A review of recent data from the Combustible Dust Incident Database provides insights into dust-related process safety Fires and explosions in facilities that handle combustible dust remain an ongoing focus of process safety efforts across many areas of the chemical…
This column is based on “Bio-Butanediol Production from Glucose,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/butanediol-production-cost. Butanediol (BDO) refers to all butylene glycol isomers. The most common isomer — 1,4-butanediol — is a versatile intermediate chemical…
Temperature measurement is critical in many types of process equipment, including reactors, distillation columns, furnaces, heat exchangers, evaporators, boilers and more. Among the most widely used instruments for measuring temperatures in chemical process industries (CPI) operations are resistance temperature detectors…
In pressure vessel design, use this procedure for determining the individual permissible flange loads for joints between pressure vessel nozzles and connected pipework At the initial design stage of pressure vessels with nozzles that are provided with standard flanges according…
This column is based on “Benzene Production from Pygas,” a report published by Intratec. It can be found at: www.intratec.us/analysis/benzene-production-cost. Benzene is the simplest and most important industrial aromatic hydrocarbon. It is a versatile petrochemical building block, and is an…
Designing a new solid-liquid filtration process or optimizing an existing one requires consideration of a number of factors aside from the type of filter that will be used. This one-page reference reviews two groups of considerations: one related to equipment,…
While some aspects of burner management systems may seem intuitive, overcoming misconceptions in their specification and design will help to elevate overall safety Boilers, burners, furnaces and fired heaters, along with any other fuel-burning equipment, are considered high-risk areas within…
Better upfront planning and management can lead to safer, more productive processes throughout every phase of operation A standards-based approach to process safety — one that actively addresses risks across a plant’s lifespan — can lead to safer chemical processes,…
This article describes an approach that uses data analytics for finding and addressing root causes of process deviations that reduce energy efficiency in key plant utility systems, and shares three case examples Discussion about climate change has been taking place…
Presented here are practical considerations concerning the equipment and methods used for experimental verifications of simulations The use of process simulation tools for modeling distillation columns is invaluable for designing plant-scale columns. However, it can be difficult to know if…