During my sophomore year in college, I had second thoughts about my decision to study chemical engineering.
I’m sure this is common for students of any major.
American model, actress, and television personality Cindy Crawford once studied chemical engineering at Northwestern University, but she dropped out to pursue another career. I would have done the same had I possessed her “qualifications”. Instead, I stuck it out and went on to a rather mediocre career in my chosen field. One industry where chemical engineers are often ignored is HVAC. Mechanical and electrical engineers get the bulk of the credit but without chemistry, HVAC could not exist. They are responsible for plastics, the development of fuels that power the electrical grid, and, of course, the refrigerants that are the “lifeblood” of any HVAC system. The role of chemical engineering in HVAC is also an example of how problems caused by certain chemicals will be solved by the use of a replacement chemical. In 1928 chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) replaced toxic and explosive refrigerants like ammonia and propane used in early AC units. By the 1970s the danger of CFCs to the Earth’s ozone layer was discovered. Undoubtedly, chemical engineers were involved in the phase-out of CFCs and the phase-in of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that eliminated the troublesome chlorine component. Unfortunately, HFCs have a high global warming potential due to their carbon content. The replacement for HFCs may be hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs), a member of a group of chemicals known as unsaturated organic compounds. It still contains carbon so research is continuing on other refrigerants that will not add carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. Ironically, the ultimate refrigerant may be CO2 itself, it already exists so it cannot add more to the atmosphere. I wonder if Cindy Crawford is aware of that.