2015-05 Chemical Engineering PDF

May
2015
www.chemengonline.com
Snapshot of U.S.
05
Petroleum Refining
PLANT STARTUPS • ASSET RELIABILITY
Improving Particle-
Size Analysis
Asset Reliability
Managing
Plant Startups
page 50
Show Preview:
ACHEMA 2015
Pressure-
Facts at Your Relief
Fingertips: Systems
Catalysis
Direct-Fired
Flare-Gas Heaters
Recovery
VOL. 122 NO. 5 MAY 2015
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May 2015 Volume 122 | no. 5
Cover Story
50 Managing Large Chemical Plant Startups
Prudent planning and scheduling during a project’s front end can lead to more
expedient commissioning and startup activities
In the News
7 Chementator
New cryogenic technology for cooling superconducting cables;
Air-capture of CO2 using waste process heat; Construction to
begin on biomass-to-fuels facility; Precise pore creation leads
to effective graphene-based desalination membrane; Making
bioethanol directly from starch; and more
18 Business News
Roquette launches isosorbide production unit in France;
AkzoNobel to invest in organic peroxide operations in the U.S.
and Europe; Lanxess starts up EPDM rubber plant in China;
LyondellBasell to expand tri-ethylene glycol capacity in Texas; Olin
to merge with Dow chlorine business; and more
22 Newsfront U.S. Petroleum Refining: Snapshot 2015 50

Developments from the 2015 AFPM annual meeting frame a picture of the
current state of the U.S. petroleum refining industry
28 Newsfront Improved Particle-Size Analysis
Boosts Quality
Particle-size analysis methods are changing for the better, reducing rework
and improving yield
22
Technical and Practical
47 Facts at your Fingertips Catalyst Fundamentals
This one-page reference provides basic information on catalysis phenomena
in industrial chemistry
28
48 Technology Profile Hydrogen Production from
Natural Gas
This column describes a process for generating hydrogen from natural gas
59 Feature Report Connecting Operations Personnel to

Reliability Efforts 71
Seven methodologies are described to help operations staff take greater
ownership of asset performance
66 Engineering Practice Flare-Gas Recovery Methods

for Olefin Plants Adding flare-gas recovery units at strategic locations
of an olefin plant not only reduces emissions, but will save money as well
71 Engineering Practice Troubleshooting Tube-
Deterioration Mechanisms in Direct-Fired Heaters
A practical step-by-step guide for reducing tube failure
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 1

78 Environmental Manager Optimizing Pressure-Relief
Systems Alternative designs for pressure-relief systems may offer
investment cost savings
Equipment and Services

36 Focus Flowmeters
Compact flowmeter manages up to six common plant gases; Use this
flowmeter to create personalized gas compositions; Flowmeters are undaunted
by high-volume gases; Thermal mass flowmeters regulate N2 tank blanketing;
Vortex flowmeters can assist with energy-saving efforts; and more
41 New Products
This remote user interface is now hazardous-location certified; Use these ribbed
78 burst panels in vacuum conditions; Latest software release builds on existing
capabilities; Achieve vapor-pressure testing for up to 12 samples in one run; A
solid-state relay with fast release times and little noise; Microprocessor-based
gas monitors with custom sensors; and more
40I-1 New Products (International Edition)
High-performance safety relays are only 6 mm wide; This new thermowell design
prevents vibration; Enhanced software for ERP document management; A new
36 version of this piping-system design software; A heavy-fuel viscosity meter for
demanding applications; Three-phase separation in a single machine; and more
84 Show Preview Achema 2015
The 31st Achema tradeshow and conference will be held June 15–19 in
Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Included here is a small sampling of the products
and services that will be displayed in the exhibit halls
41 Departments
5 Editor’s Page Have you noticed?
Our print magazine has recently been redesigned to a more modern look, with
features to enhance readability
104 Economic Indicators
Advertisers
89 Gulf Coast Advertising Section
100 Product Showcase
101 Classified
102 Reader Service
103 Ad Index
Chemical Connections
Follow @ChemEngMag on Twitter
Join the Chemical Engineering Magazine
LinkedIn Group
Visit us on www.chemengonline.com for Latest News,
Web-exclusive articles, Test your Knowledge Quizzes,
Bookshelf and more
Coming in June
Look for: Feature Reports on Materials of Construction; and Temperature
Measurement and Control; A Focus on Software; A Facts at your
Fingertips on Liquid-Liquid Extraction; an Engineering Practice
article on Filtration and Separation; A Solids Processing article on Dust;
News Articles on Flame Retardants; and Column Internals; a You and
Your Job article on Multitasking; and more
Cover: Rob Hudgins
2 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
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I
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Senior Vice President & Group Publisher
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Chementator
New cryogenic technology for cooling
superconducting cables Edited by:
Gerald Ondrey
I
ndustrial gases special- Vacuum-subcooler
ist Messer Group GmbH Nitrogen
(to atmosphere)
A NATURAL FUNGICIDE
(Bad Soden, Germany; Subcooler An international research
w w w. m e s s e r g r o u p . team, led by Yoshikazu
com) has developed a new 150 mbar Ohya at the University of
Vacuum pump
cryogenic technology that Tokyo (www.ib.k.u-tokyo.
ac.jp), has discovered a new
makes it possible to use
chemical compound that in-
liquid nitrogen (LN2) to cool Expansive valve -209 oC hibits the growth of patho-
high-temperature super- Liquid genic fungi. The new com-
conducting (HTS) cables nitrogen
pound, called poacic acid,
down to –209°C, which is -196 oC
-206 oC was isolated from hydro-
significantly lower than that lyzed lignocellulose and its
normally achieved by LN2 Super antifungal properties were
Liquid nitrogen conductor
(–196°C). The new pro- pump studied by Ohya’s group, in
cess was developed for the collaboration with research-
AmpaCity project of RWE ers from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Riken
Deutschland GmbH (Essen, Safety pipe Source: Messer
Group (Yokohama, Japan) and the
Germany; www.rwe.com), University of Minnesota.
in which a 1-km long, 10-kV superconduc- warmed LN2 is then re-cooled in a specially Poacic acid was shown
tor cable replaced the conventional 110-kV engineered subcooler, which uses LN2 at to be effective against sev-
lines between two substations in the city –209°C as cooling agent. eral widespread fungal
center of Essen, Germany. The HTS cable In order to ensure safety of the plant, we crop pathogens: Sclerotinia
was developed by project partner, Nexans use the LN2 supply tank for venting pur- sclerotiorum (white mold in
Deutschland GmbH (Hannover, Germany; poses as well, says Herzog, so that LN2 a wide range of plants), Al-
www.nexans.com), and was commissioned can be flushed from the cable in the event ternaria solani (early blight in
in April 2014. of the cable suffering damage without it potatoes and tomatoes) and
Phytophthora sojae (root
In Messer’s process (diagram), N2 is va- escaping uncontrolled into the environ-
and stem rot in soybeans).
porized at about 150 mbar, which lowers ment. A patent application has been made
the boiling point to –209°C, thus achieving for the routing system that is used for this BIOPROPANOL
the specification for the cables (N2 freezes purpose, he says.
The research group of pro-
at –210°C, so lower temperatures are not Other applications involving very high
fessor Michihiko Kataoka at
possible). The LN2 is pumped through the electrical currents — for example, elec- Osaka Prefecture University
HTS cable in order to conduct away any trolysis plants — would benefit from this (Osaka, www.osakafu-u.
heat that penetrates through the thermal in- technology, because superconducting ca- ac.jp) has genetically engi-
sulation, explains Friedhelm Herzog, senior bles can transport five times the amount neered E. coli to produce
manager for industrial application at Messer. of electricity through cables with the same 1-propanol by the fer-
The N2 heats up from –206°C when it en- cross-section, and at a relatively low volt- mentation of glucose. The
ters the cable, to –201°C at the exit. The age, says Herzog.
(Continues on p. 8)
A pulsation dampener that decreases pump energy consumption
A
new pulsation dampener page and kickback is temporarily lead to longer lifetimes for bearings
benefits from a design that stored in the Expulse’s inner hose and gearboxes.
can reportedly decrease and filler gas. Since some of the en- With its inner hose constructed
energy usage. The Expulse, ergy remains inside the dampener, of a specially made elastomer, the
a flexible, inline pulsation dampener flow kickback is decreased. In labo- Expulse’s flexibility also sets it apart
recently released by Flowrox Inc. ratory tests, the company observed from steel-based dampeners, says
(Linthicum, Md; www.flowrox.us), a 15% increase in flow when using the company, in that its flexible con-
consists of a reinforced outer hose the dampener, meaning that with the struction, in addition to providing for
and an expansive inner hose, with dampener installed, desired flow- easier maintenance, allows it to ab-
compressed-air filler gas between rates could be achieved at a lower sorb up to 90% of flow pulsations.
the layers. Along with stabilizing flow pump speed. Decreasing the pump With each pulse, the diameter of the
and reducing noise, the Expulse can speed while still achieving desired flexible inner hose expands, which
also decrease pump energy usage flowrates translates into around prevents slurry sedimentation within
by 10%, according to the company. 10% energy savings for the pump. the hose and acts as a self-clean-
In cases of high discharge pressure, These energy savings, along with ing mechanism, further increasing
the energy created by flow stop- reduced vibrations and pulsations, efficiency.
Note: For more information, circle the 56-digit number on p. 102, or use the website designation.

