Petrochemical Engineering: Understanding it Better

A Petrochemical Engineer has a various job to perform. He works on making a product out of raw reserves. People get confused between the tasks performed by a Petroleum Engineer and a Petrochemical Engineer. The job of a Petroleum Engineer is to explore and produce Oil and Gas and to do activities related to the production of Hydrocarbons. While the job of a Petrochemical Engineer is to process the raw reserves to get the end products out of it.

The Petroleum Engineering activities fall within the upstream sector, which mainly involves Reservoir, Exploration of Oil and Gas, Drilling, Production and Formation Evaluation. While in the Petrochemical Engineering, the activities fall within the downstream sector, which mainly involves producing principle end-use products like Synthetic Fibers and Films, Synthetic Elastomers, Plastics and Resins, Automotive Chemicals, Agricultural Chemicals, New Generation Petrochemicals and Pharmaceuticals.

The Petrochemical sector is one of the fastest growing areas in India having a growth rate of 13%. The Indian Petrochemical Industry is performing much better regarding growth than the global petrochemical corner. The petrochemical sector contributes around 30% to the chemical industry in India which is worth $120bn. According to a study of Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), the Petrochemical Industry is likely to reach $100bn by the end of this decade and is estimated to touch $250bn by 2020.

The Petrochemical Companies in India are venturing into new projects as they want to tap the vast potential of Petrochemical Sector. Recently, Shell India company is planning to expand its gas marketing business. According to a Shell India Official, the downstream segment is currently the most attractive part of the gas market. Not only in India, but the Indian Petrochemical Companies are also expanding its base to other countries, particularly in Africa and South Asian Nations and collaborating with companies over there to explore new opportunities.

India has a massive import bill of energy resources and its by-products. Setting up industries at foreign locations can prove to be a cheaper replacement of India's imports. Indian firms like Coal India Ltd, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers and GAIL, are likely to be a major shareholder in the billion dollar project proposed in Ghana (Africa). There is a lot of domestic and offshore opportunities available to the Petrochemical Engineers to avail them. The average salary for a petrochemical engineer is $1,27,842.

Some of the best Colleges offering the degree in Petrochemical Engineering are:

• Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT Pune)
• ZH College of Engineering & Technology, Aligarh
• Uttaranchal University, Dehradun
• RVS College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul (Tamil Nadu)
• Shri Ramanathan Engineering College, Tamil Nadu
• Swami Vivekananda University, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh)
• Ratnavel Subramaniam College of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul (Tamil Nadu)
• Varu Institute of Professional Studies, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)

The core subject areas of Petrochemical Engineering include:

• Thermodynamics
• Heat and MassTransfer
• Fluid Mechanics
• Field Chemistry
• Production Chemicals and Oils

After the completion of graduation, the engineers can find themselves in operations, maintenance, production, planning, safety supervision, optimization and analysis in the field of Petrochemicals. The energy needs of the developing country like India are never ending. The Petrochemical Industry can fulfil the growing needs to make the economy grow at a constant pace.