At my first job after graduating from college, while fulfilling my routine data-gathering duties in a butadiene-producing chemical plant one day, my boss came running up to me and yelled, My acid extraction column was totally upset, requiring the plant shutdown. I felt like the underdog who should have an answer. This was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. My responsibility was clearly to predict if not prevent such a happening, or most certainly to be prepared for it. I didn t have the slightest idea what had happened, let alone how to resolve this problem. You should have known of this happening without my having to tell you, shouted a very red-faced boss.

Years later, I truly believe he had been right; I should have been able to predict this event of extractor flooding, but only later did I know the direct remedy that should have been executed that very hour. The sad part is that my engineering supervisor didn t have a solution either. In fact, I was persuaded that the operator knew more than the both of us that day.

These events led us to the quest for more practical process engineering, and learning how to apply what we learned in college. That s what this book is about. Keep in mind, however, that college has helped you open the door. This book now helps lead you past the door to the feast of useful technology that is our goal, our quest.

With this introduction, let s first consider the...