1-propanol yield from the
Air-capture of CO2 using waste process heat
engineered strain has been
C
shown to be 1.5 to 2 times arbon-negative technology being monoliths allow contact with large volumes
higher than that achieved by commercialized by Global Ther- of air at small pressure drops and low cost.
others, says Kataoka. The mostat LLC (New York, N.Y.; www. The honeycomb monoliths are coated with a
higher yield was achieved by globalthermostat.com) removes proprietary solid amine-based sorbent mate-
suppressing the production carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere rial developed by BASF SE (Ludwigshafen,
of CO2. Kataoka believes using low-cost waste process heat from in- Germany; www.basf.com).
the technology is a first step dustrial processes. The technology works in The solid sorbent material occupies pores
toward a sustainable route
a similar fashion to cogeneration approaches in the contactor material and captures CO2
for making biopropylene, a
precursor for polypropylene.
and could transform heavy CO2-emitters into molecules flowing through the device. The
carbon sinks, according to the company. solid sorbent releases CO2 at much lower
SORTING BIOMOLECULES Founded by Graciela Chichilnisky and Peter temperatures compared to those for liquid-
Eisenberger — Columbia University (New York, based carbon capture. CO2 is released
Researchers at Harvard
University (Cambridge,
N.Y.; www.columbia.edu) professors who are using low-temperature (~85–90°C) residual
Mass.; www.harvard.edu) contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel process heat and water vapor, and the sor-
have demonstrated a hybrid on Climate Change (IPCC; Geneva, Switzer- bent is regenerated. The CO2 is stored for
chemical-mechanical sys- land; www.ipcc.ch) — Global Thermostat built use in commercial applications.
tem that can be used for the a demonstration facility for the technology at The vast resources (~$55 trillion, according
detection and separation of the Silicon Valley campus of research nonprofit to the International Energy Agency; Paris; www.
biomolecules. The system SRI International (Menlo Park, Calif.; www.sri. iea.org) invested in fossil-fuel-based energy in-
consists of an array of mi- com). The company recently secured a com- frastructure and the long-term persistence of
croscopic polymeric fins with mercial partnership with NRG Energy. CO2 in the atmosphere make carbon-reduc-
attached nucleic acid mol-
The technology works by blowing air (or tion technologies critical to climate-change
ecules, which can recognize
specific target molecules.
an air/fluegas mixture) over a wall of honey- policies, explains Global Thermostat CEO
The polymer fins are embed- comb contactors developed by Corning Inc. Chichilnisky, the author of the carbon market
ded in a hydrogel that un- (Corning, N.Y.; www.corning.com). Similar provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. “We need in-
dergoes volume changes in to the high-surface-area materials used in expensive carbon-removal technology that will
(Continues on p. 14) automobile catalytic converters, the Corning not be a drag on economies,” she says.
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Construction to begin on
Frankfurt am Main · 15 – 19 June 2015 biomass-to-fuels facility
Woody biomas Gasifier Fischer-tropsch Hydroprocessing Jet & diesel
C
onstruction is set to begin on a biorefinery
in Oregon this summer that will manufacture
bio-based jet fuel and diesel from forest and
sawmill residues. When it begins producing
biofuels at the end of 2016, it will be capable of con-
verting 140,000 dry tons of wood waste into 15 million
gal of fuel annually, according to Terry Kulesa, the co-
founder and president of Red Rock Biofuels (Fort Col-
lins, Colo.; www.redrockbio.com), the company that
will operate the facility.
Red Rock has engineered a process (photos) that
combines existing technology in a novel manner to
make jet fuel, diesel and naphtha from wood chips
and small limbs leftover from sawmills. The process
relies on a gasifier that integrates gasification with
systems for steam-methane reforming (SMR) water-
cleaning. The clean synthesis gas generated by the
gasifier is fed to a Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) microchannel
reactor from Velocys (Plain City, Ohio; www.velocys.
com; see Chem. Eng., January 2010, pp. 17–19). The
product mix from the small-scale F-T reactor is then
refined to yield a 40/40/20% mix of jet fuel, diesel and
naphtha, respectively.
“Commercialization depended on de-risking the pro-
cess,” Kulesa says, “by utilizing established technol-
ogy in a unique way.” Other keys include access to a
fixed-price feedstock and the willingness of end-users
to enter into long-term offtake agreements.
During its process development, Red Rock received
➢ World Forum and Leading Show two grants from the U.S. Depts. of Agriculture, Energy
for the Process Industries and Navy, and Kulesa says the company has recently
negotiated offtake agreements with Southwest Airlines
➢ 3,800 Exhibitors from 50 Countries and another major jet fuel consumer that will be an-
nounced soon.
➢ 170,000 Attendees from 100 Countries
An effective graphene-based
desalination membrane
R
esearchers from Oak Ridge National Labora-
Be informed. tory (ORNL; Oak Ridge, Tenn.; www.ornl.gov)

have demonstrated an efficient desalination
process using a porous graphene-based
Be inspired. membrane. While the thinness of the freestanding
graphene (roughly 0.3 nm) allows for significantly
Be there. higher flux than traditional reverse-osmosis pro-

cesses, the major breakthrough in the membrane’s
efficiency came with targeting the optimal pore con-
figuration. The size and spacing of the pores is key,
and the team applied atom-resolution imaging to op-
timize these parameters for desalination purposes.
www.achema.de The resulting pore size, 0.5–1.0 nm, was found to be
large enough for water molecules to pass through,
while remaining small enough to prevent salt ions
from penetrating.
To create the pores, the graphene layer, which re-
sides on a silicon nitride skeleton, was exposed to
a highly reactive oxygen plasma that etches away
at the graphene’s carbon atoms, until holes are
formed in the layer. The pores themselves are punc-
tuated with silicon atoms — not oxygen or carbon
— a noteworthy phenomenon that the researchers
attribute to the silicon’s potential stabilizing effect
on the pores. The size of the pores depends on the
amount of time that the membrane is exposed to
the oxygen plasma. Visit us!
Controlling pore size is among the most challenging ACHEMA, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
tasks in scaling up this technology beyond the cur- June 15 – 19, 2015
rently demonstrated milliliter scale. As the membrane Hall 3.0, stand F50
surface area gets larger, there will be added difficulty
in maintaining the optimal pore density of one pore per
100 nm2. Ensuring mechanical stability (while remain-
ing at the desired pore density) as the membranes get
larger will also be key to moving to pilot and com-
mercial levels. In addition to the oxygen-plasma ap-
proach, the team is also researching alternative, more
controllable methods of pore production to help allevi-
SOME THINK
ate some of these concerns.
Making bioethanol directly
A 90%
from starch
T
oday, the cost of enzymes continues to make
DECREASE
bioethanol uncompetitive as a fuel. Eliminating
the need for amylases, which are used to hy-
drolyze starch into fermentable sugars, would
IN ENERGY
be a key step toward reducing the operating costs for
producing bioethanol. Such a breakthrough has now
been achieved, by reachers from Japan, led by Jyun
USE WILL
Shima at Ryukoku University (Otsu; www.ryukoku.
ac.jp) and Ayumi Tanimura at Kyoto University (Kyoto,
both Japan; www.kyoto-u.ac.jp). The scientists have
COMPROMISE
isolated a yeast strain that directly produces ethanol
from starch.
The researchers use a technique called consolidated
THROUGHPUT.
bioprocessing (CBP), which integrates enzyme pro-
duction, saccharification and fermentation in a single
WE THINK
reactor using a single yeast strain. Their CBP process
is said to be superior to alternative methods that use
genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which require
DIFFERENT.
a complex production process to ensure physical con-
tainment of the GMOs.
In this study, the researchers performed compre-
hensive screening to find natural isolates of yeast
that could produce ethanol without having to add
amylases. Of the 530 yeast strains tested, three
strains were found to produce more than 6 g/L of At BEUMER we have a reputation for making things a little
ethanol. After 10 d of cultivation, ethanol production di erent. Take the stretch-film pallet packaging system,
by S. shehatae JCM 18690 reached 9.2 g/L. It was BEUMER stretch hood®. In a sector where energy-intensive
verified that the increase in the ethanol concentration shrink hooding is still common, BEUMER stretch hood® uses
of S. shehatae JCM 18690 was mainly due to the a non-thermal stretch-film system. The result: better load
increase in its gluco-amylase activity.
stability, higher throughput, up to 10 times less film consump-
The new yeast strain was also shown to be ethanol-
tolerant, with the ability to ferment xylose contained tion and 90% energy savings. All this makes a big di erence
in biomass at temperatures higher than the normal to productivity – and to the environment.
20–30°C range. The achievement has the potential to For more information, visit www.beumergroup.com
enable ethanol production from inexpensive and abun- Circle 8 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-08
dant renewable carbon resources, such as cassava
pulp and food wastes.
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Pompetravaini Spa Via per Turbigo, 44 • 20022 Castano Primo (Mi) • Tel. +39.0331.889000 • Fax +39.0331.889057
vendite@pompetravaini.it • www.pompetravaini.it Circle 47 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-47
Nanolaminated alloys ‘grow’ parts for
enhanced corrosion resistance
Modumetal
B
y controlling material interfaces
at the nano-scale, Modumetal Through the suction
Inc. (Seattle, Wash.; www. nozzle, gas or liquid is
modumetal.com) has devel- drawn in and entrained
oped a method for creating a new class by the motive stream.
of alloys with precisely defined proper-
ties through nanolamination. In this
process, a part, such as a valve or fas-
tener, is submerged in a tank contain-
ing various metal electrolytes. Through
current-controlled electric-field modu-
lation, metal ions are deposited onto
the part in specific microstructures and
layers. Unlike other electric-field-mod- Here the mixture
of motive and
ulation processes, which are based entrained medium
on mass-transfer control, this process is finally slowed
modulates the composition and struc- down and the A liquid or
ture of the alloy continuously. This level of control over the alloy’s properties velocity is conver- gaseous
ted into pressure. medium flows
at the interface between the original part and the deposited layer allows for through the
customized parts to be “grown” — a process the company likens to bio- motive nozzle
logical activities, such as the growth of tree trunks. from the top
The company touts corrosion resistance among the most desirable ben- into the pump
at extremely
efits of nanolamination. In partnership with various oil and gas companies,
high velocities.
Modumetal has performed numerous demonstrations of specialized nano-
laminated parts (including large-scale equipment, such as pumps and valves)
in downhole and marine environments. In recently published field-test results,
the zinc-based nanolaminated coatings showed unprecedented corrosion GJP16e15
resistance when compared with traditional materials, including galvanized
parts and those with cadmium-based coatings, all while maintaining strength
and thickness requirements.
Last year, the company opened a full-scale production facility for its
nanolaminated coatings in Snohomish County, Wash. Here, equipment and
tubular components of many types are nanolaminated. Because the metals
Jet Pumps
are grown using low-cost electrochemistry, Modumetal says the nanolami- Our jet pumps convey, mix and
nation process can operate with economics similar to traditional electroplat- compress any kind of gases, vapours,
ing processes, even for large length scales of 12–20 ft. Additionally, smaller liquids and solids. They are simply
components like fasteners are processed with very high throughput. Modu-
structured and easy to handle and
metal currently works with both end users and equipment manufacturers to
clad the materials. Going forward, Modumetal will continue working along- maintain, reliable, economical, and
side industry leaders to deploy its nanolaminated coatings. available in many materials.
For more
Determining the optimal time to information
clean heat exchangers consult our online
product catalog
I
n most cases, the difference between a clean heat exchanger and one
that has become fouled is noticeably obvious. However, determining ex- on our website.
actly how much the heat-transfer efficiency has deteriorated due to foul-
ACHEMA 2015, 15-19 June, Hall 4.0, Stand F46
ing has largely been a rough estimation based on differential pressure or
temperature measurements.
Now, a self-learning system has been developed by mycon GmbH
(Bielefeld, Germany; www.mycon.info) that continuously compares en- GEA Process Engineering
ergy costs of a heat exchanger during operation, with the costs needed GEA Wiegand GmbH
for cleaning. This enables operators to know when it is the most economi-
cal time to clean the heat exchanger. Phone: +49 7243 705-0
The device continuously monitors a number of key process parameters Internet: www.gea.com
using a patent-pending data acquisition system, and performs the calcu-
lations using a complex algorithm. The company says energy savings of engineering for a better world
up to 30% can be achieved with regular cleaning of heat exchangers, and
this task can now be performed in an optimized way.

