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Environment, Health, Safety & Security

Heavy-metal removal process joins advantages of two existing technologies

A newly demonstrated system for removing trace levels of heavy metals from water combines the positive traits of two existing technologies — chemical precipitation and electrowinning — while avoiding drawbacks of each. An engineering team at Brown University (Providence, R.I.;…

The potential for reducing CO2 in steel production

A reduction of CO2 emissions of 50% can be achieved in steelmaking, using renewable carbon from biomass, according to The Australian Steel Industry CO2 Breakthrough Program, an R&D program conducted by a team from: BlueScope Steel Research (Port Kembla, New…

CEM standards that achieve regulatory compliance

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations call for continuous emissions monitoring (CEM) systems to be tested with “zero-air” materials to qualify the accuracy of the instruments. CEMS operators sometimes mistakenly use a standard EPA protocol mixture as a zero gas,…

Enclosures with explosion-proof protection

Last month, this company launched an explosion-protection option for enclosures, enabling them to be ideal for analyzers in open-field sites, such as petroleum refineries and chemical process plants. A new inert-gas pressurization system allows the protective cabinets or enclosures (photo)…

A signal conditioner with SIL qualification

Vegamet 391 with SIL (safety integrity level) qualification is a universal signal-conditioning instrument for a variety of measurement tasks, such as level, gage-and process-pressure measurement. It can also serve as power supply for connected sensors. Vegamet 391 is designed for…

Waste disposal system for military operations

The Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGS) is a compact solid-waste disposal system that is designed for energy-efficient operation onboard naval vessels, in forward-operating military bases and in other isolated installations. Developed by the Office of Naval Research (ONR; Arlington, Va.;…

Avoiding Pressure Relief Problems

Pressure relief valves and rupture disks are critical safety devices for protecting personnel and processing equipment from overpressurization situations. Presented here are several engineering practices that can help to identify and address common problems with the pressure relief systems of…

Better styrene science needed

The following letter originally appeared in Chemical Engineering, December 2011, p. 6. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) flawed and unwarranted ruling that styrene poses a health hazard continues to stir opposition from respected scientists, manufacturing leaders,…

Fight formaldehyde litigation

(From November 2011, Letters) Perhaps enough has been written about the questionable science underlying recent U.S. government pronouncements concerning formaldehyde and human cancer of the lymphohematopoietic system (“LHPs—including the leukemias and the lymphomas)*. Now, suppliers of formaldehyde-containing product must face…

Predictive process control at a refinery wastewater treatment plant

To date, the difficult-to-treat contaminants and their related biological inhibition in petroleum refinery wastewater have defied efforts to bring predictive and mathematical process control to biological wastewater-treatment systems. Now, for the first time, engineers at Refinery Water Engineering & Associates…