Books

Fluid Flow for the numerical methods (including computing), economics and
Practicing Chemical Engineer finance, and biomedical engineering (the book includes a
James P. Abulencia and Louis Theodore, discussion of the human cardiovascular system from a fluid
John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 600 pages, $110, flow perspective). A final chapter presents open-ended prob-
July 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-31763-1 lems — describing approaches to situations for which there
Fluid flow and fluid mechanics have is usually no unique solution.
been covered in many books, but Two subjects of industrial importance that I would
only a handful deal specifically with have liked the authors to have included are slurry flow and
fluid flow in chemical engineering unsteady-state flow problems (e.g., calculation of drain time
operations. This book is one of those. of a liquid flowing by gravity from a vessel through piping,
The book’s first section estab- and calculation of discharge time of a gas from a pressure
lishes a foundation in the technology. vessel to the atmosphere).
Opening chapters provide a history This book provides many examples, and each chapter
of chemical engineering fluid flow, offers references (although many are relatively old). These
terms and definitions, and a discus- supplements enhance the usefulness of the volume, which
sion of transport phenomena versus should be a valuable textbook for an undergraduate course
unit operations. Introductory material on fluid flow and fluid mechanics for chemical engineers.
on Newtonian fluids and non-Newtonian flow is rather cur- Stanley S. Grossel,
sory, but helps to instill an understanding of fluid flow equip- Process Safety and Design Consultant, Clifton, NJ
ment design and operation.
The second section covers basic laws that are germane to Wiley Guide to Chemical
all practicing engineers — including Conservation Law for Incompatibilities, 3rd Edition
Mass, Conservation Law for Energy, Conservation Law for Richard P. Pohanish and Stanley A. Greene,
Momentum, Law of Hydrostatics, and Ideal Gas Law. John E. Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, NJ, 1,100 pages, $175,
A section on fluid flow classification follows, cover- Aug. 2009, ISBN: 978-0-470-38763-4
ing topics such as fluid flow mechanics, laminar flow, and Identifying chemical reactivity
turbulent flow. A chapter on two-phase flow is limited in hazards and managing them prop-
scope; there is no discussion of flow in vertical piping or erly is a key part of the job of every
flow regime maps, which are important in industrial practice. chemist and chemical engineer.
Hopefully, the authors will correct this in the next edition. These hazards may arise in the form
Fluid flow transport and applications — including prime of unstable chemicals, unintentional
movers (fans, pumps, and compressors), valves and fittings, mixing of incompatible chemicals,
flow measurement, and ventilation — are well-covered in and intended chemical reactions that
the book’s next portion. Examples illustrate how the con- get out of control. The new third edi-
cepts discussed in the prior chapters are applied. tion of “The Wiley Guide to Chemi-
Another section on fluid-particle applications deals cal Incompatibilities” is a good
primarily with theory, with little information provided on reference for practitioners involved
equipment. Chapters are devoted to particle dynamics, in the former two categories.
sedimentation, centrifugation, flotation, porous media and This updated and expanded reference compiles
packed beds, fluidization, and filtration. chemical reactivity data for more than 11,000 compounds,
The book also highlights seven topics that the Accredi- including 9,000 incompatibility profiles — significantly
tation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) has more data than are available from any other source. Chemi-
recently indicated should be included in any engineering cals are listed in alphabetical order by a variety of names,
curriculum. These topics include environmental manage- including IUPAC name, common names, and trade names.
ment and accident and emergency management. In these This approach generally enables the user to find data for
discussions, I felt that more information on fluid flow appli- the chemical in question, although not quite as easily as the
cations in process safety should have been included (e.g., somewhat less comprehensive but well-indexed “Brether-
calculation of pressure drop in relief device vent piping). ick’s Handbook of Chemical Reactivity” (Elsevier).
Also addressed are other topics on the roster of ABET- The new Wiley Guide also lacks the structure drawings
recommended subject matter, including engineering ethics, available in the competitive work, which can be useful in

