The Chemical Process Industries Infrastructure, Func-tion and EconomicsJames R. Couper, O. Thomas Beasley and W. Roy Penney.Marcel Dekker, 2001ISBN 0-8247-0435-5

Reviewed by Associate Professor David BrennanDepartment of Chemical Engineering,Monash University, Victoria, Australia.

The updating of an earlier book which has proved usefulover an extended time period, is in itself a worthwhileendeavour. Since markets, technologies and companieswithin the chemical process industries (CPI), as well asthe multi-faceted environment in which they operate changecontinuously, books on process economics inevitably needperiodic updating, if their relevance to the present is to bemaintained. Prices, costs and economic indicators alsorequire updating if they are to be usefully applied.

In this case the earlier book is ‘The Structure of theChemical Processing Industries’ by J. Wei, T. W. FraserRussell and M. W. Swartzlander. When published in 1979by McGraw Hill, this book made a positive and uniquecontribution to the process economics literature. An impor-tant objective was to introduce chemical engineers at seniorstudent or early professional level to the � nancial structureof the chemical process industries. A major focus was onmarkets and on company performance. A good feature wasan introduction to useful data sources from the publicdomain, which while predominantly USA based, neverthe-less provided a valuable support for the analysis of price,market and technology dynamics.

The authors of the revised book have deliberately retainedthe format and chapter titles of the previous book, seeking toupdate or revise material within the chapters to enable it toconform to current practice. The chapter titles are:

· Reader’s Guide

· Introduction

· Basic Economics

· Accounting and Financial Statements

· Input-Output Analysis

· Products and Companies of the CPI

· Speci� c Chemical Products

· Speci� c Companies

· General Characteristics of the CPI

· International Characteristics of the CPI

· Future Prospects: Threats and Opportunities

The result is a useful, contemporary reference, whichshould be on the bookshelves of those whose work orresearch is heavily geared to the economics of the chemicalprocess industries. A particular strength is the extent andrange of data included, and the guidance provided forseeking out the appropriate sources of data.

The revised title is a little curious. Infrastructure in theengineering context suggests storage, utility and transportsystems which are hardly considered in the book, whilein the business context might suggest communicationnetworks, information technology, and � nance. Finance isadmittedly discussed in Chapter 8, but the strength of thisbook is rather more on demand related issues such asmarkets with their technological and economic characteris-tics, and on the business environment of the chemicalprocess industries in the USA and the world.

Not all the chapter revisions have reached great heights.In Chapter 4 on Input-Output Analysis, revised data tablesare introduced, but we are left with an impression of onlyvery limited progress in the use of input-output analysis.There are just two new additions to the 1979 reference list,and the reported survey regarding the use of input-outputanalysis appears to be the same as the one by A. D. Little inthe original 1979 title. In Chapter 6, the product reports formany chemicals of commerce have been updated; whileuseful historic data are presented and some explanatorycomments offered, a systematic basis for analyzing orunderstanding price behaviour of chemicals in the maturephase of their development is lacking.

One major in� uence on the chemical process industries(CPI) in the past twenty years has been the impact ofenvironmental regulation and awareness, which have radi-cally reshaped business strategies. Quite major in� uenceshave been exerted on product and process technologies,feedstock, and energy choices and on logistics and opera-tions. Safety considerations have also had a marked in� u-ence. These in� uences are acknowledged at various pointsin the book, but in a rather fragmented and sometimesanecdotal manner. There was an opportunity here to de� neand analyze the major drivers and their in� uence. Thisopportunity has largely been missed.

Important issues of industry structure include integration,siting, and scale of individual plants and the resultingindustries. These aspects receive some reference in passing,but again there is little effort to address them in a systematicmanner.

Chapter 9 on international aspects of the CPI includes areview of developments in the CPI worldwide in the lasttwenty years. This is a useful, broadening contribution.Most of the literature drawn on is USA based, re� ectingto some extent the predominant source of relevant literature.However a more extensive sourcing of the wider globalliterature might have reassured the reader that a truly globalperspective had been achieved.

Perhaps some of the shortcomings of this book underlinethe inherent complexity and magnitude of the chemicalprocess industries and the multidisciplinary, multifacetedapproach which is required in their proper understanding.Thus while the book is fundamentally useful to the chemicalengineer who seeks to understand the CPI, there are stillmany challenges before a coherent, intelligible analysis ofthe structure of the CPI is fully realized. The revision byCouper, Beasley and Penney nevertheless makes a worth-while contribution to that eventual realization.

802 BOOK REVIEWS

Trans IChemE, Vol 79, Part A, October 2001