Technical & Practical
Heat Exchangers: Specification Tips to Maximize Heat Transfer
Presented here are some practical points to help in the selection of a shell-and-tube heat-exchanger design for various applications Heat exchangers are widely used in various sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI), including: chemical; oil and gas; power generation;…
Technology Profile: Allyl chloride production
Allyl chloride (3-chloropropene; Figure 1) is primarily used almost exclusively as a chemical intermediate in the production of epichlorohydrin. A three-carbon epoxide, epichlorohydrin is used in the manufacture of epoxy resins prevalent in coatings, adhesives, and plastics. Epichlorohydrin is also…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) Basics
Flexible intermediate bulk containers (FIBCs), sometimes known as bulk bags, are widely used in the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and other chemical process industries (CPI) sectors, to transport and store dry, flowable bulk-solid materials, such as granules, powders, grains, clays,…
If Data is the New Gold, Where to Start Digging?
In a data-overloaded environment, companies may struggle to fully reap the benefits of Industry 4.0 technologies. Understanding data utilization can help transform process datasets into decision-making assets The chemical process industries (CPI) have been realizing for some time that information…
Health, Safety and Environmental Considerations for Process Synthesis
Following this approach to assessing health, safety and environmental risks can steer engineers to consider more inherently safe process options earlier in process synthesis During process synthesis in the chemical process industries (CPI), engineers make decisions that determine the inherent…
The Importance of Steam Quality for Steam-System Process Operation
Often, operational problems in steam systems are misattributed because the system’s steam quality is not closely monitored. A clear understanding of steam quality can help to better address these issues Steam quality describes the proportion of saturated steam (vapor) in…
Technology Profile: Production of Ethylene from Ethane
Ethylene is used almost exclusively as a building block — it is the largest-volume petrochemical produced worldwide (Figure 1). Production of ethylene grew rapidly in the middle of the 20th century, when oil and chemical companies began separating it from…
Gear Pump Basics
The versatile nature of gear-pump technology allows operators to handle multiple fluids in multiple applications Pump technology can be traced as far back as the B.C. era, when ancient Egyptians used a shadoof to move water from one source (in…
Pump Seals to Manage Water
Paying attention to the seal design used in centrifugal pumps can help in water management. This article uses the beverage industry to illustrate this point Economic survival in a climate where industry competition and environmental concerns converge is not easy.…
Facts At Your Fingertips: Cake Filtration Basics
Filtration is arguably the most common unit operation in the chemical process industries (CPI). Filtration processes can be divided into three broad categories: cake filtration, where the incoming slurry contains enough solid material to form a cake on the filter…