Note: This story is also available in a complimentary, full-screen version https://www.chemengonline.com/eh-modern-instrumentation-simplifies-maintenance/ Built-in diagnostics and condition monitoring improve maintenance, process reliability and plant availability Today’s modern world is steadily digitizing all our daily routines, but the majority of the chemical…
Step changes in condition-monitoring technology to achieve operator-driven reliability can be a reality for organizations of any size The chemical process industries (CPI) are like all others in that they must negotiate the twin challenges of maximizing productivity and opportunities…
Off-line lab measurements of pH are often used for process control instead of in-line measurements. But as a hot process sample cools, its pH can change significantly. Relying on pH measurement of ambient temperature samples can lead to inappropriate and…
Determining the field performance of centrifugal compressors can benefit operation and maintenance of the equipment. Presented here is an overview of the parameters that must be measured and calculated for effective testing Compressors are used in all areas of production…
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 0.1 percent in March on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis, the first gain in five months. On a year-over-year…
Corrosion under insulation (CUI) creates a pervasive and versatile challenge to the integrity of insulated equipment, but non-destructive inspection can help to avoid undesirable CUI surprises Corrosion under insulation (CUI) has been occurring ever since industry started insulating equipment. However,…
Monitoring and analyzing historical corrosion data can provide insights not available from manual inspection and measurement techniques Some petroleum refiners looking for ways to improve profitability have lately turned to buying opportunity crudes from secondary sources. These crudes, while priced…
The following is a list of recently published books of relevance for chemical process industries (CPI) professionals Picturing Science and Engineering: A guide to making scientific photographs for presentations, journal submissions and covers. By Felice C. Frankel, MIT Press,…
Modern combustion technologies help processors safely meet emissions standards, while optimizing the process Combustion is integral to many chemical processes; however, it is not without challenges. Safety is, of course, always paramount when it comes to fired equipment and constantly…
Surprising observations regarding flooding in the upper fractionation trays of an atmospheric crude-petroleum distillation column are investigated In industial distillation processes, flooding is an abnormal, but relatively common, process condition in which liquid accumulates in the column. The accumulation may…