In Malaysia, the raw material for biodiesel production has been palm oil. However, making biodiesel can conflict with the oil’s use as food, and growing palm oil (even for food) has caused the destruction of tropical forests in Borneo, Sumatra…
Megtec Systems (Glen Waverly, Victoria, Australia; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6902-542) has announced the first power plant fueled by methane emissions from coal-mine ventilation air. Traditionally, CH4 released during coal excavation requires dilution in ventilation air because it is explosive at concentrations between 5…
Chemical products and processes make modern life possible. The systems that provide housing, transportation, health care, and food for billions of people rely on chemical products, but as demand for these essential materials grows, the environmental impacts of the products…
What we can do to support its goals Green engineering, as explained by chemists and bio-scientists, includes production of energy and materials from "green" feedstocks, such as biomass and microorganisms, with the intent of reducing energy, waste, greenhouse gases (GHGs)…
This article introduces a simple yet accurate way to calculate the wetted surface area of a partially filled horizontal vessel with semi-elliptical heads. This information is often needed for the sizing of relief devices. API Recommended Practice 521 specifies that…
A gas analyzer suitable for hazardous areas Now approved by ATEX and CSA-C/US certifications, the X-Stream flameproof process gas analyzer is suitable for Class I, Zone 1 and Group IIB + H 2 hazardous areas without the need for pressurization…
The amount of crude oil remaining in depleted oil fields has been estimated to be about 50 – 80% of the total estimated oil reserves. In the past, CO2 has been injected into such wells for enhanced-oil recovery — a…
Better control of baghouses and cartridge-type dust collectors can pay dividends in energy savings, longer filter life and effort spent in tracking environmental compliance. That’s the message from Richard Kapcha, a control specialist with MikroPul (Charlotte, N.C.), which manufactures a…
As the chemical process industries (CPI) make the transition from communication protocols and systems that are cable-ready to those that are wireless, the conversation is changing. On the plant floor and in the executive suite, terms such as mesh network…
Steam traps are an integral part of steam systems in the chemical process industries (CPI). Steam is commonly used to add energy into a process through its latent heat (steam heat), while the resultant sensible heat (hot condensate) drains through…