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Environment, Health, Safety & Security

Plastics-to-oil JV plans full-scale facility

A joint venture (JV) between Vadxx Energy LLC (Akron, Ohio; www.vadxx.com) and Greenstar Recycling (Houston; www.greenstarrecycling.com) plans to start up a facility in mid-2012 to convert recovered plastics to synthetic crude oil. When complete, the facility will produce 80,000 bbl/yr…

Tank Vapors: Optimize Ejector Sizing for Better Control

Properly sized ejector stations can save capital costs and reduce downtime Steam-assisted, gravity-drainage (SAGD) operations employ large tanks that vent flammable and sometimes toxic gases. Safety and environmental concerns often require engineers to design vapor-recovery units (VRUs) to collect these…

A hazmat suit with NFPA certifications

The ONESuit Shield Level B hazmat suit features an open-faced design and is made from a lightweight, robust and flexible fabric construction. It is also certified to the National Fire Protection Assn. (NFPA) 1994 Class 2 and NFPA 1992 standards…

A multipurpose backpressure valve made of plastic

This new automatic valve performs multiple functions in a piping system, including pressure relief, backpressure control, pump bypass and anti-siphon protection. The lug-mounted Series RVDT uses an adjustable, non-wetted spring to control backpressure in a piping system. The set point…

Boiling uncertainty

Last year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA;Washington, D.C.; www.epa.gov) proposed new emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (HAP) emitted by industrial boilers and solid-waste incinerators (CISWI) based on the performance of the maximum achievable control technology (MACT). The so-called…

This new membrane bioreactor cuts energy costs and boosts throughput

GE Power & Water (Trevose, Penn.; ge.com) has introduced an improved membrane bioreactor (mbr) technology whose productivity is said to be 15% higher than that of its predecessor for wastewater treatment plants. The new system, called LEAPmbr, was derived from…

Practice Green Chemical Engineering

Almost by definition, chemical engineering is a “green” discipline today, as it so often involves efforts to optimize chemical processes in order to reduce the amount of energy and raw materials that are used and the amount of waste that…

Focus on Rupture Discs and Pressure Relief

The lowest KR values in rupture discs KR values are used to determine the frictional flow loss in rupture discs. While the perception is that all rupture discs have high KR values, this company’s FAS (Forward Acting Scored) and PRO+…

These remote I/O systems are now more compact

LB/FB Remote I/O Systems are used to connect intrinsically safe Namur switching signals and solenoid valve outputs as well as temperature inputs, or the supply of two- or four-wire transmitters, proportional valves and positioners. LB Remote I/O is installed in…

The Bio-Based Economy

The realization that our natural resources are not endless, and that we need to focus on sustainability is driving technology and its supporting funds toward new choices. In the chemical process industries (CPI), engineers are looking for alternatives to the…