CEP December 2009 www.aiche.org/cep 49

identifying the chemical being researched. BNG model gives precise guidance to chemical engineers,
A bigger drawback of this book is its title. “Chemical chemists and other scientists working in research, quality
Incompatibilities” hints that the book contains informa- control, product development, production processes, pilot
tion about hazardous chemical interactions, but it may also plant operations, and manufacturing.
suggest that it addresses other types of incompatibilities The concepts in the book have been applied to the
— such as those that might arise in chemical formulations, precipitation of inorganic materials such as silver halides
two-phase mixtures, and so on. To demonstrate the potential in the photographic industry, and to organic systems such
confusion, a Google search on “reactive chemicals” does not as latexes, dyes, and pigments. Other applications are for
identify this book. crystalline materials used as pharmaceuticals, catalysts, and
An excellent companion to “The Wiley Guide to Chemi- imaging systems for separations and surface modifications.
cal Incompatibilities” is the NOAA Chemical Reactivity The book contains information that has not been previ-
Worksheet, available as a free download at http://response. ously available, and offers a unique opportunity for the
restoration.noaa.gov/chemaids/react.html. Although not as reader to learn up-to-date principles for precision controlled
comprehensive as the Wiley book, the Worksheet provides precipitation.
data on hazardous chemical interactions of individual
chemicals and pairs of chemicals, while assisting the user in Chemorheology of Polymers:
preparing a chemical interaction matrix in support of process From Fundamental Principles
design and hazard analysis. to Reactive Processing
Another useful resource is the AIChE/CCPS book Peter J. Halley and Graeme A. George, Cambridge
“Essential Practices for Managing Chemical Reactivity University Press, New York, NY, 454
Hazards” (www.aiche.org/Publications/). pages, $150,
Scott Berger June 2009, ISBN: 978-0-521-80719-7
Director, AIChE’s Industry Technology Alliances Plastics are the most diverse materials
in use today, and the increasing reliance
Precision Crystallization: Theory and on high-performance plastics demands
Practice of Controlling Crystal Size new ways of manufacturing polymers.
Ingo H. Leubner, CRC Press, Boca One way of doing this is through reac-
Raton, FL, 216 pages, $200, Sept. tive processing, the dynamics of which
2009, ISBN: 978-1-439-80674-6 place new demands on characterization,
Crystalline materials make up an esti- systems monitoring, and control of the complete manufac-
mated 80% of chemical and pharmaceu- turing process.
tical products. Yet few resources have The volume is a comprehensive resource for research-
been available to offer chemists and ers and practitioners working in reactive polymers and
product engineers practical guidance on processing. The book’s extended introduction is devoted to
achieving precision control of crystal the chemistry and physics of thermoplastics, thermosets and
size and size distribution — an impor- reactive polymers. Polymer characterization tools related to
tant factor in product applications. reactive polymer systems are then discussed in detail, with
This volume presents the tools to control crystal nucle- emphasis on techniques that can be adapted to real-time
ation — the key to controlling crystal size and size distribu- process monitoring.
tion for batch and continuous crystallizations. The core of the book focuses on the understanding and
Based on the author’s balanced nucleation and growth modeling of the flow behavior of reactive polymers (chemo-
(BNG) model, the book demonstrates how the results of rheology) — a complex subject, as it involves the chang-
the nucleation process are quantitatively related to practical ing chemistry, rheology and physical properties of reactive
experimental control values — such as reactant addition rate, polymers and the interplay among these properties.
crystal solubility, temperature, residence time, and the effect This book differs from many other texts on reactive
of ripening agents (crystal supersizing) and crystal growth polymers due to its breadth of coverage. It offers a complete
restrainers (crystal nanosizing) during nucleation. review of the practical industrial processes used for poly-
The author shows how the BNG theory predicts previ- mers, and provides insight into current chemorheological
ously unknown phenomena, and how it corrects errone- models and tools used to describe and control each process.
ous perceptions of the importance of reaction volume on The book should be useful to advanced students and
the outcome of crystal nucleation. Going beyond classical researchers, as well as industrial practitioners wishing to
nucleation theories (which often rely on guesswork), the move into the field of reactive polymer systems.

50 www.aiche.org/cep December 2009 CEP