A desalination membrane that is
response to chemical stimuli
(in this case, pH changes).
resistant to chlorine
The Harvard team immersed
T
the hybrid assembly in a two- he major drawback of existing mem- (2,000 ppm concentrations).
phase microfluidics system branes for desalination plants is that According to the team, the interlayer
with top and bottom fluid the membranes are not tolerant of crosslinking created a tighter membrane
layers in laminar flow. The oxidizing agents, such as chlorine. pore size and reduced membrane swelling.
polymeric fins were able to To overcome this drawback, a team of re- As a result, ten deposition cycles of PSS/
capture the protein thrombin searchers from the University of Melbourne PAH were adequate to form a selective
in the top layer because they
(www.unimelb.edu.au) and CSIRO (Mel- membrane layer with NaCl rejection of more
were adorned with the spe-
cific polypeptide sequence
bourne, Australia; www.csiro.au), led by pro- than 95%, the team says. Since only the
for the target biomolecule. fessors Sandra Kentish and Frank Caruso, polycationic layer participates in the cross-
Then the team was able to has developed a chlorine-resistant desalina- linking reaction, the PSS polyanion can then
move the captured thrombin tion membrane. be substituted with another anionic poly-
molecules to the bottom fluid The membranes are produced by the as- mer. To this end, a highly sulfonated poly-
layer with a shift in pH. The assembly of dense polyelectrolyte multilayer sulfone was synthesized and, according to
sembly could inspire hybrid (PEM) membranes, which are crosslinked the team for the first time, deposited from
assemblies for low-energy via imine bonds. The layer-by-layer as- an aqueous solvent to create a sPSf/PAG
separation and purification. sembly of the polyelectrolytes, polystyrene PEM assembly. The resultant membrane
sulfonate (PSS) and poly(allylamine) hydro- exhibited similar NaCl rejection to PSS/PAH
NANO-COATING chloride (PAH), facilitated the rapid forma- membranes, but showed much greater re-
Coatings that change color tion of a selective membrane layer with sistance to chlorine.
depending on the tempera- precise control over the membrane’s thick- The team said the results suggest that
ture have been developed
ness and composition. Interlayer crosslink- PEM membranes have outstanding po-
by researchers at the Fraun-
hofer Institute for Chemical
ing of PAH was induced via immersion in tential for reverse osmosis applications
Technology (ICT; Pfinztal, glutaraldehyde (GA) solution, facilitating where chlorine resistance is desired. The
Germany; www.), in collabo- imine bond formation. The team studied the team is seeking a commercial partner to
ration with industrial partners membranes’ performance in the separation fund further development of the mem-
(Continues on p. 16) of Na+ and Cl– ions from brackish water brane material.
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GM eucalyptus yields more wood
under a project funded by
L
the German Federal Ministry ast month, the Brazilian National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) ap-
of Education and Research proved the commercial use of the yield-enhanced eucalyptus tree developed by
(BMBF; Bonn, Germany). FuturaGene (www.futuragene.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzano Pulp and
These so-called thermo- Paper (São Paulo, Brazil; www.suzano.com.br). Field experiments conducted since
chromic nano-coatings are 2006 at various locations in Brazil have demonstrated an approximate 20% increase in yield
black if the temperature is compared to its equivalent conventional variety.
below 30°C, and thus be- This is the first genetically modified (GM) eucalyptus event to be approved worldwide and
come heat absorbers. When represents the most significant productivity milestone for the renewable plantation forest
the temperature rises, the
industry since the adoption of clonal technology in the early 1990s, says FuturaGene. This
color changes and the coat-
ing becomes transparent,
approval also represents the beginning of a new era for sustainable forest management by
thereby allowing infrared (IR) enabling the production of more fiber, using less resources. Brazil is the first country to com-
radiation to be reflected. The plete the development cycle of such a technology.
nano-coatings can be ap- FuturaGene’s yield-enhanced eucalyptus has been under development since 2001 and has
plied to metal strips or wires, undergone extensive biosafety assessment prior to submission for commercial approval.
which can then be interwo-
ven and used as exterior, self- ‘Up-cycling’ perfluorinated polymers
regulating thermal cladding
A
t the end of March, Dyneon GmbH (Burgkirchen, Germany) — a fully owned sub-
for walls and facades to help sidiary of 3M Co. (www.3m.com) — together with its cooperating partners, the
cool buildings passively and
Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, the University of Bayreuth and the institute In-
thereby reduce utility costs.
ICT developed a process that
VerTec, opened the world’s first fluoropolymer “up-cycling” facility in Burgkirchen,
evenly distributes nano-parti- Germany. The new pilot plant can up-cycle up to 500 ton/yr of fluoropolymer waste.
cles into a polymer matrix. The new pilot plant integrates seamlessly onsite into Dyneon’s existing fluoropolymer-
The coatings can be applied production lines, and employs pyrolysis to decompose perfluorinated polymers, recovering
directly to a metal, without gaseous monomers, which are cleaned prior to feeding them back into the manufacturing
the need for a primer coat. process for new materials. The plant will process fully fluorinated polymers, such as PTFE,
The coating also prevents O2 PFA and FEP, but a second phase will target polymer compounds containing fillers.
from reaching the metal, thus The project was funded with a €1 million grant from the German Federal Ministry for the
preventing corrosion. Environment (BMU; Berlin). ■
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CritiCal ProjeCt exeCution for the refinery and PetroChemiCal industries

Business News
LINEUP Plant Watch AkzoNobel to invest in organic peroxide
Roquette launches isosorbide operations in the U.S. and Europe
A. SCHULMAN March 26, 2015 — AkzoNobel (Amsterdam,
production unit in France
AKZONOBEL April 10, 2015 — Roquette Freres (Lestrem, the Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) plans
France; www.roquette.com) has started op- to invest more than €20 million in its organic
ASAHI GLASS
erations at a new unit for the production of peroxide production facilities in Mons, Bel-
CEPSA isosorbide at its site in Lestrem. The new gium and Pasadena, Tex. In Pasadena,
unit will produce 20,000 metric tons per year a newly implemented site-wide process-
DOW
(m.t./yr) of isosorbide. control system is expected to significantly
EXXONMOBIL RESEARCH improve capacity.
AND ENGINEERING Shin-Etsu to establish production base
for photoresist polymers in Taiwan Asahi Glass raising PVC
FERROSTAAL
April 10, 2015 — Shin-Etsu Chemical Co. production capacity in Vietnam
FLUOR (Tokyo, Japan; www.shinetsu.co.jp) will build March 25, 2015 — Asahi Glass Co. (AGC;
HALDOR TOPSØE a new plant in Taiwan that will produce pho- Tokyo; www.agc.com) plans to increase the
toresist polymer materials, which are used in production capacity at the polyvinyl chloride
INDORAMA the manufacture of semiconductor devices. (PVC) facility of Phu My Plastics & Chemicals
KURARAY The construction of the plant is expected to Co. (PMPC), AGC’s subsidiary in Vietnam.
be complete in about a year. PMPC’s PVC production capacity will be
LANXESS increased by 50% to 150,000 m.t./yr. Ex-
LYONDELLBASELL Lanxess starts up EPDM panded operations are scheduled to com-
rubber plant in China mence at the beginning of 2016.
MAIRE TECNIMONT
April 9, 2015 — Lanxess AG (Cologne, Ger-
OLIN many; www.lanxess.com) has started up a LyondellBasell to expand tri-ethylene
new production plant for ethylene propylene glycol capacity in Texas
PPG
diene monomer (EPDM) rubber in Chang- March 24, 2015 — LyondellBasell (Rotter-
ROQUETTE zhou, China. The plant has a nameplate dam, the Netherlands; www.lyondellbasell.
capacity of 160,000 m.t./yr, producing ten com) plans to expand production capacity
SHIN-ETSU
premium grades of EPDM. for tri-ethylene glycol at the company’s ex-
SINOPEC isting plant in Pasadena, Tex. The additional
SIPCHEM A. Schulman to establish capacity of around 23,000 m.t./yr will more
masterbatches plant in Turkey than double the company’s current produc-
SOCAR April 8, 2015 — A. Schulman, Inc. (Akron, tion capacity. The new unit is anticipated to
THYSSENKRUPP Ohio; www.aschulman.com) plans to invest be operational in late 2016.
INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS around €5–7 million in establishing a new
masterbatch production plant in Turkey. Fluor awarded engineering contract for
This new facility will produce approximately new Chinese polysilicon plant
18,000 m.t./yr of masterbatches for food March 24, 2015 — Fluor Corp. (Irving, Tex.;
and industrial packaging, and is expected to www.fluor.com) was awarded a contract by
start up by the end of 2016. Shaanxi Non-Ferrous Tian Hong REC Silicon
Materials Co. for a new polysilicon plant lo-
Tecnimont awarded contract for Socar cated in Yulin, China. The plant will have a
polypropylene plant total investment of over $1 billion.
April 7, 2015 — Maire Tecnimont S.p.A.
(Milan, Italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) PPG completes resin-production
reached an agreement with the State Oil plant in Brazil
Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar) for March 19, 2015 — PPG Industries,
a contract for a new polypropylene plant. Inc. (Pittsburgh, Pa.; www.ppg.com) an-
The total contract value is approximately nounced the completion of a $40-million,
€350 million. The plant will have a capacity 65,000-ft2 plant for onsite resin production
of about 180,000 m.t./yr of polypropylene. at its Sumaré, São Paulo, Brazil, coatings
manufacturing facility.
Sipchem starts up manufacturing
facility for EVA and LDPE Mergers & Acquisitions
April 1, 2015 — Saudi International Petro- Kuraray acquires bio-based film
chemical Co. (Sipchem; Al Khobar, Saudi specialist Plantic
Arabia; www.sipchem.com) began com- April 10, 2015 — Kuraray Co. (Tokyo, Japan;
mercial operations at a new plant that www.kuraray.co.jp/en) has acquired Plantic,
will produce ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) an Australia-based producer of bio-based
and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). The barrier materials. The acquisition enables
plant’s capacity will be 200,000 m.t./yr Kuraray to provide barrier materials for bio-
of EVA and LDPE. based food-packaging products.
World Premier.
Experience the new LEWA triplex® G3M.
ACHEMA 2015 – Hall 8.0, Booth C62.
You’ve never seen the LEWA triplex® like this before.

The power of innovation. Made by LEWA: The innovative G3M process diaphragm pump offers high
efficiency while taking up 30 % less space. It is ideal for the challenging conditions in chemical plants
or offshore. Discover the new standard for your industry.
Learn more at www.lewa.de/triplex

Sinopec and EMRE to develop Haldor Topsøe and Ferrostaal ThyssenKrupp Uhde Chlorine
fluidized-bed MTG technology to form joint venture Engineers JV starts operations
April 1, 2015 — Sinopec Engineering April 1, 2015 — Ferrostaal GmbH (Essen, April 1, 2015 — The JV between
(Group) Co. (Beijing, China; www. Germany; www.ferrostaal.com) and ThyssenKrupp Industrial Solutions
sinopecgroup.com) and ExxonMobil Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; AG (Dortmund, Germany; www.
Research and Engineering www.topsoe.com) have established thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.
Co. (EMRE) are participating Ferrostaal Topsøe Projects GmbH, com) and electrochemical tech-
in a cooperative development a new joint venture (JV) that will be nologies supplier De Nora S.p.A.
agreement for the advancement of based in Essen and equally owned by (Milan, Italy; www.denora.com)
fluidized-bed methanol-to-gasoline the two companies. The JV will focus began operations, trading under
(MTG) technology with the intent to on developing, financing and realizing the name ThyssenKrupp Uhde
globally license the technology.
API Max CE PM Duster 021513v2_Layout 1
major industrial projects.
2/15/13 9:40 AM Page 1
Chlorine Engineers.
Olin to merge with Dow

chlorine business
March 27, 2015 — The Dow Chemi-
cal Company (Dow; Midland, Mich.;
www.dow.com) will separate a signifi-
cant portion of its chlorine value chain
and merge that new entity with Olin
Corp. (Clayton, Mo.; www.olin.com)
in a transaction that will create a new
company with revenues approaching
$7 billion. The transaction is expected
to close by year-end 2015.
Cepsa’s Canadian PTA business

