Customer Reviews

Bioprocess Engineering: Basic Concepts (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bioprocess Engineering is an excellent reference for anyone interested in biotechnology. It begins by introducing the cell, enzymes and major metabolic pathways and then moves into an analysis of growth kinetics and stoichiometry for both wild type and genetically engineered cells. Then the theme turns to the design of bioreactors and the basics of product recovery and purification.

Overall, the book provides an excellent overview of bioprocess engineering. The text is simple to read and is based upon the basic systems that would be encountered in the real world. The examples demonstrate how to solve problems via multiple approaches and the graphs provide an excellent reference. More advanced sections lay out problem solving techniques for more challenging systems.

This was the book for my introductory bioprocess engineering course. I felt it covered the quantitative areas, such as enzyme kinetics, bioreactor design, stoichiometry, etc.., quite well. However, the qualitative sections, such as DNA replication, metabolic pathways, and cell function, etc.., are explained way too quickly and lightly for someone with little or no training in Biology. Upon reading a few pages into one of these qualitative sections, you quickly find the author throwing terms at you that he never defined (to be fair, it would take an extra 100 pages to define all of these terms). Also, the text has some really unfortunate typos, typos so severe they may actually hinder your learning (subscripts change for no reason, two different constants given the same symbol, etc.) Biology folks will be happy, but ChEs with no knowledge of Biology may want to stick to the section on bioprocess engineering in Fogler.

Even though the textbook's content is well written and clear, there were several big downsides (for me).

The first was that the text sometimes skips steps in the derivations, and simply presents the final solutions. This is fine if you simply want the end result. But, if you are interested in the fundamentals as well, you will be slightly disappointed.

The second major drawback for me was the abysmal quality of the illustrations. All the illustrations are in black and white, and they are beyond plain. They appear to have been done in Microsoft Paint by someone with little passion for their work.

For someone who is a visual learner, the illustrations might be a deal breaker when it comes to this text.

Aside from that, the content is quite competently written.

Pros: Good layout and order of material. Fairly clear in bridging theory with practice.
Cons: Bad binding, had to replace once already. Some of the example questions are put together poorly; i.e. bad data, poor use of equations and material.
Overall: 5 stars for effort and material, 1 star for quality and thoroughness = 3 stars overall.

After having worked in another industry for a few years, I bought the book to review and update my knowledge of bioprocess engineering. I am extremely pleased, and recommend it almost without reservation. After an introduction, the next few chapters provide a solid basis in cell biology, incorporating recent advances in that field. Part 3 ("Engineering Principles for Bioprocesses") and Part 4 ("Applications to Nonconventional Biological Systems") appear well laid out an balanced, though I admit I have only scanned those sections. The valuable Appendix describes several "traditional" bioprocesses (roughly meaning processes that were commercial before 1970), presenting the process development history of Penicillin, HFCS, and other products.
The small complaint is this. The authors could give more details of available process equipment and fewer derivations of equations for calculations that working Chemical Engineers are never likely to perform. This is true, I'm afraid, of most Chemical Engineering books.

Had to use this textbook for class; so to preface this review, I had a bad teacher which frustrated me along with the book.

The book is weird. On some topics it goes way too in depth (enzymes) meanwhile on other things (organisms) it barely touches. To be honest this is a difficult topic to cover as this book attempts to teach all of Biotech Processing, but nonetheless they went about it awkwardly. Doesn't serve as a fantastic reference book, nor does it serve as a great high level overview. Not overly thrilled.

Go Yellow Jackets!

The book came in a perfect condition...I am a chemical engineer and needed something to upgrade my knowledge to the biotech industry as I got work in the industry..this was a perfect buy and it complemented my knowledge and provided me with the details I needed...

Excellent for engineers that are not very used to biology.
Theory and examples of almost all operations in biotech processes.

Good overview and introduction for bioprocess engineering. However, it's not so good if you want to know more detail, but it does say it covers "basic concepts", which is what it does in a clear concise way.

This book looks scary, but it is really a great book. Although it all black and white, I enjoy reading it.