Preface to Seventh Edition

Preface to Seventh Edition The sixth edition of this title appeared in 1999 at the dawn of the new millennium (with reprints in 2000 and 2003). There is a gap of almost two decades between the sixth edition and the seventh edition in your hands now. The fact that this title has never been out of print is a testimony to its timelessness and ‘evergreen’ character, both in terms of content and style. The sole reason for this unusually long gap between the sixth and seventh editions is obviously the fact that Jack Richardson passed away in 2011 and, therefore, the publishers needed to establish whether it was a worthwhile project to continue with. The question was easily answered in the affirmative by numerous independent formal reviews and by the continuous feedback from students, teachers, and working professionals from all over the world. Having established that there was a definite need for this title, the next step was to identify individuals who would have the inclination to carry forward the legacy of Coulson and Richardson. Indeed, we feel privileged to have been entrusted with this onerous task. The basic philosophy and the objectives of this edition remain the same as articulated so very well by the previous authors of the sixth edition. In essence, this volume continues to concentrate on the fundamentals of heat and mass transfer, as applied to a wide-ranging industrial settings. Most of the concepts have been illustrated by including examples of practical applications in the areas of estimating heat losses by conduction, convection and radiation. Similarly, consideration is given to the process design of heat exchangers with and without phase change, to the analysis of cooling towers, etc. The entire volume has been reviewed keeping in mind the feedback received from the readers and the reviewers. Wherever needed, both contents and presentation have been improved by reorganising the existing material for easier understanding, or new material has been added to provide updated and reliable information. Apart from the general revision of all the chapters, the specific changes made in this edition are summarised below: (i) In Chapter 1, a short section on transient conduction in a semi-infinite medium has been added (Examples 1.7 and 1.8). (ii) A new Section 1.37 on multi-dimensional steady state conduction has been introduced. This deals with numerical as well as the shape factor approaches to solve such problems.

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(iii) In the context of radiation, analogy with electrical networks has now been emphasized explicitly and illustrated via solved examples (Example 1.32). (iv) A new section on Taylor–Aris dispersion has been added in the context of mass transfer (Section 2.8). (v) A new chapter (Chapter 6) on microscale transport phenomena has been added to this edition. Most of these changes are based on the first author’s extensive conversations and discussion with Jack Richardson over a period of 30 years. We are grateful to the many individuals who have facilitated the publication of the seventh edition. Over the past 2 years, it has been a wonderful experience working with the staff at Butterworth–Heinemann. Each one of them has been extremely helpful, and some of these individuals deserve a mention here. First and foremost, we are grateful to Fiona Geraghty for commissioning the new edition. She not only patiently answered my endless queries but also came to my rescue on several occasions. Similarly, Maria Convoy and Ashlie Jackman went much beyond their call of duty to see this project through. Finally, Mohana Natarajan assembled the numerous fragments in different forms and formats—ranging from handwritten notes to latex files—into the finished product in your hands. We end this preface with an appeal to our readers to please let us know as and when you spot errors or inconsistencies so that these can be rectified at the earliest opportunity. Raj Chhabra V. Shankar Kanpur, September 2017