History Of Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering as a discipline is a little over one hundred years old. It grew out of mechanical engineering in the last part of the 19th century, because of a need for chemical processors. Before the Industrial Revolution (18th century), industrial chemicals were mainly produced through batch processing. Batch processing is similar to cooking. Individuals mix ingredients in a vessel, heat or pressurize the mixture, test it, and purify it to get a saleable product. Batch processes are still performed today on expensive products, such as perfumes, or pure maple syrups, where one can still turn a profit, despite batch methods being slow and inefficient. Most chemicals today are produced through a continuous "assembly line" chemical process. The Industrial Revolution was when this shift from batch to continuous processing occurred.
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