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Facts At Your Fingertips: Evaporator Equipment Types

Industrial evaporator heat-transfer surfaces are either tubular or flat plates, packaged into a variety of evaporator types, as outlined here. Batch evaporators Batch evaporators are vessels with a heating jacket or internal coil, an overhead condenser, a condensate receiver, and…

Technology Profile: Producing Polylactic Acid from Corn

Polylactic acid (PLA, polylactide; Figure 1) is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester that is derived from a number of renewable starting materials, such as starch and sugarcane, via bacterial fermentation. PLA is semicrystalline or amorphous, rigid, resilient and an ultraviolet-light-resistant material,…

Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) rises in April, ACC says

The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), rose 0.7% in April on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis following a 1.1% increase in March and a 0.9% gain…

U.S. chemical production fell in March, ACC data indicate

The U.S. Chemical Production Regional Index (U.S. CPRI) fell 2.8% in March following a 3.9% decline in February and a 0.6% increase in January, according to the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). Chemical output fell in all regions…

A Mixer Makes a Better Sunscreen

Changing from a conventional mixer to an ultra-high-shear mixer led to improved dispersions, increased production capacities, and reduced electricity and labor costs As the days get sunnier, people will be looking to sunscreens to protect their skin from the harmful…

Technology Profile: Suspension Polymerization of Polyvinyl Chloride

This column is based on “Polyvinyl Chloride Production from VCM (Suspension Polymerization) – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/polyvinyl-chloride-production-cost. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the third most commonly produced synthetic polymer, after polyethylene and…

Improve Energy Efficiency Using Expanders

Expanders can take advantage of pressure reductions to drive rotating machines. Information on how to assess the potential benefits of installing expanders is provided here Often in the chemical process industries (CPI), “a considerable amount of energy is wasted in…

Operational Best Practices for Rotary Dryers

To maximize the service life and reliability of rotary dryers for solid materials, adhere to this set of practices Rotary dryers have a well-deserved reputation for reliability, often providing decades of trouble-free operation in solids-handling processes. As with any type…

Clariant and India Glycols form JV for renewable ethylene oxide derivatives

Clariant AG (Muttenz, Switzerland; www.clariant.com) and India Glycols Limited (IGL), a leading company in the manufacturing of green technology-based chemicals, announced a strategic partnership to establish a 51-49% joint venture in renewable ethylene oxide (EO) derivatives.  By combining production and…

Bookshelf March 2021: Recently Published Books for the CPI

The following is a list of recently published books that may be relevant for professionals in the chemical process industries (CPI) Digital Transformation for the Process Industries: A Roadmap. By Osvaldo Bascur (edited by Jim O’Rourke), CRC Press, 2021, 320…