Manual operators are often included on solenoid valves to enable functional checking during startup and commissioning. These operators are then removed prior to the plant being handed over to operations personnel to prevent potential trips or unplanned shutdown. The new…
The Advanced Cylinder Management (ACM) system is an all-in-one solution for tracking and managing this gas supplier’s entire fleet of gas cylinders. Using specially designed tracking barcodes placed on each gas cylinder, the company is able to scan each asset…
The Model G3 Progressing Cavity Pump is designed for handling material with high solids content, and those that are semi-dry or caked. The product features a series of finger mechanisms mounted on two counter-rotating shafts. Positioned above the pump’s auger…
Compressors: How to Achieve High Reliability & Availability. By Heinz P. Bloch and Fred K. Geitner. McGraw-Hill. 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Web: mcgraw-hill.com. 2012. 268 pages. $50.00. Reviewed by Amin Almasi, WorleyParsons Services Pty.…
The KMX-V Static Mixer is designed to generate superior mixing per unit length for laminar-flow and high- and low-viscosity applications. For extreme-viscosity fluids and extreme volume ratios, the most common limiting factor in static mixer design is allowable length, this…
The first international “Science Award Electrochemistry” from BASF SE (Ludwigshafen; www.basf.com) and Volkswagen AG (Wolfburg; both Germany; www.volkswagen.com) goes to Dr.Naoaki Yabuuchi, Tokyo University of Science, Institute for Science and Technology (Tokyo, Japan). The jury of experts from BASF, Volkswagen…
Air Fuel Synthesis Ltd. (AFS; Darlington, U.K.; www.airfuelsynthesis.com) has recently demonstrated a process for producing carbon-neutral liquid hydrocarbon (HC) fuel from air-captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen. The proof-of-concept demonstration facility, located at Teesside, England produces 5–10 L/d of liquid HCs.…
Last month marked the completion of the three-year, €3.6-million E.U.-funded research project, Self-assembled Polymer Membranes (SelfMem). Coordinated by the Institute of Polymer Research at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht (HZG; Germany; www.hzg.de), with twelve partners from industry and academia in Israel, Canada…
Kazuaki Ishihara and his group at Nagoya University (Japan; www.ishihara-lab.net) have established a new, environment friendly reaction technology — using Baeyer-Villiger oxidations — for selectively oxidizing ketones into esters. The reaction uses hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant, and has potential…
A challenge in the development of polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells is the durability and electrocatalytic activity of platinum-based electrocatalysts. The sluggishness of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) causes the fuel cell performance to be limited by the cathodic reaction, and…