Chemical engineers must focus on practical solutions

R ichard Smalley compiled a list of the top 10 global challenges. Topping the list were energy, water and food. These are indeed daunting issues that chemical engineers must play a role in solving. Chemical engineers are uniquely trained to (a) close energy and mass balances, (b) understand and apply scaling laws, (c) determine and mitigate rate limiting steps, and (d) perform financial analysis. These simple concepts are ingrained in the chemical engineering curriculum yet they are sadly lacking in much of the discussion of energy, water and food challenges that must be overcome. Chemical engineering research is as intellectually challenging and creative as any engineering science, but what distinguishes our field is its ability to turn invention into innovation. In other words, the basic application of sound engineering principles enables economical manufacturing of materials that define a society’s standard of living. The distinction between invention and innovation is significant. Ask lay people who invented the light bulb, the automobile, or the telephone and you will hear, Edison, Ford and Bell. However, none of these men invented these technologies. Edison was not the first to produce light from a filament; he engineered a way to make it live long enough to be practical. Ford did not invent the automobile; he applied engineering skill to make economical automobiles. Bell was not the first to transmit sound over a wire; he turned it into a practical device. We associate these men with these technologies because they were the innovators that found a way to make inventions practical, reliable and economical. They brought these ideas to commercial production, creating innovations that people wanted to buy and could afford. Simply put, innovation is perfecting inventions to create value that people will pay for. Invention is certainly important, but innovation is exceptionally challenging since it is society, not the scientific community, that ultimately determines the importance of a new discovery. The detection of buckyballs was amazing and earned the Nobel Prize. To think that there was an entirely new form of carbon discovered relatively recently, and, to find that it was actually present in a surprising number of places in nature is astounding. It is equally astounding to realize that buckyballs are actually not very good for anything. A beautiful, highly symmetric molecular form of carbon actually has limited practical use. The application of transport phenomena, reactor design, separations and financial discipline has produced remarkable progress in the manufacturing of materials. Polyethylene (PE) was very much a specialty material when it was discovered, with unique properties that made it a wartime secret. Today PE is manufactured in excess of 77 million tons and sells for $2/kg. As they did with PE, chemical engineers have reduced the cost and improved the quality of the majority of products we use today. They have moved beyond invention to driving innovation. So it is puzzling why a profession founded on innovation seems to occasionally forget its heritage. Chemical engineers must do a better job explaining the difference between the subset of discoveries that offer practical solutions from the set that are simply possible. The application of sound chemical engineering principles can aid society in prioritizing resources to be deployed to solve the challenges in food, water and energy. The world has a finite GDP and we must be exceptionally efficient so we do not waste it on ideas that require simultaneous miracles or violate thermodynamic principles. Our desire to find a simple technological solution to the related problems of energy supply and environmental impact has made these areas ripe for hype. Many new discoveries are greeted with overexcitement and the hope that each will provide the means to supply the reliable, cheap and almost limitless energy we have come to anticipate. The hydrogen economy, cellulosic ethanol, and fuel cells are examples from the list of technologies that have promised much and have, sadly, delivered little. This Perspective will use energy as a theme for applying fundamental engineering principles Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to W. F. Banholzer at wfbanholzer@dow.com.