Is biotechnology a branch of chemical engineering?

no

its a branch of biology.

Biochemical Engineering is the appropriate branch of Chemical Engineering. Biotechnology is a general term used to encompass the transformation of raw materials into products using living organisms. Biochemical engineering uses engineering science to describe the reaction, recovery and purification steps. It bridges the gap between microbiology and commerical production.

No but it intersects. Chemical engineers may be required to facilitate biochemical reactions on an industrial scale but generally the academic elements of biotechnology and the small scale investigations are not generally considered as a chemical engineering subject. But it is all just a question of definition.

Bio reactions are a pain to work with on industrial scales.

certain parts are...i am majoring in bio-processing which is basically dealing with anything biological on a large scale using bio-reactors etc