This book develops the theory of chemical thermodynamics from first principles, demonstrates its relevance across scientific and engineering disciplines, and shows how thermodynamics can be used as a practical tool for understanding natural phenomena and developing and improving technologies and products.
Concepts such as internal energy, enthalpy, entropy, and Gibbs energy are explained using ideas and experiences familiar to students, and realistic examples are given so the usefulness and pervasiveness of thermodynamics becomes apparent. The worked examples illustrate key ideas and demonstrate important types of calculations, and the problems at the end of chapters are designed to reinforce important concepts and show the broad range of applications. Most can be solved using digitized data from open access databases and a spreadsheet. Answers are provided for the numerical problems.
A particular theme of the book is the calculation of the equilibrium composition of systems, both reactive and non-reactive, and this includes the principles of Gibbs energy minimization. The overall approach leads to the intelligent use of thermodynamic software packages but, while these are discussed and their use demonstrated, they are not the focus of the book, the aim being to provide the necessary foundations. Another unique aspect is the inclusion of three applications chapters: heat and energy aspects of processing; the thermodynamics of metal production and recycling; and applications of electrochemistry.
This book is aimed primarily at students of chemistry, chemical engineering, applied science, materials science, and metallurgy, though it will be also useful for students undertaking courses in geology and environmental science.
A solutions manual is available for instructors.
About the Author: W. John Rankin has BSc and PhD degrees from the University of Queensland, Australia. He worked initially for MINTEK, then lectured in extractive metallurgy and chemical engineering at the University of Stellenbosh (both in South Africa), the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia), and the University of Waterloo (Canada). During the 1990s, he was Professorial Research Fellow and Director of the G.K. Williams Cooperative Research Centre for Extractive Metallurgy at the University of Melbourne. Later, he accepted a position in CSIRO (Australia's national science agency) and held the role of Chief Scientist of the Division of Process Science and Engineering. His research interests are in the fields of thermodynamics, pyrometallurgy, and the implications of sustainability for the minerals industry. He has published over 130 research papers, authored the book Minerals, Metals and Sustainability: Meeting Future Material Needs (CRC Press), and edited the third edition of the Australasian Mining and Metallurgical Operating Practices (published by the AusIMM). He is co-editor of the journal Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy, Adjunct Professor (Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne), and Honorary Fellow (CSIRO).
