Ludwig’s Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants, Vol. 3, 4th Ed.
A. Kayode Coker, Gulf Professional Publishing, Waltham, MA, $175, 1,296 pages, Jan. 2015, ISBN: 978-0-75068-5-245
I bought my copy of Ludwig’s original Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants, Vol. 3 in 1967 for $23.50, and used it extensively for nearly 50 years. Its marked up and highlighted pages are a testimony to the many problems and challenges it helped me with throughout my career.
After my positive experience with the original work, I wondered if the newest version would be as good. Has it expanded on the original information sufficiently to address today’s engineering needs and requirements? At over seven times the price I paid in 1967, is this book worth the price?
Upon my review, the engineering details and explanations added to each chapter immediately impressed me. The new version retains the original material, covering heat transfer, refrigeration systems, compression equipment, compression surge drums, and mechanical drivers, but augments this content. It includes three additional chapters on process integration and heat exchanger networks, industrial and laboratory reactors, and metallurgy and corrosion.
Process safety and hazards are given the extensive attention they deserve. Process hazard analyses (PHAs) and hazard and operability (HAZOP) studies and the design of pressure-relief devices are also explained in detail.
Heat exchanger mechanical and fabrication details were lacking in the original edition; the update brings this information up-to-date and expounds on it. The book presents excellent discussions of design problems, and free electronic programs (available through the publisher’s website) offer support for executing similar problems. These spreadsheets could save engineers hours of research and preparation, and may help less-experienced engineers to attack and solve design problems.
The book meets the expectation established by the original tome — offering data and design information compiled as a handbook for process design engineers and engineering students. It, however, improves on the original product in quantity as well as quality of information. This version’s contents are relevant to today’s engineering needs and requirements. And for these reasons, it is certainly worth the asking price.
— Art Montemayor...
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