Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers

Book Description

This new edition of the most complete handbook for chemical and process engineers incorporates the latest information for engineers and practitioners who depend on it as a working tool. New material explores the recent trends and updates of gas treating and fractionator computer solutions analysis. Substantial additions to this edition include a new section on gasification that reflects the many new trends and techniques in the field and a treatment on compressible fluid flow.

This convenient volume provides engineers with hundreds of common sense techniques, shortcuts, and calculations to quickly and accurately solve day-to-day design, operations, and equipment problems. Here, in a compact, easy-to-use format, are practical tips, handy formulas, correlations, curves, charts, tables, and shortcut methods that will save engineers valuable time and effort.

* The standard handbook for chemical and process engineers

* All new material on pinch point analysis on networks of heat exchangers and updates on gas treating in process design and heat transfer

* Hundreds of common sense techniques and calculations

Customer Reviews:

Useful but read the fine print.......2007-06-10

This reference is highly useful for consulting work. It has its limits. A true rule-of-thumb book for chemical engineers would require volumes so I would say the author did well, hence the 5 stars. A good example of the limits of this book are what he does with knock-out pots. He limits his presentation to reflux drums instead of expanding his study to KO pots in general. The section on reflux drums is difficult to use because the tables presented for liquid holding times is difficult to understand, let alone use. The reader would be tempted to use this method for KO pots unless he sees the fine print in the corner of the page. Look for these caveates.

The index is good, which is critical for such a reference. If I had a choice between buying Hicks or Branan, it would be a hard choice. I would probably advise the cheaper book, Branan. Besides, Hicks, "Standard Handbook of Engineering Calculations," covers a broad range of engineering calculations. Branan is more focused on chemical engineering. It is unfortunate that it is not expanded to cover more of the field.

If this review was helpful, please add your vote.

Question about Units used (US and Metric?).......2006-09-19

Hi

I do not have a copy of the current edition, but a year ago I investigated purchasing a previous edition. What deterred me at the time was that all tips, tricks and equations etc. were in US units and thus only of very limited appeal to the Metric world.

A question to a reviewer of the 4th edition - has the book become "international", i.e. quoting metric and US units? If not, it shall remain of limited desirability in the free world.

Roland

From an Industrial Practitioner - This is an Excellent Quick Reference.......2006-07-11

This book is an excellent and priceless reference on Process Equipment Fundamentals and Quick Calculations for any engineer or practitioner working in the process industries. I am an Electronic Engineer, but I have been working for the last 16 years as an Instrumentation, Automation and Process Control Engineer for the Oil & Gas Industry. As a result I have been involved with Chemical Engineering issues in a day to day basic.

I have found this book to be an excellent tool aid to analyze operational problems that affect process performance.

Chemical engineers working in operations and design for the process industries will find this book most useful.

A MUST HAVE books for Chemical Engineers.......2000-10-08

This is one of the few MUST HAVE books for Chemical Engineers doing process engineering. When I travel (for work) I always take "Transport Phenomena" (aka BSL), The GPA Databook and "Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers". Rules of Thumb... is a great reference for process design and trouble shooting field problems.

A Practical Tip: The best thing to do with "Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers" is to carefuly remove the binding and put it into a 3-hole notebook (e.g., the GPA databook) and then file all the classic process design articles with the appropriate chapters.

Outstanding compilation.......2000-06-08

This is a 400+ page perfect-bound book, 8-1/2 x 11 inch formt, packed with tips and short cuts for practicing chemical engineers. Branan has essentially scoured the popular press (e.g, Chemical Engineering Magazine, Hydrocarbon Processing, etc.) for articles and data. He's captured that data and organized it into his volume. In so doing, he omits most of the explanatory text and derivations. Instead, he prints the actual data, formulas, recommendations, and definitions (and, of course, references to the source material). This makes for a highly accessible book with tremendous practical value.

There are four main sections: 1) equipment design, 2) process design, 3) plant design, and 4) operations.

