Fluid Mechanics for Chemical Engineers with Microfluidics and CFD, Second Edition

Chapter 4. Flow in Chemical Engineering Equipment

4.1. Introduction

This chapter concludes the presentation of macroscopic topics, by discussing important applications of fluid mechanics to several chemical engineering processing operations. Since the variety of such operations is fairly large, it will be impossible to cover everything; therefore, the focus will be on a representative set of topics in which the application of fluid mechanics plays a fundamental role in chemical processing. In fact, the general theme is the basic theory that underlies a selection of the so-called “unit operations.” Certain other applications—including those involved in polymer processing, two-phase flow, and bubbles in fluidized beds—depend more on microscopic ...