Saving the Environment: From the Lab to the Real World

How chemical engineers are active pioneers in global environmental  efforts.

Uncovering the Intentions

Chemical engineering is an industry that affects many aspects of our lives. There is a chemical engineer behind every medication we take to every Tide Pod we chuck in the washer. The main role of chemical engineers is to create and design processes involved in chemical manufacturing. They take the processes developed in their labs and translate them to practical commercial use. Despite their vast reach, chemical engineers in all of these branches have one goal in common: maximize productivity and product while minimizing costs. Like many others, this initially led me to believe that all chemical engineers are fine with jeopardizing the Earth for an extra buck, however, I later learned that they are a key element of the effort to save our environment. In fact, chemical engineers are now at the forefront of fighting for more sustainable processes and ways of life for everyone.

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After doing a bit more research, I have compiled a couple of contributions made by chemical engineers that help with saving the environment! 

Removing Contaminants from Water through Reverse Osmosis

Contaminated water has many adverse effects on human health around the world. Contaminated water is linked to diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. According to the World Health Organization (W.H.O.), “Some 1 million people are estimated to die each year from diarrhea as a result of unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hand hygiene”. 400,000 of these deaths are children (approximately 1,000 deaths every day). 

Reverse Osmosis is a water purification process created by chemical engineers that removes a wide spectrum of water contaminants. Reverse Osmosis works by flushing water through a semipermeable filter, much like that of a cell’s membrane (isn't that so cool?). This causes a clean water stream and a dirty water stream to form. The clean water is stored in a tank and the dirty water gets flushed down the drain. Since its inception in 1959 reverse osmosis has become a widely used method of water filtration. 

Catalytic Converters

If you’re anything like me, you probably scratched your head when you read the words ‘catalytic converter’. You might be asking yourself: what the heck is that? Well, I am here to tell you that you do not have to look any further than the nearest car to find one! It’s common knowledge that car exhaust contains many harmful emissions. Catalytic converters were created in order to control these emissions by minimizing the harm pollutants can have on our environment. 

Catalytic converters transform toxic pollutants into less harmful substances through a fairly simple process. A car’s exhaust is blown over the honeycomb structure of the precious metal catalyst that makes up these converters, which splits up the harmful compounds from the engine into safer gasses. In short, the chemical reaction that happens between the exhaust and the catalyst breaks down the pollutants.

Pictured above is an illustration of a typical catalytic convertor you might find in your car. 

Recycling Aluminum

Chemical engineers have been faced with the challenge of recycling aluminum since its genesis. Now, it is one of the most widely recycled materials on the globe. The American Chemistry Society gives a great explanation of how aluminum is recycled, “cans are usually collected and sent to a recycling center, where they are cleaned, sorted, and crushed. Then, they go to an aluminum manufacturing plant, where they are shredded, remelted and solidified again”.

The advantages of recycling aluminum are both environmental and economic. An excerpt from the Aluminum Association states, “the recycling rate for aluminum cans in the United States reached 45.2% in 2019. This means that almost half of all aluminum cans were recycled, saving energy equivalent to 19 million barrels of crude oil and reducing carbon emissions by 3.7 million metric tons”.

Here is a neat video made by DCODE by Discovery that

covers the process of recyling aluminum.

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Conclusion

Before writing this blog post I had no idea of the great role that chemical engineers play in our world’s environment efforts. Finding out that chemical engineers were responsible for the water filtration system used in my very home was fascinating. I felt reassured knowing that there have been many efforts made to minimize the impact my daily car emissions have on the environment. It was also relieving to know that because of a chemical engineer’s hard work the can of coke I am sipping while writing this post has a big chance of being recycled, so someone else can drink out of it. All in all, the enduring effects of chemical engineers on the environment and in sustainability practices cannot be understated! 

Until next time,

- Sophie Wassef