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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
The chemical process industries are competitive, and the information that is published
on commercial processes is restricted. The articles on particular processes published in
the technical literature and in textbooks invariably give only a superficial account of the
chemistry and unit operations used. They lack the detailed information needed on reaction
kinetics, process conditions, equipment parameters, and physical properties needed for
process design. The information that can be found in the general literature is, however,
useful in the early stages of a project, when searching for possible process routes. It is
often sufficient for a flow-sheet of the process to be drawn up and a rough estimate of
the capital and production costs made.
The most comprehensive collection of information on manufacturing processes is
probably the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology edited by Kirk and Othmer (2001)
(2003), which covers the whole range of chemical and associated products. Another
encyclopedia covering manufacturing processes is that edited by McKetta (2001). Several
books have also been published which give brief summaries of the production processes
used for the commercial chemicals and chemical products. The most well known of these
is probably Shreve’s book on the chemical process industries, now updated by Austin
and Basta (1998). Comyns (1993) lists named chemical manufacturing processes, with
references.
The extensive German reference work on industrial processes, Ullman’s Encyclopedia
of Industrial Technology, is now available in an English translation, Ullman (2002).
Specialised texts have been published on some of the more important bulk industrial
chemicals, such as that by Miller (1969) on ethylene and its derivatives; these are too
numerous to list but should be available in the larger reference libraries and can be found
by reference to the library catalogue.
Books quickly become outdated, and many of the processes described are obsolete,
or at best obsolescent. More up-to-date descriptions of the processes in current use can
be found in the technical journals. The journal Hydrocarbon Processing publishes an
annual review of petrochemical processes, which was entitled Petrochemical Develop-
ments and is now called Petrochemicals Notebook; this gives flow-diagrams and brief
process descriptions of new process developments. Patents are a useful source of infor-
mation; but it should be remembered that the patentee will try to write the patent in
a way that protects his invention, whilst disclosing the least amount of useful infor-
mation to his competitors. The examples given in a patent to support the claims often
give an indication of the process conditions used; though they are frequently examples
of laboratory preparations, rather than of the full-scale manufacturing processes. Several
guides have been written to help engineers understand the use of patents for the protection
of inventions, and as sources of information; such as those by Auger (1992) and Gordon
and Cookfair (2000).

World Wide Web
It is worthwhile searching the Internet for information on processes, equipment, products
and physical properties. Many manufacturers and government departments maintain web
sites. In particular, up-to-date information can be obtained on the health and environmental
effects of products.