Automation & Control
From Tap to Transmitter
Today, companies in the chemical process industries (CPI) are faced with increased operating expenses, reductions in the number of qualified workers, strong competition and the need to do more with less. To meet these challenges, many companies are making use…
Engineering Practice: Predicting Water Content of Compressed Air
Each compressed air system is typically composed of one or more compressors with a power source, control system, intake air filter, after cooler and separator, air receiver, air dryer, interconnecting piping and a distribution system to deliver air to points…
Engineering Practice: Optimize your Process Plant for More than One Objective
There are many criteria that the engineer considers when optimizing: maximization of product yield or quality; minimization of recycle flow or energy consumption; and economic indicators, such as maximization of profits, net present worth (NPW) and minimization of payback period…
Editor’s Page: Cutting Corrosion Costs
Corrosion is a cannibalistic force that usually attacks chemical process equipment from the inside out. That must be why it is often referred to as a hidden cost, because the economic impact of corrosion is becoming impossible to overlook. As…
Chementator: A Well-known Phenomenon Finds a Commercial Application in a Gas Sensor
Optoacoustic gas detection determines gas content via the measurement of acoustic pressure waves that are propagated as a gas is irradiated under an appropriately tuned light. A gaseous-mixture sample passes through a membrane into a measurement cell, which contains an…
Engineering Practice: Predicting Physical Properties of Hydrocarbon Compounds
The continuing growth in the importance of chemical processing, including oil-and-gas processing, increases the need to understand prediction methods for chemical properties and chatacteristics and the impact that these properties have on unit operations, process simulation and design. A variety…
Editor’s Page: Surviving the Surge
Exactly three years ago, in the July 2005 issue, this page began with a reference to a perfect storm, whereby then-record-high oil prices of $60/bbl and a relief in capital costs were expected to get the chemical process industries (CPI)…
Go With the Flow
According to experts in flow measurement, any chemical processors seeking to optimize its processes in an effort to offset the rising prices of natural gas, electricity and raw materials may want to look at improving measurement and control…
Cover Story Part 1: Level Measurement Technologies For the CPI
Plant performance and safety are key issues for the chemical process industries (CPI) and level measurement plays a crucial role in both. Level measurement helps maintain material inventory at economic quantities, improves product quality and ensures a smooth continuous…
Cover Story Part 2: Liquid-Level Measurement Options In the CPI
Many types of industrial processes utilize liquid level sensors to provide the information needed to monitor and control a process. This enables the design parameters to be maintained in order to produce the end product at the desired level of…