Last year (2009) was a record year for U.S. ethanol production, with 200 biorefineries producing an estimated 10.6-billion gallons, according to the Renewable Fuels Assoc. (RFA; Washington, D.C.; www.ethanolrfa.org) in its recently published report, The 2010 Ethanol Industry Outlook. An…
Neptune Chemical Pump This self-priming pump is available for water and wastewater processing The Series 7000 mechanically actuated, diaphragm metering pumps (photo) can handle viscosities in excess of 5,000 cP and can pump chemicals that tend to off-gas (such as…
Gooch Thermal Systems Spiral plate heat exchangers are ideal for cooling slurries and viscous fluids. The performance of these units is characterized by increased turbulent heat transfer, reduced fouling, greater ease of maintenance, and more compact size compared to many…
Burners are critical for the successful operation of industrial furnaces. Presented here is a set of equations that can be used to calculate characteristics of burner operation, including flame length, flame diameter, ignitability and flameout conditions. Equations are based on…
Bellamy Quasey Hancook Johnson Hayes Michael Bellamy is appointed general manager of the PII Pipeline Solutions business of GE Oil & Gas (Northumberland, U.K.). Jim Quasey is named vice-president of global operations for Industrial Scientific Corp. (Pittsburgh, Pa.). Kim Holman…
Wireless communications have great potential in the chemical process industries (CPI) because they do away with complex and costly cable installations and enable completely new applications. And while a recent wave of successful demonstrations has begun to emerge in the…
Steam reforming of natural gas at petroleum refining facilities is the predominant means of producing hydrogen in the chemical process industries (CPI). Areas where hydrogen is heavily consumed include ammonia production, the cryogenics industry and methanol production (Table 1)[1]. Because…
A virtually endless number of process options are available for agglomerating powders in the chemical process industries (CPI). These processes can be divided into two main categories: agitation and compression. Agglomeration by agitation includes granulation processes, such as fluidized-bed, disc,…
Parker Hannifin Get on-demand nitrogen with these generators The latest version of the Midigas (photo) and Maxigas onsite nitrogen generators are available now for a wide range of applications, including modified atmosphere packaging, purging, blanketing and pressure transfer. The on-demand…
More than 400 exhibitors from 24 countries are expected to participate in AchemAsia 2010, the 8th International Exhibition-Congress on Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (Beijing, China; June 1–4). Held every three years in Beijing for the past two decades, AchemAsia 2010…