To prepare leading etroleum Chemical Engineers in the activities of transportation, storage, and industrial transformation of crude oil and natural gas, competent in making decisions on what and how to produce goods and services, with technical, economic, financial, social, and ecological criteria.

The characteristics of the students entering the Petroleum Chemical Engineering program are important elements to consider in the design of the study plan. The attitudes, knowledge, skills, and competencies that are required in the first student to enter the program are established considering:

• The age of the student.
• The educational formation that must have been achieved at the first school level of pre-licensure.
• The social and humanistic characteristics that the applicant must have.

KNOWLEDGE

The upper secondary level knowledge that the student requires as a background to pursue the career, includes the knowledge of mathematics and the application of the scientific method in the areas of physics and chemistry. The minimum thematic contents are the following:

• Mathematics (algebra, trigonometry, analytical geometry, differential, and integral calculus).
• Physics (classical mechanics, elementary thermodynamics, electricity, and magnetism).
• Chemistry (atomic and molecular structure of matter, fundamentals of general chemistry).
• Humanities (philosophy, history, literature, languages, and geography).

Know How

• Apply the fundamentals of physics, chemistry, and mathematics to the solution of problems involving conserved quantities such as mass, energy, and motion.
• Read, understand and write texts in the colloquial and technical language in both Spanish and English.
• Use basic computer software and programmable calculators.
• Interpret and apply methodologies and procedures in laboratory practices.
• Use mathematical tables and data banks of chemical and physical properties.
• Handle basic concepts of environmental care.
• Manage basic concepts of safety and hygiene measures.
• Identify their cultural and social environment.

KNOWS HOW TO BE AND LIVE TOGETHER

Engineering is learned and exercised in a social context. In this sense, it is required that the student who enters the career has the following formative elements that allow him/her to integrate into the school work at a higher level, progressively improving attitudes and skills that enable collaborative work and promote social awareness and appropriate ethical behavior.

• Flexibility and adaptability to environmental conditions.
• To take responsibility for their self-learning and development.
• Assume commitments.
• Open attitude and understanding of differences in thinking and behavior with other members of the community.
• Attitude of collaboration and communication with others.
• Attitude of respect and ethical and moral integration with society.

Graduates have a comprehensive education in basic sciences and engineering that they apply to problem-solving through the use of computer systems and media, simulation and process control, elements of materials technology, energy saving, and the necessary skills to develop new products and processes; enriched with the mastery of a language other than Spanish, which allows them to adapt to the globalized environment.

He/she has leadership skills, organizational capacity, integration and analysis of training, ability to adapt to changing situations, strategic thinking, entrepreneurial initiative, analytical and teamwork skills, communication skills, and values such as ethics, tolerance, honesty, and responsibility.

Knowledge

• The physical and chemical properties and standards governing the analysis methodologies for the characterization and valuation of crude oil, natural gas, and its derivatives.
• The bases of operation and calibration methodologies of instrumental analysis equipment.
• Statistical treatment of analytical and production data.
• Safety and hygiene measures, operation risks, process risks, transportation and storage of inputs and petroleum products.
• The administration of safety systems in process plants.
• Quality standards for raw materials, products in process, and finished products.
• Environmental regulations for waste in air, land, and water.
• The fundamentals of process engineering.
• Materials technologies and maintenance of machinery and equipment.
• The fundamentals of control and instrumentation theory and calibration procedures for measuring and controlling instruments.
• Basic knowledge of process equipment.
• The design, and selection of equipment and process plants.
• Modeling, simulation, and optimization of process equipment and plants.
• Project engineering methodologies.
• Refining technologies for crude oil, natural gas, and petrochemical derivatives.
• The bases for the administration of companies and their quality systems.

Skills

• Associate and apply the principles, theories, and laws of the phenomena related to the transport and physical and chemical transformations of petroleum and natural gas for their industrial utilization.
• Apply the fundamentals of petroleum chemical engineering in the solution of problems in the analysis, design, and control of industrial equipment within the framework of microeconomics.
• Plan, analyze, design, operate, direct and maintain crude oil and natural gas storage, distribution, and transformation systems.
• Adequately use computer software for the statistical treatment of analytical and process data and their interpretation.
• Establish sampling methodologies and procedures for process streams.
• Use tables and data banks of properties of crude oil, natural gas, and its derivatives. As well as the norms and procedures for the quality control of inputs and products.
• Manage norms and procedures for the control of contaminants in process plants.
• Apply and supervise safety and hygiene measures, operation risk prevention, contingency management, and waste control.
• Apply start-up, operation, and shutdown procedures for process plants and supervise calibration and maintenance programs for control instruments.
• Use design codes, material selection, and follow-up maintenance programs.
• Schedule and supervise inspection and safety procedures for the prevention of accidents in process equipment, transportation, distribution, and storage.
• Schedule and supervise equipment wear evaluation tests to ensure equipment operation.
• Implement standards and verify quality procedures for production processes and promote certification and maintenance of quality systems.
• Model, simulate and optimize equipment and process plants through the use of computational tools.
• Apply technical, economic, and administrative fundamentals to the development of project engineering.
• Use refining technologies of crude oil, natural gas, and petrochemical derivatives.
• Apply the fundamentals of business administration and quality systems.

Attitudes and Values

• To promote individual and collaborative work in a methodical, effective, and efficient way, with empathy and self-knowledge to exercise leadership in the organization.
• Apply refining technologies for crude oil, natural gas, and petrochemical derivatives with criteria of sustainability and respect for the environment.
• Interpret with ethical criteria the results of the physical and chemical analysis for feedback on the operation of the processes in compliance with the operating conditions, product quality, and environmental care.
• Operate process plants with ethical criteria to protect personnel, facilities, and the environment.
• Strictly comply with inspection and safety procedures in process plants, transportation, distribution, and storage in the oil industry by company policies.
• Comply in time and form with production, inspection, and safety programs.
• Promote tolerance and coexistence between inspection and safety personnel and operation and maintenance personnel.
• Manage the implementation, operation, and maintenance of quality systems according to the work environment.
• Participate and promote tolerance and coexistence among the members involved in the quality systems.
• Perform with criteria and ethical responsibility the works of formulation, development, and evaluation of Project Engineering.

The requirements to become a student at the Institute are:

1. To comply with the academic background and other requirements indicated in the respective call for applications.
2. To take the admission exam for the higher level.
3. To be selected for admission.

The professional fields for which the Petroleum Chemical Engineer is trained are very diverse and range from design, installation, and operation of plants, simulation and optimization of processes, technical sales, management with a business vision, quality control, research and technological development, hygiene, safety, and industrial legislation, environmental care, energy saving, technical assistance, and teaching, among others.

Check the list of subjects, credits and total hours of the program in:

• ESIQIE