Chemical and Process Engineering

Chemical and Process Engineering is about turning raw materials into marketable products in order to tackle issues facing the world today, from supplying clean drinking water and creating a sustainable food supply, through to improving society's health and well being, and producing pharmaceuticals.

This Diploma in Chemical and Processing Engineering program also an applied science program that combines knowledge of mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other natural sciences to develop economical ways of using materials and energy for the benefit of mankind.

This Chemical and Processing Engineering program provides students with the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed for a career in chemical industries. The program teaches students to install, operate, maintain, and troubleshoot chemical processes. Students gain hands on experiential learning through actual operation and troubleshooting of chemical equipment, units and processes.

Chemical and Process Engineering students are taught how to turn raw materials into valuable products.

The work of the chemical engineer is concerned primarily with the design, construction, and operation of equipment and plants in which these unit operations and processes are applied Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics are the underlying sciences of Chemical & Process Engineering, and Economics is its guide in practice.

What does the Chemical & Process Engineer help produce?

The chemical industry is large (a major fraction of Kenyan gross national product), dynamic, and is constantly expanding.

In spite of the fact that an average Kenyan constantly uses chemical products, the work of the chemical & process engineer is relatively unknown since most chemical products are not direct consumer items. Some items such as gasoline, paint, paper, drugs, and foods are delivered to the consumer as manufactured, but soda ash, caustic soda, chlorine, and sulfuric acid, for example, seldom reach the consumer in their original form in spite of the fact that they are in the heavy chemical group. Soda ash is used in the manufacture of glass, pulp and paper, soaps, and water softeners; caustic soda is used to make rayon, explosives, foods, bleaching compounds, and soap, etc.

Chemical engineers participate in the production of materials which the general public never comes into contact with, such as radioactive substances, rocket fuels, and military explosives.

The activities of chemical & process engineers can be summarized as below:-

• Production
• Equipment process and plant design
• Research and development
• Management and planning
• Sales and marketing
• Process and quality control
• Environmental management
• Teaching and training