Corrosion is estimated to account for a significant portion — 8–10% — of total annual-plant-capital expenditures for the chemical process industries. To avoid it, engineers can consider corrosion-resistant plastics for process piping and storage vessels. Thermoplastics are generally resistant to…
Household items, such as breakfast cereal, flour, corn starch and sugar are so common that many were left surprised after the 2008 combustible-dust explosion at a sugar refinery in Georgia. Heard in much of the early media coverage was the…
Compressed gas cylinders are widely used in research, pilot plant, laboratory and small-scale manufacturing and processing operations as a way to provide a convenient, economical and safe source of high-pressure gases for various applications. These gases can be inert, flammable,…
Thermal mass flowmeters provide advantages over other options for metering the consumption of natural gas by individual combustion units throughout the facility With today’s increased emphasis on strategic energy management, many throughout the chemical process industries (CPI) and elsewhere are…
Bag filters for industrial applications have been in existence longer and are considered by some to be easier and simpler to specify than cartridges for a filtration project. And although cartridge filtration is now one of the mostly widely used…
There are many considerations when choosing piping materials for an industrial system. Historically, when options were more limited, the decision-making process was relatively straightforward. It was a matter of choosing what grade of metal to install. Today, there is a…
More and more, the chemical process industries (CPI) are seeking out the benefits of flexible production and maximizing energy and material recovery. Process units are becoming tightly integrated, and the failure of one unit can seriously degrade overall productivity. Meanwhile,…
The ability to carry out measurements of dust and fines in polymer pellets can help operators improve equality control, assess equipment performance and optimize the process Plastics are most commonly produced and sold in pellet form due to the superior…
In more and more locations, the availability of fresh water resources is limited and water reuse is becoming increasingly important. For many industrial applications, the availability of water is essentially a “license to operate”. A large component of the water…
Multiple CSTRs (continuous stirred-tank reactors) are advantageous in situations where the reaction is slow; two immiscible liquids are present and require higher agitation rates; or viscous liquids are present that require high agitation rates. Unlike in plugflow reactors, agitation is…