Technical & Practical
Piping Design for Potentially Lethal Chemicals
Working in close proximity to the high pressures and temperatures commonly found in the chemical process industries (CPI) is cause enough for concern over a person’s wellbeing; but working in close proximity to chemicals that are considered toxic, hazardous or…
Ethanol from Sugarcane
Ethanol is a widely used commodity chemical with several applications, including use as a solvent and as a gasoline blendstock in the fuel market. Globally, the major portion of ethanol production is based on the fermentation of sugars from crop…
Biological Wastewater Treatment: Selecting the Process
Chemical, pharmaceutical and related industries produce large amounts of wastewater in their production and cleaning processes. The wastewater characteristics are often diverse, and may include minimally biodegradable or toxic substances, or both. To protect the environment, these wastewaters typically must…
Maximizing Fan Efficiency
Optimizing fan performance can help plants reach overall process efficiency goals. The cost of powering fans and ventilators in the chemical process industries (CPI) is significant. For example, ventilation and air-pollution control systems can account for over a quarter of…
Understanding Boiler Circulation
Boilers generate steam using different methods to circulate the steam-water mixture through the evaporator tubes. These methods include natural circulation (Figures 1, 2a–2c), forced circulation (Figure 3a), and a once-through design. Figures 3b, 4 and 5 show examples of a…
The Owner Role in Capital Projects
Avoid delays, cost overruns and more with significant owner involvement It is well known that the oil-and-gas, chemical and petrochemical industries are capital intensive. They require sophisticated facilities (plants), the installation of which are typically handled via capital projects…
Polypropylene Bulk-Phase Process
Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic polymer formed by the polymerization of 10,000–20,000 monomers of propylene. With a global market of about 60 million metric tons per year, PP is the second most-used polymer globally. More than 35% of the world’s…
How To Properly Size A Steam Trap
Proper steam-trap sizing is critical to efficient and reliable steam-trap operation. Incorrect steam trap sizing can undermine the design and function of the steam trap, create installation issues, and cause condensate backup, steam loss, or both. Steam-trap sizing refers to…
Improve Rotary Equipment Reliability with Checklists
Rotary equipment, such as centrifugal pumps, often represent the heart of plants in the chemical process industries (CPI). A critical factor in the longterm reliability of such equipment is a high-quality design and commissioning process, so that initially, the rotary…
Fundamentals of Bulk Solids Mixing and Blending
Mixing and blending of bulk solids is a common processing step in many industries. For example, in pharmaceutical manufacturing of solid dosage formulations (tablets or capsules), small amounts of a powdered active drug are carefully blended with excipients, such as…