1971 Plymouth Duster acquired by Indorama
March 23, 2015 — Indorama
API Maxum
Ventures Public Co. (IVL; Bang-
kok, Thailand; www.indorama.
Do you have flows up to net) has signed an agreement to
9,000 GPM (2,000 acquire 100% of the Montreal-
m3/hr), heads up to
based purified terephthalic acid
720 ft (220 M), speeds
up to 3,500 RPM, and
(PTA) business of Cepsa Química
temperatures up to 600°F SA. Cepsa’s plant is the only PTA
(315°C)? Then you need Carver Pump facility in Canada, and has a ca-
API Maxum Series muscle! pacity of approximately 600,000
Specifically designed to meet the needs of the
m.t./yr of PTA.
Hydrocarbon Processing Industry, the API Maxum
Series is fully compliant with API 610 Specifications. A. Schulman acquires Citadel
Manufactured in 35 sizes, standard materials of Plastics for $800 million
construction include S-4, S-6, C-6 and D-1, with March 18, 2015 — A. Schulman,
others available upon request. Standard features Inc. has acquired privately held Cit-
include a 682 Mechanical Seal compatible seal adel Plastics Holdings, Inc. (West
chamber and the ability to operate up to 400°F Chicago, Ill.) for $800 million. Cita-
without external cooling. Options include a variety del produces thermoset composites
of mechanical seals, lubrication/cooling arrange- and thermoplastic compounds for
ments, auxiliary protection devices and certified specialty product applications.
testing capabilities. Whatever your requirements,
let us build the muscle you need! Indorama acquires PET
producer in Thailand
March 18, 2015 — A subsidiary of
Indorama Ventures Public Co. has
signed a definitive share-purchase
Creating Value.
agreement with Bangkok Cable Co.,
Carver Pump Company
2415 Park Avenue to acquire a 94.91% equity stake in
Muscatine, IA 52761 Bangkok Polyester Public Co. (BPC).
563.263.3410 BPC is a producer of polyethylene
Fax: 563.262.0510 therephthalate (PET) polymers with a
www.carverpump.com
capacity of 105,000 m.t./yr. ■
Mary Page Bailey
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levels of performance and achievement, today and
over the long term. When global catalyst innovations
help our customers become more successful, it’s
because at BASF, we create chemistry.
www.catalysts.basf.com

Newsfront
U.S. Petroleum Refining:

Snapshot 2015
Developments from the 2015 AFPM annual meeting frame a picture of the
current state of the U.S. petroleum refining industry
IN BRIEF
O
n a broad level, the outlook for the leum distillates, according to oil-and-gas
U.S. petroleum-refining industry consultancy Wood Mackenzie (Edinburgh,
REFINING MARGINS
remains bright, despite a recent U.K.; www.woodmac.com). Analyses from
TIGHT OIL CAPACITY decline in crude oil prices. Dra- Wood Mackenzie suggest that while crude
SHIFTING FCC matic gains in the production of crude oil oil discounts in the U.S. will decline some-
PRODUCTS and natural gas in North America have given what as the capacity for takeaway in U.S.
U.S. refiners access to low-cost energy and oil plays increases, U.S. refining margins are
BOOSTING OCTANE
discounted feedstocks. Meanwhile, invest- expected to remain strong.
ments in capital and technology are position- In presentations at the AFPM meeting,
ing them to take advantage of the diverse and Wood Mackenzie’s Alan Gelder and Sam
dynamic crude-oil slate available. But while Davis pointed out that despite the increased
the elements are in place for a prospering in- takeaway capacity, “the opportunity still ex-
dustry, success and profitability do not come ists to displace foreign crudes through feed-
easily, and petroleum refiners each must nav- stock optimization and logistics projects to
igate a unique path that is beset by technical, enhance refinery profitability.”
regulatory and logistical challenges. “Most U.S. refiners are working with a dy-
The annual meeting of the American Fuel namic feedstock slate, and they need flexibil-
and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM; ity to take advantage of short-term changes
Washington, D.C.; www.afpm.org), held in in feedstock prices, availability and product
late March in San Antonio, Tex., provides a demand,” comments Rosann Schiller, mar-
forum for assessing the state of the petro- keting director for fluid-catalytic-cracking
leum-refining industry in the U.S. and for dis- (FCC) catalyst products at W. R. Grace &
cussing some of the many challenges facing Co. (Columbia, Md.; www.grace.com).
the sector.
Tight oil capacity
Solid margins U.S. domestic crude oil production has grown
Exploitation of shale deposits in the U.S. from approximately 1.9 billion bbl/yr in 2005
has meant that the country has experienced to almost 3.9 billion bbl/yr (average of 9.3
continued low natural-gas prices — which million bbl/d) in 2014. The Energy Informa-
keep energy and utility prices down for in- tion Administration (Washington, D.C.; www.
dustry — along with increased availabil- eia.gov) forecasts that petroleum production
ity of domestic crude oil that is priced at a in the lower 48 U.S. states will increase by
discount compared to international crudes. 720,000 bbl/d by 2016. Most of the crude oil
The two related developments combined to that accounts for the increase can be char-
support the generally high margins enjoyed acterized as “tight oil” from shale formations.
by U.S. refineries over the past few years. So-called light, tight oils (LTO) have high API
And despite the dip in crude oil prices over- gravities, a measure of oil density. High (>40)
all, margins are expected to remain relatively API gravity corresponds to low density crude
strong over the next several years. oil. LTO are generally characterized by low
Going forward, refinery margins are fore- sulfur and high paraffinic content and may
cast to be supported also by robust export have elevated concentrations of metals such
markets for U.S.-made gasoline and petro- as nickel, vanadium and iron (see Chem.
PETROLEUM REFINING POLICY
AND REGULATORY ISSUES
T
he AFPM annual meeting also provides a chance to assess
the status of various policy and regulatory issues that apply to
Customized Steel Belts

