Introduction to the Study of Chemical Industrial Processes

Abstract

This chapter starts with a brief introduction describing the structure and characteristics of chemical industrial plants considered as an ensemble of unit operations. Next, the roles of thermodynamics, catalysis, kinetics, transport phenomena, and mass and energy balance in modeling and conducting chemical industrial processes are briefly described to justify the focused approach to these topics in successive chapters. Finally, consideration is given to the power of modern computers, the use of numerical methods for solving modeling problems, and the simulation of chemical industrial processes. Some examples of the most employed mathematical algorithms are mentioned, while some examples and exercises are given as electronic supplementary material (ESM) accessible to readers online.