This volume brings together innovative research, new concepts, and novel developments in the application of new tools for chemical engineers. It presents significant research, reporting on new methodologies and important applications in the field of chemical engineering. Highlighting theoretical foundations, real-world cases, and future directions, this book covers selected topics in a variety of areas, including:

• chemoinformatics and computational chemistry
• advanced dielectric materials
• nanotechniques
• polymer composites

It also presents several advanced case studies.

The topics discussed in this volume will be valuable for researchers, practitioners, professionals, and students of chemistry material and chemical engineering.
About the Author:

Reza Haghi, PhD, is a research assistant at the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Dr. Haghi has published several papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and has published several papers in conference proceedings, technical reports, and lecture notes. Dr. Haghi is expert in the development and application of spectroscopy techniques for monitoring hydrate and corrosion risks and developed techniques for early detection of gas hydrate risks. He conducted integrated experimental modeling in his studies and extended his research to monitoring system to pH and risk of corrosion. During his PhD work at Heriot-Watt University, he has developed various novel flow assurance techniques based on spectroscopy as well as designed and operated test equipment. He received his MSc in Advanced Control Systems from the University of Salford, Manchester, England, United Kingdom.

Emili Besalú, PhD, is aLecturer in Physical Chemistry at the University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. He has contributed more than 120 international papers and book chapters on theoretical chemistry, mainly devoted to methodologies in SAR and QSAR fields. He is referee for various journals. His preliminary interests were related to molecular quantum similarity, perturbation methods, and multilinear regression. His interests today are focused on the treatment and ranking of congeneric molecular database families and especially the interplay between statistically based and computational procedures.

Maciej Jaroszewski, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Head of the High Voltage Laboratory at Wroclaw University of Technology in Wroclaw, Poland. He received his MS and PhD degrees in high voltage engineering from the same university in 1993 and 1999 respectively. Dr. Jaroszewski was a contractor/prime contractor of several grants and a head of grant project on "degradation processes and diagnosis methods for high voltage ZnO arresters for distribution systems" and is currently a contractor of a key project co-financed by the foundations of the European Regional Development Foundation within the framework of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy. His current research interests include high-voltage techniques, HV equipment diagnostics, HV test techniques, degradation of ZnO varistors, and dielectric spectroscopy.

Sabu Thomas, PhD, is a Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering at the School of Chemical Sciences and Director of the International and Inter University Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India. The research activities of Professor Thomas include surfaces and interfaces in multiphase polymer blend and composite systems; phase separation in polymer blends; compatibilization of immiscible polymer blends; thermoplastic elastomers; phase transitions in polymers; nanostructured polymer blends; macro-, micro- and nanocomposites; polymer rheology; recycling; reactive extrusion; processing-morphology-property relationships in multiphase polymer systems; double networking of elastomers; natural fibers and green composites; rubber vulcanization; interpenetrating polymer networks; diffusion and transport; and polymer scaffolds for tissue engineering. He has supervised 68 PhD theses, 40 MPhil theses, and 45 Masters thesis. He has three patents to his credit. He also received the coveted Sukumar Maithy Award for the best polymer researcher in the country for the year 2008. Very recently, Professor Thomas received the MRSI and CRSI medals for his excellent work. With over 600 publications to his credit and over 23683 citations, with an h-index of 75, Dr. Thomas has been ranked fifth in India as one of the most productive scientists.

Praveen K. M. is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at SAINTGITS College of Engineering, India. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Engineering Sciences at the University of South Brittany (Université de Bretagne Sud) - Laboratory IRDL PTR1, Research Center "Christiaan Huygens," in Lorient, France, in the area of coir-based polypropylene micro composites and nanocomposites. He has published an international article in Applied Surface Science (Elsevier) and has also presented poster and conference papers at national and international conferences. He also has worked with the Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia; Mahatma Gandhi University, India; and the Technical University in Liberec, Czech Republic. His current research interests include plasma modification of polymers, polymer composites for neutron shielding applications, and nanocellulose.