the petroleum refining industry. Included here is a sampling of
topics discussed during the meeting.
Cybersecurity: Keynote speaker General Michael Hayden, former
director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security
Agency, discussed cyber-related threats to the petroleum refining
by Berndorf Band
and petrochemical industries during his talk on global sources of
instability. Arguing that the nature of power has changed, Hayden
said that power has shifted away from nation-states and toward
“sub-state actors” and individuals. Perpetrators of cyberattacks are
likely to fall into one of three groups: nation states (who are mainly
looking to steal intellectual property rather than destroy assets);
organized crime gangs (who are looking for money); and what he
called “disaffected individuals” (who usually operate anonymously
and who may have complex and difficult-to-determine motivations
and objectives).
Crude by rail: The burgeoning production of oil from shale depos-
its has meant a tremendous increase in the volume of oil transported
by rail — estimated by AFPM to be a 4,000% increase since 2008.
Controversy surrounding the safety of rail cars used to transport the
crude oil has not been far behind. AFPM president Drevna said that
while U.S. refiners are investing in rail safety, the emphasis should
be placed on preventing derailments, rather than on regulating the
safety of the railcars.
Low-carbon fuel standards: AFPM joined two other organizations
in filing a lawsuit against a low-carbon fuel standard proposal in Or-
egon. AFPM argues that the initiative, which it says is designed to
promote an in-state biofuels industry, is unconstitutional because it
discriminates against out-of-state manufacturers of transportation
fuels. AFPM says the program “will cost consumers a lot of money,”
and is skeptical of the resulting environmental benefits.
Renewable fuel standard: AFPM renewed its harsh criticism of Detailed consultation in preliminary
the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), mandates that certain volumes
of renewable fuels be blended into gasoline and diesel fuels. AFPM stages of production ensures that
opposes any mandates for the use of alternative fuels, and argues steel belts from Berndorf Band meet
that the RFS should repealed or reformed.
Workforce initiative: The AFPM is also part of a workforce ini- all requirements set by the customer,
tiative designed to attract more students into STEM fields. Along
with EdVenture Partners, AFPM is launching a nationwide industry-
e.g.:
education partnership program to encourage students to pursue
careers in the fuel-manufacturing and petrochemicals sectors.
New AFPM president: AFPM announced that its board of direc- • excellent mechanical, physical
tors named Chet Thompson as the association’s next president, to and geometric properties
succeed Drevna starting in May 2015. Thompson has represented
• high corrosion resistance,
AFPM as external legal counsel for nine years at the law firm Crowell
and Moring LLP.
even in extremely aggressive
Eng. May 2014, pp.17–20). atmosphere
Since the rapid uptick in the production of light, tight
oils, there has been a lingering concern that U.S. petro- • perfect adhesion of vee-ropes
leum refiners lacked sufficient capacity to process the vol-
ume of LTO that has been observed and projected. This
idea is a misconception, according to outgoing AFPM
president Charlie Drevna, and is not the case. His asser-
tion is supported by two surveys of U.S. petroleum refin-
ers discussed at the AFPM meeting. The first, conducted
on behalf of AFPM by a third-party group, indicates that Berndorf Band GmbH
the respondents posess enough processing capability to
absorb all of the light oil production that is forecast. “The Phone: +43 2672 800-0
survey results . . . emphasize that U.S. refiners are not b a n d @ b e r n d o r f. c o . a t
capacity-constrained in the next several years to use the
growing super light production from U.S. tight oil forma- www.berndorf-band.at
tions,” AFPM says.
www.berndorfband-group.com
A separate study, conducted by grades of crude oil; and 4) Make of imported crude oils has decreased
the consulting firm Baker & O’Brien modest investments in the ability to by 1.0–1.5 million bbl/d. Further, refiners
Inc. (Dallas, Tex.; www.bakerobrien. process light crude oils. The study have announced expansions of distilla-
com), came to a similar conclusion. assumed that the economics of tion capacity for light-ends processing.
Their study concluded that the U.S. processing LTO remain positive, as Because of the current and projected
refining fleet could technically pro- forecast, and that delivery logistics discounted prices for LTO, the study
cess all available domestic crude would not present major problems. suggests that refiners will likely continue
with a combination of four strate- In fact, many refiners have already to increase LTO processing and make
gies: 1) Increase processing through started to adopt these strategies: the opportunistic investments to overcome
higher unit utilizations; 2) Substitute Baker & O’Brien study found that refin- constraints in their ability to process
LTO for existing feedstocks; 3) Blend ery throughput in the U.S. has increased light ends.
LTO with imported medium or heavy by 2.5–3.0 million bbl/d and processing Analyses by Wood MacKenzie seem
to agree, concluding that refinery in-
vestments in the U.S. have moved
largely away from large expansions
and traditional conversion-unit proj-
ects, and are “now targeted toward
expanding distillation capacity to pro-
cess additional light, ‘sweet’ crudes.”
®
These include domestic LTOs.
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Demand for gasoline, the tradi-
tional target for FCC units, has been
declining in the U.S. and other de-
veloped areas due to a more fuel-
efficient vehicle fleet. So refiners are
looking for other ways to maximize
the products from their FCC units.
Among the general strategies is to
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piping system engineered with Lubrizol’s specially formulated chlorinated with petrochemical production. An
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opportunity for petroleum refiners to
© 2014 The Lubrizol Corporation, all rights reserved. All marks are the property of The Lubrizol Corporation.
adopt strategies that result in higher
The Lubrizol Corporation is a Berkshire Hathaway company. propylene yields. A number of talks at
GC 140681
AFPM mentioned this dynamic.
Refiners can increase propylene
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 25
recovery in FCC units through op-
erational modifications (such as run-
AFPM 2015 CONFERENCE NOTES
T
ning at higher reactor temperature he AFPM annual meeting featured nine conference tracks over two days, covering a
and higher catalyst circulation) and wide range of topics from technical issues to process safety. The following represents a
small sample of the presentations from the event.
by increasing use of ZSM-5 additives Wastewater treatment: Tina Syvret and Sam Lordo, from Nalco Champion (Houston; www.
to crack gasoline-range olefins into nalcochampion.com), made the argument that the same focus on making refinery modifica-
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-range tions for processing light, tight oils and oil sands should also be brought to wastewater treat-
olefins. ZSM-5 is a widely used alu- ment systems. Their presentation outlined strategies related to wastewater treatment that can
minosilicate zeolite patented by Mobil help manage the contaminants present in unconventional North American crude oils.
in the 1970s. Presenters at the AFPM Hydrocracking: Chevron Lummus Global’s (San Ramon, Calif.; www.chevron.com) Natalia
Koldachenko presented several examples in which catalyst changes and innovative revamps
meeting, such as Bart de Graaf, from
of hydrocrackers helped realize cost savings.
Johnson Matthey (London, U.K.; Hydrogen production: Teams from Linde (Munich, Germany; www.linde.com), Air Products
www.matthey.com), highlighted new (Allentown, Pa.; www.airproducts.com) and Johnson Matthey all made presentations high-
knowledge that should allow an even lighting the challenges and opportunities associated with the production of refinery H2.
more tailored approach for ZSM-5 Process safety: Brian Flis, of Wilson Perumal & Co. Inc. (Dallas; www.wilsonperumal.com),
additives in FCC catalysis. discussed the importance of individual behaviors in the pursuit of incident-free operations.
“ZSM-5 does more than only Workforce challenges: Angie Gildea from KPMG (Amstelveen, the Netherlands; www.kpmg.
com) outlined a set of strategies for talent management, and for addressing complicated per-
cracking gasoline olefins into gaso-
sonnel issues, such as an aging workforce, a gap in the number of mid-career professionals,
line,” de Graaf explains. “These ef- a growing millennial demographic and others.
fects become obvious when using Operations: David Wilson from Flint Hills Resources (Wichita, Kan.; www.fhr.com) presented
10% (or more) ZSM-5 additive in best practices for optimizing communications within the refinery operations team, and the
catalyst inventory.” challenges of change management.
At high ZSM-5 levels, gasoline- Reliability: The duo of Dan Cameron from Tesoro (San Antonio, Tex.; www.tsocorp.com) and
and LPG-range olefins are not only Mark Parris from Shell International Ltd. (The Hague, the Netherlands; www.shell.com) made
a presentation about how the development of an “ownership culture” can play a key role in
terminal products, but are also reac- continuous-improvement efforts for refinery reliability.
tive intermediates that can undergo Capital projects: Industry consultant Alan Rossiter (Rossiter & Associates; Bellaire, Tex.;
isomerization, cyclization, cracking www.rossiters.org) presented tools to improve the economics of capital projects by reviewing
and other reactions, de Graaf says. process flow diagrams to identify opportunities for efficiency improvement.
These can help refiners increase pro- Catalyst demonstrations. Kent Turner, of Grace Catalysts, presented results from a field
duction of propylene and butylenes, study of Grace's newest FCC bottoms-upgrading catalyst, MIDAS Gold. When used at the
Placid Refining Co. facility in Port Allen, La., the MIDAS Gold catalyst allowed greater conver-
improve gasoline octanes and also
sion of resid and increased production of liquid fuels. The company says developments in
contribute to the formation of other optimizing porosity of the catalyst matrix and incorporation of metals traps are responsible.
petrochemicals, such as xylenes.
ZSM-5 has been shown to be in-
dispensable in petrochemical FCC the existence of azeotropes. licensing and business development
application, due to a combination In 2008, GTC introduced GT-BTX, manager. “We paired an extractive
of activity and selectivity, and also an extractive distillation process distillation technique with a specially
price. “When ZSM-5 was first ap- that recovers and purifies aromatics developed solvent to allow lower sulfur
plied more than 30 years ago, only a from refinery streams. This was fol- levels without loss of octane values,”
small fraction of the active zeolites in lowed in 2013 by a related process he says. Simultaneously, the process
the FCC catalytic system was ZSM- called BTX-PluS, which removes can isolate high-value BTX products
5,” explains de Graaf. “Now there are BTX and thiophenic sulfur species for further processing at lower energy
applications where there is nearly as from cracked naphtha. Originally cost and lower capital expense than
much ZSM-5 crystal in inventory as designed as a sulfur-removal tech- traditional approaches.
faujasite [the normal zeolite used in nology, BTX-PluS is also effective at
FCC catalysts].” directly recovering aromatics from Octane boost
Another example of refinery-petro- FCC-derived gasoline for use in pet- Overall, production of diesel fuel as
chemical integration is the production rochemicals applications. This topic a refinery product has been grow-
of aromatic compounds, a group of was the subject of a presentation at ing faster than gasoline, as domestic
chemicals for which demand is still the AFPM meeting. The company demand for gasoline has been flat,
growing. Aromatics such as benzene, points out that the novel technol- but globally, gasoline demand is still
toluene and xylenes (BTX) can offer ogy can effectively remove sulfur and growing, driven by emerging econo-
value for FCC operators that wish to aromatics from gasoline, without hy- mies. And requirements for gasoline
run at higher severity. At the AFPM drotreating the full stream, which can quality are growing. The use of pe-
meeting, GTC Technologies (Hous- lower octane values. troleum alkylate as a gasoline blend-
ton; www.gtctech.com) discussed “In conventional hydrodesulfuriza- stock supports the higher quality,
technologies that can help separate tion units, you see hydrogenation of because of its high octane value, low
these components from refinery olefins, which lowers octane num- vapor pressure, absence of aromat-
streams, an endeavor that is difficult bers in the product,” explains David ics and low sulfur content.
because of close boiling points and Bridgeman, GTC Technologies global Several talks at AFPM discussed
new strategies for increasing gaso- nology manager for GTC Technolo- ing for ways to generate more value-
line quality, in terms of sulfur content gies discussed another technology added products,” says GTC Tech-
and research octane number (RON). for boosting RON in gasoline. A nologies’ Bridgeman, “and Isomalk-4
RON attempts to quantify the degree new isomerization technology in the represents a method refiners can
of compression that a fuel can with- Isomalk family, known as Isomalk-4, is use to better utilize the relatively low-
stand before igniting. Higher-RON designed to convert C7 normal paraf- value C7 product stream.” n
fuels exhibit higher performance and fins to branched-chain hydrocarbons Scott Jenkins
less engine knocking in vehicle en- with significantly higher octane num-
gines. Among the strategies for in- bers. Isomalk-4 uses a mixed-metal- For more on petroleum refining, see “Tight-oil
creasing gasoline RON is to blend it oxide catalyst similar to those in the Tightrope for U.S. Refiners” (Chem. Eng., May
2014) and “Petroleum Refining Outlook” (Chem. Eng.,
with alkylate. previous Isomalk technologies. May 2013) at www.chemengonline.com
The alkylation unit in a petroleum “Refiners are continuously search-
refinery reacts light olefins, such as
propylene, with light iso-paraffins,
such as isobutene, with a strong acid
catalyst (conventionally sulfuric acid).
The resulting mixture of branched-
chain paraffinic hydrocarbons can Leading-Edge Technologies for On-Purpose Ole ns
be used as a gasoline blendstock to Medium and long-term forecasts expect to see a continuing growth in
boost octane number. Conventional demand for on-purpose ole n production technologies (e.g. propylene,
alkylation units use mechanical agi- butylenes) such as dehydrogenation of light para ns. Thanks to our
tation to effect contact between the advanced, proven Uhde dehydrogenation technologies, STAR process®
catalyst and the reactants. and STAR catalyst®, we can supply, from a single source, complete,
At the AFPM meeting, Stephen
optimized process routes to propylene and butylene derivatives, e.g.
Williams from CB&I (The Hague, the
Polypropylene, Propylene Oxide, ETBE and other high-value products.
Netherlands; www.cbi.com) dis-
cussed CDAlky, the company’s low-
temperature sulfuric-acid alkylation
process. The process features a novel
reactor design, which retains the es-
Liquid hourly space velocity of 6 resulting in less catalyst
and lower reactor volume
Available with and without
tablished chemistry, but improves the oxydehydrogenation
mass transfer of the process com-