For example, one of the chapters within plant design is called "Safety." It contains the following parts: - Estimating LEL and Flash (provides method for estimating LEL given the stoichiometry of combustion and a vapor pressure curve) - Tank Blanketing (method for determining inert gas requirements for breathing losses and working losses; includes data maps of the US) - Equipment Purging (for dilution, pressure-cycle, and vacuum-cycle purging) - Static Charge from Fluid Flow (reprint of an article from Hydrocarbon Processing) - Mixture Flammability (method and examples for estimating) - Relief Manifolds (describes method adopted by API)

Book Description

Adapted from the Handbook of Environmental Engineering Calculations, Water and Waste Water Calculations Manual is designed as a quick-reference resource for solving most of the mathematical problems encountered by professionals specializing in water and wastewater. Calculations methods for all areas water and waste water are represented and practical solutions are provided. Water and Waste Water Calculations Manual includes such topics as conversion factors, calculations for flows in aquifers, pumping, stream sanitation, techniques for classification of lake water quality, hydraulics for environmental engineers pipe networks for water supply distribution and fundamental concepts of water flow in pipes, weirs, orifices and open channels.

Customer Reviews:

the book is one of the best i have read regarding waste water.......2007-05-21

regading the waste water engineering the book is very nice and can help in waste water plant desing and engineering
i advice every engineer working with waste water treatment plants to own such a book

Very Helpfull.......2006-06-26

If you're interested in design for water and waste water treatment I recommend this text for you

Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Fourth Edition, Volume Two: Process Control and Optimization

Average customer rating:

Before we can control a Process, first we must fully understand it and all of its components
Authoritative book on Process Control
This is like the bible for process control

Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Fourth Edition, Volume Two: Process Control and Optimization

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Instrument Engineers' Handbook, Volume 1, Fourth Edition: Process Measurement and Analysis
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Flow Measurement Engineering Handbook
Process/Industrial Instruments and Controls Handbook, 5th Edition
Schaum's Outline of Laplace Transforms

ASIN: 0849310814

Book Description

The latest update to Bela Liptak's acclaimed "bible" of instrument engineering is now available. Retaining the format that made the previous editions bestsellers in their own right, the fourth edition of Process Control and Optimization continues the tradition of providing quick and easy access to highly practical information. The authors are practicing engineers, not theoretical people from academia, and their from-the-trenches advice has been repeatedly tested in real-life applications. Expanded coverage includes descriptions of overseas manufacturer's products and concepts, model-based optimization in control theory, new major inventions and innovations in control valves, and a full chapter devoted to safety. With more than 2000 graphs, figures, and tables, this all-inclusive encyclopedic volume replaces an entire library with one authoritative reference. The fourth edition brings the content of the previous editions completely up to date, incorporates the developments of the last decade, and broadens the horizons of the work from an American to a global perspective.

Customer Reviews:

Before we can control a Process, first we must fully understand it and all of its components.......2006-07-24

Absolutely the Very Best Process Control Reference for the Process Control Engineer - Now Updated and Expanded !!. This is the second volume of the Instrument Engineer's Handbook, and. as its title suggests, it deals with Process control and Optimization, covering everything from Control Hardware, Control Theory, Control Strategies, and the Control and Optimization of Specific Unit Operations.

The Chapters on Control Hardware cover in detail transmitters, controllers, control valves, regulators and other types of final control elements, PLCs, and other logic devices, human interfaces and displays, including the design of control rooms.

The Chapters on Control Theory and Control Strategies covers everything from control basics and PID controllers, to tuning methods, stability, process characteristics, process modeling and simulation, model-based control, genetic and other evolutionary algorithms, fuzzy logic programming, neural networks and other advance control strategies.

The Chapters on Control and Optimization of Unit Operations provide both in-depth of both the theory of operation and control, and practical implementation for the control of pumping, distillation, chemical reaction, heat transfer and many other.

While evaluating and reviewing such sophisticated topics about Process Control, this handbook also tries and succeeds to provide and reinforce the reader with the most useful tool for the Automation and Control Engineer: Common Sense. In order to emphasize the importance of Common Sense, the Author gives some practical recommendations that include the following ones:

- Before we can control a process, one must fully understand it.
- Being progressive is good, but being a guinea pig is not. Therefore is the wrong control strategy is implemented, the performance of even the most advanced digital hardware will be unacceptable.
- And Instrumentation, Automation, and Process Control Engineer or Technician is doing a good and better job by telling plant management what they need to know, and not what they like to hear.
- If an instrument is worth installing, it should also be worth calibrating and maintaining. No device can outperform the reference against it was calibrated.
- Trust your common sense not the sales literature. Independent performance evaluation based on the recommendation of international and national users associations should be done before installation, and not after it.

