  A comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the scientific production of
Chemical Engineering area has been carried out using the Web of Science
database for the period 2000-2011 through three complementary studies. Part 3
has analyzed the distribution of words in article titles, keyword plus and
author keywords of both total scientific production and the 1,000 most cited
publications. The main areas of Chemical Engineering have been identified; they
are mainly related to chemical reaction engineering such as catalysis,
reactors, kinetics, and unit operations such as adsorption. Furthermore, a
total of ten hotspots in the area have been identified: hydrogen as a new
energy vector, wastewater treatments, carbon dioxide (capture and
sequestration), photocatalysis, nanoparticles, biodiesel, nanotubes, ionic
liquids, advanced oxidation processes, membranes, fuel cells and the use of
biomass as raw material (e.g. bioethanol, energy production, etc.). Results
obtained suggest thematic areas and research trends can be easier analyzed
through the most cited publications, decreasing significantly the time
necessary for these analyses. Words in article title, keyword plus and author
keywords are complementary, however, author keywords are suggested as the
source of most useful data. Compared to other strategies, the author keywords
are more valuable for identifying research areas and trends, and the total
number of words to be analyzed is lower. Whatever the case, authors recommend a
revision of the results obtained by experts in the area to avoid inaccurate
results and get the most meaningful information.
