Book excerpt: Now in its eighth edition, Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook offers unrivaled, up-to-date coverage of all aspects of chemical engineering. For the first time, individual sections are available for purchase. Now you can receive only the content you need for a fraction of the price of the entire volume. Streamline your research, pinpoint specialized information, and save money by ordering single sections of this definitive chemical engineering reference today. First published in 1934, Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook has equipped generations of engineers and chemists with an expert source of chemical engineering information and data. Now updated to reflect the latest technology and processes of the new millennium, the Eighth Edition of this classic guide provides unsurpassed coverage of every aspect of chemical engineering-from fundamental principles to chemical processes and equipment to new computer applications. Filled with over 700 detailed illustrations, the Eighth Edition of Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook features: *Comprehensive tables and charts for unit conversion *A greatly expanded section on physical and chemical data *New to this edition: the latest advances in distillation, liquid-liquid extraction, reactor modeling, biological processes, biochemical and membrane separation processes, and chemical plant safety practices with accident case histories