pared to the conventional equipment.
CDAlky uses proprietary static reactor
internals, rather than mechanical agi-
tation, to achieve intimate contact be-
tween hydrocarbon and acid catalyst,
Williams explains. The technology has
numerous advantages, including the
elimination of the caustic and water
wash steps, which reduces chemi-
cal costs and environmental impacts.
Further, Williams says, the low-tem-
peratures reactor reduces side reac-
tions, boosting octane number. Also,
since water is not added to the alky-
late product, corrosion is reduced in
the product fractionation section, and
reliability is improved.
After operating in CB&I’s Texas dem-
onstration facility, the CDAlky process
entered commercial service in 2013,
with a successful installation in Shan-
dong Province, China. Three units are
now operating in China, CB&I says,
and another two are in engineering ThyssenKrupp
Industrial Solutions
stages. CDAlky can be introduced as www.thyssenkrupp-industrial-solutions.com
part of a revamp of existing alkylation
units, the company adds.
Ilya Aranovich, isomerization tech-
Newsfront
Improved Particle-Size
Analysis Boosts Quality
Particle-size analysis methods are changing for the better, reducing rework
and improving yield
P
IN BRIEF article-size analysis plays an im- measurement results depend upon repre-
portant role in many chemical pro- sentative sampling and sample preparation,
NEEDS AND
cesses that involve dry powders a perfect dispersion down to the primary
CHALLENGES
and granules, fibers, suspensions, particles in their original state and, finally,
STEPPING IT UP IN THE emulsions, gels, sprays, inhalants and the the analytical instrumentation for size and
LABORATORY like. Processors rely heavily upon particle- shape characterization.”
THE DEMAND FOR IN- size analysis to improve the quality of the Ease of operation and efficient analyses
SITU ANALYSIS product, reduce rework and increase yield. are also important for both laboratory and
As such, providers of both laboratory and in- in-situ systems. “In today’s [laboratories], a
situ particle-size analyzers are incorporating technician is operating many different kinds
modern conveniences, such as automation of measuring systems. Standardized opera-
and intelligence, into existing technologies, tional procedures have to be available to en-
as well as introducing systems with ad- sure consistent, high-quality measurements,
vanced analysis techniques, to help proces- independent of the operator. And, efficiency
sors achieve their goals. and speed of analysis are always a factor.
If measurement data are used to control a
Needs and challenges process, speed of analysis becomes even
When it comes to particle-size analysis, more crucial and realtime data are desired
whether the system is laboratory scale or in for close control,” explains Huebner. “If the
situ, the essential need is to provide reliable measurement system is integrated into a
measurement data. “This means accurate, production process, robustness and system
reproducible (repeatability of measurement) availability are of highest interest in order to
and comparable results, both system-to- prevent downtime.”
system results and site-to-site comparabil-
FIGURE 1. The Model MAJS-x ity, in the shortest measuring time,” says Stepping it up in the laboratory
Air Jet Sieve particle-size Torsten Huebner, sales manager, Europe, When it comes to laboratory analysis equip-
analyzer was designed for
determining the particle-size
and instrument manager, laser diffraction, ment, Tim Calvo, laboratory equipment
distribution of dry powder with Sympatec GmbH (Clausthal-Zellerfeld, product manager, with Hosokawa Micron
ranging from 20 to 4,750 μm Germany; www.sympatec.com). “Good Powder Systems (Summit, N.J.; www.
hmicronpowder.com), says the majority of
his customers are looking for a fast, reliable
and repeatable method of particle-size anal-
ysis. For this reason, he says, air jet sieves
are often the equipment of choice. He adds
that while air jet sieving has been available
since the 1960s, the technology continues
to evolve. “New models have integrated
analysis computers, touchscreen displays
and automated on-screen instructions,
which greatly reduce the need for operator
subjectivity,” explains Calvo.
For example, Hosokawa’s Mikro Air Jet
Sieve, Model MAJS-x (Figure 1), is a particle-
size analyzer designed for determining the
Hosokawa Micron Powder Systems particle-size distribution of dry powder rang-
GF Piping Systems
ing from 20 to 4,750 μm. The system
employs a pneumatic sieving principle
that enables accurate and repeatable
particle-size analysis. Features, such
Light weight
as an integrated analysis computer
with touchscreen control, user-friendly
software with step-by-step instruc-
tions, a built-in automatic pressure
differential gage and automatic data
for heavy
recording and storage with network
capability also make the unit easy and
efficient to operate.
Paul Kippax, product group man-
challenges
ager with Malvern Instruments
(Malvern, U.K.; malvern.com), agrees
that efficiency of speed and analysis
are important. “Within an R&D envi-
ronment, and especially in the QC
[quality control] setting, productiv-
ity is vital,” he says. “An instrument
must deliver reliable data, quickly, Save up to 50 % weight with the new butterly valve type 578.
to whomever uses it, and for a wide Glass iber reinforced plastic lug housing, stainless steel
range of samples. So flexibility, ease threaded lugs – this material composition convinces with
of use and speed-to-result are all crit- highest stability, low weight and good corrosion resistance.
ical characteristics. We can use the
phrase ‘gloves-on operation’ to sum-
marize what many chemical proces- Visit us at ACHEMA 2015 on stand E64, hall 8.0
sors are looking for – and that is the
need for a fully automated system Georg Fischer Piping Systems Ltd
that even a relatively unskilled opera- Ebnatstr. 111
tor can simply walk up to and use.” CH-8201 Scha hausen
“That said,” he adds, “assurances Phone +41 52 631 11 11
of data quality are equally important, www.gfps.com
particularly when an analysis is per-
formed by many different people and,
perhaps, at different sites around the
world. Tools that support the devel-
opment of robust methods that can
be securely transferred, and then
provide the ability to test the quality
of any data generated during method
use, can all be helpful in addressing
these concerns.”
Malvern’s Mastersizer 3000 laser
diffraction particle-size analyzer de-
livers rapid, accurate particle-size
distributions for both wet and dry
dispersions with minimal effort. It
was designed to lighten the analyti-
cal burden associated with routine
particle sizing so it has many features
that accommodate these needs. The
features range from interchangeable
plug-and-play dispersion modules
that make it easy to switch between
different sample types to sophisti-
cated software that supports every
part of the analytical process, from
method development through day-
to-day measurement. Sympatec
For example, the software in-

cludes an optical property opti-
mizer that makes it easy to check
the sensitivity of a measurement to
analysis parameters during method
development, and a data-quality
Sealing
assessment tool that warns the op-
erator if there is anything about the
measurement that suggests it may
be unreliable.
Solutions In addition to quick and easy, Matt

Rhyner, global product line manager
for characterization with Beckman
FIGURE 2. The Ultrasonic Extinction unit with OPUS
is deployed for particle-size distribution and con-
centration analysis in turbid and highly concen-
Coulter (Miami, Fla.; www.beck trated suspensions and emulsions
for Demanding mancoulter.com) adds high-quality
Chemical Processes data to the list of what some users
of laboratory equipment are seek-
tinction unit with OPUS (Figure 2)
is deployed for particle-size-distri-
ing. “As material sciences and bution and concentration analysis
chemistries advance over time, the in turbid and highly concentrated
materials themselves have become suspensions and emulsions within
costlier per pound and the end- a size range from below 0.1 μm up
users have very tight performance to 3,000 μm. Disperse media that
specifications from their suppliers,” is impenetrable for light waves is
he explains. “Processors of these now penetrated by low energetic
very exotic materials need high- sound waves and analyzed using a
quality, accurate measurement to sample-specific extinction function.
meet QC specifications. Having ac- This means there is no need for la-
cess to high-quality measurement borious sample preparation.
data provides higher confidence
and reduces refusals and returns The demand for in-situ analysis
from their customers.” Even with today’s accurate and fast
Beckman Coulter’s LS Series is a laboratory analysis options, there are
sophisticated and versatile laser dif- times when processors need more
fraction particle-size analyzer. The from their particle-size analysis sys-
LS 13 320 MW differs from other tems. “There are situations where
laser-based instruments by virtue of taking a sample and looking at it
its wide dynamic size range, num- offline could be problematic,” ex-
ber of size channels and sample plains Des O’Grady, market manager
measurement options. The laser- for particle-systems characterization
based technology permits analysis with Mettler-Toledo AutoChem (Co-
of particles without the risk of miss- lumbia, Md.; www.mt.com). One of
ing either the largest or smallest the most pressing issues is the in-
particles in a sample in dry, aqueous ability to sample in some processes,
and non-aqueous applications. such as those that are under pres-
And for analyses in wet processes sure, operate at high temperatures
stages, a newer methodology — ul- or are explosive or toxic. Another
trasonic extinction — has captured problem, says O’Grady, is that par-
a number of applications. “Unlike ticles may change after you take the
optical methods like laser diffrac- sample and transport it to the labora-
tion or image analysis, ultrasonic tory. “For example, if you take a sam-
extinction is capable of particle-size ple of crystals at elevated tempera-
Learn more at and concentration analyses in highly tures and it cools down by the time
15
ACHEMA 20E7
loaded (opaque) suspensions and
emulsions without any dilution,” says
you get it to the laboratory analyzer,
what you’re looking at offline could
1
Hall 8.0 Booth Sympatec’s Huebner. “This principle be significantly different from the par-
is unrivaled for many tasks in chemi- ticle that’s actually in process.” And,
cal processing, such as crystalliza- there is sometimes an issue with
tion or polymerization.” knowing when and how often to take
gore.com/sealants-achema2015 The company’s Ultrasonic Ex- a sample so that it provides an accu-
© 2015 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
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Horiba Scientific
rate characterization of the particles says. “This allows them to see pro-
throughout the entire process. cess swings immediately, enabling
But possibly the most significant them to be proactive, rather than re-
gain experienced through in-situ active, with their corrective actions,
analysis is the ability to achieve feed- which can produce higher quality
back in real time, says Jason Noga, products, reduce rework, decrease
product marketing specialist, with wasted product and increase yield.”
Microtrac (Montgomeryville, Pa.; However, some processors en-
www.microtrac.com). “Many of our counter challenges when transition-
customers are looking for the capa- ing from laboratory analysis into
bility that provides feedback in real in-situ analysis. “It’s a very different
time for better process control,” he experience of doing something in the
FIGURE 3. Using dynamic image-analysis technol-

ogy, the Camsizer P4 Online system provides rapid
and precise particle-size and shape distributions
for dry powders and bulk material
lab versus doing something online,”

Bringing your project explains Ian Treviranus, product line
manager for particle characterization
Full Circle
Concept through facility start-up
in the Americas with Horiba Scientific
(Irvine, Calif.; www.horiba.com/parti-
cle). “There are two ways to go about
transitioning to online measurement.
The first is to take a version of tech-
nology used in the laboratory and
adapt it to your process via enclo-
sures and other modifications. The
second approach is to build a spe-
cialized online version of the technol-
ogy that makes the most sense for
the application.”
With that approach in mind, Hor-
iba distributes an online version of
the Camsizer P4 Particle Size and
Shape Analysis System (Figure 3), a
laboratory instrument manufactured
by Retsch Technology GmbH (Haan,
Germany; www.retsch.com). Using
dynamic image-analysis technology,
the Camsizer P4 Online system pro-
vides rapid and precise particle size
and shape distributions for dry pow-
ders and bulk material in the size
range from 20 μm to 30 mm. Because
it scans all of the particles using a pat-
Our expertise in the reining, chemicals, petrochemicals, ented two-camera design, as well as
and polymers industries ensures that we deliver Predictable Results advanced fitting algorithms, the mea-
to your capital project from start to inish. sured results are fully compatible with
those of sieve analysis, with which
most processors are already familiar,
says Treviranus. The instrument is
integrated into an industry-standard
housing, which makes it suitable for
very rough environments and with
832.809.8909 the available interfaces, it is possible
marketing.woodgroupmustang.com/fullcircle to connect the instrument to process
control systems, internal networks
and to transfer measurement data.
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© 2015 Team Industrial Services
As a result, remote control and auto- ing size, shape, surface roughness, Microtrac
matic data transfer are possible. sphericity, transparency and 3D in

Noga, at Microtrac, says his com- one fast analysis of particles ranging
pany also eases the transition to on- in size from 15 μm to 35 mm.
line measurements using laboratory Once the decision to take in-situ
instrumentation adapted for use in- measurements has been made, there
situ. The company’s PartAn 3D labo- are still challenges to deal with, ac-
ratory analyzer is now available as the cording to the pros. “First you need
PartAn 3D PRO for process applica- small instrumentation to go inside
tions (Figure 4). This dynamic image- the process, and because reliability
analyzer technology can measure 36 and uptime are of importance, the
morphological parameters, includ- probe must be able to provide reli-
FIGURE 4. The PartAn 3D PRO for process applica-

tions uses dynamic-image-analysis technology to
measure 36 morphological parameters, including
size, shape, surface roughness, sphericity, trans-
parency and 3D in one fast analysis
able measurements,” notes O’Grady.

