Bookshelf for April 2026
Summary
Chemical Engineering's April 2026 bookshelf highlights newly published first-edition technical references relevant to chemical process industries, including 'Fluidization Processes: Design and Operation' by Chew and Cocco (Wiley-VCH, 688 pages, $156) and titles covering ultrasonic water and wastewater treatment. These texts represent current state-of-knowledge in unit operations and environmental compliance for CPI facilities.
Why It Matters
For process engineers and plant managers, staying current with foundational technical literature directly affects design decisions, troubleshooting capability, and regulatory compliance. Fluidized bed technology underpins a range of industrial operations — fluid catalytic cracking, polymerization, drying, and combustion — where design errors or operational gaps carry significant cost and safety implications. A new 688-page reference on fluidization design and operation suggests the field has accumulated enough recent data and modeling advances to warrant a comprehensive update, which means engineers relying on older references may be working with outdated sizing criteria or control strategies. Similarly, ultrasonic water treatment titles reflect growing pressure on CPI facilities to address effluent quality under tightening discharge regulations. Process engineers responsible for capital project scoping or continuous improvement programs would be well-served by evaluating these additions to their technical libraries.