This is the first in a series of articles that will cover a wide range of piping topics. The topics will cross process-industry lines, pertaining to, for example, the chemical, petroleum-refining, pulp-and-paper and pharmaceutical and other industries.The main…
Predicting an adiabatic-temperature rise is useful to chemical engineers for a number of purposes. One use is with combustion reactions whereby it is useful for determining the adiabatic-flame temperature. The adiabatic-temperature rise can be calculated for any reaction…
Regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs) are commonly used for controlling volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from a broad spectrum of industries. An RTO is basically a thermal oxidizer that uses ceramic media as the heat exchanger medium, providing high…
Chemicals, plastics, pharmaceutical, food, agricultural chemicals, coal and bio-chemical industries have a wide array of processes where the raw materials, intermediates and products are in particulate form. Hazards associated with particulate solids are unique, and in most cases…
Improvements in cartridge dirt-holding capacity has led to new designs, as well as to new equations for filter selection and specification, which are linked to dramatic improvements in the time between turnarounds and filter changeout. Cartridge filtration serves…
For companies in the chemical process industries, water is an indispensable utility. But the growing scarcity of quality industrial water, combined with stricter environmental regulations and the rising cost of wastewater treatment, have encouraged the conservation of water…
Accidents do happen. While not everything can be predicted, addressing safety concerns throughout the design of a process can help to prevent accidents from occurring. Designing with safety in mind can also help to minimize potentially serious consequences…
Understanding why rupture disks fail can help ensure that they don’t Even with the best process design, the unexpected can happen. Anticipating this, rupture disks are often installed as the last line of defense against the over-pressurization of equipment used…
Consider these points when selecting and specifying equipment that separates material according to particle size Screening is an integral part of many dry material processes, ensuring an end product that is free of fine or oversized material, or in some…
New crystallization-system designs rely on previous successful installations and rules for scaling-up systems to adapt to slightly different conditions. However, guidelines or rules of thumb have underlying assumptions that might have been ignored when scaling-up a system during…