realistic three-dimensional models and test and predict possible errors and problems with a mechanism, generating workable solutions. Although most work takes place on computers or in laboratories, petrochemical engineers sometimes travel to meetings and factories to supervise and see their work in progress.
Petrochemical engineers are required to constantly update their skills and knowledge in order to keep up with technological advancements in this quickly changing field. Upon graduation, all Canadian engineers receive iron rings that remind them of their obligation to build safe structures.
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