Comparison between Bio-Chemical and Chemical Engineering
By Partha Halder
Engineering by its very nature is a creative field. With wide range of engineering branches available today, it becomes a daunting task to select one of interest. But, things go a little more difficult when we come across two closely linked highly overlapping engineering branches. At times it gets real challenging to carve out the difference so as to decide which one to go in for. We have taken up 2 such closely linked branches today, “Chemical Engineering” and “Bio-Chemical Engineering”. We will try to understand respective fields of studies, its usage, application, and various industries which deploy such field of studies, program available, best colleges in India and employment opportunities.
Well, Biochemical Engineering is the application of chemical engineering techniques to industrial processes based on biological elements like the living cells or their components. For example microbes and enzymes are used to produce useful chemical compounds such as antibiotics and other chemicals. Biochemical Engineering is therefore that area where it is studied “how cells behave in a reactor”.
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Although Biochemical Engineering and Chemical Engineering are branches of Chemistry and are similar in many aspects, there are diverse fields concerning different procedures. While Biochemical Engineering deals with the various bioreactors that are used in the manufacturing of food stuffs, pharmaceuticals and waste treatment whereas Chemical Engineering involves manufacturing of finished products using the raw materials by applying chemicals so as to change their chemical or physical composition, structure or energy content.
Employment Areas for Biochemical Engineers:
| Pharmaceuticals Sector |
| Plastic and Polymer Manufacturing |
| Water treatment & Environmental Pollution Control |
| Food Sector |
| Mining Units |
| Nuclear sector |
| Public Health Labs |
| Hospitals, Blood Banks & Cancer research institutes |
| Chemical Manufacturing |
| Research Laboratories |
| Forensic Science |
| Agriculture and fisheries |
Chemical Engineering
The course consists of designing of chemical plants, installation of these chemical plants, pharmaceutical plants etc. Chemical engineering course also covers the technologies used in the chemical industries like mineral industry, petroleum industry, synthetic fiber industry and petro chemical industry.
Employment Areas For Chemical Engineering
| Plant Design |
| Textile manufacturing |
| Coal preparation and mineral processing |
| Explosives manufacturing |
| Fertilizer industry |
| Food processing |
| Glass and specialty chemicals |
| Paints |
| Steel and aluminum manufacturing. |
| Nanotechnology |
| Oil and Natural Gas Industry |
| Ceramics |
In addition, chemical engineering also has applications in production of electronics, paper and photographic equipment etc. Both Biochemical Engineering and Chemical engineering is a 4 year under graduate course for 10+2 students.
Few leading colleges offering B.E/B.Tech in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering:
| Biochemical Engineering |
Chemical Engineering |
| Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur |
|
| Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur |
|
| Indian Institute of Technology, Madras |
|
| Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi |
|
| Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai |
|
|
|
Government Engineering College - Thrissur, Gandhinagar, Calicut, Raipur, Ujjain, Bhatinda |
Representative - Subjects/Topics covered in leading colleges in India
Biochemical engineering
Computer programming and problem solving, Environmental Studies, Ethic and Values, Modern Physics, Multivariate Calculus and differential Equations, Engineering Chemistry, Anatomy and Physiology, Artificial Organs, Biomedical Instrumentation, Biochemistry and Biophysics, Biomaterials and components, Biomechanics, Biomedical Image processing, Biomedical Signal processing, BIO-MEMS, Bio Transducers and Electrodes, Clinical engineering, Control systems in medicine, Digital signal processing, Electric and magnetic circuits, engineering Graphics, Integrated circuits, Complex variables and partial differential equations, Medical Imaging techniques, Medical Physics, Microprocessors and micro-controllers in medical application, Numerical methods, Probability and Statistics, Psychology and Sociology, Artificial neural networks, Medical Informatics, Pattern recognition, Laser and fiber optics in medicine, Physiological system modeling, Rehabilitation engineering, Speech signal processing, telemedicine, Tissue engineering.
Chemical engineering
Communicative English, Mathematics, Physics, Programming & Computing, Workshop Practice, Chemistry, Basic Electrical & Electronics Engineering, Engineering Drawing, Thermodynamics, Engineering Mechanics, Process Calculations, Transport Processes & Unit Operations, Chemical Engineering. Heat Transfer, Chemical Process Industries, Mechanical Operations, Industrial Economics, Mass Transfer, Chemical Process Industries, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Professional Communication, Instrumentation & Process Control, Chemical Engineering Design, Departmental Elective, Chemical Reaction Engineering, Instrumentation & Process Control, Industrial Management.
Overall both “Biochemical Engineering” and “Chemical Engineering” holds excellent future prospects both in India and abroad.
About the Author:
Partha Halder holds a BTech degree in Chemical Engineering. He is currently the Director at FIITJEE, Punjabi Bagh.
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