Technical & Practical
Seal Considerations to Reduce Fugitive Emissions
By understanding the basics of industry standards, such as API 682, plants can make great strides in controlling fugitive emissions related to equipment seals Chemicals that unintentionally leak from equipment into the atmosphere are known as fugitive emissions. These gases…
Owning Your Career: Taking a Hard Look at ‘Soft’ Skills
A personal development strategy helps to set engineers up for success in their personal and professional lives As chemical engineers, we have been trained to be data-driven, fact-based problem-solvers. This focus serves us well when we are tackling difficult technical…
Facts at your Fingertips: Ion Exchange Resins in Water Treatment
Removal of dissolved ions from industrial process water, boiler feedwater or wastewater is a common challenge for facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI). Ion exchange (IX) systems offer one possible solution for demineralization, purification or wastewater-treatment applications. Ion exchange…
Modular Process Design: Chemical and Thermal Recycling of Acids
In order to recycle spent acids from different applications, a design approach based on different process modules gives operators the flexibility needed to handle different contaminants Spent or waste acids (SA) containing sulfuric or nitric acid are a byproduct of…
Acid Recovery and Recycle Technologies
This overview of a number of different methods for handling spent acids will help operators select the technology most suited for a given application The most common pickling, leaching and passivation acids are the mineral acids: sulfuric, hydrochloric and nitric.…
Technology Profile: Production of Orthophthalic Unsaturated Polyester
This column is based on “Orthophthalic Unsaturated Polyester Production Process – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/unsaturated-polyester-resin-production-cost. Unsaturated polyester resins (UPRs) are solutions of unsaturated polyesters in co-polymerizable monomers, which undergo cross-linkage to…
Industry Mentors: An Integral Part of Education
An experienced engineer who mentors young engineers and a student mentee share their perspectives Mentors provide critical support and guidance to students pursuing an engineering education, and complement coursework aimed at readying a new engineer for the workforce. Mentorships can…
Facts at your Fingertips: Nucleation Phenomena in Crystallization
Industrial crystallization processes are widely used in the chemical process industries (CPI) for their ability to separate and purify products in a single step, often to greater than 99.9% purity. Crystal growth proceeds after nucleation, a molecular aggregation process whereby…
Steam Quality Considerations
Steam often provides the majority of heat, but its quality is not always carefully managed. Here are some tips on how to improve and maintain steam quality Plant operations focus on production activity, maintaining tight control on process algorithms, feedstocks…
Technology Profile: Production of Vinyl Chloride Monomer
This column is based on “Vinyl Chloride Production from Ethylene and Chlorine – Cost Analysis,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/vinyl-chloride-production-cost. Vinyl chloride (also known as vinyl chloride monomer, VCM and chloroethene) is an organochloride…