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Department of Chemical Engineering
Annual Report 2015
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INTRODUCTION
By Edd. A. Blekkan (Head of Departement) and Jens-Petter Andreassen (Deputy Head of Departement)
2015 was another good year for the Chemical
Engineering department. Our mission is to deliver
excellent research and provide educational programs of
high quality and with a high standing both nationally and
internationally. I hope this report demonstrates that we
deliver on all counts!
The aim of this report is to give an overview of the
activity in 2015 as well as to provide some more general
information about the department. We hope you find it
useful.
The history of the department goes back to the 1940s,
when the university (at that time called Norwegian
Institute of Technology, NTH) appointed Chairs (each
heading a department) in Pulp and Paper chemistry
(1946), Chemical Engineering (1949) and Industrial
Chemistry (1950). Pulp and Paper was merged with
Chemical Engineering in 1986, and following the
establishment of NTNU (1996) Chemical Engineering and
Industrial Chemistry merged in 1999 into the Chemical
Engineering department (Institutt for Kjemisk
Prosessteknologi) we know today.
Chemical Engineering is about turning raw materials into
useful products, such as the energy that fuel our lives,
the materials we use and clothes we wear, food and
drink we consume and medications we take. This is done
by applying and realizing the potential of basic chemistry
and biology, in industrial applications as well as
environmental protection. Chemical engineers design,
build and operate the units and plants that make
products, they help to manage the world's resources,
protect the environment and ensure that health and
safety standards are met. The present day approach to
this is to try to understand the processes on all scales,
from the detailed atomic and molecular understanding
of the chemistry and biology involved (nano-scale and
smaller), up to the macro- and mega scales (whole
industrial plants or bigger systems). That puts our field
on the interface between science and technology, we
need a solid scientific basis in order to develop good and
sustainable engineering solutions. We work on the
basics, such as colloid chemistry, catalytic phenomena,
thermodynamics, drops, particles, biomass as well as oil
and gas. Equally important is the development of
materials (catalysts, membranes, solvents, sorbents,
filters etc.), and solutions (reactors, separators, columns,
processes). All this is assisted by modelling, simulation,
optimization and process control. Together these areas
of work constitute “chemical engineering”, and you will
find examples of all of these areas in our department and
in this report.
A key purpose for our department is to support the
Norwegian process industry, both through research and
development, and through the education of highly
qualified
candidates.
This
demands
a
good
understanding of the requirements in industry, and good
industrial relations are necessary in order to perform
research of relevance and high quality. A strong link
between the research and teaching ensures that our
students carry a solid competence and new knowledge
into society. Having a strong international profile, in
terms of staff, students and international collaboration is
an important prerequisite to be successful.
A key metric for us is the research output, expressed by
the number of graduated PhD candidates and journal
publications. These numbers have been very high for the
last few years. The number of credited publications in
international journals was 121, compared to 157 in 2014
and 166 in 2013, on average this corresponds to around
6-8 papers per permanent academic staff per year, which
is a very high output in an engineering subject. About 1/3
of the papers are registered at “level 2”, i.e. in the most
prestigious journals with the highest impact.
Furthermore, 7 PhD candidates graduated in 2015, a bit
lower than the average output of around 18 per year
(2011-14). The average time to complete a PhD is about
4-5 years (including teaching duties and leaves of
absence), and most of the candidates that start a PhD