Optimizing fan performance can help plants reach overall process efficiency goals. The cost of powering fans and ventilators in the chemical process industries (CPI) is significant. For example, ventilation and air-pollution control systems can account for over a quarter of…
Ethanol is a widely used commodity chemical with several applications, including use as a solvent and as a gasoline blendstock in the fuel market. Globally, the major portion of ethanol production is based on the fermentation of sugars from crop…
Chemical, pharmaceutical and related industries produce large amounts of wastewater in their production and cleaning processes. The wastewater characteristics are often diverse, and may include minimally biodegradable or toxic substances, or both. To protect the environment, these wastewaters typically must…
Boilers generate steam using different methods to circulate the steam-water mixture through the evaporator tubes. These methods include natural circulation (Figures 1, 2a–2c), forced circulation (Figure 3a), and a once-through design. Figures 3b, 4 and 5 show examples of a…
Kehl Diaz-Stringel Morgan Imbrogno Morgan Thomas Kehl becomes president and chairman of the executive board of Coperian GmbH (Stuttgart, Germany), which specializes in compounding and bulk-materials-handling systems. Univar, Inc. (Redmond, Wash.), a global chemicals distributor, names Sam Sutherland vice…
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…
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…