Customer Reviews

Introductory Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics

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

 

 

I have used this textbook for the last three years in my undergraduate chemical engineering thermodynamics course. Material is presented in a general way and teaches students general problem solving strategies so they can solve any problem, not just a few convenient special cases. There are numerous examples provided for each section of the text and each example is presented step by step. There are a wide range of problems provided at various levels of difficulty from easy to very difficult. In addition, the authors provide a number of Excel spreadsheets and computer programs so that students can solve very complicated phase equilibria problems with little effort.

The only negative comment I have is that the last copy of this textbook I recieved was printed poorly, and the binding fell apart after only one semester of use. The previous two copies I received did not have this problem.

In response to the poster who said their tutor called it a "waste of money", one should keep in mind that this is a chemical engineering textbook, while the Boles text is geared toward mechanical engineers. By the time chemical engineering students take thermodynamics, they have had a year of chemistry, followed by organic chemistry and physical chemistry (or are taking p-chem at the same time as their thermodynamics course). In addition, ChE majors also get basic thermodynamics (1st Law energy balances) in Material and Energy Balances. This text picks up right where the MEB course ends.

I have read the book that was written by Prof. Elliott and Prof. Lira while I was a M.Sc student in Iran. Chapter 15 captured my interests and that's why now I am a Ph.D. student in Prof. Elliott's group. I would suggest the authors to update Chapter 15 and give more FORTRAN programs related to this chapter to readers and explain it in a more coherent way. Also, they should compare their's with Sandler's thermo book to gather some new ideas for the next edition. The name of the book also should be changed for future edition since it's objective is for both undergraduate and graduate students. Finally, I should say that this book was the best thermo book I have ever read.
Amir Vahid
[...]

Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics is a very abstract course with very tough concepts to master. The book Introductory Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics by J. Richard Elliott was the book that got me through the course. In my opinion this book was the best book on thermodynamics for an introductory course. I'am comparing his book to two other books on thermodynamics; Chemical Thermodynamics by Peter A. Rock and, An Introduction to Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics fourth edition by Smith and Van Ness. Elliott's book had a better steam table and more worked out example problems that were easy to find, compared to the two other books. The only hangup I had with the book were the concepts introduced in the section labled Unit III. The first concepts such as Bubble Pressure and Temperature were easy to follow but later concepts such as derivations of fugacity coefficientfrom different equations of state could be explained more clearly. Overall the book was better than the other two and I would recommend Dr. Elloitt's book to any of my peers.

How do you write a textbook explaining everything in detail? You can't and this is why students have instructors. This book is an INTRODUCTORY text for thermodynamics. For example, you can't derive departure functions for every equation of state. There are just too many of them. The book did have many useful example problems. Still it wasn't enough. I just completed my thermodynamics course at the University of Akron and I had to develop my own comprehensive view of the ideas stated in the book. It was very useful as a tool, but don't expect to teach yourself thermodynamics from it. That's what your instructor is for. You can understand concepts by concentrating on the many useful analogies given in the book. For example, the parking lot analogy which explains radial distribution. I have some advice when going through this book. You are chemical engineer majors; the one major that can do anything. At this stage of the game, you should start thinking like an engineer thinks. For example, the guy who wanted to know why dh=0 for throttles. He should be try to figure out that on his own. That is what engineers are supposed to do. Instructors explain this in class, as well. I agree that Chapter 4 was very vague, but again, this is an introductory course. We have two more years of learning. In conclusion, don't expect to learn everything about thermodynamics from this book. You won't. But do expect to learn the basic principles about thermodynamics. That is the strong point of this book.

This text book is a great chemical engineering thermo text book, specifically if you have had a general thermo introductory course already. I say this because even though this text book introduces you to all the basic concepts, it doesn't derive certain basic concepts. Like why the constant volume heat capacity and constant pressure heat capacity are what they are and why the constant pressure heat capacity is always larger than the constant Volume one. In a basic thermo course you will get to derive these answers and you'd understand why this would be the case rather than just accepting those identities. That being said, this text book is invaluable.

A decent introduction to Thermodynamics. Some very good examples, just not enough of them. The steam and property tables are very clear and user friendly. A little more explanation of some topics, especially the classical relations would help.

Having just completed Elliot's introductory thermodynamics course at the University of Akron with the pre-published version of this book, I would have to point out that several of the concepts introduced after chapter 4 are vaguely explained. I say this because several other books had to be used to gain a full understanding of the concepts. The example problems are another area of major concern throughout the entire book. The example problems often have several crucial steps skipped and offer a poor correlation between the homework problems at the end of the chapters. This is not to mention the numerous errors still found in the solutions of the sample problems.

I found this book to be rather unsatisfactory. I realize this is an APPLIED thermodynamics book intended for chemical engineers, but I still think it wholly incomprehensive. NOWHERE in the book is there even a sentence regarding the themodynamics of chemical reactions. Aren't chemical reactions important to the engineers performing them? Also, the majority of the mathematics behind all of the derivations is not included. Example: "for a throttle, dH=0." I realize this is somewhat intuitive, but mention could at least be made of the reasoning behind it, guys (and preferrably more than one paragraph).

I think the text was pretty good; it made you consult references frequently, and that is a necessary skill to have as an engineer. As an engineer you have to know how to pick up theory and put it to use quickly. The problems were rough and time consuming, but that's because no problems in engineering are easy! When completed, though, you are satisfied. To the last guy: "physics" is the one major that can do anything! Everything in science is either physics or bug collecting, whether you like it or not :) But, engineering is more marketable.

It was great... I order a newer book with expideted shiping. Guess what IT DID NOT ARRIVE. So this was a little damage in the cover arrive promptly and was my best choice. The book was in better conditions of what I expected.