Cleaning equipment surfaces is critical for processes involving biological materials to prevent microbial contamination. Clean-in-place (CIP) systems play a key role. In addition to preventing contamination, CIP systems also remove grit, scale and organic matter, which may affect process performance.…
Industrial gases are critical for a wide range of applications throughout the chemical process industries (CPI). Many of these gases must be separated from others, such as nitrogen from air, or hydrogen from natural gas using physical gas-separation techniques that…
Predictive maintenance (PdM) programs can provide advanced warning of equipment problems and potential failures. This one-page reference provides brief descriptions of six common predictive maintenance methods. Infrared thermography Continuous monitoring of equipment temperature over time has the potential to identify…
Chemical process industries (CPI) facilities often present a number of potential respiratory hazards, including airborne particles, toxic chemicals and low-oxygen environments, that may require the use of respiratory personal-protective equipment (PPE). This reference outlines the major categories for respiratory protection…
Process hazards analyses (PHAs) are structured reviews during the engineering design process intended to detect potential hazards that were not addressed by the design team. This one-page reference describes commonly employed PHA methods. PHA methods PHAs are often conducted or…
Flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs), sometimes known as bulk bags, are widely used in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and other chemical process industries (CPI) sectors, to transport and store dry, flowable bulk-solid materials, such as granules, powders, grains, clays,…
Filtration is arguably the most common unit operation in the chemical process industries (CPI). Filtration processes can be divided into three broad categories: cake filtration, where the incoming slurry contains enough solid material to form a cake on the filter…
Citric acid is a naturally occurring tricarboxylic acid commonly found in plants and animals (Figure 1). In its pure form, it is a colorless compound readily soluble in water. Citric acid is mainly used to add taste to food and…
Selecting personal protective equipment (PPE), including safety eyewear, for the chemical process industries (CPI) depends on the hazards present in the facility where it is used. The following describes considerations for selecting eye and face protection based on the potential…
Attention to the design of bulk-solids pneumatic-conveying pipelines can help avoid conveying-system problems, such as low conveying rates, plugging, excessive wear-and-tear in the conveying line, high conveying-system pressure drop, product breakage, fines generation and product cross-contamination. This one-page reference provides…