I am an Industrial Practitioner of Process Measurement & Control. I have been working in the Process Industries for more than 16 years as an Automation, Instrumentation, Process Safety and Process Control Engineer. I consider this book to be the very best reference in the field for anyone and everyone working in these areas or in areas related with their Industrial applications. You will find this handbook useful, either if your work is related with the engineering, maintenance or operation of Process Control Systems.

If you are a beginner to Process Control, you may also want to consider "Process Dynamics, Modeling, and Control (Topics in Chemical Engineering)" by Babatunde A. Ogunnaike, which is an excelent introductory reference to Chemical Processes Dynamics and Control.

Authoritative book on Process Control.......2002-10-15

This book is a Must Have in your Engineering Library.
Liptak provides extensive detail for this to be your one-stop-shop for controls as well as a great introduction & encyclopedia for the rookies.
Hats off to Liptak and his team.
Just brace yourself for the 1,500 pages of information !! ;)

This is like the bible for process control.......1999-07-29

The first edition was published in 1969, the second edition was released in 1982 (Volume 1) and 1985 (Volume 2). This latest edition comprises over 3000 pages between the 2 volumes. Each volume includes 8 chapters with many sub-headings per chapter.

The Flow Measurement (29 sub-headins) and Analytical Instrumentation (60 sub-headings) chapters were heavily revised for the 1995 edition of VOLUME 1. PLC's & Other Logic Devices (10 subheadings), DCS & Computer-based Systems (16 sub-headings) and Process Control Systems (27 sub-headings) were largely rewritten for the 1995 edition of VOLUME 2. Within each product-oriented sub-heading (eg. Magnetic Flowmeters, Infrared Analyzers, DCS Basic Packages), in addition to extensive treatment of the applicable technology, a comprehesive listing of manufacturers and typical price ranges is provided. Under Process Control Systems, a diverse group of applications (Airhandler Controls, Clean Room Controls, Distillation Advanced Controls, Compressor Controls, Reactor Control & Optimation and many others) is profiled. Throughout this handbook, process control is treated in the time-domain to minimize mathematical complications implicit in frequency-domain analysis. Its focus is the practicding engineer and explains most control phoenomena visually.

Over 250 contributing authors are listed, including many prestigious names immediately recognizable by process control professionals. Liptak personally authored a substantial number of revised and up-dated easlier contribution of pioneering practitioners. This opus is a tour de force.

Book Description

The industry standard reference for water treatment plant design and modernization has been updated to include hot topics such as security and design, vulnerability assessments, and planning against vandalism and sabotage, as well as the latest information on codes, regulations, and water quality standards.

* Latest code updates and new water quality standards
* Design operation and analysis of treatment facilities

Customer Reviews:

old information.......2007-10-05

This book was published in 1990. It has not been updated and contains old, outdated information regarding technology and regulations.

Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Energy and Power (Mechanical Engineers' Handbook)

Average customer rating:

Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Energy and Power (Mechanical Engineers' Handbook)

Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Materials and Mechanical Design (Mechanical Engineers' Handbook)
Mechanical Engineers' Handbook, Instrumentation, Systems, Controls, and MEMS (Mechanical Engineers' Handbook)

ASIN: 0471719889

Book Description

The updated revision of the bestseller—in a more useful format!

Mechanical Engineers' Handbook has a long tradition as a single resource of valuable information related to specialty areas in the diverse industries and job functions in which mechanical engineers work. This Third Edition, the most aggressive revision to date, goes beyond the straight data, formulas, and calculations provided in other handbooks and focuses on authoritative discussions, real-world examples, and insightful analyses while covering more topics than in previous editions.

In addition to chapters on thermophysical properties of fluids, fundamentals of fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, combustion, and furnaces, Book 4: Energy and Power features coverage of both conventional (gaseous and liquid fuels, coal, and nuclear) and alternative (solar, geothermal, and fuel cells) energy sources, plus chapters on power machinery, refrigeration and cryogenics, environmental issues, and thermal systems optimization. Much of the material in this book is new or extensively revised, including coverage of such topics as:

Heat pipes
Wind turbines
Fuel cells
Thermal systems optimization
Combustion
Fans, blowers, compressors, and pumps
Indoor environmental control
Fluid power

Springer Handbook of Engineering Statistics

Average customer rating:

wide variety of topics

Springer Handbook of Engineering Statistics

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1852338067

Book Description

Engineers and practitioners contribute to society through their ability to apply basic scientific principles to real problems in an effective and efficient manner. They must collect data to test their products every day as part of the design and testing process and also after the product or process has been rolled out to monitor its effectiveness. Model building, data collection, data analysis and data interpretation form the core of sound engineering practice.

