Fuels Books

I liked this excellent little book very much. You can read this little book in less than an hour but the book is well written and I can't find fault with Mr. Grant's technical data. The book is thought provoking. The author is a little too political for me, but overall I think he means well. Regards, Keith Renick, Peachtree City, Ga.

This very short book offers a restatement of the 'Peak Oil' argument. It tries to link 'Peak Oil' to a population crisis. Although I am convinced this is an extremely important issue, the treatment is superficial. The author complains about the 'pro-growth' policies of Americans, but his explanations for the popularity of 'growth' are weak. If I understand it, he argues that 'growth' became popular soon after the bubonic plague devastated Europe, and has never been questioned. Nor does the author suggest any equitable arguments one could make to the Indian or Chinese populations which would suggest they abandon any pursuit of modern high-energy lifestyles. About the best the author can do is suggest we would be better off living the way we did in the 1950s, which is hardly helpful.

The best feature of the book is its concise recap of the 'Peak Oil' argument. Topics include
1. The expected lag in food production as oil production decreases.
2. The expected lag in food production due to climate change (a bit weak)
3. The expected water crisis due to industrial pollution causes by increase coal use.
4. The lack of any viable energy replacement for lost oil production (this is about half the book).

Excellent analysis! This book is especially important in today's environment when we are trying to reduce our dependency on oil.

a great book while learning about vehicle and engine characteristics, to then further expand on hybrid and electric vehicle applications

It is a good textbook for studying electric vehicle and correspondence. It has paid much attention to explain the designing issues of an electric vehicle and tried to figure out what problems they are.
Good understanding for an electric vehicle.

There is a dearth of books on hybrid gasoline-electric vehicles, so this book is welcome. However, the equations are not detailed enough for actual component design. There are no Simulink block diagrams, for instance, so a reader will be unable to do his own simulations directly from this book. The book is useful, though, for deriving the large scale parameters for a hybrid gasoline-electric vehicle or fuel cell-electric vehicle (power plant size, peak power source size, etc.) The worst chapter is Chapter 6, Electric Propulsion Systems. The authors throw numerous equations at the reader (for the various type of electric motor-generators), but with the symbols defined after the equations, and without any real derivation. Actual block diagrams (with real values) are not provided--so how is an automotive engineer supposed to use this material?

I've got other complaints. Chapter 3, Internal Combustion Engines, doesn't even discuss the Atkinson cycle--the one most commonly used in hybrid vehicles. (And of course the Satz engine, the most efficient engine ever designed, is not mentioned.) I was also expecting detailed descriptions of the Toyota Prius and Ford Escape/Mercury Mariner Hybrid drivetrains--no such luck, although this book is copyrighed 2005. The CVT discussion is minimal (there is on p. 135 a simple block diagram for the Prius drive train)--there should have been a detailed analysis and synthesis of eCVT, etc.

And another thing: the English in the book is substandard. I realize that for the foreign authors English is a second language, but still the CRC editors should have caught the many mistakes. For the next edition, please clean up the English and provide detailed Simulink diagrams, then I'll recommend it.

This book is not a complete guide but is a good self-learning help.
It can be also used as a quick reference.
A good starting point for combustion studies. Then other books are required if complete treatment is required.
Small but nice part of useful mathematics in appendix. Not a rigorous treatment but quick explanation of some topics related to CFD.

This is a very good book. It format is very succictinct and as such spares no space for unecessary content. This give the narrative a somewhat terse style. It must be remembered that the science of combustion wrestles with some formidable concepts; such as turbulent flow, reduced reaction mechanisms for complex chemical reactions, fluid flow and heat transfer. This is not a book for those who are easily frightened by close typed differential equations. This book however, is an excellent introduction to the science of combustion, and contains a detailed and upto date biblography, pointing the interested reader in the right direction. It also contains one of the most complete tables of kinetic data for combustion reactions, I have seen in published literature. My one regret is that there is no companion volume of solved examples that could be used by an unassisted, but interested student. Read in conjunction with Smith/Missen, computation of chemical equilibrium, and Anderson's excellent introduction to Computational fluid dynamics, and the world of this facinating and most important field opens up.

This book is a good book on the subject of Direct energy conversion.The author has given good deal with the various topics of direct energy conversion.Since so many other methods are coming up.The author is requested to update and publish new addition.I thin I have not seen any publication after 1982.So new publication with updating will help for the book to be more papular .

Stanley Angrist does an excellent job of explaining how we convert heat, light and other things into electricity. Although this is an old book, it covers the subject really well. I have used this to teach a course at FIT called "Space Power Systems."

He covers batteries, fuel cells, photovoltaic, thermoelectric, thermionic, radioisotope thermoelectric generators, magneto hydrodynamic generators, fission and fusion. It is written for the science literate, and he explains the basics of quantum physics as it applies to power generation very well.

The book explained the field well, but it referred, more than once, to a non-existant 'further reading' section. It also referred to a list of acronyms, supposedly containted within, which wasn't in the book either. It could really use an editor.

Diagrams were great, so were the pictures. It certainly did its job...but maybe not worth $60 plus.

The book explained the field well, but it referred, more than once, to a non-existant 'further reading' section. It also referred to a list of acronyms, supposedly containted within, which wasn't in the book either. It could really use an editor.

Diagrams were great, so were the pictures. It certainly did its job...but maybe not worth $60 plus.

Very detailed book about the world oil reserves, level of production, and projections on future projections. Provide a good understanding about the world oil supply, and expalins global peak oil.

A useful update on peak oil to get more info and precision

The data you need to attack those fuel-injection system problems. How to obtain and read those cryptic ECU codes from most car models, using comprehensive code tables with meanings. The first half of the book gives a good introduction to FI systems, the tools required, and symptoms to look for. Lots of photos and diagrams. Excellent value for money.

Very Informative Book. The information is not in detailed I would liked, or the information is to brief. Not enough troubleshooting Guideline. But You can get a decent amount of some informative and repair direction from this book. WORTHY BUY BOOK!! CAN'T BEAT THE PRICE!! USEFULL!!

This is better than the other Holley book I bought at the same time. It doesn't cover as wide a range of products and therefore is much more detailed.

Scott Landis covers all the basics and more, offering many ideas for workbench design and construction technique. The pictures in this book alone make it a coffee table quality book.

I was satisfied with the book that I ordered and received it in a timely manner.

This book might be a little confusing to read but it has all of the essential equations that you need for the Heat Power part of Thermodynamics. There is a wonderful chart in back that lists all of the variables, what they are, and their units. It is a very useful book for reference if nothing else.

This book turned out to be the perfect gift. The receipient is very satisfied with it and has added it to his collection.

If you liked this author's book on funny cars, you'll like this one. On the other hand, if you didn't enjoy the funny car book, pass this one by because it's very similar conceptually. It is a fine overview with superlative photography. My only criticism is that Genat should've spent more of the book on the classic front-engined dragsters of the 1960's. What's there is great....just not enough of it for me. But for a neophyte, it's a great book.