Would you like to make a quick mental calculation to determine approximate flowrate, velocity, or pipe and duct sizes for many common situations? This article presents two methods for estimating flow characteristics without the aid of charts, tables, calculators or…
Batz Schaefer Selby Said Brandmeier Brad Batz becomes president of Fike Corp. (Blue Springs, Mo.), a leader in fire, explosion and over-pressurization solutions. Bernd-Josef Schaefer becomes managing director of flowmeter maker Endress+Hauser Flowtec AG (Reinach, Switzerland). Rod Selby becomes director…
Plant Watch Arkema to double production capacity for organic peroxides in China January 9, 2014 — Arkema (Colombes, France; www.arkema.com) has announced the construction of a new organic peroxide plant on its Changshu site in China. This investment will double…
Beginning with the early days of automated multivariable control in the 1980s, the trend has always been toward the use of larger matrices and more models. Today’s multivariable controllers commonly comprise dozens of variables and hundreds of models. But the…
I felt somewhat insulted when he said, “At universities, we do the difficult work and we leave the easy work for industry.” I had asked a question of a speaker at the November 2013 AIChE meeting. The speaker answered the…
Propylene is the second most important intermediate in the petrochemical industry after ethylene, and its global demand is dominated by the production of polypropylene. However, the growing use of natural gas from shale deposits as a raw material for steam…
Dust is a critical consideration in the chemical process industries (CPI) from both a process safety standpoint — as a potential fire and explosion hazard — and from an occupational safety standpoint — as a potential worker exposure hazard. Reinforcing…
Pressure vessels are common in the chemical process industries (CPI) and they range widely in size and complexity. Process engineers may be tasked with inspecting a new pressure vessel or with witnessing hydrostatic testing of a vessel. In addition, engineers…
Uhrig Laborde Sielaff Scheu Festge Bioformix, Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio), a manufacturer of energy-efficient, sustainable polymer platforms, names Jeff Uhrig senior vice president of corporate strategy. Nadege Laborde becomes president of the industrial biotech business unit of Novasep (Pompey,…
Corrosion and deposition in boilers, steam turbines and many types of process equipment are among the most expensive causes of outages in utility and industrial steam plants. Deposits and scale buildup on heat-transfer surfaces reduce efficiency, and when allowed to…