This month, Showa Denko K. K. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) will begin marketing its carbon-nanotube (CNT) product, tradenamed VGCF-X. The company produces the CNTs in its new, 400-ton/yr production plant at its Oita facility, and plans to ramp up production to…
Mechanical seals play a pivotal role in the chemical process industries (CPI). As the sealing interface between rotating process equipment and the materials contained inside, these devices prevent product leakage and fugitive emissions, while permitting process machines, pumps and compressors…
The stirred tank reactor with rotating mixers remains the backbone of the chemical process industries (CPI). While mixing is considered a mature technology, it is clear that continued technological development is necessary to achieve the state-of-the-art design demanded by ever-increasing…
Steam tracer lines are designed to maintain the fluid in a primary pipe at a designated uniform temperature. In most cases, these tracer lines are used outdoors, which makes ambient weather conditions a critical consideration. The primary purpose of steam…
The solubility of water in the hydrocarbons that comprise crude oil is an increasingly important issue in view of processing, safety and environmental considerations surrounding product quality and equipment sustainability. Water in the reacting hydrocarbon species may result in the…
Results of 12-mo immersion tests in biodiesel and bioethanol of a range of elastomer polymers typically used in fuel-handling equipment show that the seals are prone to significant swelling, which leads to failure in valves and other equipment, according to…
Uniformly blend batches with this inline mixer Munson Machinery Company This Inline Miniature Rotary Batch Mixer gently blends batches of up to 5.0 ft3 in parts as small as one-per-million with complete uniformity in less than 3 min, evacuates the…
The 26th International Pump Users Symposium will be held from March 15–18, 2010 at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston. This international meeting will emphasize pump technology and troubleshooting. The symposium is one of two annual gatherings sponsored…
For valves operating in hazardous environments, certification testing is critical to ensure the reliability and safety of the equipment. But this testing process has historically required facilities to shut down and sacrifice valuable production hours to check each valve. Built-in…
For the better part of a century, chemical process industries (CPI) have depended on catalysts to make their processes viable. Current efforts toward process efficiency and environmental innocuousness have placed more demands on catalysts to produce more with less. Industrial…