9 Best Books on Process Plant Utilities

“Process and Plant Safety” Book Review: This book explores how Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be applied to enhance plant safety. It is designed for plant operators and field workers who want to understand and use CFD in their work. The book explains the basic principles of CFD and how it can be implemented in process and plant safety. It discusses the benefits and drawbacks of using CFD in this context. Additionally, it provides guidelines, procedures, and technological examples to achieve high safety levels in chemical and petrochemical plants.

“Human Error in Process Plant Design and Operations” Book Review: This book explains different strategies to assess risks, including those related to human errors. It is suitable for plant operators, students, and researchers who want to understand and address human errors in various contexts. The book is based on the SRK model of human error and provides many examples, statistics, and practical methods to apply this model. It covers a wide range of topics, such as operator errors, barriers to functioning properly, design errors, and procedural errors. The book also emphasizes the importance of considering the scope and likelihood of human error to prevent accidents.

“Process Plant Reliability and Maintenance for Pacesetter Performance” Book Review: This is an insightful book that focuses on enhancing the reliability and maintenance of process plants. The book covers various topics such as equipment reliability, maintenance strategies, risk assessment, and condition monitoring techniques. It delves into the importance of proactive maintenance practices and offers practical guidance on improving plant performance. With its comprehensive chapters and practical examples, this book serves as a valuable resource for professionals in the field of process plant operations and maintenance, aiming to optimize plant reliability and achieve top-notch performance.

“Human Factors in Process Plant Operation” Book Review: The book explores the concepts of human involvement and impact on plant operation, catering to control engineers and plant operators alike. Its contents delve into the dynamics of human-system interactions and their effects on plant operations, promoting efficient and secure practices. Readers will acquire insights into pertinent topics such as performance shaping factors, workload management, staffing requirements, human-machine interface, automation levels, worker training and selection, and other critical components. Moreover, readers will find the ideas reinforced through diverse examples.

“Process Plant Equipment: Operation, Control, and Reliability” Book Review: The book provides comprehensive coverage of the various aspects of process plant equipment and is aimed at students, process engineers, and plant managers. Divided into three sections, it explores topics such as operation, maintenance, control, and troubleshooting of a process plant. The first section focuses on equipment including valves, pumps, cooling towers, conveyors, and storage tanks. The second section delves into the reliability of process equipment, examining failure analysis, Fitness-for-Service assessment, engineering economics for chemical processes, and process component function and performance criteria. Finally, the last section of the book emphasizes control and modeling concepts such as flow meters, process modeling, and simulation. The text is replete with numerous diagrams and illustrations, as well as several case studies, making it a valuable resource for readers seeking to enhance their understanding of process plant equipment.

“Process Plant Design: Project Management From Inquiry To Acceptance” Book Review: The book covers various aspects of a chemical plant, making it a valuable resource for researchers, practitioners, and chemical engineers. Starting with an overview of economic and environmental factors, the book goes on to explain capital investment and profit margin estimations. It then delves into the implementation of the plant, covering plant engineering, material procurement, erection, and test runs. Throughout the book, there is a focus on the potential for errors and the importance of teamwork and communication in the process.

“Steam Generators and Waste Heat Boilers: For Process and Plant Engineers” Book Review: The book aims to educate plant personnel, including process engineers, consulting engineers, designers, and students, on the thermal design and performance criteria of steam generators. It covers a range of concepts related to heat transfer, such as tubeside coefficients and non-luminous calculations, as well as HRSG simulation, finned tubes, and properties of gases. Additionally, the book provides numerous worked-out problems to aid readers in understanding the concepts presented.

“Risk Analysis for Process Plant, Pipelines and Transport” Book Review: The book encompasses the various methods used for risk and safety analysis and is suitable for safety engineers as well as anyone involved in this field. It commences with an overview of risk identification, probabilities of failure and accidents, and the human errors responsible for plant operation. Additionally, the book delves into topics such as liquid evaporation, gas dispersion, toxic gas effects, and explosions. The book concludes with chapters dedicated to computer software for risk analysis, safety management, and inspection.

“Chemical and Process Plant Commissioning Handbook” Book Review: The book provides models of an effective process unit and is highly recommended for chemical engineers and plant operators. It includes a range of commissioning templates that assist the reader in their understanding. The book also presents safety inspection and evaluation principles to ensure the plant meets the requirements of OSHA and environmental regulations. In addition, the book covers all the essential aspects of a process unit that engineers must be familiar with.