Mechanical Engineers Handbook Volume 4 – 4th Edition

The fourth volume of the fourth edition of the Mechanical Engineers’ Handbook comprises 32 chapters divided into two parts, the frst on energy and the second on power. Part 1 begins with a chapter on thermophysical properties of fluids, then proceeds to cover fundamentals of mechanics of incompressible fluids, thermodynamics (including a chapter on exergy and entropy generation minimization), heat transfer, and temperature and heat flux measurements.
Additional heat transfer topics in this volume include heat exchangers, heat pipes, air heating, and electronic equipment cooling. There are chapters on refrigeration and cryogenic engineering. One chapter deals with environmental issues: indoor environmental control. A chapter on thermal systems optimization rounds out this part of this volume.

Part 2 opens with a chapter on combustion. This part also includes chapters on conventional energy sources—gaseous and liquid fuels and coal (one chapter on properties of coals, lignite, and peat and a second chapter on clean power generation from coal)—and alternative energy sources—biofuels, solar, geothermal and fuel cells. There are, in addition, chapters on cogeneration and hydrogen energy. There are six chapters on power machinery: one on fans, blowers, compressors, and pumps; one each on gas, wind, and steam turbines; one on internal combustion engines and one on fluid power.

Two chapters—on cryogenic engineering and steam turbines—replace the old versions of the chapters on these important topics. To provide greater emphasis on sustainability than in earlier editions, I have included four chapters—on clean power generation from coal, wind power generation, cogeneration, and hydrogen energy—from my book, Environmentally Conscious Alternative Energy Production (chapters updated as contributors found necessary) and one chapter on biofuels from Environmentally Conscious Transportation. I have also included three chapters—on temperature, heat flux, and solar energy measurements—from my Handbook of Measurement in Science and Engineering and one on mechanics of incompressible fluids from the current edition of Eshbach’s Handbook of Engineering Fundamentals, which I edited. Inclusion of these chapters enriches this handbook. All told, more than half the chapters in this volume contain material new to this handbook.