Distillation and absorption are back. The AIChE Spring Meeting (San Antonio, April 28–May 2) proved it and the fall meeting to be held in November will muffle any doubting Thomases. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, I spent appreciable…
Plant Watch Sibur and BASF sign longterm agreement for polymer additives September 12, 2013 — Sibur (Moscow, www.sibur.com) and BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.com) have signed a longterm cooperation memorandum to supply additives to be used for polymer production and…
Avoid delays, cost overruns and more with significant owner involvement It is well known that the oil-and-gas, chemical and petrochemical industries are capital intensive. They require sophisticated facilities (plants), the installation of which are typically handled via capital projects…
Bigger is better. That simple statement summarizes one of the fundamental principles of chemical engineering. It is a statement that we frequently want to ignore, but if capital efficiency is the main concern, it is always true. All engineers need…
Proper steam-trap sizing is critical to efficient and reliable steam-trap operation. Incorrect steam trap sizing can undermine the design and function of the steam trap, create installation issues, and cause condensate backup, steam loss, or both. Steam-trap sizing refers to…
Rotary equipment, such as centrifugal pumps, often represent the heart of plants in the chemical process industries (CPI). A critical factor in the longterm reliability of such equipment is a high-quality design and commissioning process, so that initially, the rotary…
Mixing and blending of bulk solids is a common processing step in many industries. For example, in pharmaceutical manufacturing of solid dosage formulations (tablets or capsules), small amounts of a powdered active drug are carefully blended with excipients, such as…
Plant Watch Chevron Phillips receives key permits for large Gulf Coast project August 14, 2013 — Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LP (The Woodlands, Tex; www.cpchem.com) has received key permits from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Environmental…
Schonemann Camasso Miller Riojas Hill Hans Schonemann becomes president of Phasex Corp. (Lawrence, Mass.), which specializes in supercritical fluid extraction. He replaces Phasex founder Val Krukonis , who becomes director, R&D programs James Camasso becomes plant manager. Netzsch Pumps North…
Many chemical engineers study or employ distillation trays, gas-liquid separators and spray nozzles. Most of those engineers have studied or employed force balances around liquid droplets suspended in upward-flowing vapor streams. Considering a droplet of size “ d, ” for…