IChemE's top 10 chemically engineered inventions

The Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) has released the results of its survey on the most important chemically engineered inventions and solutions of the modern era. The top 10 list, comprising the inventions considered to have made the biggest impact on society, was voted for by IChemE’s MediaEnvoys.

The results are:

10. Dosed medications (such as tablets, pills and capsules)

Dosed medication in the form of pills first appeared before Roman times, but it was from the 20th century onwards that the mass production of tablets, pills and capsules transformed medication, providing an accurately measured dosage in a convenient portable package.

“However,” said process and equipment consultant Keith Plumb, “to ensure that this medication can be mass-produced in a manner that leads to the correct quality and purity in the quantities required, requires manufacturing on a large scale. This manufacturing has benefited significantly from the application of chemical engineering.

“Not only are the medicines themselves produced thanks to the help of chemical engineers, so are the materials used to package them - such as blister packs - along with the medical equipment required to provide the dosage such as syringes.”

9. Electricity generation (from non-fossil fuels)

Electricity generation from nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, biofuels and hydropower are viewed by many as the solution to low-carbon energy production and as a replacement for fossil fuels. In 2014 the world’s largest gasification plant is scheduled to open in the UK, capable of powering 50,000 homes from 350,000 tonnes of biomass each year.

“From the beginning of non-fossil fuel electricity generation, chemical engineers have been right at the centre of the revolution,” said graduate performance engineer Andrew Baines. “Designing the cooling systems for nuclear reactors, driving forward production methods for photovoltaic cells and analysing flow patterns around wind turbine blades are just three examples.

“Electricity generation from non-fossil fuels is absolutely the key to the future of life as we know it.”

8. Sanitation

“Sanitation, or the disposal of sewage and supply of clean drinking water, has come a long way since the first use of activated sludge treatment in Manchester, England, in the late-19th century,” said IChemE Director of Policy and Communication Andy Furlong.

Poor sanitation has been responsible for millions of deaths throughout history, with preventable water diseases continuing to kill up to 5 million people each year (mostly in developing countries). Chemical engineers are now central to the treatment of waste.

“Chemical engineers are continuing to develop purification processes using techniques like adsorption, membrane separation and advanced oxidation with ultraviolet light. They are also working to reduce the environmental impact of sewage sludge disposal, including making good use of this unpleasant stuff as a raw material for biodiesel,” said Furlong.

7. Fertiliser

At the beginning of the 20th century, Fritz Haber developed the first practical process to convert atmospheric nitrogen to ammonia - a form which can be used by plants. Fertiliser generated via this process is currently estimated to be responsible for sustaining one-third of the Earth’s population; half the protein within human beings is made of nitrogen that was originally produced by the process.

Hasan Baqar, an operations manager, said: “Human survival is dependent on the use of fertilisers - either organic or inorganic … Estimates report 30 to 50% of crop yields are attributed to natural or synthetic commercial fertiliser.

“Quite simply, current food demand and supply could not be met without the use of fertiliser and chemical engineers.”

6. Plastics

Most plastics are organic polymers with high molecular mass, made from organic raw materials such as cellulose, coal, natural gas and crude oil. Due to their relatively low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility and imperviousness to water, plastics are used in an expanding range of products and have already displaced many traditional materials.

Process engineer Thaddeus Anim-Somuah noted that plastics have supported improvements in several areas: the construction, automobile and textile industries have been able to develop new products; health has benefited from the storing of water in plastic bottles; and the food industry has extended shelf lives.

“Even the environment has benefited from plastics by helping to reduce the amount of materials needed for packaging and the energy required to transport goods,” said Anim-Somuah.

5. Vaccines

Vaccines are biological preparations that stimulate the body’s immune system to recognise and kill specific microorganisms which cause disease. Bioreactors are used to grow bacteria during vaccine production, and other chemically engineered processes can include ultrafiltration and column chromatography.

Vaccines have been used against major diseases including diphtheria, measles, mumps, rubella, polio vaccine and the eradication of smallpox during the 1960s and 1970s. Now new challenges face society, according to process engineer Adam Hawthorne, “including pandemics such as swine and bird flu, and cancers affecting both men and women caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV)”.

“The vital role of chemical engineering will be to turn solutions to those challenges into life-sustaining products,” he said.

4. Electricity generation (from fossil fuels)

Electricity generation from fossil fuels - such as coal, gas and oil - has emerged as the dominant source of global energy over the past century. Over 50,000 coal-fired power stations are in operation worldwide and growing economies like China and India are expected to build another 200 power stations over the next four years.

“The basic method of electricity generation developed by Michael Faraday in the early 19th century is still applied today,” said petroleum engineer Hani Baluch. “It’s amazing to consider how this elementary design has revolutionised the way we live.

“The pursuit of hydrocarbon resources dominates global politics and economic development, and electricity generation will continue to play a pivotal role in the climate change debate … and chemical engineers will continue to develop and improve these processes.”

3. Antibiotics

An antibiotic is an agent that kills or inhibits the growth of specific bacteria. Produced industrially via fermentation, antibiotics are one of the most commonly prescribed drugs and are used for illnesses such as ear infections, syphilis, tuberculosis, salmonellosis and some forms of meningitis.

“What today are regarded as routine infections were considered deadly diseases before the discovery and synthesis of penicillin by Fleming, Florey and Chain,” said Alfredo Ramos Plasencia, a UK vice president working in the process industries.

“Transplant surgery, where the patient’s immune system has to be suppressed to avoid the rejection of the new organ, would not be feasible without antibiotics. The impact of antibiotics on humanity can be quantified in millions of lives saved since Fleming’s and Florey’s findings, and the work of chemical engineers.”

2. Petrol or gasoline (and other fuels including diesel)

Global consumption of petrol, heating oil and other petroleum products reached 88.9 million barrels a day in 2012. As noted by senior process engineer Azhar Ashfaq, “Petrol and other products derived from crude oil have a major impact on our lives every day … from water bottles and shopping bags to fertilisers, soap, water pipes, boats and perfumes.

“But it is the impact of petrol as a fuel in automobiles that has helped society to be more efficient, mobilised and more productive.”

Petrol is produced in oil refineries by distillation from crude oil, via a process which uses heat to separate out different products at different boiling points. Some of these products are ready for use as heating or transport fuels. Others pass through a distillation column where heat and pressure transform them into higher value products.

1. Drinking or potable water

Water is fundamental to life, yet access to a stable and safe supply of clean drinking water continues to be a major concern in many countries. The methods used to produce clean water vary across the world and are often dependent on climate and economics.

“The chemical engineering and scale of activity needed to achieve the provision of safe, clean water is huge and highlighted by the challenge faced by many developing countries that do not yet have the infrastructure or skills to provide reliable and safe drinking water to its population,” said chemical engineering student Deborah John.

Methods include physical processes such as filtration, sedimentation and distillation; biological processes such as slow sand filters or biologically active carbon; chemical processes such as flocculation and chlorination; and the use of electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light.

Chemical, biochemical and process engineering is the application of science, maths and economics to the process of turning raw materials into everyday products. IChemE Chief Executive David Brown described it as “a remarkable profession … [which] can take the smallest of discoveries in laboratories - from all fields of science and technology - and replicate them on a mass scale, consistently and economically.

“The facilities and plants built to deliver products like petrol and clean water are equally impressive … Here, too, chemical engineers make a major contribution to the design and operation of industrial facilities, and their safe management,” he said.

“As the global population grows to an estimated nine billion by 2050, issues like energy generation, the management of health, water supply and food production will become more challenging. They are issues that chemical engineers are already looking at to find the next generation of sustainable solutions.”