Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM; Halle, Germany; www.fraunhofer.de) have developed ceramic membranes with uniform pore structure and tight pore-size distribution, which makes them more stable and delivers considerably higher flowrates than existing ceramic membranes, which…
My first distillation dream occurred about 30 years ago, and yet, I recall it as vividly as if it were yesterday. In it, my distillation-column design work started with a vapor-liquid thermodynamic model that was widely regarded as perfect. I…
In 1952, 37 companies established Fractionation Research, Inc. (FRI). Most of those original members are now gone or absorbed by other companies. Nevertheless, their goal was to study distillation in columns having diameters and heights that were similar to industrial…
In a distillation column tray, vapor passes upward through liquid that is flowing across a horizontal perforated plate. Vapor passing through the perforated plate forms a two-phase mixture with the liquid and enables mass transfer contacting. This mixture is typically…
I have 70 supervisors. It sometimes feels like I am pulled in 70 different directions — north, south, east, west, up, down and inside-out. But even after two years at this job, I can still hold my hand steady —…
Spray drying has been applied for many years for production of fine powders of high quality for various types of batteries. Over the years, the demand to energy density and performance of batteries from new applications has led to the…
On March 24, at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ (AIChE; New York; http://www.aiche.org) Spring Meeting in San Antonio, Tex., the Separations Division honored the myriad contributions of Dr. Karl T. Chuang. Given the scope and impact of his contributions,…
A new approach to the design of the downcomer portion of distillation column trays — presented at the recent American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Spring 2010 meeting (San Antonio, Tex.; March 21–25) — promotes a uniform fluid flow pattern,…
I read with great interest your article, Kettle Troubleshooting (February, pp. 26–33). The authors are to be congratulated on a very in-depth and timely presentation on the effects of boiling two-phase flow in kettle type reboilers. For over 45 years,…
Many reactions, extractions, separations and other operations in the chemical process industries (CPI) involve the use of organic solvents. In addition to handling and disposal issues, organic solvents can pose a number of environmental concerns, such as atmospheric and land…