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Feature Report: Green Engineering and the Design of Chemical Processes and Products

Chemical products and processes make modern life possible. The systems that provide housing, transportation, health care, and food for billions of people rely on chemical products, but as demand for these essential materials grows, the environmental impacts of the products…

Feature Report: The Role of Chemical Engineers in Green Engineering

What we can do to support its goals Green engineering, as explained by chemists and bio-scientists, includes production of energy and materials from "green" feedstocks, such as biomass and microorganisms, with the intent of reducing energy, waste, greenhouse gases (GHGs)…

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Feature Report: Advances in Valve Position Monitoring

Demanding application requirements coupled with improved downstream control devices and enhanced instrument diagnostics have led to major changes in process-valve monitoring and control. Factors driving these changes in the chemical process industries (CPI) include the need for lower plant operating…

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Engineering Practice: CAPE-Open: An International Standard for Process Simulation

Although current process simulators contain an extensive library of thermodynamic models and unit operations, they do not contain many new, complicated, or lesser known models. For many companies, particularly those in the petrochemical refining industry, it is very important to…

Engineering Practice: Accurate Wetted Areas For Partially Filled Vessels  

This article introduces a simple yet accurate way to calculate the wetted surface area of a partially filled horizontal vessel with semi-elliptical heads. This information is often needed for the sizing of relief devices. API Recommended Practice 521 specifies that…

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Solids Processing: Weighing Your Options — The 10 Most Important Scale Considerations

Scales are available in a dizzying array of types and sizes to suit different needs. Although it’s easy to default to price in order to eliminate the tedious task of researching your options, a basic knowledge of these ten key…

Going Wireless  

As the chemical process industries (CPI) make the transition from communication protocols and systems that are cable-ready to those that are wireless, the conversation is changing. On the plant floor and in the executive suite, terms such as mesh network…

The Importance of Intensive Steam Trap Management

Steam traps are an integral part of steam systems in the chemical process industries (CPI). Steam is commonly used to add energy into a process through its latent heat (steam heat), while the resultant sensible heat (hot condensate) drains through…

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Liquid Density Of the Elements

Liquid density is important to engineers throughout the chemical process industries (CPI). Knowledge of liquid density is required in the design of storage vessels. In hazard analysis, knowledge of liquid density is required in the design of the relief valves…

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PLC Maintenance Management

Although some CPI management may not realize it, PLCs (programmable logic controllers) are the brains behind many operations in the chemical process industries (CPI). A malfunctioning PLC can cause lines, plants and even operations such as city bridges and water…