Advances in Transport Processes, Volume I

Advances in Transport Processes, Volume I

177 The Chemical Engineering Journal, 21 (1981) 177 - 178 0 Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - Printed in the Netherlands Book Reviews Advances in Tr...

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177

The Chemical Engineering Journal, 21 (1981) 177 - 178 0 Elsevier Sequoia S.A., Lausanne - Printed in the Netherlands

Book Reviews Advances in Transport Processes, Volume I edited by A. S. Majumdar and R. A. Mashelkar Published by Wiley Eastqrn Limited, New Delhi, 1980; 264 pp.

This book is the first volume of a serial publication devoted to research areas in transport phenomena. It contains five review articles on topics that are in a state of development. They are attractively presented, clearly organized, and interesting. Each article contains a useful bibliography. The first article, ‘Blood flow’, by V. L. Shah of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, contains some general information on the properties of blood and flow in blood vessels of various sizes. About 40 pages are devoted to analytical and numerical solutions for the Casson fluid model in tubes, slits, and annuli. No application of these results is given, however. The second survey is a short one (a little over 20 pages) entitled ‘Two-phase gas-nonNewtonian fluid flow’ and was prepared by R. Mahalingham of Washington State University. It contains a brief section on the ‘power-law’ non-Newtonian model. This is followed by a summary of two-phase gas-Newtonian fluid flow behavior, and then one on gas-nonNewtonian fluid flow behavior. Most of this is necessarily qualitative. Viscoelastic effects are not discussed. The third survey on ‘Mass transport in electrochemical systems’ by T. Z. Fahidy, University of Waterloo, and S. Mohanta, HSA Reactors, Ltd., in Rexdale, Ontario, is rather lengthy (55 pages). After a summary of the theoretical fundaments, there follows a series of discussions of mass transport problems in various cell-electrode configurations. A final section on current trends seems well written and informative. , The fourth article, ‘Numerical methods for viscous flow problems’, is by M. M. Gupta, of George Washington University. It is an updated version of a technical report published in 1975 at the Papua New Guinea University of Technology. It includes, primarily, critical summaries of the finite difference and finite

element methods. On p. 143 this reviewer would like to have seen the excellent summary of Ratip Berker (Handbuch der Physik, Vol. VIII/B) cited. The final article is ‘Mixing of viscous Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids’, by V. V. Chavan (Unilever, Vlaardingen) and R. A. Mashelkar (National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India). The survey includes discussions of batch mixing and continuous mixing. These are prefaced by a careful discussion of basic concepts and criteria of mixing. This reviewer noted quite a few misspelled names in the text, in the bibliographies, and in the author index. The last article had only two references after 1976. In the listing of members of the Editorial Advisory Board at least four addresses are incomplete or in error. These are minor objections, and generally speaking the book should be a useful guide to the research literature and current directions of scholarly thought. R. B. BIRD

Porous Media: Fluid Transport and Pore Structure by F. A. L. Dullien Published by Academic Press, New York, 1979; 396 pp. ; price $42

This book covers the wide range of subject areas that is important to the understanding of fluid flow in porous materials. The surprising thing is its extraordinary breadth of coverage (although column packings, blob mechanics and tertiary oil recovery are not mentioned). The author explains and introduces various topics which are drawn from normally unrelated areas of science. The section on the ‘Pore structure of some important materials’ is fascinating, covering rocks, living organisms, paper, textiles, concrete, sintered materials, etc. Parts of the book explain Dullien’s own research, possibly in too much detail, and other parts sometimes read as a list of references. It is also a pity that the author has not