Mixing in The Process Industries

shell and tube heat exchangers, compact Fluid Mixing Technology ids-solids mixing.
A notable omission is a
heat exchangers); prime movers (steam chapter devoted to theory and
By James y . Oldshue, McGraw-Hill,New
turbines and engines, gas turbines, inter- York, 1983, 574 pp., $41.00. modeling.
nal combustion engines, jet and rocket en- E. B. Nauman
gines); coal technology; nuclear technolo- Mixing in the Process Industries Dept. of Chemical Engineering
gy; petroleum technology; gas technolo- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
By N. Harnby, M. F.Edwards, and A. W. Nie- Troy, N Y 12180-3590
gy;
-. solar-derived power; geothermal ener- now, Butterworths. London, 1985.374 pp.,
..
gy; environmental control; electricity $87.95.
What Every Engineer Should Know
generation, distribution and use; ad- Liquid-liquid, liquid-gas, and liquid-
vanced energy systems; guide to codes, solids mixing in batch vessels is the pri-
About Computer Modeling and
standards, and reference material; engi- mary topic of both these books. It has Simulation
neering mathematics; conversion factors; been nearly twenty years since the last By D. M. Ingels. Marcel Dekker. Inc.. 1985,
physical and critical constants; transport comprehensive treatment (Uhl and Gray, 176 pp.. 827.50
properties; steam tables, etc. Mixing: Theory and Practice, Academic The title gives the impression that this
As might be expected of a handbook Press, 1966), and the present books pro- book could be a guide for students and
prepared by nearly 100 authors, individ- vide a welcome update and overview. practicing engineers interested in com-
ual contributions and chapters exhibit Mixing in the Process Industries will be puter modeling and simulation. Unfortu-
widely varying quality and topical cover- of more use to researchers, while Fluid nately, the text falls short in many areas
age. Many chapters are marred by inade- Mixing Technology is recommended for and turns out to be little more than a phil-
quate lists of references, which appear the practicing engineer who has no inter- osophical overview of the process of com-
thorough elsewhere (e.g., in the chapter est in becoming a specialist but wants puter modeling and simulation. Although
on nuclear technology and the section on some general background in the field. the intended audience are newcomers to
biomass conversion under solar-derived The Oldshue book defines the termi- the field, the book provides little more
power). This problem requires correction nology of batch mixing and explains some than an organization of the step-by-step
in a future edition. The index appearing general design considerations. A helpful approach used in the production of large
a t the end of the book, however, is com- feature in the book is the keywords sec- software packages.
plete and useful. tion and miniindex provided at the end of The text opens with a brief introduc-
There are important developing energy each chapter, which allows the reader to tion into computer modeling and simula-
technologies that are covered either too review the main points. The book rarely tion. The next three chapters deal with
briefly or not at all, viz., tars and heavy provides enough information to make a methodology, defining and analyzing the
oils, synthetic fuels, fusion energy, and specific design choice. Many graphs dis- problem, and generating mathematical
geothermal energy from hot, dry rocks. play “typical results” without specifying models, respectively. These chapters do
The chapter called “Advanced Energy the experimental system. This is accept- not contain significant amounts of useful
Systems” is an unusual collection of top- able in a field that relies heavily on past information and lack the illustrations re-
ics, namely, the hydrogen economy experience and on the conservative quired to emphasize major points. The
(rather complete), fusion power (disposed scaleup of specific, pilot plant results. material presented in these chapters is
of in 7 pp), and laser diagnostics (dealing Fluid Mixing Technology realistically better stated with greater applicability to
only with holography, speckle interferom- portrays modern, commercial practice in chemical engineering in the text by R.
etry, pnd computer-aided interpretation the design and analysis of batch mixers. Ark, Mathematical Modelling Tech-
of laser images). Chapter 17 on “Engi- There has been comparatively little im- niques, Pittman, 1978.
neering Mathematics” is a substantially pact from the transport phenomena ap- Chapter 5 describes solution tech-
augmented handbook compilation of proach that had revolutionized some as- niques for mathematical models. The
mathematical formulas. pects of chemical engineering design. techniques illustrated are very old and
This book has some, but not many Those interested in research on mixing many are no longer used in modern math-
typographical errors. Essentially all of must accept this both as a frustration and ematical software. The latest reference in
the topics are covered by experts, who as a challenge. this chapter is 1977 with many in the
possess firsthand information about the Mixing in the Process Industries was 1950’s and 1960’s. Since numerical anal-
systems and techniques they describe. cohesively written by the editors, who ysis is a rapidly changing area, this chap-
The utility of the book derives from this were also the major contributors. All ter is out of date.
hands-on experience of the authors, as three are academics, and they set a rather Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the devel-
will become apparent to readers of the different tone for the book than that by opment of the computer model and the
chapters dealing with energy systems, 0ldshue.Their coverage tends to be more overall simulation, respectively. Chapter
coal, nuclear, petroleum, solar, and geo- detailed, and they provide comprehensive 6 is well written and is the saving point of
thermal technologies. This handbook references and an indication of current the text. A good discussion of computer
should prove to be useful to energy engi- research directions. Although their book languages suitable for simulations and
neers working in many fields. is still primarily intended for the nonspe- characteristics of good software, e.g.,
S. S. Penner cialist, Harnby, Edwards and Nienow transportability are presented. Finally,
Professor of Engineering Physics and hint at how the field may ultimately Chapter 7 reviews many of the previous
Director, Center for Energy evolve from engineering empiricism to
and Combustion Research discussions and provides an outline of
University of California, San Diego engineering science. A special feature in steps to follow from the beginning to the
La Jolla, CA 92093 the book is an extensive discussion of sol- end of a computer simulation.
AIChE Journal August 1986 Vol. 32, No. 8 1403

Mixing in The Process Industries

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shell and tube heat exchangers, compact Fluid Mixing Technology ids-solids mixing.

AIChE Journal August 1986 Vol. 32, No. 8 1403

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