Customer Reviews

Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I just bought platinum edition of Perry's for $159, whichincludes both the book and this CD, a much better deal than paying$119 for the CD only. As for the quality of the CD, there are some things to like and some to hate about it. Since it's in Adobe Acrobat format, it's easy to print off a few pages, but it's fuzzy if you don't have a good laser-jet printer. You can't resize the font as you can in MSword or Wordperfect. Because of the 2-column layout of Perry's, it is very tedious trying to read a page from your screen using Acrobat, unless you happen to have 20/20 vision and a 21+-inch monitor. As far as the portability of the data goes, it's easy to copy (CTRL+C) and paste from the "active objects" which only cover part of all the data, but very messy to copy directly from Adobe Acrobat. My advice is if you want this CD, then go ahead and spend the extra $40 and get the 3000 page book as well.

Perry's Handbook has been found indispensable by chemical engineers, and a wide variety of other engineers and scientists, through six previous editions spanning more than sixty years. The NST/Engineers, Inc. reviewer, a Ph.D., PE favors the hardbound book as a desk reference, whereas he favors the CD format (ISBN# 0071344128) where a laptop or copying text or calculations are required. Users familiar with previous editions of Perry's will find additional text sections, tables, and figures. The reviewer did not detect deletions of any required material.

You will notice the increased use of SI units. Section 1, of thirty Handbook sections, "Conversion Factors and Mathematical Symbols", provides a rescue line for those of us much more accustomed to U.S., British, and older Metric units and who are not fully conversant with S.I. units. The first one-third of the Handbook lays the theoretical groundwork for a fuller understanding of its final two-thirds.

Section 2 provides physical properties data, including tables of constants for properties' correlations covering wide temperature ranges. Methods for the prediction and correlation of physical properties are explained. Section 3 summarizes mathematics through differential equations and statistics. Sections 4 through 7 may be considered short texts on "Thermodynamics", "Heat and Mass Transfer", "Fluid and Particle Dynamics", and "Reaction Kinetics".

In its eighty-four double column text pages, Section 8 covers the "Fundamentals of Process Dynamics and Control". It includes model predictive control, process optimization, unit operations control, process measurements, and concludes with controllers, final control elements, and regulators. Section 9, "Process Economics", takes the reader through calculations involved in investment and profitability decisions, cost control, and cost estimation. Starting with Section 10, "Transport and Storage of Fluids", and for most of the following twenty sections, the chemical engineering unit operations, details of more specialized theories and operating practices, calculation methods, interface studies between chemical engineering and other disciplines (i.e., Biochemical Engineering and Waste Management), and data specific to the topic being presented are given.

As previously stated, these latter sections, about two-thirds of the book, build upon an understanding of the fundamentals presented earlier. For example, Section 10; Section 11, "Heat Transfer Equipment"; Section 12, "Psychrometry, Evaporative Cooling, and Solids Drying"; Section 13, "Distillation"; Section 14, "Gas Absorption"; Section 15, "Liquid-Liquid Extraction"; Section 16, "Adsorption and Ion Exchange"; Section 17, "Gas-Solid Operations and Equipment"; and Section 18, "Liquid-Solid Operations and Equipment"; build on an understanding of Section 4, "Thermodynamics", Section 5, "Heat and Mass Transfer", and Section 6 "Fluid and Particle Dynamics". However, the book sections are all prepared to be rather self-sufficient so that readers without the earlier fundamental background can still gather useful working information.

The final twelve sections complete the review of unit operations and add important interdisciplinary studies. The sections are: "Solid-Solid Operations and Equipment"; "Size Reduction and Size Enlargement"; "Handling of Bulk Solids and Packaging of Solids and Liquids"; "Alternative Separation Processes"; "Chemical Reactors" (building on Section 7 "Reaction Kinetics"); "Biochemical Engineering"; "Waste Management"; "Process Safety"; "Energy resources, Conversion, and Utilization"; "Materials of Construction"; "Process Machinery Drives"; and "Analysis of Plant Performance";

Actually, a reasonable understanding of the contents of Perry's, including how to find and use the voluminous data, is equivalent to the text-based learning at the completion of a Master's degree in chemical engineering.

Perry's has been gathering dust on my bookshelf at home for years. I always think of it as the book to go to if you want to NOT find the answer to something. In my 20 year career and in my PE test effort, the only thing I ever used it for was to look up properties of substances. It is NOT friendly to the working engineer, since it quickly veers into arcane academic territory on every subject, or else is too general to be useful. This is a serious review of this book by a ChE PE, but I know this review will get panned by all, not because it is not useful, but because you do not agree with it.

A great assortment of theory and practical data, this book is a must for all chemical engineers. This book provides at ones desk all the information one needs. The use of the book in the beginning is difficult but once learned, it serves as a powerful tool. I have not seen any other reference book as complete and practical oriented with an answer to the needs of the Chemical Engineer as this one.

The same 7th edition (1997), but printed in 1999 and accompanied of a CD with the entire text (in Adobe Acrobat format) can be bought by essentially the same price as a "Platimum Edition"; a much better deal. Beware of the CD-only version; you'll have to read 3000 pages in two columns on your screen!.

Indeed there is a great deal of info in this text but there is so much that it can be difficult to use. Some changes have brought about great discouragement, especially in the process control section. Shinskey once again misses the practicallity of process control to try and baffle people with theory. Great for tabulated information on a great deal of chemical substances, however. Once you're able to "harness the power" it is a must for both school and industry.

I have used this book only when I need thermodynamic, physical or chemical data. However the other sections of this book are not practical at all, for those who can read and apply from pure math this is the one; for those looking for practical applications using the information given by this book, sorry fellas this is not the place for it.

Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook handbook is really a mixed bag, and how useful it turns out to be is really a matter of what kind of information you are looking for. I've always felt that this is the definitive book if you want raw facts and numbers. The entire volume is crammed with technical data that, for some, can't be found elsewhere. All the groundwork is covered; conversion factors, symbols, kinetics, interdisciplinary studies (several), thermodynamics, and just about anything else that coincides with the field of engineering. On a personal level, I've used it on several occasions when collecting field data, but its uses go well beyond that. For the sheer amount of information covered, the volume remains fairly well organized, and never veers too far from what you are researching.

The downside is that it can often seem overwhelming to students or those with passing involvement or interest. Despite the dependable presentation, it can be difficult to understand for people who haven't been brought up to speed on the variation of the topic they wish to examine. Even though the all the data is present, understanding it won't be easy until you've familiarized yourself and comprehend the tables and usage. Some claim that the book was written primarily for academics, though I don't see that as true. Anyone can use the book effectively once they get the hang of it.

Even though it might have some drawbacks, I truly can't see how anyone in the field of Chemical Engineering could not have this book on their shelf. It is the ultimate source of chemical data and interdisciplinary studies. If you don't yet own this one, I really can't see how you can go wrong in purchasing it.

Perry has outdone himself once again. The seventh edition is even more of a show-stopper than the previous editions. I read this book from cover to cover in one sitting, unable to put it down for a moment, not even to relieve myself! The molecular weights were so accurate and the heats of reaction made my spine tingle. Once I reached the section discussing distillation and tray efficiencies I new I was hooked. I won't give away the ending but it's definitely a shocker. Bravo to Mr. Perry's and I am counting the days to the release of your 9th edition!

From steam tables to fracture mechanics, this book has everything from constants to theory. A must for any student or practicing engineer.