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Modern Level-Measurement Technologies for CPI Applications
Advanced level measurement devices enhanced with intelligence solve CPI challenges Chemical processes often require handling media that is corrosive, flammable, explosive or toxic with wide ranges in temperature and pressure and characteristics that include steam, dust, foam, turbulence and condensation.…
Focus: Packaging
This packaging film is water soluble EcoSol® is a PVOH (polyvinyl alcohol) film (photo) that dissolves in water in minutes. It can be made into bags, pouches and sachets of many different sizes to create an efficient delivery system for…
Electrochemical Processes for the Chemical Industry
The push toward decarbonization is driving an increased interest in electrochemical processes. Here, the authors share their experience in industrializing these processes The field of electrochemistry offers a disruptive methodology to revolutionize the chemical process industries (CPI) by electrifying processes.…
Upgrading organic wastewater into fuel feedstocks
Although wastewater streams with high organic content — such as those from breweries and dairy facilities — can be difficult to treat and expensive to dispose of, there is potential to valorize their carbon content with the right process. Based…
Catalyst developed for conversion of CH4 to methanol
Scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL; Upton, N.Y.; www.bnl.gov) and collaborating institutions have engineered a highly selective catalyst that can convert methane into methanol in a one-step reaction. The system could help make better use of “stranded” natural gas…
Tower Doctor: The Case of the Lying Gamma Scan
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers This conversation started in a course I was presenting in Sydney, Australia. I was about 15 minutes into my presentation when a delegate from a major petroleum refinery stopped me. “How…
New injector technology fundamentally improves combustion flexibility
Conventional combustors that employ air-blast and pressure-swirl injection technologies are very sensitive to fuel properties, especially viscosity, limiting their ability to utilize certain classes of fuels and blends, including bio-based fuels. The new swirl-burst (SB) fuel-injector technology developed at Baylor…
Methods for Conceptual Capital-Cost Estimation
Conceptual capital-cost estimates are important for assessing the economic viability of proposed projects, but their usefulness depends on understanding how to appropriately apply the estimates Capital cost estimates are a crucial step in order to make prudent decisions regarding any…
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,…
Cost Engineering with Previously Owned Process Equipment
This article made available to you by: Previously used process equipment can offer significant cost advantages in capital construction projects, but there are important questions to consider before pursuing pre-owned equipment Many misconceptions persist in the marketplace about secondhand equipment.…