LibGuides: Chemical Engineering: Technical Resources

Finding Information

SciFinder
The Chemical Abstracts family of databases, including Chemical Abstracts (1907- ), Registry, CASREACT, and CHEMCATS, a chemical suppliers database. SciFinder covers the technical literature of chemical and process technologies and related areas more comprehensively than any other tool, and is by far the most complete indexing source for chemical patents.

Compendex
This broad index of engineering-related literature offers excellent coverage of chemical technology and process industries, covering journals and conferences. Also known as Engineering Index.

Updated weekly. Ei Compendex indexes the research literature of the field of engineering. The product contains more than 17 million total records. Over a million new records, with abstracts, are added per year. More than 3,600 journals and 4,100 conference publications and trade magazines are currently indexed. Customizable e-mail or RSS alerts are available.
Web of Science
Covers more than 10,000 journals across all STEM subject areas, and enables searching by cited reference.

Updated weekly. Covers more than 12,000 journals in all subject areas. Also includes citations to conference proceedings. Choose Search in order to search the database by topic, author journal or address. This search includes articles, reports, books and book reviews and may be searched by keyword (topic searching), author (person searching), institution, or geographical area. Choose Cited Reference Search to search for articles that cite an author or work. This search includes the list of references at the end of articles and will allow you to search by the cited author, cited work, cited year or a combination of the three. Choose Advanced Search to combine aspects of the other two searches. The default selection for searching is for all the citation databases and for all years of coverage; both selections can be changed from the main search screen at the time that you select your search.
The Web of Science platform currently provides temporary access to several databases that are not part of the Core Collection, including Biosis Citation Index, Data Citation Index, and Zoological Record
PubMed
The most important path for searching the literature of biomedicine, encompassing many areas of the biological sciences and applied health technologies.
Updated weekly. Provides access to over 10 million citations in MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE, and other related databases. Links to the full text articles are provided when available, subject to UT subscription status.
1. Click "Log in" in the top right-hand corner.
2. Chose "more login options".
3. Select "University of Texas at Austin".
4. Login with your UT EID and password.
5. Click on your login and select DASHBOARD.
6. Select NCBI Site Preferences
7. Under PubMed Preferences, select Outside Tool.
8. Select F and scroll down to select Find it@UT.
Google Scholar
Search engine indexes full text and citations of millions of digital journal articles, patents, reports, and other scholarly materials. Better for quick lookups than in-depth literature searching.

Google Scholar uses the popular Google search engine to enable searches for scholarly materials such as peer-reviewed papers, theses, books, preprints, abstracts and technical reports from broad areas of research. It includes a variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web. Google Scholar includes full text and citations.
Use this link to access Google Scholar, and see our Google Scholar Guide for information on using this resource.
If you encounter a warning about the security certificate when using the FindIt@UT tool in Google Scholar, you can learn more about that using this guide.
OSTI.GOV
Bibliographic and full text access to the Department of Energy (DOE) articles and tech reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, renewable energy, and other topics.

Updated regularly. Provides bibliographic and full text access to the Department of Energy (DOE) research and development reports in physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental sciences, energy technologies, engineering, computer and information science, renewable energy, and other topics.

engrXiv
Preprint server for fields in engineering.
All Databases A-Z

ASM (American Society for Metals) Alloy Center
Most current edition. Unlimited users.

Updated regularly. Includes ASM property data, performance charts, and processing guidelines for specific metals and alloys.
Part of ASM Materials Information which includes the ASM Handbooks Online and the ASM Phase Diagrams.

CINDAS Thermophysical Properties
Critically evaluated physical and transport property data for inorganic and metallic materials.

CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
The standard handbook of chemistry, with hundreds of tables of reliable chemical and physical data.

A first-stop reference source containing a wealth of basic chemical and physical data for compounds, as well as many other useful tables, constants and formulas, and definitions in the physical sciences.

DIPPR Thermodynamic Data
Critical thermodynamic and temperature-dependent property data for 1800+ pure compounds. (AIChE)
Knovel Critical Tables
This interactive site contains tables of physical, solvent, and thermodynamic properties. The physical property tables include over 21,000 inorganic and organic compounds. Some tables make use of an interactive Equation Plotter to plot thermodynamic properties as a function of temperature. Data are sourced from public web sites and non-copyrighted publications, and reviewed by Knovel staff.
NIST-TRC Thermo Tables
Critical thermodynamic property data for pure organic compounds and hydrocarbons. On campus access only.
ThermoDex
A meta-index of printed handbooks containing a wealth of thermodynamic and physical data on chemicals of all types.
Unit Converters

AccessEngineering
Updated regularly. Provides access to hundreds of McGraw Hill handbooks, textbooks and monographs across all engineering fields, a materials properties visualization tool, downloadable spreadsheets, and instructional videos.

