Review by Choice Review
Denn (City College of NY, CUNY) states that "the intent of this text is to provide a fundamental understanding of the elements of chemical engineering and to provide a flavor of the challenges that a chemical engineer might face." The focus is on mass and energy balances in liquid phase systems, with most space devoted to reacting systems of various kinds. The author also emphasizes mass transfer and separations processes and provides one chapter on heat exchange. The examples are typical of problems that are normally included in the fundamental components of the usual required courses, such as material and energy balances, heat transfer, mass transfer and separations processes, and kinetics and reactor design (although problems illustrating applications of fluid mechanics are conspicuously absent). The mathematical level is that of a first-year calculus course, and many of the examples involve solutions to linear ordinary differential equations. The examples are intended to illustrate what is expected of the student as a chemical engineering graduate, and in the courses that follow in the core curriculum. Although proposed as an introductory text, the book seems a bit advanced for students who have had no prior exposure to the chemical process industries. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. R. Darby emeritus, Texas A&M University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
