Process engineering is at the heart of much of the chemical, oil, gas, and petrochemical industries. It requires familiarity not only with chemical engineering principles, but also with many of the other engineering disciplines including electrical and instrumentation, but especially mechanical.
The process engineer is interested in the transportation and transformation of solids, liquids, and gases. Of specific importance are separation processes including distillation, heat transfer, hydraulics, and fluid flow, reaction engineering, but also process control and economics.
The mechanical engineer is interested in safe containment and movement of solids, liquids, and gases, often at high temperature and pressure. Of specific importance are failure modes such as fracture, fatigue and creep, corrosion and corrosion minimization, material properties, design standards, static & rotating equipment design, inspection, and repair as well as an understanding of maintenance strategies and condition monitoring. Sound mechanical engineering principles, together with other engineering techniques including inspection, monitoring, and condition evaluation, enable the mechanical engineer to design and maintain the equipment required by the process engineers