An up-to-date overview dealing with the occurrence and key applications of agglomeration, including unwanted adhesion and beneficial size enlargement in pharmaceutical, food and animal feed, chemical, fertilizer and agrochemical, mineral, building material and ceramic, metal, solid fuel, as well as other industries. Furthermore, the book emphasizes recent developments at the level of single particles and applications of agglomeration phenomena in nanotechnology.
The author has a vast academic and industrial experience as researcher, teacher, developer, designer, vendor, and user. He is an expert and consultant in the field of agglomeration, its technologies and products. This background makes the detailed evaluation of the subject possible. Wolfgang Pietsch has held a number of leading positions in both US and German companies and is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars. He has already written three earlier books on agglomeration.
Intended for everybody working in companies that process and handle particulate solids, this book helps in understanding and controlling unwanted agglomeration as well as promoting the application, development, and improvement of methods for the beneficial use of agglomeration.
Dr.-Ing. Wolfgang Pietsch is an independent, unaffiliated Consultant in the general fields of mechanical process engineering and, particularly, size enlargement by agglomeration. He received his Ph.D. at the Technical University of Karlsruhe (Germany) with the work on the fundamentals of binding mechanisms of agglomeration in 1965. He did further research in the general field of size enlargement by agglomeration at the Institute of Mechanical Process Engineering, Karlsruhe, and taught at the University of Stuttgart in Heilbronn, Germany. He was awarded the title Europa Ingenieur (EUR ING) by the European Federation of National Engineering Associations (1994).
During his entire career Dr. Pietsch was involved in mechanical process technology as a researcher, teacher, process developer, designer, vendor, and user. His latest industrial positions include: Director Agglomeration Systems and Product Technology at MIDREX, Charlotte, NC (USA), General Manager Large Metallurgical Systems at Leybold-Heraeus, Hanau (Germany), Senior Technical Manager at Maschinenfabrik KÖPPERN, Hattingen (Germany), and President at KOPPERN Equipment, Charlotte, NC, and Pittsburgh, PA (USA). In 1983, he became Senior Consultant of COMPACTCONSULT in Naples, FL (USA).
Dr. Pietsch is the author of more than 160 papers, four books, and holds nine patents. He is a member of five professional organizations in the USA and Germany (AIChE/PTF, SME of AIME, IBA and VDI/VTG/GVC, DECHEMA) and is active in a number of technical committees. He is a frequent lecturer of workshops and short courses.
