Latest News
Facts at your Fingertips: Clean-in-Place (CIP) Systems
Cleaning equipment surfaces is critical for processes involving biological materials to prevent microbial contamination. Clean-in-place (CIP) systems play a key role. In addition to preventing contamination, CIP systems also remove grit, scale and organic matter, which may affect process performance.…
Accelerate product development and small-batch production
A new flexible digital-manufacturing process for product development and small-batch production of liquid silicone rubber (LSR) parts — iCast LSR (photo) — enables manufacturers to develop product variations or try out different design concepts before investing in serial production tools.…
Monitor chlorine concentration down to 8 ppb
The new ultra-low-range CL17sc online total chlorine analyzer (photo) provides direct chlorine measurements from utility water, product water or wastewater discharge down to 8 parts per billion (ppb) to monitor for chlorine breakthrough and optimize dechlorination processes. The CL17sc is…
Improve Energy Efficiency Using Heat Pumps
Heat pumps are an efficient way to provide space and process heating. Information on their types, and how to assess their potential benefits is provided here Approximately 40% of the energy that is used in buildings in the U.S. goes…
Valve Actuator Selection Guide
Information provided here can help guide the selection of valve actuators that are best suited to the demands of a particular chemical processing application Actuators are machines used to control the position of a valve remotely and automatically. They are…
An Ounce of Prevention: Cybersecurity and the CPI
As the frequency and sophistication of industrial cyberattacks continue to rise, chemical companies can follow guidance from industry and government directives to help define their organization’s specific cyber-risk profile Cybersecurity risk is a key topic for all companies, due, in…
Tower Doctor: Can Trash Interfere With a Cure?
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers Construction of new production units has an undesirable byproduct: trash. Sometimes the hard question is— Who will clean? The author was the startup superintendent on a new unit in an olefins…
Rugged enclosures available for medium-voltage drives
PowerFlex 6000 medium-voltage variable frequency drives (VFDs; photo) packaged in Type 3R or IP54 enclosures are specifically designed and built for outdoor or remote installations to eliminate the need for a control room. The PowerFlex 6000 drive technology is suited…
Business News: June 2022
Plant Watch Petrobras to construct new diesel hydrotreating unit at Replan refinery May 12, 2022 — Petrobras (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; www.petrobras.com.br) announced that it signed a contract with the Toyo Setal HDT Paulínia Consortium, formed by the companies TSE…
Recycling bauxite residues and electrowinning iron
Electrochem Technologies & Materials Inc. (Montreal, Canada; www.electrochem-technologies.com) produced pure electrolytic iron (99.995% Fe) using its patented FerWIN process (diagram) — a sustainable zero-carbon iron-making technology — from ferrous sulfate heptahydrate (copperas) originating from the sulfation of bauxite residues. This…