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Chemical Engineering

Commercial debut for an upgrading process

After four years of project development and execution, the new PolyFuel unit at Petrobrazi petroleum refinery in Romania has been started-up and is fully functional since April 2019. Based on the PolyFuel technology licensed by Axens (Rueil-Malmaison, France; www.axens.net), the…

Prevent Product Release with Pressure Protection Systems

Closing off pressure upstream can minimize the need for pressure-relief systems to open, avoiding product waste and possible environmental damage Any system within a chemical process industries (CPI) manufacturing plant that is pressurized, or could experience pressure during an upset…

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A Shortcut to Optimize Pipe Diameters by Economic Criteria

This methodology can be used not only for laminar flow, but also for the complete turbulent flow region In recent decades, the impact of energy costs on the transport of fluids has led to a significant reduction in fluid velocity…

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Pitfalls to Avoid When Generating Cost Estimates

The pitfalls in cost estimating that cause project overruns have been well known for decades, yet they continue to plague the CPI When I first started writing this article, I set out to summarize the mechanics of project cost estimation.…

Keeping warming to 1.5˚C impossible without reducing short-lived climate pollutants

A much-anticipated report by the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (www.ipcc.org) shows there is still a long way to go if we want to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C and prevent dangerous warming. But the report also…

Visit VACUUBRAND at ACS in San Francisco!

If you'll be in the Bay Area next week, visit VACUUBRAND's booth (#1519) at the ACS Spring Meeting at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Talk with our technical experts about how our quiet, energy efficient, durable pumps can support your needs…

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Eye Protection, Part 1: Beyond Basic Eye Safety

How to protect, preserve and enhance workers’ safety Safety eyewear (Figure 1) is among the most prevalent types of personal protective equipment (PPE) worn across the chemical process industries (CPI). It protects an individual’s most valuable sense — vision —…

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Facts at your Fingertips: Solids-blending processes

Mixing and blending of bulk solids is common in pharmaceutical and food manufacturing, specialty chemicals, explosives, fertilizers, glass and ceramics, detergents and resin industries. This column provides information on batch versus continuous blending mechanisms. Batch versus continuous Batch blending processes…

Redox Flow Batteries Charge Forward

Developments in redox flow batteries are moving at a tremendous pace to meet the growing need for large-scale energy-storage systems, which are used for stabilizing electric power distribution The global energy-storage market is expected to double, from 1.4 GWh added…

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Industrial Gas Burners

Combustion in industrial burners is a critical operation in the chemical process industries (CPI) for supplying thermal energy for heat transfer, fluid heating, steam generation, distillation, endothermic chemical reactions, metal melting and others. Burners are mechanical devices utilized for mixing…