Books: Efficiency and Sustainability in The Energy and Chemical Industries

Books
Efficiency and Sustainability in the nizant of the role of the second law of thermodynamics in
everyday life and the engineering value of understanding the
Energy and Chemical Industries thermodynamics of reversible processes.
Jakob de Swaan Arons, Hedzer van der
The first section of the book is a refresher course in ther-
Kooi and Krishnan Sankaranarayanan,
modynamics (chapter 2), energy consumption and lost work
Marcel Dekker, New York, NY,
(chapter 3), and cause and effect of entropy generation (chap-
300 pp., $165.oo, 2004
ter 4). Chapter 5 explores the relationship between lost work
Business, governments and non-gov-
and the driving forces and fluxes associated with a process
ernmental organizationa are increasingly
that establish practical limits to minimizing lost work and
discussing sustainability, a broad topic
entropy generation.
with far ranging implications, but one that
Chapters 9, 10 and 11 apply exergy analysis to a number
is difficult to define crisply. Sustainability
of examples of different power generation technologies, sepa-
practitioners share a somewhat common
rations as exemplified by the separation of propane and
view of the new world order, but defining the changes need-
propylene by distillation, and chemical conversions (two
ed, the paths to pursue, and the ultimate goal — assuming
industrial polymer processes), respectively.
there is a defined end-point — is challenging. This is particu-
The book contains short chapters on lifecycle analysis,
larly the case where, as this reviewer feels, the “rubber meets
sustainable development, green chemistry, solar power, and
the road” in sustainability — changing technology approach-
biomass production and conversion. These chapters are use-
es to how we undertake chemical and physical transforma-
ful primers for those interested in sustainability and contain a
tions to make the goods needed by our worldwide society and
number of valuable references for those wishing to explore
how we deliver them in the ever-growing economy necessary
these areas more fully. A chapter on economics, ecology and
to improve the quality of life in developing nations.
thermodynamics looks at the role of ecology in economic
This transformation requires developing a set of tools that
models and theories.
engineers and chemists can add to their traditional toolbox to
The book concludes with the authors’ views of future
evaluate new processing paradigms within the framework of
trends in the energy and chemical businesses. The section on
sustainability. In this context, energy consumption and the
energy contains some valuable comments on the challenges
state of the environment are closely linked and improving the
of the hydrogen economy, while that on the chemical industry
energy intensity of a process is a worthy goal. This book grew
notes the desirability of moving to renewable raw materials
out of the authors’ teachings of advanced thermodynamics to
and opines on the hurdles the authors see to achieving this
process technologists of Akzo Nobel and their requests for
goal that are imposed by the standard financial analysis
exergy analysis of processes. Lessons from this industrial
approaches businesses currently use.
experience were built into courses for chemical engineering
Jo Rogers, Project Leader
students at Delft during which the authors became more cog-
Dept. of Energy
Managing Maintenance Renewable Energy,

Shutdowns and Outages Third Edition
Joel Levitt, Industrial Press, Inc., Bent Sorenson, Elsevier Academic Press,
New York, NY, 208 pp., $145.00, 2004 Burlington, MA, 928 pp., $84.95, 2004
Written by a leading trainer of main- The author first describes the effect
tenance professionals, this book orga- of the sun on the atmosphere and the
nizes the details of a maintenance creation of wind and waves, including
shutdown into a manageable form by the effects of global warming. For each
introducing all the steps needed for a type of renewable energy, from direct
successful shutdown or outage. It solar radiation to wind and biomass,
includes detailed steps for each phase (initiation, planning, there follows a technical description of the devices that can
execution, closeout, lessons learned), massive master lists be used to transform the energy into useful forms. The
of everything that must be done for each phase of shut- author explores new solar cell types, including polymer and
down, and numerous checklists that can be immediately organic cells, new biofuel processes and new wave energy
put to use. Loaded with examples from many industries devices. The final part of the book looks at social and eco-
and actual events, this book is a practical guide for mainte- nomic aspects of renewable energy. The book is ideal for
nance managers, project engineers, supervisors, mainte- undergraduates and graduates in earth sciences, environ-
nance engineers, and planners working in any heavy mental sciences, and engineering, as well as researchers
maintenance environment. and consultants.
CEP December 2004 www.cepmagazine.org 49

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Managing Maintenance Renewable Energy,

CEP December 2004 www.cepmagazine.org 49

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