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Speaking as an environmental consultant to the chemical industry, who has worked in the industry, and for the industry, for over 20 years, I love this book. It may be written for students and early-career graduate chemical engineers, but there's so much in here for anyone who's involved with chemical engineers professionally, particularly in parallel disciplines. As well as a lot of excellent design advice, there are many chemical engineering heuristics ("rules of thumb") which can help anyone involved in the design and running of chemical and process plant. It's particularly helpful for new engineers and non-engineers in describing where the boundaries of safety might be exceeded, and in steering people towards the tried-and-trusted over the novel for its own sake. Sean's experience of the chemical and process industry, particularly the water sector, shines through in nearly every page, along with his sense of humour. My own copy (picture) is stuffed with pages of notes, from quotes and pithy remarks to treasure, to further books to read, and notes on where Sean's advice would have come in handy on old projects. It's also an important book, because it shows up themes which those of us "experienced" people can see in the industry, and beyond - the decline of respect for professional expertise; the use and abuse of computer modelling over test data; the failure to understand that rules of thumb may be more important in achieving a working process plant than understanding it completely; the disconnect between the skills industry needs and the education provided in universities. Parts of this book should be essential reading for anyone who is involved in funding or commissioning chemical engineers to design process plant, especially where they are not from the industry themselves, as it will help them understand some of the practical limitations in building plant, and the need to keep plant, layout, instrumentation etc as known, and therefore as reliable as possible. It should also be essential reading for middle and senior management, who may be involved in managing chemical engineers either directly, or as contractors, as it gives an excellent view into what chemical engineers really do, and why they may sometimes come across as "knowing everything", even though the best of them, like Sean, are only too aware of the limitations of their knowledge. This book will be genuinely helpful in my own consultancy practice, both in working alongside chemical engineers, and in using them as contractors, and I only wish I'd read it as soon as it was published. Can't wait for the second edition!Read full review
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Another fantastic book written by Seán, drawing on his over 30 years worth of process and plant design experience and reviewed by leading experts in the field. The book is well written using easy to understand language, and bridges the gap between university engineering knowledge and the 'here's how we do it in industry' approach. This book is highly recommended for early career and professional process engineers, and includes foundation level and more advanced aspects of process engineering design and safety considerations. I particularly liked the section on common errors and mistakes to avoid during the design process. A must-have book for any process engineer's library collection!
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A real practical guide to process plant design based on real world experience.
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