Last month, the U.S. Congress passed the Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. This bill, called “historic” by many, brings very significant changes to the 40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). This much-needed modernization of TSCA is…
At the April 2016 Seattle meeting of the ASME B31.3 Process Piping Code Committee, a presentation — a cautionary note in a manner of speaking — was given by Barry Messer of Fluor Corp. (www.fluor.com). The topic was the unexpectedly…
This article examines the measures — both global and local — that chemical processors are taking to instill sustainability into everyday operations Although discussions about sustainability in the chemical process industries (CPI) are usually geared toward making processes more environmentally…
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has posted an implementation plan that outlines the agency's first-year plans to implement the recently passed Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act. The Implementation Plan along with additional information can…
On June 22, 2016, President Obama signed the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act into law. The bipartisan bill brings significant changes to the 40-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Details can be found on the…
The use of today’s high-performance rupture disc designs can help to reduce many common operating problems and support increased throughput requirements Chemical process industries (CPI) plants are typically designed to achieve specific production volumes, but as anyone who has worked…
A new smartphone-operated portable chemical analyzer provides a platform for chemical leak detection and other industrial applications, according to developer MyDx Inc. (San Diego, Calif.; www.cdxlife.com). The company designed the handheld analyzer for consumers, but the technology platform has origins…
The latest NFPA standard applies to many industry sectors, and aims to address the fragmented nature of the industry-specific standards currently in place On September 7, 2015, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA; Quincy, Mass.; www.nfpa.org) issued NFPA 652 (Standard…
The numerous flame sources in CPI facilities necessitate the installation of advanced flame-detection technologies Fire is a primary and very real threat to people, equipment and facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI), especially in the refining and storage of…
Research groups at Keio University (Hiyoshi; www.bio.keio.ac.jp/labs/kmiyamoto) and Kyoto Institute of Technology, in collaboration with Teijin Ltd. and Adeka Corp., have discovered a bacterium that can degrade and assimilate poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), and have clarified the decomposition mechanism. This is…