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Chemical Monitoring and Management

1. Much of the work of chemists involves monitoring the reactants and products of reactions and managing reactions
Outline the role of a chemist employed in a named industry or enterprise, identifying the branch of chemistry undertaken by the chemist and explaining a chemical principle that the chemist uses
Burhan Gemikonakli:
• Chemical occupation: Plant Chemist
• Named industry: Chemical manufacturing; plastics industry; Qenos
- Qenos is a chemical manufacturing company that makes ethylene from ethane, and then polymerises it to polyethylene. Qenos also purifies propylene for future polymerisation into polypropylene
• Branch of chemistry: Analytical chemistry- determining what substances are present and how much of each substance is present in materials

Burhan’s role
• Collaborating with process engineers at the cracking furnace (ethane to ethylene) to adjust operating conditions, to optimise product yields
• Monitoring quality of ethylene and propylene products, by determining amount of any impurities present
• Monitoring waste water from the plant to ensure that it meets environmental requirements before it is discharged
• Monitoring gaseous emissions to the atmosphere to ensure that they do not contain polluting chemicals or particulates above statutory maximums

What Burhan does
• Checks/calibrates the instruments that carry out quality control at the end of the product line
• Trains shift workers in the use of the instruments
• Carries out occasional analysis to ensure the reliability of results
• Evaluates processes proposed by the product development section of the company, including problems of contamination, flow rate through the extruder, and economy of production

Chemical Principles
o Adsorption (for gas-solid chromatography) and solubility (for gas-liquid chromatography)
o Gas chromatography: a mixture is vaporised into a stream of inert helium that flows over a stationary phase (a solid or...