Process Security in Chemical Engineering Education

The threats of terrorism have greatly alerted the chemical process industries to assure plant security at all levels: infrastructure-improvement-focused physical security, information-protection-focused cyber security, and design-and-operation-improvement-focused process security. While developing effective plant security methods and technologies is urgent for industry, identifying and integrating plant security elements into undergraduate curriculum is vital for a new generation of engineers. This paper discusses the necessity and explores opportunities of integrating process security concepts into undergraduate curriculum, mainly through process design and process safety courses. An educational tool to assist in this effort is also presented, along with a sample case study to be used in classroom teaching.