After the data has been gathered the engineer must be able to sift them and interpret them correctly so that meaning can be exposed from a mass of undifferentiated numbers or facts. To do this he or she must be familiar with the fundamental concepts of correlation, uncertainty, variability and risk in the face of uncertainty.

In today’s global and highly competitive environment, continuous improvement in the processes and products of any field of engineering is essential for survival. Many organisations have shown that the first step to continuous improvement is to integrate the widespread use of statistics and basic data analysis into the manufacturing development process as well as into the day-to-day business decisions taken in regard to engineering processes.

The Springer Handbook of Engineering Statistics gathers together the full range of statistical techniques required by engineers from all fields to gain sensible statistical feedback on how their processes or products are functioning and to give them realistic predictions of how these could be improved.

Featuring:

Contributions from leading experts in statistics and their application to engineering from industrial control to academic medicine and financial risk management giving all-round authoritative coverage.
Wide-ranging selection of statistical techniques showing the proper way to use each to enable the reader to choose the method most appropriate for his or her purposes.
Extensive and easy-to-use subject index making information quickly available to the reader.

The handbook will be essential reading for all engineers and engineering-connected managers who are serious about keeping their methods and products at the cutting edge of quality and competitiveness.

Customer Reviews:

wide variety of topics.......2006-10-13

This Handbook is useful as a concise summary of statistical methods that engineers are likely to need. The chapters are perhaps a little too terse, if you have never dealt with their topics before. But, assuming some prior background, then delving into a given chapter as a refresher can be quite handy.

There is a large variety of topics covered. Including for monitoring quality control in manufacturing processes. Or for predicting reliability of a complex package of software. Unsurprisingly, queuing theory gets a big mention. A longstanding topic for many engineers. Fancier stuff like genetic algorithms also get attention. It is unclear how many engineers actually use this material, however.

One might wonder at the text's price. Out of reach of many students, though perhaps not for practising engineers.

Water Distribution Operator Training Handbook, 2nd Edition

Average customer rating:

required reading in california

Water Distribution Operator Training Handbook, 2nd Edition

Manufacturer: Amer Water Works Assn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1583210148

Customer Reviews:

required reading in california.......2002-03-12

This book is required reading if you plan to take the distribution exam. Other texts go into greater detail with pictures and expanded sections on safety etc but this book has the information needed for taking the dhs exam.

Water Distribution Operator Training Handbook 3e

Average customer rating:

Water Distribution Operator Training Handbook 3e

Manufacturer: American Waterworks Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Operator Certification Study Guide, Fifth Edition
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ASIN: 1583213724

Book Description

Updated from the 1999 edition, this will continue to be the best-selling operator training book for reference and certification study. Chapters cover water resources and production,

storage, distribution, chlorine handling, utility safety, system hydraulics,

pipe types, installation, maintenance, meters, pumps, motors, public relations, and overall system operations. Replaces ISBN 1-58321-014-8

Average customer rating:

The Engineer's Clean Air Handbook
Peter D. Osborn
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
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Environmental Compliance Manual for the Road and Rail Transportation Industries

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Environmental Compliance Manual for the Road and Rail Transportation Industries
Inc. Blymyer Engineers
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Companies
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Environmental compliance in the transportation industries has taken on increasing importance and complexity in recent years with many new regulations from EPA, DOT, OSHA. This book will provide corporate environmental managers, health & Safety directors, and those responsible for corporate environmental liability. It will provide a basic undersanading of the principles of environmental, health and safety regulations relative tohighway and rail transportation facilities by presenting them in clear, easily understood language. Industry-specific forms and an extensive checklist covering the most important regulatory issues associated with this transportation industry will provide practical guidance on self-aulditing, development and updating of corporate environmental policy manuals, and overall compliance of these complex reguations. Tips on preparing for OSHA inspections and an index of state environmental agency contacts will also be provided.

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