Whether in the engineering of large and distributed automation projects, in the diagnosis of faults or in regular testing, the specification, configuration and maintenance of safety devices in process plants requires effort and careful attention. If new functions are added…
Energy recovery in spray-drying processes can reduce production costs, but involves trade-offs. Using milk powder as an example, this article describes a spreadsheet method to evaluate exhaust-gas recirculation scenarios for optimizing spray drying Dairy processing is among the most energy…
Capturing natural gas from petroleum drilling wells is economically challenging, but would have positive environmental impacts because it would eliminate the need for flaring and could allow the hydrocarbons to be converted into useful chemicals. Now, research led by chemists…
The Monitoring Box FTMg Premium (photo) is a new digital service for compressed-air monitoring. In addition to continuous monitoring, the Cloud solution from this company’s Field Analytics Portfolio can identify consumption losses due to machine- or process-related inefficiencies and detect…
Plant Watch Trinseo inaugurates new PMMA depolymerization plant in Italy December 7, 2023 — Trinseo (Berwyn, Pa.; www.trinseo.com) inaugurated a new polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) depolymerization plant in Rho, Italy. This depolymerization operation will be designed to enable the efficient recycling…
This company has custom-engineered an integrated sifter and bag-break station that automatically removes foreign matter and captures nuisance dust. Set above a top-loading batch mixer, the powder-handling system features an AFC Dump Clean bag-break station (photo) that continuously draws any…
In November 2023, the first commercial test was initiated for a novel, fouling-immune membrane for brackish-water reverse osmosis (BWRO) applications through an early-access program. Membrane developer ZwitterCo (Woburn, Mass.; www.zwitterco.com) says its membrane is fouling-immune in cases where fouling of…
As more organizations look to ammonia recovery to take advantage of recent pricing trends, it is increasingly important to consider the impacts of fouling and other process inefficiencies The price of ammonia has increased by 600% from 2020 to 2022…
The newly developed vipro-Pump MR series (photo) offers plant operators a virtually maintenance-free dispenser that doses all conventional impregnating resins — even chemically aggressive ones. A patent application has been filed for the vipro-Pump MR and the associated process. The…
The following is a selection of recently published books with potential relevance to various parts of the chemical process industries (CPI). Process Design for Cryogenics. By Alexander Alekseev, Wiley-VCH Publishing, 2024, 384 pages, $160.00. Handbook of Construction Management for Instrumentation…