The notion of “transport phenomena” usually refers to the three tightly related disciplines: fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and mass transfer. The analysis of these processes is based on the fundamental laws of physics, namely, conservation of momentum (fluid dynamics), conservation of energy (heat transfer) and conservation of mass of various chemical species (mass transfer). In recent years, the methods of nonequilibrium statistical mechanics also play an important role.

The book is arranged in four stand-alone review papers covering the current topics of heat convection, nonequilibrium transport, microfluidics and multiscale modelling of particles. Affiliated by Springer in the new annual review series, it was written by well-known international researchers from universities, specialised laboratories, and industry.

The book opens with the review article by Li Z. X. and Guo Z. Y. entitled Optimization Principles for Heat Convection. The lecture is an overview of the new concepts in heat transfer description, based on the field synergy principle for convective heat transfer optimization. This principle states that the reduction of the intersection angle between the velocity and the temperature gradient is the main mechanism for enhancing convective heat transfer. In order to describe the measure of the synergy between velocity and temperature gradient fields, a dimensionless parameter, field synergy number, is defined and explained. The new physical quantity, entransy, which specifies the heat transfer ability of an object, is introduced, together with the notions of entransy flux, and entransy dissipation. Also, the entransy balance equation is derived and the illustrative examples are presented. Based on these quantities the extremum entransy dissipation (EED) principle for heat transfer optimization is formulated and is compared with the minimum entropy generation (MEG) as the optimization criterion. A detailed analysis shows that the EED principle is the better tool than the MEG principle for heat conduction optimization in order to the domain temperature decrease.

Much attention is paid to the important functional extremum problems connected with the field synergy equations for both laminar and turbulent convective heat transfer. The field synergy equations are used to find the optimal fluid flows fields for prescribed geometry, namely, in square cavity, circular tube, elliptical tube, and in parallel plate channel for Poiseuille turbulent convection. Using these results some novel enhanced tubes are designed based on the field synergy principle. These include the alternating elliptical axis tube and the discrete double inclined ribs tube. Experimental setups and numerical analysis on heat transfer performance of these tubes are presented and discussed thoroughly. Thereafter, the study of heat exchanger optimization is conducted from the field synergy principle. At last, the field synergy and EED principles as a unified tools for analyzing and improving the performance of the convective mass transfer processes are formulated and discussed briefly.

The next paper, by Tzou D. Y. and Xu J. entitled Nonequilibrium Transport: The Lagging Behavior, presents, in a systematic way, recent efforts to understand the essence of heat/mass flux lagging in nonequilibrium heat/mass transport. The term “lagging behaviour” denotes the finite response between heat/mass flux and temperature/density/concentration gradient in nonequilibrium transport processes. First, some basic facts about the transport equation of a diffusive type and the equation of thermal waves are addressed. Subsequently, a brief review of several representative microscale heat conduction models to illustrate the thermal lagging concept in addressing the specific behaviors that are known at microscale times. These include the Cattaneo–Vernotte thermal wave model, the phonon scattering model, the internal energy relaxiation model, and the parabolic and hyperbolic two-step models.

These considerations prepare readers to understand the basic philosophy of the so-called dual-phase-lag (DPL) model in heat transfer. The general idea regarding the DPL model is due to Tzou, [Tzou D. Y., A unified approach for heat conduction from macro to micro-scales. J. Heat Transfer (1995) 117, 8–16], which formulated a theory of heat conduction, where the classical Fourier law is replaced by an approximation of the equation q(r, t + τ q ) = −k∇ T(r, t + τ T ), where q is heat flux vector, k is thermal conductivity, τ q is the phase lag of the heat flux, and τ T is the phase lag of the gradient of the temperature. The delay time τ q is caused by microstructural interactions, such as phonon scattering or phonon-electron interactions. The delay τ T refers to the relaxation time due to fast-transient effects of thermal inertia. An appropriate equation of the DPL heat conduction is derived and thoroughly investigated. Continuing we find the applications of the DPL model in bioheat/mass transport. The two- and three-equation lagging models are considered and analytical expressions for the phase lags are derived. The lecture ends with discussion of the non-local response with lagging in the context of the phonon gas with a finite mass.

The third article of the book, Microfluidics: Fabrication, Droplets, Bubbles and Nanofluids Synthesis, by Zhang Y. and Wang L., is the longest lecture, encompassing 123 pages of the 342 total. Microfluidics is defined as “the science of manipulating and controlling fluids and particles at micron and submicron dimensions and the technology associated with the development of methods and devices to undertake such” (Leslie Y. Y. et al, Microfluidic Devices for Bioapplications. Small (2011) 7, No. 1, 12–48).

The present paper provides a comprehensive survey of the technological aspects of the use of microfluidic devices. It consists of six clearly and logically arranged sections with conclusions. Section 1 contains some preliminary information relating to fabrication methods of microfluidic devices, microfluidic droplet manipulation and microfluidics application that are used in subsequent sections. In Sect. 2, some technological aspects of an inexpensive fabrication methods for manufacturing transparent glass-based microfluidics are presented and discussed. Section 3 focuses on droplet and bubble formation in a confined T-shaped junction. A pressure-driven mechanism of droplet and bubble formation under carefully controlled conditions is experimentally examined. Two empirical correlations for foreseeing the droplet volume and formation time are established. The critical condition for droplet breakup in symmetric T-shaped junction is determined in Sect. 4.

The following section concerns with the microvisualization system, in which the chaotic mixing inside droplets is experimentally investigated. Section 6 describes synthesis of copper nanofluids in microfluidic reactors. The term “nanofluids” signifies the fluids with nanoelements (nanoparticles, nanotubes or nanofibers) suspended in them. Interest in the nanoscale, among others, comes from the fact that recent works on the heat transfer of nanofluids show that the presence of nanoparticles enhances thermal conduction under macroscopically static conditions. [See, e.g., Ding Y. et.al, Heat Transfer Intensification Using Nanofluids. KONA (2007), No. 25, 23–38].

The last article of the book entitled Multi-scale Modelling of Liquid Suspensions of Micron Particles in the Presence of Nanoparticles, by Yang C. Y. and Ding Y., deals with a combined continuous, discrete, and statistical mechanics (CCDS) method to describe micron particle dynamics in the presence of nanoparticles. In this approach, the micron particles are considered to be the system of interacting Brownian particles, the liquid is treated as a continuum, whereas the nanoparticles govern the Ornstein–Zernike equation with Percus–Yevick approximation based on hard sphere thermodynamics. The numerical study of the CCDS model applied to two identical micron particles submerged in an aqueous electrolyte solution with nanoparticles is performed, discussed and presented graphically.

Unfortunately, the editorial segment of the book is not of top quality. Mathematically oriented readers, familiar with typesetting system, should read this book with care: they may not enjoy it as much. These include (in mathematical mode): small or huge fonts in mathematical formulae, definite integrals, sums, parentheses, square brackets, spaces, indexes, Greek letters. Some equations are not very readable and badly composed, especially, eq. 38, p. 113; eq. 56, p.119; eq. 43, p. 240; eq. 1, p. 248. I would suggest the authors to learn or —a professional typesetting system developed by Prof. D. Knuth and others.

Still, despite its typographic flaws, this is a very interesting and competent book. The book should be of great value to researchers seeking an exhaustive overview of the recent advances in the multidisciplinary domains of transport phenomena. The presentation is also accessible to senior undergraduate and graduate level students in chemical engineering, heat transfer, hydrodynamics, statistical physics as well as to specialists in several branches of geophysics.