Chua HT (2017) Opportunities Abound for Chemical Engineering and Process Technologies. Chem Eng Process Tech 3(3): 1045.

Chemical Engineering and Process Technologies in general are timely and burgeoning fields that address the societal needs for near zero emission energy sources, greater energy efficiency and efficient generation of water, as well as accessing valuable nanoparticles through clean technology pathways and the minimum use of chemicals. To this end, I will draw upon my professional experiences in Australia to contextualize these points.

Near zero emission energy sources are gaining an ever stronger foothold in the society. Despite the costs of these energy sources, there is a widespread clear acceptance of the need to rein in the unbridled emission of greenhouse gases.

Solar photovoltaic systems are now commonplace, so much so that in certain areas like Carnarvon in Western Australia, further adoption of photovoltaic systems are discouraged in view of their strain on the grid system.

Geothermal energy stemming from the expansive aquifers is actively embraced for the heating of Olympic sized swimming pools in Western Australia. To date, there are at least eight geothermal heated Olympic sized swimming pools in Western Australia alone. Typically the boreholes are drilled to a depth of up to ~1 km to access groundwater at a temperature of ~45°C.

Presently the State Government of Western Australia is actively evaluating the performance of ground source heat pumps against conventional air source heat pumps through a “Cool Earth Project” initiative [1], so as to assess the potential merit of deploying ground source heat pumps to mitigate peak loads in both summer and winter periods. In this initiative, the ground source heat pump accesses shallow groundwater through an open doublet system, as opposed to closed slink loops, so that it is amenable to potential scaling up.

In the industrial sector, it is heartening to observe that the Australian market readily embraces near zero emission energy. For example, in 2010 The University of Western Australia spun-off its methane catalytic cracking technology, now known as the Hazer Process [2,3]. In November 2015, Hazer Group Ltd. successfully raised $5m in its Initial Public Offering in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:HZR). Presently it is worth $35.18M. Notably Hazer has demonstrated that the graphitic carbon stemming from the Hazer Process is able to substitute commercial graphitic materials in the battery market but at a significantly lower cost base through the use of iron-ore catalysts and natural gas. Very recently, Hazer has executed a binding agreement with $3.5 bn market capital Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN). The latter will design, construct and fund commercial scale facilities through the Hazer Process up to 10,000 ton per annum of graphitic carbon production capacity.

Again in the mineral refining sector, alumina refineries, and mineral refineries in general, are ever more critically aware of the strategic importance of energy efficiency and water sufficiency. An annual emission cap is imposed on major refineries in Australia. Recently, waste heat stemming from flashed vapour from the evaporation units in alumina refineries has been identified as viable energy sources to economies on live steam to reconcentrate process liquor based on a patented technology of the University of Western Australia that utilizes a Thermal Vapour Compression, Flash Boosted Multi-Effect Evaporation Process [4-7]. Apart from Australia, China is also actively pursuing Zero-Liquid Discharge operations and stepping up environmental protection measures. It is therefore eminently clear that Chemical and Process Engineering certainly has a major role in shaping the society in both the immediate and longterm futures.

At the emerging end, Clean Tech that employs benign chemicals or no chemicals in accessing desirable nanostructures should be keenly monitored and followed. Notably the team led by Professor Colin Raston at Flinders University has long been championing Green Chemistry. Their Vortex Fluidic Devices for process intensification have been a sensation ranging from protein unfolding to accessing various prized nanostructures [8]. The author, in collaboration with Professor Jeffrey Gordon of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, is actively pursuing the production of few-layer graphene using high flux bright light from ~7 kW xenon short-arc discharge lamps. Notably the process is void of chemicals so that those graphene materials will be pristine and void of functional groups [9].

In conclusion, opportunities abound for Chemical Engineering and Process Technologies. Sectors ranging from Energy, Water and Desalination, Refining, and Materials are in need of creative and novel technologies. In Australia, the industry and government as a whole is eager to engage with the academia. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that Chemical Engineering graduand continue to secure the highest pay among engineering graduand in the first five years of their career! 

1. https://www.landcorp.com.au/Residential/Cool-Earth/
2. http://www.hazergroup.com.au/
3. Cornejo A, Zhang W, Gao L, Varsani RR, Saunders M, Swaminathan Iyer K, et al. “Generating Hydrogen Gas from Methane with Carbon Captured as Pure Spheroidal Nanomaterials”. Chem Eur J. 2011; 17: 9188 – 9192.
4. Rahimi B, Regenauer-Lieb K, Chua HT, Boom E, Nicoli S, Rosenberg S. “A novel flash boosted evaporation process for alumina refineries”. Appl Thermal Engineering. 2016; 94: 375-384.
5. Chua HT, Klaus Regenauer-Lieb, X Wang. “A desalination plant”, US 9,365,438, AU2011276936 B2.
6. Bijan Rahimi, Alexander Christ, HT Chua, "System and method for desalination", WO 2015/154142.
7. Rahimi B, Chua HT. Low Grade Heat Driven Multi-Effect Distillation and Desalination, 1st Edition, Elsevier. ISBN: 9780128051245, 208, 2017.
8. J Britton, KA Stubbs, GA Weiss, CL Raston. “Vortex fluidic chemical transformations”. Chem Eur J. 2017; 23: 13270-13278.
9. Xunyan Tan, Gibson CT, Chen XJ, Raston CL, Gordon JM , Chua HT, et al. “Synthesis of few-layer graphene by lamp ablation”. Carbon. 2015; 94: 349-351.