“Especially in applications that involve
crystallization, super-saturation may
foul or blind some probes, making it
difficult to take measurements.”
In addition, he says, the ability to
support data analysis and data inter-
pretation is important. For this reason,
Mettler-Toledo AutoChem has been
working on a probe-style design that
includes intelligence. The company’s
ParticleView V19 with PVM (Particle
Vision and Measurement) technology
is a probe-based video microscope
that visualizes particles and particle
mechanisms as they exist in process.
High-resolution images are continu-
ously captured under a range of pro-
cess conditions without the need for
sampling or offline analysis. A process
trend, sensitive to changes in particle
size and concentration, is automati-
cally combined with the most relevant
changes, providing processors with a
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) began its real-world straightforward and reliable method to
thermal process research more than 50 years ago. ensure comprehensive understanding
These proprietary data and countless studies using of the analysis.
industrially relevant research rigs led to the development While there are some obvious dif-
of Xchanger Suite 7 – its acclaimed heat exchanger design, ferences between laboratory and
rating, and simulation software. To ensure your equipment process particle-size-analysis sys-
meets your requirements, Xchanger Suite provides nine
tems, either method needs to work in
your specific process, so in addition
specific modules that offer access to the most advanced
to determining whether to take mea-
performance prediction methods available. surements in the laboratory or in situ
and what methodology best serves
When you need accurate heat your needs, it’s important to look for
exchanger performance prediction, a system that is robust, reliable, flex-
ible and includes automated intel-
you can count on HTRI. www.htri.net ligence, if improving product quality
and reducing rework are among your
processing goals. ■
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Allow you to remove a

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nozzles. BETE’s technological advancements The ultimate in clog-resistance
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Circle 7 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-07 35

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
Focus
Flowmeters Aalborg Instruments

Compact flowmeter manages These flowmeters handle
up to six common plant gases high-volume gases
The ZFM Mass Flow Meters (photo) One of the primary challenges asso-
provides multigas, multirange func- ciated with measuring the flow of a
tionality to 8 bars. This device cur- gas is that accuracy can be reduced
rently handles up to six gases: nitro- by changes in temperature and pres-
gen, air, oxygen, argon, helium and sure. This company recently added
carbon dioxide). When the instru- two new flowmeters (photo) — Type
ment is connected to the RS-232/ 8007 (designed for pipe sizes with
RS-485 port of a PC or laptop, the diameter ranging from 0.5 to 12 in.)
accompanying ZFM configuration and Type 8008 (designed for pipe
utility software lets the user select sizes up to 2 in. in dia.) — to its
different gas types and flow ranges product offerings. These devices are
without removing the instrument designed for measuring especially
from the installation. This flowmeter large gas flowrates. They use the ca-
provides extensive self-diagnostic lorimetric principle of flow measure-
capabilities, and has an automatic ment, ensuring that measurement
sensor zero-offset adjustment (via accuracy is unaffected by changes
Alicat Scientific digital interface or local pushbutton in temperature and pressure, says
control), a digital interface and con- the company. Because this method
figuration port (optional Modbus RTU of measurement requires no moving
with isolated RS-485 tranceiver), and parts, these flowmeters deliver over-
two programmable totalizers. Seven all reliability and high accuracy, even
models are available. — Aalborg In- at relatively low flowrates.— Bürkert
struments, Orangeburg, N.Y. Fluid Control Systems, Gloucester-
www.aalborg.com shire, U.K.
www.burkert.com
Use this flowmeter to create
customized gas compositions Simple paddle-wheel device
This company’s mass flowmeters provides visual flow indication
and contollers now feature its Gas The Kobold DAF is a paddle wheel
Select 5.0 firmware and the newly flow indicator for liquids, and is rec-
added Gas Select Composer mod- ommended whenever visual flow
ule, which allows users to create indication (without flow measure-
highly accurate mixed-gas composi- ment) is required. The simple design
tions (photo). Version 5.0 of the firm- uses a rectangular housing with two
ware includes an expanded library of transparent windows containing a
up to 130 preloaded gas calibrations. paddle wheel that is set in motion by
In addition to pure gases, Gas Select the flowing media. The rotating pad-
5.0 also includes numerous gas mix- dle wheel provides visual indication
tures that are commonly used in bio- of flow. Flow ranges are varied by
reactor, welding, power, refrigerant changing the inlet port orifice, allow-
and medical applications. The newly ing the same housing to be used for
added Gas Composer module gives many flow ranges. It can be installed
users the ability to quickly program in any position, as long as the flow
and store up to 20 customized gas remains in the direction of the arrow,
compositions directly on the mass says the company. Connections are
flowmeters and related controllers. available in 1/8-in. NPT, with many
Burkert Fluid Control Systems Using an integrated digital display, choices of materials for media com-
users can define gas compositions patability. This device can be rotated
to 0.01% for each of up to five con- along its long axis, even during op-
stituent gases. Up to 20 gas mixtures eration, thanks to rotatable fittings,
can be created and stored simul- thereby allowing the windows to be
taneously on each device.— Alicat easily viewed by operators. — Ko-
Scientific, Tucson, Ariz. bold USA, Pittsburgh, Pa.
www.alicat.com www.koboldusa.com
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number on p. 102, or use the website designation.
Manage Your Steam Trap Population with
TLV’s is the first diagnostic

instrument to test a steam trap AND
make an automatic judgment of its
operating condition.
’s intrinsically safe design

records both temperature and
ultrasonic levels to identify dangerous
blocked steam traps, or quantify
steam loss. This combination
improves site safety, reduces cost,
and efficiently allocates
maintenance expense.
The operator needs only to hold

the probe tip on the trap for 15
seconds— then
collects and measures data to
judge the operating condition
automatically. It compares the
measurements against
empirical test data of over
4,000 trap selections, and can
store 1,600 individual tests.
Data is then uploaded to
TrapManager® database
software for detailed
analysis and reporting.
(Software compatible with
Windows XP/Vista/7)
Call TLV to learn more

about productivity,
reliability, safety, and
energy efficiency
benefits for your site.
13901 South Lakes Drive, Charlotte, NC 28273-6790

Phone: 704-597-9070 Fax: 704-583-1610
E-mail: TLV@TLVengineering.com
For Technical Service 1-800-TLV-TRAP
http://www.tlv.com
Coriolis flowmeter aims to give from liquid and gas transfer to simple
users greater process insight process control. It was designed to
This company’s Micro Motion Model be easy to use and easy to install.
5700 Transmitter (photo) is a Corio- The Model 5700 provides users with
lis flow transmitter that is designed access to detailed measurement his-
to translate measurement data into tory for troubleshooting or optimiz-
meaningful insight and instruction. ing the process. The user interface
It does this by translating measure- allows for intuitive operation, with
ment data into, for instance, time- simplified installation, configuration,
stamped history files for process and maintenance and troubleshooting.—
meter health data, and logs of con- Emerson Process Management,
figuration changes and alarms. It is Orlando, Fla.
designed for a range of applications, www.emersonprocess.com
Emerson Process Management
Thermal mass flowmeters

regulate N2 tank blanketing
WHEN THE Nitrogen tank
blanketing is
PRESSURE IS HIGH, widely used to
TRUST protect stored

contents,
prevent con-
to
DELTA SCREENS. tamination,
and to reduce
the risk of toxic
fume leaks,
fires and ex-
plosions. This Fluid Components International
c o m p a n y ’s
ST Series Flow Meters (photo) are
mass flowmeters that are available
in a wide array of designs to accom-
modate various tanks and line sizes.
Installed upstream of the tank’s regu-
lator valve, these flowmeters ensure
accurate measurement, monitoring
and control of the blanketing gas
to ensure safe, economical opera-
tion. These mass flowmeters are
calibrated to specific gases (nitrogen
or others) in the company’s NIST-
approved calibration laboratory, and
their thermal dispersion mass flow
sensors and rugged packaging are
suitable for a wide range of indus-
trial process environments. — Fluid
Components International, San Mar-
cos, Calif.
www.fluidcomponents.com
REFINING & PETROCHEMICAL
INTERNAL VESSEL SCREENS Vortex flowmeter can assist
with energy-saving efforts
The new Optiswirl 4200 vortex
flowmeter is designed for the mea-
surement of conducting and non-
conducting liquids, gases and
www.deltascreens.com • 713-538-2841 • sales@deltascreens.com steam. The devices are suitable for
use in auxiliary and supply appli-
cations in various industries, such
as internal monitoring of energy
©2015 Cleaver-Brooks, Inc.

flows for saturated and supersatu- calculation Krohne temperature and pressure) in one
rated steam and hot water, and can be fed two-wire device, the line has to be
heat-metering applications. In ad- into a DCS opened only once for installation.—
dition to gross heat calculation for for advanced Krohne, Duisburg, Germany
steam, the Optiswirl 4200 (photo) energy man- www.krohne.com
now includes net heat calculation agement. An-
for steam and condensate, as well. other advan- Define gas flowrates in the
With one temperature sensor inte- tage, says the field or in the laboratory
grated as standard, the device can company, is The Definer
be installed as a heat meter in the that by com- 220 flowmeter
feed line, directly connected with an bining three (photo) allows
external temperature sensor in the measure- users to verify
return line. The gross and net heat mens (flow, gas flowrates in
the laboratory
or in the field, to
an accuracy of New Star Environmental
±1% of reading, including tempera-
ture and pressure compensation.
Unlike thermal mass flowmeters, the
Definer 220’s positive-displacement
technology provides immediate indi-
Perfection is cation of actual volumetric gas flow-

rate, accurately and independently
of the gas type, says the company.
Better Dispersion and Control Integrated temperature and pres-
sure sensors in the flow stream allow
users to automatically standardize
volumetric flow readings to standard
conditions.— New Star Environmen-
tal, Roswell, Ga.
www.newstarenvironmental.com
The flow totalizer device

tracks flare operation
This com-
pany’s To-
talizer Mod-
ule (photo)
works with
analog or
digital flow-
meters to
provide
i n s t a n t a - Signal Fire
neous total and daily flow informa-
Perfecting Particle Size tion related to gas flares. With a
The Sturtevant Micronizer® jet mill reduces the built-in, user-configurable, realtime
particle size of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, clock, the wireless Totalizer Module
insecticides and dry chemicals to narrow particle stores data related to the last 30
size distributions of 0.25 microns or larger without days of total flow values. Data can
heat buildup. be accessed wirelessly when con-
nected to an integrated device
Better control properties - dispersion & reactivity that combines a high-gain an-
Particle-on-particle impact, no heat generation tenna with gateway electronics in
Simple design, easy to clean a single, easily mounted package,
Abrasion resistant for long life or locally over an RS-485 Modbus
RTU connection. — Signal Fire,
348 Circuit Street Hanover, MA 02339 Hudson, Mass.
Phone: 800.992.0209 • Fax: 781.829.6515 • sales@sturtevantinc.com www.signal-fire.com ■
Suzanne Shelley
www.sturtevantinc.com
Additional flowmeters are profiled in the online ver-
sion of this article, at www.chemengonline.com
New Products
High-performance safety relays pany, these high-capacity pumps are
are only 6-mm wide available in a choice of wetted ma-
The new PSRmini safety modules terials. These positive-displacement
(photo) are said to be the narrowest pumps feature one or two pairs of
safety relays in the world, but deliver screws (depending on the model)
the performance of a larger safety relay. that are driven by external gearing
With an overall width of just 6 mm, they so the screws never come into con-
offer a high level of safety, thanks to tact with each other. This ensures
the use of force-guided contacts. The smooth, accurate flows and suitabil-
compact design is possible thanks to ity for pumping shear-sensitive flu-
the newly developed relay technology ids. This twin-screw, ‘non-contact’
from this company. The relay can be design also means high-suction lift
integrated directly in devices such as capability (typically 7 to 8.5 m), very
motor starters. The elementary relay low NPSH values and less compo-
with forced guidance in accordance nent wear and therefore a longer ser-
with EN 50205 consists of an N/O and vice life. 3P Prinz Twin Screw pumps
an N/C contact. Energy consumption are well suited to pumping fluids with Phoenix Contact
is reduced by up to 20% due to the low, medium and very high viscosi-
low current consumption of the new ties up to 35,000 cSt. — Michael
relay. — Phoenix Contact GmbH & Smith Engineers, Woking, U.K.
Co. KG, Blomberg, Germany www.michael-smith-engineers.co.uk
www.phoenixcontact.com
Enhanced software for ERP
This new thermowell design document management
prevents vibration This provider of enterprise-class doc-
For applications in processes with ument management and workflow
high flowrates, this company is now solutions recently launched program
offering thermowells in the new Scru- support for Fujitsu PaperStream Cap-
tonWell design (photo). This variant ture and PaperStream IP. The new
dampens the excitation that leads to software solutions deliver enhanced WIKA Alexander Wiegand
vibrations, which in turn can cause image processing and capture capa-
failures. The helical form of the stem bilities allowing documents to quickly
is available in two versions: manufac- and easily be converted into excep-
tured in a single piece or with helices tionally clean images, capturing all the
welded onto it. Installation and removal data from each scanned document,
are just as easy as with a standard including barcodes, for reliable up-
thermowell. ScrutonWell thermowells load to the company’s Enterprise Re-
are recommended when a thermowell source Planning (ERP) integrated doc-
fails the strength calculation, accord- ument-management and workflow
ing to ASME PTC 19.3 TW-2010, and engine. PaperStream Capture and
where other optimizations (shorter or PaperStream IP support is included
stronger stem or support collar) are in the newly-released IntelliChief 3.5, Michael Smith Engineers
not desirable. In comparison with the the company’s latest version of their
conventional stem form, the new de- flagship document-management and
sign reduces the excitations caused business-process-workflow automa-
by vibration by more than 90%. — tion and optimization software, in-
WIKA Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. creasing the user’s business-process
KG, Klingenberg, Germany cost savings while enhancing profit-
www.wika.com ability associated with this organiza-
tion-wide functionality. — IntelliChief,
High-capacity twin-screw pumps LLC, Tampa, Fla.
provide smooth, pulseless flow www.intellichief.com
The 3P Pera Prinz Twin Screw Pumps
(photo) are suitable for fluid-trans- This underwater pelletizing sys-
fer applications that require a self- tem now has new features
Maag Pump Systems
priming pump that delivers smooth, The re-designed underwater pellet-
pulseless flows up to 1,700 m3/h and izing system Sphero S incorporates
at pressures up to 55 bars. Recently a variety of feature upgrades, mak-
introduced in the U.K. by this coming it ideally suited for masterbatch
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 40I-1

