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Processing & Handling

Electrochemistry as a driver of decarbonization in the chemicals sector

Despite the urgent need for decarbonization of industrial processes, carbon dioxide emissions from the industrial-scale manufacture of chemicals often prove difficult to abate and are on track to increase over the next decade. Some industrial sectors, such as power generation…

Winter-Proof Your Process: The Hydro-Thermal Heating Advantage

When temperatures drop, industrial water heating becomes a challenge. Maintaining precise outlet temperatures is critical in processing, and Hydro-Thermal’s Direct Steam Injection technology ensures instant, on-demand heating. This allows faster startups and reduces downtime—even in extreme cold. Unlike heat exchangers,…

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Gas-Flow Calculations for Sonic Choking: Revisited

Gas compressibility can lead to choked flow in piping systems. Presented here is an overview of choked-flow geometries in pipes, and examples of how choked flow arises in different pipe layouts The more things change, the more they stay the…

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Entrainment Flooding and Weeping Velocities

Weeping and flooding phenomena set the vapor velocity in industrial distillation columns. Presented here are procedures for calculating flooding and weeping velocities in a four-pass sieve-tray column In industrial distillation, the term “weeping” is primarily used when the liquid in…

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Improve Ethylene Production Margins with Digitalization

Digitalization can help ethylene producers to flexibly respond to economic uncertainties and assess available options based on their existing infrastructure and priorities Post-pandemic, olefin and polyolefin producers have been faced with regional and global economic headwinds. Inflation, energy security, rising…

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Weighing in on Accuracy: Recent Developments in Weighing Equipment

Innovation, intelligence and automation increase precision in weighing equipment for chemical processors Accurate weighing and dosing are critical to the success of any chemical process, because they ensure product quality, safety and resource optimization. Fortunately, innovative technologies, intelligence and automation…

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Troubleshooting a Trayed Distillation Column

Presented here is the progress and resolution of a troubleshooting case involving a distillation column with a capacity reduction problem Troubleshooting distillation columns during operation is often the key to stable production at industrial facilities. The collection of troubleshooting references…

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Chem Chronicles: A Look Back on 80 years of Thin-Film Evaporation

Eighty years ago, in 1944, Dr. Hans Müller from Winterthur, Switzerland filed a patent application for a device designed to process liquid substances at the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property in Bern. Liquids prone to fouling on heated surfaces,…

Selecting Valves for Hydrogen Service

With hydrogen’s evolution into an alternative fuel requiring precise production and storage, selecting the right valves has never been more important Hydrogen shows great promise in the search for alternative fuels. Handling hydrogen safely and reliably, from generation to end…

Chemical Recycling is Essential for Plastics Circularity, but Faces Challenges

Environmental imperatives drive the development of technologies for the chemical recycling of plastic waste, but significant hurdles – including economic viability, collection logistics and feedstock complexity – need to be addressed for chemical recycling to have a larger impact Plastic…