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Classroom example Tangent Design Engineering

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The question

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How it works

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Who does this work

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Ways in

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For you

About Tangent Design Engineering

For you

Sources

Why does a process that works in a lab need a new design at larger scale?

Tangent Design Engineering · Calgary consultancy and documented prototype build in its shop; the case study is undated.

Graphic-novel illustration. An engineer comparing a flow drawing with a demonstration skid.

Where it fits

Pick your class
  • Chemistry 20 · Quantitative relationships and process scale

How it works

Schematic · not to scale

Scale changes the engineering problem

Conceptual sequence: Start with a process demonstrated at laboratory scale. Plan flow, equipment and control needs. Build a larger demonstration system. Use testing to revise the design.

  1. Start with a process demonstrated at laboratory scale.

  2. Plan flow, equipment and control needs.

  3. Build a larger demonstration system.

  4. Use testing to revise the design.

Charts are illustrative, not company results. The generic skid illustrates the documented Katal scale-up case; it is not a drawing of the actual machine.

The lesson, in the real world

A working laboratory process still needs a design for the field.

  1. 1

    Katal had demonstrated a process in the laboratory but needed a larger system for testing and demonstration.

    Our explanation
  2. 2

    Tangent’s case study describes using process-flow and piping-and-instrumentation diagrams to plan the equipment and controls.

    Our explanation
  3. 3

    A multidisciplinary team designed and assembled a transportable skid, accounting for control, safety and packaging constraints.

    Our explanation
  4. 4

    The prototype provided a platform for further testing. Building a demonstration does not by itself establish commercial performance or environmental benefit.

    Our explanation
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)

Who does this work

All roles in this example

Role

Process engineering

Turn a useful transformation into a workable sequence of equipment and operating steps. Process engineers consider what enters, what leaves and what conditions the system must maintain.

Work area · The case names process engineers and flow-diagram work.General explanation, written by usSource: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)

What might you actually do?

  • Investigate

    Draw a flow of materials and energy through the system.

  • Test and compare

    Compare operating conditions and equipment options.

  • Explain and improve

    Use trial results to revise the process and communicate constraints.

Typical of this kind of work in general. Not a description of any one person’s job at Tangent Design Engineering.

Often works with
Laboratory staff, operators, mechanical designers and controls specialists
Classroom connection
Conservation of matter and energy connects classroom calculations to process decisions.

Related job postings

Similar work at other employers in Calgary, AB, not openings at Tangent Design Engineering. These are live searches: results change daily and we have not checked them.

How to prepare

  • Chemical Engineering

    University of Calgary

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Ways in

For your students

Ways to prepare for this work

Programs that teach skills this work uses. Each is one route in, not a requirement, and no program has endorsed this page.

Showing routes for process engineering. Show all

  • University of CalgaryBachelor’s degreeCalgary

    Chemical Engineering

    Study how to transform raw materials and design production processes.

    About this route

    Check the provider’s current prerequisites and intake availability. This is a related learning route, not a hiring promise or an employer requirement.

    Official program page(opens in a new tab)

    Why it connects to the work · our interpretation

    Process engineering

    Supports process design and scale-up; experience and professional requirements remain separate. Conservation of matter and energy connects classroom calculations to process decisions.

Ask the class

Use it in class

Ask the class

Why might multiplying every dimension of a laboratory setup by ten fail to produce a workable plant?

Ask students to fit a fictional process into a fixed rectangular footprint while leaving access for maintenance and showing measurement points. Compare designs against the same constraints.

Mindset it shows

Focus on relationships and access, not engineering specifications. The exercise is not a plan for handling hazardous materials or building the Katal process.

About Tangent Design Engineering

A working laboratory process still needs a design for the field.

Headquarters
Calgary consultancy and documented prototype build in its shop; the case study is undated.
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)
Local connection
Calgary consultancy and documented prototype build in its shop; the case study is undated.
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)
Team size
Not verified. We have not found a dated, sourced figure.
The problem
What has to change when a laboratory process becomes a transportable system?
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)
What they do
Engineering design, prototyping and integration services.
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)
Who uses it
Teams needing to test or demonstrate a technology beyond laboratory scale.
Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)

Tangent Design Engineering is a Calgary engineering and design consultancy. Its Katal case study describes designing and building a transportable demonstration skid for a refining process. Mechanical, electrical and process engineers worked with in-house millwrights to develop a controllable prototype that could fit in a shipping container.

Source: Katal project and Calgary shop(opens in a new tab)
Company website(opens in a new tab)
Who does this work

Read each source’s date and scope: a documented role is not proof of a current vacancy or of where every position is based.

Reported as Tangent Design Engineering states it. Tangent Design Engineering has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

Sources and course fit

Sources checked 15 Oct 2026

Where it fits

  • Chemistry 20 · Quantitative relationships and process scale

Editorial mapping to published CBE course topics. Pending educator review. No outcome-code alignment is claimed.

Organization claims are reported as the organization states them. Tangent Design Engineering has not reviewed or endorsed this page.

What we know, and how
TypeClaimHow we know
workTangent Design Engineering is a Calgary engineering and design consultancy. Its Katal case study describes designing and building a transportable demonstration skid for a refining process. Mechanical, electrical and process engineers worked with in-house millwrights to develop a controllable prototype that could fit in a shipping container.Source: Katal project and Calgary shopOrganization-stated
local connectionCalgary consultancy and documented prototype build in its shop; the case study is undated.Source: Katal project and Calgary shopOrganization-stated
course fitTrack material inputs and outputs as throughput grows; engineering layout and controls extend the chemistry rather than replacing quantitative relationships.Source: Alberta Chemistry 20–30 program of studies (updated 2014)Editorial connection to verified course topics
limitsTreat the story as an undated documented project, not a new announcement. Omit the case’s emissions-reduction percentage: the page does not provide the testing needed to substantiate it here.Source: Katal project and Calgary shopScope of this example

Solid green: the organization states it. Outlined: seen in a dated source. Dashed: our interpretation, not yet researched, or announced but not yet real.