Technical & Practical
Feature Report: Incorporate Floating Solids Into Liquids
The incorporation of floating solids into liquids is a common challenge throughout the chemical process industries (CPI) in operations ranging from polymerization reactions to fermentation processes and water treatment. Yet, it has received much less attention in comparison to processes…
Closed Liquid Dispensing: Secure Container Contents While Reducing Risk
With the increasing demand for security, drums and other liquid vessels that contain valuable or hazardous liquids can be retrofitted with a simple dispensing-valve system that virtually eliminates leakage and ensures product integrity Although the storage, security, handling and dispensing…
Finding the Right Gloves To Fit the Application
Workers in the chemical process industries (CPI) would certainly benefit from the "perfect" glove that would be thick enough for thermal insulation, thin enough to promote dexterity and tough enough to protect workers from cuts and abrasion. The glove would…
Zirconium and its Alloys: For Extreme Sulfuric Acid Applications
One of the earliest applications for zirconium in the chemical process industries (CPI) is for sulfuric acid service. Used commonly during the manufacture of chemicals as a catalyst, dehydrating agent, absorbent, or an oxidizing or reducing agent, sulfuric acid is…
Cover Story Part 1: Compressed Air: Exploring the Need For Temporary Systems
Compressed air is often referred to as the fourth utility, and yet for an upstart business or process there is no commercial infrastructure that provides a core supply as exists with gas, electricity and water. When a need for compressed…
Cover Story Part 2: Compressed Air: Your Most Expensive Utility
Compressed air is your most expensive utility. This is a fact that has been documented time and time again. It takes 7 to 8 hp of electricity to produce 1 hp in an airtool. In many plants, the compressed air…
Piping for Process Plants Part 6: Testing and Verification
This sixth and final part of a series of articles [ 1 – 5] on piping for process plants discusses practical issues of leak testing and verification of piping systems. Read Part 5 here. Leak Testing Leak testing and pressure…
Facts at Your Fingertips: Humidity Control
Applications Dehumidification by cooling or dessication has a variety of applications, including: Preventing moisture regain. Nearly all materials have some affinity for moisture based on surface characteristics and the amount of surface exposed to humid air. Moisture regain occurs when…
Solids Processing: Automating Your Weigh Batching System
In many plants that batch-blend bulk products, weigh batching is a manual, time-consuming operation in which ingredients are weighed individually before being discharged to a blender or some other process vessel. A significant number of such plants could benefit from…
Engineering Practice: Hydrogen-Pinch Analysis Made Easy
An automated spreadsheet method can quickly help minimize fresh hydrogen consumption while maximizing hydrogen recovery and reuse in petroleum refineries and petrochemical complexes In petroleum refineries and petrochemical complexes, there are many hydrogen consumers, such as hydrotreaters, hydrocrackers, isomerization units…