Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics [Hardcover]

James H. Gary (Author), Glenn E. Handwerk (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0824791576 | ISBN-13: 978-0824791575 | Publication Date: October 29, 1993 | Edition: 3rd

This third edition presents the latest developments in the fundamental aspects of petroleum refining technology and economics, discussing both the physical and chemical properties of petroleum, petroleum products and oxygenate fuel additives. It examines current environmental requirements and downstream implications of the Clean Air Act regarding processing, fuels and product specifications. End-of-chapter problems, a case study and sample illustrations are included.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the previous edition...

...this book represents an excellent summary of modern refining processes used in the petroleum industry.
-Chemical Engineering Research and Design

...a most valuable publication.
-Chemical Engineering Journal

...continue[s] to be a highly popular textbook, and because of its invaluable industrial flavour it will also find [an] audience between practicing engineers and chemists.
-Chemical Engineering Science

...well written and easily read...[a] valuable reference for any library.
-Energy & Fuels --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 488 pages
• Publisher: Marcel Dekker Inc; 3rd edition (October 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824791576
• ISBN-13: 978-0824791575
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,073,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview, July 6, 2007

By 

Robert A. Thayer "WorldTraveler" (Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics, Fifth Edition (Hardcover)

I am an investment analyst and used this book to get up to speed on an unfamiliar industry. I found it to be clear, well organized, and containing all the info I needed to understand the dynamics driving the business and the lingo. There was more engineering and scientific info than I needed for my purposes, but it was useful to thumb through those chapters to get a high level understanding of the issues. Highly recommended for people new to the industry.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best text for refinery process engineering --- not saying much, August 2, 2008

By 

Dirk J. Willard "Dirk Willard" (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics, Fifth Edition (Hardcover)

Oddly, only one reference book proved adequate, in my opinion, in explaining refinery science: "William Leffler's "Petroleum Refining." The others, including "Petroleum Refining, Technology and Economics," by James Gary, Glenn Handwerk, and Mark Kaiser, "Refining Processes Handbook," by Surinder Parkash, and even the venerable "Petroleum Processing Handbook," by Bland and Davidson. Leffler wins out because his process descriptions are fairly detailed compared to the others while balancing a need to be understood by the non-technically educated. Where this text, by Gary, Handwerk, and Kaiser fails is its lack of detailed process design information.

For example, I was somewhat disappointed in the section on hydrotreating. This process involves removal of nitrogen and sulfur and alkylation of alkenes, phenols and benzenes from a feed of gas oils recovered from a pipestill. Tables provided showed the expected performance for the catalyst beds; some discussion was presented of the differences between fixed bed reactors and moving bed reactors. Only scant information was provided on reactor design. Even though it might have risked going into detail about a particular catalyst at the expense of others there was no exploration beyond mere statements of information such as hydrogen consumption and space velocity requirements. A good example of the failure to provide detail design information is the authors' reluctance to provide hydrogen consumption information in section 9.5.

Instead, the reader is referred to a monograph written by W.L. Nelson in 1971 for the Oil and Gas Journal. Why not present the data?

This situation highlights the primary problem with this text and the others: a lack of process design information. This book would have to grow by another hundred pages to meet his ambitions goal of providing a good reference for petroleum refining. Only Leffler meets this goal ¯ and, he does it without the science and engineering required in the other references.

Unless you want incomplete details on the subject of petroleum refining, buy Leffler, not this text. However, of the others, this is a good reference book for the subject. Be prepared to fill in the copious quantities of gaps in information. Maybe, you should buy Leffler and this text.

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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refining Consultant, January 15, 2009

By 

Helga De Rivas - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics, Fifth Edition (Hardcover)

My husband is in the refining consultant business and to him this book is one of the best summary of all important technology and economics matters related to petroleum refining.