In this blog post, we’ll explore the background behind chemical engineering’s emergence as a core technology of the Industrial Revolution and its evolution into modern science and technology.

What is chemical engineering?

It is a discipline dedicated to designing optimal production processes and advancing the technologies needed to operate and control them, with the goal of making the management of factory production facilities more systematic. Chemical engineering goes beyond simply understanding chemical reactions; it focuses on developing technical systems capable of implementing these reactions on a large scale. Through this, we enable the efficient and economical production of chemical products in large-scale production facilities.

The Origins and Development of Chemical Engineering

The term “chemical engineering” was first introduced in 1839 by James F. Donnelly. Subsequently, George Edward Davis established the fundamental concepts of chemical engineering. The discipline truly took root during World War I (1914–1918). In leading industrialized nations such as the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom, the development of internal combustion engines led to a surge in demand for refined petroleum products and organic chemicals, solidifying chemical engineering’s position as an academic discipline. In particular, the importance of chemical engineering was highlighted in the manufacturing of military supplies, which required large-scale production during the war, and this enabled the discipline to develop in a more systematic manner.
World War II sparked the beginning of the petrochemical industry. Consequently, it became necessary to design optimal chemical processes through physical unit operations and reaction operations, leading to the emergence of reaction engineering, which continues to play a central role in modern chemical engineering. Later, in the 1960s, transport phenomena and particle engineering—which deals with discrete particles—emerged to provide a common framework for analyzing unit operations. In the 1970s, process systems engineering—encompassing process control systems and process design—emerged to efficiently control process operations, finally establishing the foundation for chemical engineering to comprehensively study chemical processes as a whole.

The Academic Independence of Chemical Engineering

It has been only a century since chemical engineering established itself as an independent field within engineering on a global scale. As competition in the chemical industry intensified among the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, research in chemical engineering flourished. It is reported that the first lectures on chemical engineering were delivered in 1887 in the Manchester area of the United Kingdom by George E. Davis, a chemical engineering technician, who gave 12 lectures on the processes used in British chemical plants at the time. The following year, in 1888, lectures on chemical engineering were also held in the Department of Chemistry at MIT in the United States. However, at that time, chemical engineering was not yet a distinct field of study in university curricula but was still part of the chemistry department. A few years later, thanks to the significant contributions of Arthur A. Noyes and William H. Walker, chemical engineering came to be recognized as an independent academic discipline. The establishment of a formal educational framework for chemical engineering played a major role in its development.

Early Textbooks and the Establishment of Professional Societies

Meanwhile, Davis of the United Kingdom, who had delivered the first lecture on chemical engineering, published a book on the subject in 1901. This book covered unit operations, which later became established as a key aspect of chemical engineering. For this contribution, Davis is historically recognized as having played a major role in establishing chemical engineering as a new, independent field of engineering. In the early days, when chemical engineering was first recognized as a distinct field, it was still treated as part of chemistry within the American Chemical Society. However, a debate arose over the need to separate chemistry and chemical engineering, fueled by remarks such as those made by Milton C. Whitaker, a professor of chemistry at Columbia University, who argued that chemists lacked engineering education and were therefore unable to apply the ideas he had developed.
Ultimately, on June 22, 1908, approximately 40 people gathered at the Philadelphia Engineers’ Club to establish the first American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Initially, discussions focused on how to teach chemical engineering at universities, and today the institute plays a central role in the field.

The Introduction and Development of Chemical Engineering in Korea

Chemical engineering officially began in Korea in October 1946 with the establishment of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the College of Engineering, Seoul National University. Although some education in chemical engineering (then called “applied chemistry”) had been gradually introduced during Japanese colonial rule, the history of chemical engineering in Korea is generally considered to have begun with the country’s liberation. Chemical engineering in Korea began with the establishment of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the College of Engineering, Seoul National University, during the liberation period. It is estimated that there were about 50 Korean chemists at the time who had graduated from universities both in Korea and abroad, and they were primarily teaching in Korea or Japan. The initial faculty of the Department of Chemical Engineering consisted of Kim Dong-il, the first dean of the College of Engineering, along with Na Ik-young and Ma Hyung-ok. Over a four-year period from 1946 to 1949, they laid the foundation for chemical engineering education in Korea.
Meanwhile, chemical engineering and applied chemistry students were initially active within the Korean Chemical Society. This was similar to how chemical engineering was initially housed within the Department of Chemistry when it first emerged in the United States. However, as Korea’s first chemical plant—the Chungju Fertilizer Plant—was completed in 1959, and as several large-scale chemical plants began to be constructed and operated in the 1960s, the sense of unity among chemical engineering students grew stronger. Following a period of preparation and a founding assembly, on December 8, 1962, approximately 20 chemical engineering students from across the country gathered in a lecture hall at Seoul National University’s College of Medicine and held the inaugural general meeting of the Korean Society of Chemical Engineering, officially launching the society.

The Present and Future of Chemical Engineering

Today, chemical engineering has established itself as one of the major majors in the colleges of engineering at leading universities both in Korea and abroad. As it has firmly established itself as an independent academic discipline, its scope has expanded to include not only traditional areas of chemical engineering but also fields such as biotechnology and biomedicine. This expansion signifies that chemical engineering has evolved beyond a simple fusion of chemistry and engineering into a discipline that explores new possibilities through convergence with various scientific and technological fields. Currently, chemical engineering is one of the most promising fields, with ongoing research into technologies such as nanotechnology and fuel cells.
Furthermore, as interest in sustainability grows, chemical engineering is playing a crucial role in the development of eco-friendly and energy-efficient processes. For example, various research projects are actively underway, including carbon capture technology to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the production of eco-friendly energy using biomass. These technologies are expected to be key to solving future energy problems.
In conclusion, chemical engineering has established itself as a discipline that encompasses a wide range of applications beyond simple manufacturing technologies, and it will play a vital role across all future industries. As such, the advancement of chemical engineering will make a significant contribution to solving various problems in our society, and continued development and innovation are anticipated in the future.