In today’s global marketplace, multinational companies are almost expected to manufacture products at different sites around the world. Try as they might to build plants that are identical and employ the same procedures, there are no guarantees the results will…
Cartridge trays, defined below, can be the perfect hardware solution for distillation columns that are less than 3 feet (0.9m) in diameter and have a unique need for trays. Packing is usually the preferred choice for small-diameter columns, but there…
For any of us who have kept up in recent years with the business news (happenings at Enron and some major Wall Street firms, say), it seems safe to assume that, nowadays at least, ethical behavior and personal honesty are…
Most chemical processes must produce products that are uniformly mixed. There have been many articles written about preventing particle segregation during bulk solids flow; and ensuring a mass flow pattern is a common suggestion. But mass flow alone is not…
Solvents have been used for centuries and in all type of industries for the processing, manufacturing and formulation of goods. In the chemical process industries (CPI), solvents are used in various process-operation steps such as separation (of gas,…
Depending on their location and on other factors, chemical-process-industries (CPI) plants obtain their process water from a diverse range of sources (see Process Water Supply — the Big Picture, Chem. Eng., May 2005, pp. 32–34.). The water from…
Fuel costs rose sharply in 2005 because of hurricane damage to U.S. interests in the Gulf of Mexico, and international developments in the oil supply market. Competing fuels — coal and natural gas — rose in price in…
Engineers often need to predict the cost of piping and pipefitting associated with a process unit. Even though detailed prices are available, finding and organizing them takes time and costs money. For those needing a quick method of…
These miniature regulators are ideal for gas instruments The compact DM3000 (photo, left) allows flow control systems for process or laboratory instrumentation to be constructed in small spaces. With a flow coefficient (Cv) of 0.1 and a maximum inlet pressure…
Phosgene is widely used for making fine chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates, and polymers such as isocyanates, polyurethanes and polycarbonates. But phosgene is highly toxic, and although gas detectors are required to monitor for dangerous leaks, they cannot determine if workers have…