
Process Plant Design for Chemical Engineers
Guide to Practical Aspects of Engineering Decision Making
- 1st Edition - December 1, 2025
- Latest edition
- Author: Peter Mullinger
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 3 3 5 2 2 - 8
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 0 - 4 4 3 - 3 3 5 2 3 - 5
Process Plant Design for Chemical Engineers: Guide to Practical Aspects of Engineering Decision Making offers a comprehensive and accessible resource for chemical engineers seekin… Read more

Process Plant Design for Chemical Engineers: Guide to Practical Aspects of Engineering Decision Making offers a comprehensive and accessible resource for chemical engineers seeking to make informed decisions throughout the design process of a plant. The book emphasizes evidence-based decision making, aiming to help professionals avoid costly mistakes, injuries, and risks associated with poor choices. Drawing on real-world examples across various industries, it demonstrates how the use of available information can significantly impact outcomes. This guide is essential for both students and practicing engineers, providing practical strategies to ensure safety, efficiency, and successful results in process plant design.
Beyond its focus on decision making, the book delivers in-depth analysis of real applications, showing both good and bad examples and the consequences of each. It discusses the importance of risk management and illustrates lessons learned to help engineers recognize and address potential hazards. The guidance provided is especially valuable for those scaling up processes from laboratory research to commercial production. Additionally, the book is useful for professionals across diverse sectors—including minerals processing, food and wine, and energy engineering.
Beyond its focus on decision making, the book delivers in-depth analysis of real applications, showing both good and bad examples and the consequences of each. It discusses the importance of risk management and illustrates lessons learned to help engineers recognize and address potential hazards. The guidance provided is especially valuable for those scaling up processes from laboratory research to commercial production. Additionally, the book is useful for professionals across diverse sectors—including minerals processing, food and wine, and energy engineering.
- Includes case studies outlining lessons learned from many real-world examples of good and bad decision-making
- Reviews existing process technology and how it informs future plant design and process decision-making
- Provides complete methodologies of practical reactor selection and sizing
- Evaluates how the physical and chemical characteristics of the process materials affect equipment selection, process safety, and environmental considerations
Chemical engineering students and engineers in industry as it provides guidance on making evidence-based decisions to ensure successful outcomes; Engineers faced with the task of scaling up a new process based on lab-scale research, especially those tasked with plant design and designing commercial scale processes
1. Introduction
2. Review of existing technology
3. Process choice
4. Process scale up
5. Size reduction and particle sizing
6. Materials handling
7. Separation and blending processes
8. Reactor choice and sizing
9. Process control, safety
10. Utilities
11. Concluding Remarks
2. Review of existing technology
3. Process choice
4. Process scale up
5. Size reduction and particle sizing
6. Materials handling
7. Separation and blending processes
8. Reactor choice and sizing
9. Process control, safety
10. Utilities
11. Concluding Remarks
- Edition: 1
- Latest edition
- Published: December 1, 2025
- Language: English
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Peter Mullinger
Peter Mullinger held senior management roles with both equipment suppliers and end users before joining the University of Adelaide as Associate Professor in 1999. Now semi-retired, he continues to teach process design and process safety.
Affiliations and expertise
Visiting Research Fellow, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Adelaide, North Adelaide, SA, Australia