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Technical & Practical

Flare Consolidation Considerations

Consolidating multiple flares can help mitigate emissions and maintenance Chris Ng and Zubin Kumana Siemens, Process Safety Consulting Many petroleum-refining and petrochemical facilities have experienced tremendous growth in recent years in response to increasing demand for fuels and chemical precursors.…

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Evaluate Heat-Exchanger Tube-Rupture Scenarios Using Dynamic Simulation

Applying dynamic simulation models to tube-rupture scenarios can help ensure more accurate sizing and hazard assessments Tube rupture in heat exchangers is an extremely serious issue in the chemical process industries (CPI; Figure 1). Heat-exchanger tube-rupture scenarios can be evaluated…

Dimensionless numbers in fluid dynamics

Dimensionless numbers refer to physical parameters that have no units of measurement. These numbers often appear in calculations used by process engineers. As long as consistent units are used, dimensionless numbers remain the same whether metric or other units are…

Bulk Solids: Optimizing Screw Conveyors

Despite their apparent simplicity, the complexity of these conveying systems demands proper design and an understanding of the underlying principles Screw conveyors play a major role in a wide variety of industrial operations that involve the handling of bulk solids.…

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Methane Reforming: A Guide

A wide range of factors must be taken into account before selecting the most appropriate reforming technology From the agrochemicals sector to steel production, from petroleum refineries to chemicals production — many sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI) would…

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Plot Plan Design: Process Requirements

It is important to conceptualize plant layout in terms of both ideal location and optimal geographical positioning of equipment components For any chemical process facility, the cost of improper or sub-obtimal plant layout can be enormous. Designers are generally well…

Temperature Effects for High-velocity Gas Flow

Guidelines are presented to better understand the temperature profiles of high-velocity gases In high-velocity gas flows, such as those that may occur within the discharge piping of a pressure-relief or depressurization valve, the temperature experienced at the wall of the…

The Impact of Off-BEP Pump Operation

Best-efficiency point (BEP), the flowrate at which a pump operates at its highest or optimum efficiency for a specific impeller diameter, is a key consideration when assessing pump performance. While most pumps do not consistently operate at their exact BEP,…

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Technology Profile: Sugar Inversion

The substance known colloquially as table sugar is actually sucrose, a disaccharide composed of fructose and glucose. Sucrose is a major agriculturally derived product with an established industry for its extraction, processing and supply. It is mainly employed as a…

Fire-Water Pumps for CPI Facilities

FIGURE 1  Fire-water pump assemblies are typically skid-mounted to ease installation and operation. Shown here is an example of a skid-mounted, diesel-engine-driven, fire-water pump package   Fire-water pumps are critical machines that save lives and prevent chemical process industries (CPI)…