Ebook: Chemical and Engineering Thermodynamics

This book is intended to be the text for a course in thermodynamics for undergraduate
students in chemical engineering. It has been used in this manner at the University
of Delaware for more than twenty years, originally as a course for third-year
students and currently for sophomores. I had two objectives in writing the first edition
of this book, which have been retained in the succeeding editions. The first was
to develop a modern applied thermodynamics text, especially for chemical engineering
students, that was relevant to other parts of the curriculum, specifically courses
in separations processes, chemical reactor analysis, and process design. The other
objective was to organize and present material in sufficient detail, and in such a way
that the student obtained a good understanding of the principles of thermodynamics,
and a proficiency in applying these principles to the solution of a large variety of
energy flow and equilibrium problems.
Since the first two editions largely met these goals, and the principles of thermodynamics
have not changed in the last decade, this edition is similar in structure to
the earlier ones. However, there have been three important changes in engineering
education in the recent decades. The first is the availability of powerful desktop computers.
The second is greater concerns about safety and the environment. The third
is the application of chemical engineering principles to new technology areas such
as biotechnology, polymers, solid-state processing, etc. In the current edition of this
text I have made changes to address each of these issues.