About two years ago, the company Urban und Schwarzenberg approached me with the proposal to publish an encyclopedia of technical chemistry, which would consist of approximately 10 volumes and be released over a period of 3 to 4 years. Thus, after nearly two years of intensive preliminary work, the basic plan for the entire project was developed, and the organization and scope of the individual articles to be included were determined. The subject of this broadly based work encompasses not only the chemical bulk industry and metallurgical engineering with its mechanical and apparatus aids but also the numerous adjacent fields that deal with the material transformation or refinement of matter. In keeping with the encyclopedic nature of the work, the arrangement of the material had to be alphabetical. However, it seemed beneficial for clarity.