Technical & Practical
Maximizing Performance In Size Reduction
Expect more in selection and scaleup, prediction of energy consumption and reliability Very seldom is a product of desired size manufactured directly in a process. Size reduction, coupled with screening (classification), is commonly used to achieve desired particle size. In…
Reduce Gas Entrainment In Liquid Lines
A common practice in the chemical process industries (CPI) is to implement so-called value- maximization projects (VMP) to increase production or reduce production costs in order to increase profit margins. With such projects, one main objective of the design team…
Flow Profile for Reciprocating Pumps
Reciprocating pumps are often used in the chemical process industries (CPI) because of their ability to generate high pressures at low velocities. A subcategory of positive-displacement pumps, reciprocating pumps act through the recipricating motion of a piston, plunger or diaphragm.…
Compact, High-efficiency Heat Exchangers: Understanding Fouling
The topic of fouling in heat exchangers has been of increasing interest in recent years, since it is so closely linked to the cost of building and running a chemical plant. It has been reported that fouling costs are about…
Pressure measurement considerations
Pressure measurement in the chemical process industries (CPI) is crucial to many unit operations, and selecting the most effective pressure sensors for a given situation can be complicated by a range of factors. An initial key to selection is establishing…
Low cost bidding
Raise your hand if you ever regretted going with the low cost bidder. Keep your hand raised if the low cost bidder ever yielded you the highest cost result. If your officemate is staring at you quizzically, pretend to be…
Burner Design for Fuel Flexibility and Efficiency
Combustion provides heat for many industrial processes and accounts for over 80% of the power used by turbines to generate electricity. Over the past several decades, regulatory action and concerns over environmental air pollutants, such as oxides of nitrogen (NOx),…
Non-ideal Gas Calculations Using Analytical Residuals
Many operations involving ideal gases are readily calculated using a basic knowledge of thermodynamics. Non-ideal gas behavior, however, can deviate significantly from that of ideal gases, and in some cases, large errors can be introduced in process calculations if a…
Optimizing Biological Water Treatment in Petroleum Refining
Wastewater streams from petroleum refineries present some of the largest ranges of variation in contaminant loadings and contain some of the toughest contaminant profiles to treat. These factors render the wastewater treatment processes difficult to control. The most challenging area…
Specifying Gas Turbines
Gas turbines are widely used throughout the chemical process industries (CPI) — especially in petroleum refineries and petrochemical facilities — to provide both mechanical-drive and power-generation capabilities. Presented below are a variety of recommendations related to the selection and arrangement…