JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
192 PROCESS ENGINEERING ECONOMICS Herbert E. Schweyer. Professor of Chemical Egineerin~, Univerrdt~of Florida. McGraw-Hill Book Co.. ha., New York, 1957. eii 409 PP. and l6 X 23.S cm. $7S0. MANYengineering curricula contain courses an engineering from books by by woods and D ~ G and~ by others. These courses deal mainly with the present and future velue of money and the engineering projects it will buy. M~~~ engineering curricula special courses to the chemical industries, with applications emphasis an economic balance. Such courses may vary from purely descriptive discuss loeation factors courses in the f, and the like to calculus are used to calculate ontimal conditions. Sehweyer hss written a book'which combines the future value of money features of engineering economy with the economic balance approach of ohemicsl engineers. The result is highly successful. It will increase the number of courses and emphasis given to economic factors in both present operating conditions and future production needs. To assist the instructor who will use his book, the author has outlined four Courses, ranging from a two semester-hour undergraduate course to a six semesterhour senior or graduate course. In a field as large as chemical engineering economics it is worthwhile t o see the subjects that the author has considered for his book. After a brief introduction, he discusses t h i value of money--equivdence; amortization; eapitd requirements for process plants; casts, earnings, profits, and returns; economics of selectina alternates: rate of return and payout time--replacements; economio balance; eoonomic balanieh cyclic oper&ions; eoonomic balance in field and recovery; economic balance and inventom in urocess ouerations: and concludes with an economic analysis of a Eompleteprocess. ' A series of tables in the Appendix gives costs, interest factors, and the like. In using the book the reader ia immediately aware of the large number of illustrated problems that are worked out completely to show the application of the theory that has been discussed at the beginning of the chapter. A count shows 64 illustrated problems throuahout the book. Each chanter ends with a number of prabl&s far student use. ~eferenoesare given freely to articles which discuss the subiect more comuletelv or eive data and exawples or economic cnlculsrions in somp inrlurrry. ner:,use or run the ~ h u n d n n cof~illuhtrntrd problems rhe pr:to~liri#~genpineer go through the book by himselfnnd profit rn,m tlw review of erenamie principles. This book is one which will find ready acceptance in chemical engineering curricula. Students and practicing engineers alike will be nleased with it. Libraries should have it available for them.
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K E N N E T H A. KOBE
DESTILLIW- UND REKTIFIZWTECHNIK E. Kirschboum. Seeond edition. Springer-Verlag, Berlin 1950. xvi 465 pp. 294 figs. 23 tables. $1 1.25.
thorough manner. Ternary systems, which represent the simplest multicomponent system, deseive more attention than is normally accorded to them and Kirsehbaum gives a better than average coverage. Unfortunately, however, he uses the equilateral trian.de method of uresentation rather than t,he more 18~-~~ ---.-to-date and more convenient right-angle triangle presentation. Some on sieve plates is of more than passing inter~ ~of the ~ material , est. A good deal of material is presented on entrainment, plate s?&cing,plate efficiencies,ete., but the actual data which are given are concerned almost exclusively with the ethyl alcahal-water system. Of course, one might expect this as this system has been used extensively in Kirschbaum's own investigations. However, it is questionable whether or not the data can be extended to many other systems. Naturally, both plate and packed columns are treated. Style, appearance, type, andillustrations are excellent. There appear to be almost no mistakes. The American literature is covered in a satisfactory manner. The occasional user of distillation texts will not be interested in acquiring this book. The situation is quite different as far as the distillation specialist is concerned. To him, the high spot will be the appendix. A total of 93 pages is devoted to tabul'b~rdata on vapor-liquid equilibria of 160 binary systems. The data are also presented in 15 graphs with a number of systems given st aeversl total pressures. In addition, ternary diagrams for seven systems are given. Finally, a large nomographio chart is attached which relates packing type and spechie weight of vapor, viscosity of liquid, liquid loading of packed columns, and pressure drop through the packing, as well as vapor velocity in a four-field reflecting type of arrangement. ~~
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KARL KAMMERMEYER
STATE UNIVERSITT O. IOWA Iowa CITT.IOW*
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE Walter C. Schumb, Professor of Inorganic Chemistry, Charles N. Satterfield, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Ralph L. Wentworth, Industrial Liaison OEcer, all of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A. C. S. Monograph No. 128. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York, 1935. xiii + 779 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 23.7 cm. $16.50. THISis an excellent monograph. It does the three thinge that a monograph should be expected to do. It establishes a background in the subject which can be quickly understood by any qudilied and competent reader. I t reviews and critically evalu,~lk:. the p+rlinwr lirrrature. Ir s!rmrn;~rirrsand (:ireg~Tiws ,111 the a\.nil,~blrsrirurilir f.jcrs and rwhmlogy. Tl~eauthor.;employ;I clwr nnd lurid alvle wlirll ir to he I~iehlv oomrneuded. The organization is exoelfent and the treatmeit of each topic is as adequate as is possible within the bound of a monograph. One is impressed by a complete, although brief, historical treatment covering both science and technology; the details of manufacturing and storage; a careful summation of physical and chemical properties; and a scholarly treatment of
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T m f i s t step the prospective reader should take is to get himself a sharp paper knife. As is customary with European paperbound books, some 70 per cent of the pages are uncut. A second edition of "Destillier- und Rektifiziertechnik" by Emil Kirschbaum raises high expectations. Perhaps this reviewer expected more than be had a right to expect. While the book in its over-all aspeots is excellent and is expanded considerably over the first edition, it is somewhat of a letdown to have every phase of the subject treated in strictly conventional ways. One could select one of the better Americsn texts and pet . esaent i d y the same material, presented in a similar manner. Basic principles, vapor-liquid equilibria, batch distillation, continuous rectification, and operational factors are all covered in a
Inorganic Peroxy Compounds is a mastellul condensation of a tremendous amount of data. A critical bibliography adds to the p a t usefulness of this chapter. Organic peroxides have not been included, certainly because of space limitation, and possibly also because of the availability of the excellent treatise on this topic by Tobolsky and Mesrobian. All teachers will be fascinated by the use to which the reactions of hydrogen peroxide are put in illustrating the limitations of net equations for chemical reactions. "The chemistrv of hvdroeen ueraxide nrovides excellent instances to illustrite h ~ G i n a & ~ u &net eqhtians are to describe mechanism. If a net reaction such as that which shows the oxidation of hydrogen peroxide by potassium permctnganste ia con-