Updated regularly. Provides access to hundreds of McGraw Hill handbooks, textbooks and monographs across all engineering fields, a materials properties visualization tool, downloadable spreadsheets, and instructional videos.

Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook
Publication Date: 2019
Compendium of data tables and textual information on virtually every aspect of chemical engineering, including mathematics and physical/chemical data.
Albright's Chemical Engineering Handbook
Publication Date: 2008
Guide to methods and calculations in chemical engineering applications. Also available in print.
Chemical and Process Design Handbook
Publication Date: 2002
Part 1 lists important chemical reactions and processes and related equipment. Part 2 presents brief summaries of the reactions and processes used to manufacture individual chemicals, with flow charts. Also available in print.
Handbook of Chemical Engineering Calculations
Publication Date: 4th ed., 2012
Techniques for solving everyday chemical engineering problems.
Handbook of Industrial Chemistry and Biotechnology
Publication Date: 12th ed., 2012
Chapters describing the chemistry and engineering principles underlying the chemical process industry. Known as Kent & Riegel.
Process Engineering Equipment Handbook
Publication Date: 2002
Information on engineering, operation, and troubleshooting of process machinery: pumps, turbines, fans, motors, filters, dryers, etc.
Rules of Thumb for Chemical Engineers
Publication Date: 6th ed., 2018
Handy collection of shortcuts, calculations, graphs, and tables intended for "quick accurate solutions to everyday process engineering problems."

Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
Excellent information source presents a wealth of information on preparation, manufacturing processes, uses of materials, properties of chemical substances, and chemistry fundamentals. (NOTE: Due to cost UT is no longer subscribing to updates. Articles added or updated after 2017 are not available to us. Previous versions of updated articles remain available.)

Contains authoritative articles on chemical substances—including their properties, manufacturing, and uses; industrial processes and unit operations in chemical engineering; fundamentals and scientific subjects related to the field; environmental and health issues concerning chemical technology. (Due to rising costs of scholarly information and a diminished collection budget, this resource was recently evaluated. We will continue to have access to this resource but articles that are updated after January 2018 will not be available to us.)

Kirk Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology
Publication Date: 5th ed., 2004-2007
The last print edition of K-O is available in the Chemistry Reference collection.
Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry
Publication Date: 7th ed., 2011
Comprehensive coverage of industrial chemistry topics, with a more European focus. Complements Kirk-Othmer.
Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology
Publication Date: 4th ed., 2014
Covers all aspects of polymer sciences (physics, chemistry, biology) and engineering. Articles contain equations, graphic and tabular data, and extensive bibliographical information.
Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing
Publication Date: 2006
Articles on processing technologies and materials are arranged alphabetically, with an index in vol.5.
Encyclopedia of Chemical Processing and Design
Publication Date: 1976-2002 (69 vol.)
Lengthy articles on chemical processes, economics, products, equipment, and applications. Brief index in final volume. Dated but still useful for processes that have not changed much.
Encyclopedic Dictionary of Named Processes in Chemical Technology
Publication Date: 4th ed., 2014
Concise descriptions of processes in chemical technology that are known by special names, such as inventors, companies, acronyms, and other non-intuitive terms. Many entries include literature references to point to further information.

For resources on chemical hazards, health and safety, and regulatory information in industrial and laboratory settings, see:

Chemistry Guide: Safety, Hazards, Environment

For information about finding patents, see:

Chemical Patents (Chemistry Guide)

Using Patent Databases and Finding Patents
by Larayne Dallas Last Updated Mar 16, 2022 562 views this year

For information on finding government and private technical reports, see our other guides:

For information on finding industry standards, see:

Standards, Codes, & Specifications
by Larayne Dallas Last Updated May 9, 2022 1916 views this year

Researchers can save much time by using a reference management tool to manage their personal bibliographies, PDF libraries, and citation formatting. We have a guide to explain the best ones, including Endnote, Zotero, and Mendeley.

Research Organization with Citation Managers
by Larayne Dallas Last Updated May 10, 2022 1837 views this year

Access to the Libraries' licensed resources while off campus requires authentication via valid UT EID and password. In order to see the authentication step, you have to start with links on the Libraries' guides (like this one), catalog, and other official web pages.

Unaffiliated patrons (including alumni) are not eligible to use licensed resources from off campus locations, but can access most of them from public workstations in our campus libraries, after claiming a UT EID and getting temporary authorization for workstation access at the PCL service desk.