Resources for a gentle introduction to chemical engineering

[knji]

What resources do you Chemical Engineers recommend for the gentle introduction to the subject for someone with a solid back ground in Control Theory?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[MJCronin]

knji....

I suggest the repetitive viewing of an old movie "The Lawnmower Man" about six or eight times.

That should about do it......

http://www.scifimoviepage.com/Lawn.html

My opinion only

-MJC

 

[jproj]

knji,

I don't think a gentle introduction really exists... For the most part, I guess you could simplify chemical engineering into material and energy balances with a mixture of fluid dynamics and chemical reactions. A good introductory book I refer to every once in a while is...

Elementary Principles of Chemical Processes by Richard Felder & Ronald Rousseau

There are several Fluid dynamics books out there. Finding a decent one isn't that difficult. I don't have my Kinetic's book in front of me, but given that I don't even like to open it, I don't figure you'd want to either...

Hope this helps.

jproj

 

[Yordif]

If your slanted toward the refining industry, Pennwell has a good series of books. I usually start my people off with "Refining in a Non Technical Language", the catalyst one is fairly good too.

 

[Montemayor]

knji:

jproj is correct. There is no “gentle” or “compassionate” method to learning or associating with the Chemical Engineering discipline. This part of engineering is just too diversified and broad to nail down without going through the entire, taxing, and tough curriculum taught at most top universities. The diversified curriculum makes it difficult to know what specific area of Ch E studies you are interested in or think you have an interest in. From the brief description of your background, I would assume that you are interested in pursuing Ch E training in process control and its applications – perhaps. If so, then you can stay away from the Kinetics, the Organic and Physical Chemistry, the abundant amount of Thermodynamics, Plant Design, Optimization, the Unit Processes, etc., etc. Control Theory would take you to the area(s) of Unit Operations (and others closely related. This helps in narrowing the field.

If that’s the case, then reading and enjoying such classic books by Greg Shinskey, like:

“Process Control Systems”; 3rd Edition; McGraw-Hill;
“Distillation Control”; 2nd Edition; also McGraw-Hill.

should be your idea of a control honeymoon. Not only was (& is) Greg Shinskey an outstanding international authority on Control Theory, but he has also written with a flair for communicating down-to-earth. Shinskey was not only “Mr. Foxboro” in his hey day, but he also is a Chemical Engineer by training who has written his books with all the ingredients so familiar to Ch Es and himself: the details of what makes a distillation tower work, the workings of heat exchangers, reactors, mixers, fluid transport, and many other Unit Operations. If you have read Shinskey, then you must have gotten the flavor of what a Ch E is trained to do and how he goes about it. Shinskey used the versatility of his Ch E training to apply himself in Process Control – and did it in style. I can think of no better “introductory” reading matter for engineers interested in knowing a little more about what Ch Es do or are supposed to know than Shinskey’s writings.

 

[quark]

Unit Operations in Chemical Engineering by McCabe and Smith can be a good resource.

 

[EMKWR]

I always had (or still have actually) a weak spot for Rules of thumb for chemical engineers:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...103-1972348-8223839?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

not completely a beginners book but very handy because it leaves out a lot of theoretical luggage.

Edwin Muller
KW2 Burau Veritas

http://www.kw2.nl

 

[EMKWR]

This one's more basic:
Basic Principles and Calculations in Chemical Engineering by David Himmelblau

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...3/ref=cm_lm_asin/103-1972348-8223839?v=glance

It includes a handy cd-rom

Edwin Muller
KW2 Burau Veritas

http://www.kw2.nl

 

[owg]

This reminds me of a chemical engineer friend at Edinburgh University who asked his tutor if there was a course in accounting for engineers. The tutor replied:
"Laddie, there's nae accounting for engineers." Please excuse the brogue, I do not wish to offend.

HAZOP at

http://www.curryhydrocarbons.ca

 

[Latexman]

When I was at NCSU many years ago, Richard Felder and Ronald Rousseau were there and they occasionally taught a Continuing Education accredited course with a title something like "Introduction to Chemical Engineering for non-Chemical Engineers". I think it was given once or twice a year at a few major cities like New York, Houston, etc. You could Google for that and see if it has survived.


Good luck,
Latexman

 

[knji]

I deeply appreciate all the responses.

Montemayor in particular, thank you for going into such depth. You hit the nail right on the head.