Related Industries

Chemical engineers perform critical roles in many other industries, including those listed in Table 2.1. These industries and their products are described in the following subsections.

2.3.1 Paper Products

Industries classified under NAICS code 322 are involved in the manufacture of paper products. These industries include pulp mills that convert wood and biomass to pulp and paper mills that consume this pulp to manufacture various types of paper, newsprint, paperboard, and consumer products such as cardboard boxes, paper bags, sanitary paper, and many others. These industries use large quantities of chemical products and involve processes similar to those of the chemical industries.

2.3.2 Petroleum and Coal Products

Petroleum, the result of transformations of organic matter over millions of years, is a mixture of a large number of compounds. This crude material has to be refined and separated into valuable products such as transportation fuels, basic organics, and other chemicals. Petroleum-derived products listed under NAICS code 324 include gasoline, jet fuel, kerosene, fuel oils, lubricating oils and greases, and asphalt and asphalt products. Coal products include coke oven and blast furnace products (except for those made in steel mills) such as coke, crude oil, and so on. The growth of chemical engineering as a distinct engineering discipline is in large part due to these needs in petroleum processing and refining [2]. Processing of conventional fossil resources such as petroleum and coal, as well as nonconventional resources such as tar sands and oil shale, creates many employment opportunities for chemical engineers.

2.3.3 Plastics and Rubber Products

Chemical engineers find employment not only in the industries that manufacture polymers but also in those that convert these polymers into finished products ranging from grocery bags, plastic bottles, and films to tires, hoses and tubing, and rubber belts. These industries are classified under NAICS code 326, unlike the polymer products described in section 2.2.5 that are classified under code 325.

2.3.4 Other Related Industries

Apart from these three most closely related industries, chemical engineering principles and operations are also encountered in many other industries and processes, providing employment opportunities to chemical engineers. These industries include ceramic and glass industries, semiconductor industries, food products and processing, energy and nuclear industries, environmental and pollution control undertakings, and many others.