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The Chemical Engineer's Book Corner

coverChemical Engineering Volume 6: Chemical Engineering Design

Author(s): R. K. Sinnott
Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann

Bottom Line:  For a holistic view of chemical engineering design, this books provides as much, if not more, than any other book available on the topic.  Nearly every subject is accompanied by examples and new technologies are also addressed.  In short, a complete, well written and illustrated resource that is a pleasure to use.  The singular weakness may be the design projects included in this volume. 

Summary:  "Chemical Engineering Volume 6: Chemical Engineering Design" covers a wide variety of chemical engineering design topics ranging from flowsheeting to plant site location and everything in between.   The organization is the result of a third edition that seems to have taken reader feedback to heart.  Although no singular book can cover the design procedures for every piece of process equipment, the most common items are addressed well and with abundent resources being sited, you can easily get a push in the right direction to help you find exactly what you need.

     The book is divided into the following main sections: 
Introduction to Design
Fundamentals of Material Balances
Fundamentals of Energy Balances
Flow-sheeting
Piping and Instrumentation
Costing and Project Evaluation
Materials of Construction
Design Information and Data
Safety and Loss Prevention
Equipment Selection, Specification, and Design
Separation Columns
Heat Transfer Equipment
Mechanical Design of Process Equipment
General Site Considerations
Appendix

     It's worth mentioning that the appendix includes information such as graphical process flow symbols, corrosion charts, physical properties, conversion factors, flanges standards, design projects, equipment specification sheets, and tube-sheet layouts for shell and tube exchangers. 

Layout:    The book is spaced is such a manner that finding broken out examples is fast and easy.  The use of graphics and flowsheets to enhance the understanding of key concepts is very helpful.  The books includes both an author and subject index. 

From the Book:

Auxilliary Equipment for Evaporation
Condensers and vacuum pumps will be needed for evaporators operating under vacuum.  For aqueous solutions, steam ejectors and jet condensers are normally used.   Jet condensers are direct-contact condensers, where the vapor is condensed by contact with jets of cooling water.  Indirect, surface condensers, are used where it is necessary to keep the condensed vapor and cooling water effluent separate.

Highs:     A very comprehensive resource that addresses points missing from other design books.  The portion on the mechanical design of process equipment is particularily timely and often missing from the chemical engineer's knowledge base.  

Lows:     The sample computer programs are still being presented in BASIC and the design projects are certainly not the best ones available for students studying chemical engineering.

Overall:     For a design engineer, process engineer responsible for debottlenecking, or a senior level chemical engineering student this book scores big and will be very helpful.  The book is easy to use and addresses a wide variety of topics.  The author's ability to tie the subject matter to the "real" industrial world is quite an asset.   However, professors looking for good design project assignments should keep looking.

Rating:     3.5stars.gif (1022 bytes)  (out of four stars)

Star Guide:     starguide.gif (9683 bytes)

 


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