Technical & Practical
Engineering Practice: Designing Steam Stripping Columns for Wastewater
FIGURE 1. In a typical system for wastewater treatment, the liquid feed is introduced at the top of the column and steam is introduced at the bottom In recent years, steam strippers have become integral parts of industrial plant…
Facts at Your Fingertips: Acid Storage
Most common acids can be stored in horizontal or vertical ASME-type tanks, as shown in the figures to the right, or vertical API-type tanks. Horizontal, carbon-steel ASME-type tanks of 10,000 — 40,000 gal capacity should have a plate thickness of…
Benchmarking for Success
Effective use of capital in the ownership and management of manufacturing assets is critical to the financial performance of companies in the chemical process industries (CPI). Many of these companies use benchmarking in compliance with applicable laws and antitrust…
Solids Processing: Blender Selection And Avoidance of Post-Blender Segregation
A. Alexander and F. Muzzio, Rutgers University Proper blender selection can improve the mixing of bulk solids. Be sure to consider post-blending segregation problems Mixing and blending of bulk solids occurs frequently in many industrial processes. Though small-scale mixing and…
Environmentally Friendly Dry Vacuum Pumps Save Energy with the Lowest Cost of Ownership in Chemical and Biofuel Processes
Demands in the chemical processing industry to reduce energy consumption and carbon footprint are higher than ever before. Correct sizing and selection of vacuum systems can contribute significantly to optimizing throughput and efficiency, thus reducing energy consumption, capital and running…
Engineering Practice: Piping Design Part 5: Installation and Cleaning
This fifth in a series of articles [1 – 4] on piping design discusses the practical issues of installation and cleaning. Pipe installation The installation of pipe follows its fabrication and is very frequently a part of it. The…
Environmental Manager: A Checklist for Safer Chemical Batch Reactions
A good understanding of the reaction chemistry is needed for a safe process design It is a fact that safety-related incidents do occur in the chemical process industries (CPI). These incidents have, in part, led to increased attention to reactive-chemical…
Facts at your Fingertips: Random Tower Packing
Packed Columns [1] A packed column is a vertical, cylindrical pressure vessel containing one or more sections of a packing material over whose surface the liquid flows downward by gravity, as a film or as droplets, between packing elements. Vapor…
Cover Story: Move Difficult-to-Handle Bulk Materials with Flexible Screw Conveyors
Convey tough bulk materials that tend to pack, cake, smear, break apart or fluidize, and prevent separation of blended products Flexible screw conveyors are suitable for use with most bulk materials, from sub-micron powders to large pellets, both free-flowing and…
Feature Report: The Number One Problem in a Steam System: Water Hammer
Water hammer — a high-pressure surge or wave created by the kinetic energy of the moving liquid — is not only a system issue, but primarily a safety concern. Understanding the nature and severity of water hammer in a…