The deposition and accumulation of suspended and dissolved particles on membrane surfaces leads to performance loss. Fouling can dramatically reduce the efficiency and economic benefits of a membrane process. The type of fouling and how strongly it appears depends on…
OVERVIEW Indirect heating of processes by organic thermal-liquid fluids offers highly reliable operation, and the heat transfer systems are generally treated as low-maintenance utilities. Occasionally, the heat transfer fluid can become contaminated, resulting in the formation of sludge particles, or…
Reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions continues to be a major issue in national and international public policy, as well as a major focus for companies in the chemical process industries (CPI). Many countries are considering systems that place a…
In a distillation column tray, vapor passes upward through liquid that is flowing across a horizontal perforated plate. Vapor passing through the perforated plate forms a two-phase mixture with the liquid and enables mass transfer contacting. This mixture is typically…
Burners are critical for the successful operation of industrial furnaces. Presented here is a set of equations that can be used to calculate characteristics of burner operation, including flame length, flame diameter, ignitability and flameout conditions. Equations are based on…
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…
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…
Pumps are essential equipment in the chemical process industries (CPI). Given the imperatives to reduce production costs and maximize energy efficiency, pump selection is crucial. Knowledge of pumping basics, along with the fluid characteristics for a particular application can help…
Because of the behavior of materials under vacuum, including lowered boiling points, low-pressure operations are useful tools in chemical processing, as well as in research and development and manufacturing. Areas where a vacuum system is necessary or useful include the…
Installed gain graphs can help improve the selection of control valves for chemical processing. The graphs are plotted to analyze together control-valve flow characteristics and process-system flow characteristics, and better illustrate the relationship between a control valve and the system.…