It was the Dr. James R. Fair Heritage Distillation Symposium at the Chicago AIChE meeting last month. I had decided to finally give a presentation about something that has been bugging me since October 28, 1974, my first day as…
The Witte Co. This salt-drying system recycles hot exhaust air Among a host of advantages, the bulk salt-dryer system (photo) from this company captures half of its hot exhaust air for recycling, which both reduces energy requirements and cuts the…
Several case histories illustrate the benefits of identifying and correcting poorly designed reflux and product-handling systems Manufacturers of specialty chemicals are routinely required to reduce costs and increase the production of their high-value products. Specifically, competitive pressures from the developing…
The ongoing scaleup of numerous microfiltration plants has increased demand for filtration modules with large membrane surface areas — a demand adequately met by the new Microdyn and Seprodyn tubular modules, MD220 TP 2L (photo) and SE220 TP 1L. While…
The AFR Series Tubular Backwash Filter System (photo) is designed for continuous, high-flow filtration (single-system flowrates up to 2,000 gal/min and 454 m 3 /h). The system is designed to replace a much larger eight-station tubular multiplex system in a…
Developed over the last three years, Drynetics is a concept for using computer simulations to optimize a spray drying plant (photo). The model is put into the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of full-scale spray dryers, and incorporates the know-how…
This firm has modified its spiral-wound membrane elements in a way that enables reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plants to operate at pressures of up to 120 bars — considerably higher than the 80 bars used in conventionally driven, high-pressure RO…
The Pista Turbo grit washer contains new technology that can achieves grit retention of 95% down to 140 mesh particle size. It can produce drier and cleaner grit with less putrescible organic material. The new technology, called Tri-cleanse, features intense…
E. Begerow Mineral-free and made of high-purity cellulose, the new Becopad depth-filter medium (photo) offers very high filtration performance, high chemical resistance and strength, and minimum ion release. The range of applications includes haze reduction for fine chemical products, catalyst…
The 16-in. Filmtec Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration membranes offer an active surface area of 1,725 ft 2 — a four-fold increase in active surface area compared to the 8-in. RO elements currently in use. With this dramatic increase in active…