Technical & Practical
Biological Treatment of VOCs
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), together with particulate matter, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides, are major components of air pollution that can lead to serious environmental and health hazards. Physical, chemical and biological treatment methods are available to remove…
How to Prepare a Process Design Basis
Intelligent — and thorough — preparation of a process-design-basis document can make the difference between a high-quality design for a chemical-process project and a poor one. The process-design-basis document represents the owner’s instructions to the design engineering organization…
Infrared Temperature Monitoring: Know the Right Questions to Ask
The infrared approach to temperature monitoring is especially useful in situations where process temperatures are extremely high, the target is in motion, and the need to avoid contaminants is significant Accurate temperature measurement can often be quite challenging, especially in…
Important Determinants Of Solvent Selection
Early predictions suggested that solvents would eventually be eliminated from industrial applications because of health and environmental concerns. After a short period of a small decline in solvent use in 1990s, the solvent demand is now growing steadily…
Predicting Powder Flow Behavior – A New Approach
When faced with the complexity of predicting powder flow, it is tempting to reduce a material’s flow behavior to a single number or even a flow function. The method presented here, however, compiles a number of relevant parameters into a…
Don’t Overlook Composite FRP Pipe
There are several reasons why composite fiberglass-reinforced-plastic (FRP) pipe has been replacing conventional pipe, and why this still relatively new material (see box, p. 46) should be kept in mind whenever piping is being specified for a new…
Preventing Fires and Explosions in Pilot Plants
Among pilot plants, those in petrochemical or petroleum-refining service pose special risks of fire and/or explosion. The key strategies to minimize those risks are these: properly conducted preconstruction safety reviews; leaktight design and construction; close attention to area…
A Bit of Extra Lab Effort Can Prevent Grief During Scaleup
It’s an old saw, but I’ve long held that process development is very much a team effort. Developing safe, robust and scaleable chemical processes calls for close collaboration between synthesis chemists, process development engineers and pilot plant personnel.…
How to Estimate Utility Costs
Typical process utilities include electricity, process steam, refrigerants, compressed air, cooling water, heated water, hot oil, process water, demineralized water, municipal water, and river, lake, or ocean water. For preliminary cost estimates, waste disposal cost can also be…
Know Your Hydrogen-Supply Options
At present, around 540 billion Nm3 of hydrogen is produced worldwide, and the trend is upward (Hydrogen: The Real Action Is Today, CE, February, pp. 28ff). The numerous chemical-process and other industrial applications of this colorless, odorless gas…