Technical & Practical
Working with the CSB After a Major Accident
After a serious accident at a chemical plant, petroleum refinery or other freestanding industrial facility, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB; www.csb.gov) may immediately initiate an investigation, often getting “in the air” while the emergency is still unfolding. The CSB…
Internal Corrosion Sampling
Corrosion is a large and complex issue that is critical to the chemical process industries (CPI) as well as other industry sectors. Corrosion not only affects personal property like cars and homes but also affects commercial assets such as storage…
Dynamic Modeling for Steam System Control
One of the most energy-intensive utilities for many facilities in the chemical process industries (CPI) is the steam system. Traditionally, steam-use optimization has centered on efficient heat transfer and eliminating waste [ 1]. Further optimization can involve a broader look…
CFD Analysis of Heat Transfer From Flares
A gas flare is an elevated vertical conveyance found accompanying oil wells, gas wells, drilling rigs, petroleum refineries, chemical plants, natural gas plants and so on. Although modern flare systems are specifically designed to reduce the thermal radiation, pollution…
Draining Vessels
Throughout the chemical process industries (CPI), the need to drain a tank or process vessel arises. In batch-type plants, it is a regular occurrence and is one factor that affects the total cycle time per batch and ultimately the entire…
Spray Drying Parameters
Among the most widely used technologies in the chemical process industries (CPI), spray drying involves dispersing a liquid or slurry in a hot gas to produce a dry powder product. A wide range of pumpable solutions, suspensions and emulsions can…
A method for quantifying pipe vibrations
Failures of piping due to vibration-induced fatigue are a serious problem in the chemical process industries (CPI) and a matter of concern for the safety and reliability of plant operations. Due to the complexity of flow-induced vibrations in pipes, no…
Water-saving strategies for the CPI
Reducing freshwater consumption and wastewater discharge at large petroleum-refining and chemical-production facilities can lower costs, while allowing plants to expand production capacities without having to secure additional freshwater resources and without having to enlarge their wastewater treatment plants. The key…
Rules of Thumb For Pneumatic Conveying Pipelines
Quite often, during the design of conveying systems, not enough attention is paid to the design of the conveying pipeline and its components. This disregard often leads to some major conveying system problems such as low conveying rates, conveying line…
Centrifugal Compressors for CPI Plants
The growth in use of centrifugal compressors in chemical process industries (CPI) applications in recent decades has been brought about by four factors: 1) advances in dry gas seal technology; 2) modern aerodynamic, rotor-dynamic and thermodynamic knowledge and techniques; 3)…