Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers

Rules of thumb are the straightforward and common-sense techniques designed to provide solutions to field engineering problems. This book gathers up hundreds of shortcuts and calculations into one volume. Whether the reader is concerned with fluid flow, refrigeration, metallurgy or any one of dozens of other disciplines, fast answers needed for design and operations problems can be found. For example, among the many rules of thumb for fractionators are found calculations for relative velocity and tray efficiency. Other methods should help determine the thermal efficiency of boilers, rate-of-air leakage in vacuum systems, and differential pressure in pneumatic conveying systems. The safety chapter covers lower explosive limit and flash, flammability and static charge, while the chapter on energy conservation addresses process efficiency, heat recovery and equivalent fuel values. Timely discussions of quality control and computer operations and modeling round out this comprehensive volume.