Industrial chemistry
Undergraduate · Chemistry
Syllabus focus
Topics typically covered
Standard syllabus
Chemical industry overview
- Major industrial chemical sectors and value chains
- Commodity vs specialty vs fine chemicals
- Feedstocks: petroleum, natural gas, biomass, minerals
- Chemical plant organization: unit operations and processes
- Economics: fixed vs variable costs, economies of scale
- Safety culture: OSHA, PSM, hazard analysis
- Environmental regulations and permitting
- Sustainability metrics: atom economy, E-factor
- Global supply chains and trade
- Career paths in chemical industry
Unit operations and reactors
- Material and energy balances
- Reaction kinetics in reactor design
- Batch, continuous stirred-tank, and plug-flow reactors
- Heat exchangers and energy integration
- Distillation, absorption, and extraction
- Filtration, centrifugation, and crystallization
- Drying and evaporation
- Mixing and agitation
- Process control: feedback loops, PID controllers (intro)
- Scale-up from laboratory to pilot plant
Key industrial processes
- Haber–Bosch ammonia synthesis
- Contact process for sulfuric acid
- Chlor-alkali process: brine electrolysis
- Steam cracking of hydrocarbons
- Catalytic reforming and alkylation in refining
- Polymerization plants: PE, PP, PVC production
- Pharmaceutical batch synthesis and GMP
- Fermentation and industrial biotechnology
- Cement, glass, and ceramics production
- Pulp and paper chemistry
Process safety and environmental management
- Hazard identification: HAZOP, FMEA
- Flammability limits and explosion prevention
- Toxic release modeling and emergency response
- Waste minimization and treatment
- Effluent standards and wastewater treatment
- Air emissions control: scrubbers, catalytic oxidizers
- Carbon footprint and life-cycle assessment
- Green chemistry principles in manufacturing
- Responsible Care and industry stewardship
- Case studies: Bhopal, Texas City, Fukushima chemical impacts
STEM / applied
Process analysis and optimization
- Aspen Plus or similar simulation software (intro)
- Mass balance problem-solving for multi-unit processes
- Energy balances including heat of reaction
- Yield, selectivity, and conversion calculations
- Pinch analysis for heat integration (overview)
- Economic evaluation: NPV, payback period
- Sensitivity analysis on process variables
- Statistical process control charts
- Lean manufacturing in chemical plants
- Technical report writing for process proposals
Applied industrial chemistry
- Internships and co-op programs in chemical industry
- Process engineer vs chemist roles
- Pilot plant operations and technology transfer
- Quality assurance in chemical manufacturing
- Analytical support for production QC
- Catalyst development and regeneration
- Battery and materials manufacturing
- Food and beverage process chemistry
- Water treatment plant operations
- Entrepreneurship in chemical startups
Study units
Each unit includes a study guide, worksheets, review, practice test, and answer key. One unit is free; subscribe for the full class.
- Chemical industry overview
Major industrial chemical sectors and value chains
Coming soon - Unit operations and reactors
Material and energy balances
Coming soon - Key industrial processes
Haber–Bosch ammonia synthesis
Coming soon - Process safety and environmental management
Hazard identification: HAZOP, FMEA
Coming soon
Notes
Topics reflect common industrial chemistry syllabi at US colleges and universities. Overlap with chemical engineering courses is typical. Case studies and plant visits may supplement lectures.