Maintaining high-purity conditions in the chemical process industries (CPI) depends in large part on the techniques used for sterilization. As a method to inactivate or eliminate potentially harmful microbes, sterilization can be achieved through a number of different approaches, such…
Modern industrial-automation systems rely entirely on digital technology, that is, computers. And as is typical of digital products, suppliers love to add features — data collection, alarm management, and so on — that are very useful for process operations but…
Capital cost assessment is an integral part of process design when building or expanding a chemical process plant. It is required to provide project analysis and evaluation, to select among alternative designs, to plan the appropriation of funds and to…
A well designed and operated heat-transfer-fluid system is a key feature of a safe, reliable and cost-effective heating design. However, problems can arise if the heat-transfer fluid becomes heavily degraded or the system is allowed to accumulate solids and other…
How long does it take a six-tray, 4-ft dia. deisobutanizer to achieve steady state? That depends on your definition of “steady state”. Some control experts regard 95% of “ultimate value” as a good definition, but how useful is that definition?…
Many solid materials can exhibit self-heating, which — if unchecked — can progress to a fire or even explosion. And even if the situation does not get that far, it is likely to affect the output of the process, in…
I have an ongoing dispute with a longtime colleague, Bob Miller. I said he ruined my new safety boots. He said he didn’t. Bob was a young, fearless distillation engineer at a time when our extraction engineer refused to take…
Gas-liquid reactors in the chemical process industries (CPI) have increasingly been designed to handle larger manufacturing scales. Since gas-liquid reactors can represent substantial capital and operating costs for the user, optimizing mixing and maximizing productivity are critical. The need for…
To make the modern materials we use every day, such as plastics, metals, electronics, pharmaceuticals, fuels and so on, strong acids are used to convert the earth’s raw materials into modern materials. In fact, so many tons of acid are…
Improved understanding of crystallizer equipment and operation can aid purification efforts in the CPI Crystallization is a key purification technique for various sectors of the chemical process industries (CPI). Several approaches for industrial crystallization have evolved over time, and highly…