and recycling applications. Im- phatic raw materials, and is suitable collected on flowrates and mass
provements include a new frame for a wide range of general-purpose balances without coming into con-
that allows the Sphero S to be applications. A polyol ester derived tact with the medium during mea-
mounted on a single mobile struc- from food-approved raw materials, surement. — Sartorius Stedim Bio-
ture (photo, p. 40I-1) guarantee- Pevalen is based on well-proven, tech S.A., Aubagne, France
ing a perfect alignment, and a re- reliable chemistry that is already www.sartorius.com
duced footprint. Special attention registered under REACH. The pro-
has been given to the design of cess for obtaining food contact ap- Precision gas-control for
the cutter head to facilitate startup proval for Pevalen itself is currently harsh environments
and to ensure less agglomeration underway and should be concluded AURA Controls
and production of evenly shaped in 2016. — Perstorp Holding AB,
pellets. The system has medium Malmö, Sweden
throughputs, typically between www.perstorp.com
700 and 3,000 kg/h. — Maag
Pump Systems AG, Oberglatt, PAT portfolio extended with
Switzerland sensors for flowrate measurement
www.maag.com This company has entered into a
global development cooperation Employing new materials pro-
A new plasticizer for agreement with the flow-measure- duced in a proprietary process,
phthalate-free solutions in PVC ment company em-tec GmbH, the LumiShield series of gas-con-
With a key plasticizer, dioctyl phtha- which provides non-invasive flow- trol components (photo) provides
late (DOP), no longer permitted engineering solutions for blood ves- significantly better corrosion resis-
under European Union REACH sels and flexible tubing used in the tance and chemical inertness than
regulations after February of this biopharmaceutical industry. As part that provided by traditional metals,
year, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) com- of this cooperation, the technology such as stainless steel and ex-
pounders and processors will have base of em-tec will be extended by otic alloys, says the manufacturer.
to move to safer alternatives. This jointly developed single-use com- The extremely flexible, chemically
company is in a strong position to ponents, such as FlowTube. This inert, and wear-resistant material
fill the gap with a next-generation company will exclusively market provides more than 200 times the
alternative that combines high per- these as applications and distrib- corrosion resistance of stainless
formance with ease of processing ute them worldwide as private label steel and four times that of exotic
and important environmental bene- products under the brand name alloys in both highly caustic and
fits. Pevalen is a non-phthalate PVC BioPAT Flow. BioPAT Flow permits acidic applications, says the com-
plasticizer derived solely from ali- precise, reproducible data to be pany. Available in the manufactur-
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engineering for a better world GEA Process Engineering

er’s fully configurable line of pres- Intertec Instrumentation Compact turbine pumps for low
sure- and flow-control equipment, flows, high pressures
LumiShield increases component Pump Engineering
longevity and reduces product
contamination in both acidic and
caustic systems up to 5,500 psig
and over 400°F. — AURA Controls,
Virginia Beach, Va.
www.auracontrols.com
Mini cabinets increase flexibility

for outdoor installers
The new MiniCab housings (photo)
combine a relatively high contain-
ment capacity with convenient The MTH range of pumps (photo) is
pipe stand or wall mounting, and ideally suited to applications, such
feature a flat full-size hinged door as boiler feed, high-pressure cooling,
for quick and easy access. They refrigeration and CIP process. These
are designed to help users simplify equipment against the effects of compact pumps, which are available in
the layout, installation and mainte- weather and unauthorized access. direct drive, bareshaft, magnetic drive
nance of outdoor equipment with- The company is initially launching and canned-rotor options, can replace
out having to recourse to large- the MiniCab 44 model, which has multistage pumps, generating high
footprint, free-standing cabinets. a volume of approximately 44 L; heads in only a single stage. This de-
MiniCabs are especially suit- larger versions will follow. — Inter- sign allows the pump to handle hot liq-
able for protecting smaller-scale tec Instrumentation Ltd., Sarnia, uids, refrigerants, liquefied gases and
field-based installations, such Ont., Canada liquids with entrained air, for example
as electrical, analytical or safety www.intertec.info gas-dissolution systems, where the
RECE
IVE FU
to ALL
o
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LL ACCE
rtips a E
rticles ngineering
in one ’s
conve Facts at Yo
nient
SS
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on.
EACH INFORMATION
PACKED PDF ARTICLE includes graphs, charts, tables, equations
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Receive full access today by visiting

store.chemengonline.com/product/facts 24670
40I-4 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015

We look forward to seeing
you at ACHEMA in Frankfurt
from 15 to 19 June 2015
Hall 8, Stand H14
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cycle costs
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Pumps
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Pumps Valves Service
■ ■
pump will self-vent, carrying air bub- separated from a solid phase. Pre- Schedule Editor enables the creation,
bles with the fluid to the discharge port. vious processes used a decanter or editing, importing and exporting of
The standard range of MTH pumps separator to separate the solid from pipe schedules using both stan-
includes models that cover capacities the liquid phase, and then the liquid dard English and metric/SI nominal
from 1 to 500 L/min and pressures phase had to undergo another stage diameters. HydroFlo can communi-
up to 70 bars. Construction materials to separate the two liquids. That cate with PumpBase, the company’s
include iron, bronze and 316 stain- meant at least two machines were pump-selection software. Once Hy-
less steel. — Pump Engineering Ltd., required. The Tricanter (photo) makes droFlo determines a pump’s operat-
Littlehampton, U.K. it possible to separate two liquid ing parameters, the data can be sent
www.pumpeng.co.uk phases from a solid phase, as long to PumpBase for selecting optimal
as they cannot dissolve in each other. pumps. PumpBase can then send
Three-phase separation in a — Flottweg SE, Vilsbiburg, Germany the selected pump curves back to
single machine www.flottweg.com HydroFlo for use in a conveyance-
Flottweg system design. — Tahoe Design
A new version of this piping- Software, Nevada City, Calif.
system design software www.tahoesoft.com
Launched in March, HydroFlo 3
is the latest version of this popular A heavy fuel viscosity meter for
piping-system design software. With demanding applications
HydroFlo, pumped, gravity and re- The Micro Motion Heavy Fuel Viscos-
circulating flow systems, conveying ity Meter (HFVM) Viscomaster (photo,
Three-phase separation has now be- any type of liquid, can be modeled p. 40I-7) is the next generation of
come a significant alternative in the and solved for their steady-state the Micro Motion 7829 Viscomaster
food industry both for starch pro- flows and pressures. This new ver- direct-insertion viscosity and density
duction for separating wheat starch sion expands system capacities, meter. Making use of the same rugged
and gluten or for extracting animal provides additional editing features and reliable tuning fork design as its
or vegetable fat and oil. In all these and improves analysis results and predecessors, the HFVM incorporates
processes, two liquids have to be pump-curve plotting. The new Pipe a new robust low-friction diamond-like
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Booth: F3 For a complete list of products, visit the Chemical
Engineering store now. store.chemengonline.com/store
I www.bronkhorst.com - E sales@bronkhorst.com

40I-6 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
Solution resized!
MICROFILTRATION
carbon (DLC) coating. A mobile wireless router for U LT R A F I LT R AT I O N
This makes it ideal for industrial remote communication N A N O F I LT R AT I O N
tackling the most de- This com-
manding of process pany has
applications, such expanded
as marine heavy fuel its Scalance Frankfurt am Main, 15 – 19 June 2015
oil (HFO) combus- M wireless Please visit us at booth 5.0 E95
tion control, marine router se- Amsterdam, 03 – 06
gas oil (MGO) viscos- ries by add- November 2015
Please visit us in
ity control and land- ing two new Hall 3 booth 03.330
based fired heaters. Emerson
Process
devices. The
System integration Management Scalance
and startup com- M 8 7 6 - 3
Siemens
missioning costs are significantly (photo) is ide-
reduced due to the support from ally suited for transmitting data via
4–20-mA, HART, WirelessHART and third generation wireless internet
RS485 Modbus communications. access (3G). In Europe, these are
— Emerson Process Management, the well-known UMTS networks, BIO-CEL®XL
Baar, Switzerland with EVDO (evolution data opti- World‘s largest submerged
www.emersonprocess.com mized) networks being prevalent BIO-CEL® MBR-Module
particularly in North America. Using for biological wastewater treatment
Mobile storage cages with the second new addition to the se-
adjustable shelves ries, the Scalance M876-4, users
can connect to subnets and auto-
mation devices via LTE (long term
evolution) wireless standard, widely
used throughout Europe. Thanks
to their high bandwidths, perfor-
mance capabilities and transmis-
sion speeds, the routers are able to
be deployed in a diverse range of
applications — Process Industries
and Drives Division, Siemens AG,
Erlangen, Germany
www.siemens.com
• optimized module design
The introduction of
for large scale applications
a new vibration analyzer
VibXpert Ultra is a new genera- • 1920 m2 membrane area
tion four-channel FFT (fast Fourier • cost eficient
Stakrak transform) data collector, signal • high lux
Available from this storage special- analyzer and field balancer. The • low energy demand
ist, Stak-Red mobile security cages vibration analyzer features simul- • easy to integrate
(photo) provide a secure and practical taneous data acquisition on four • backwashable
alternative to fixed storage areas with channels and lowers the measure- • reliable in operation
the important advantage of being ment time down to the physical • ine bubble aeration
able to be easily moved to suit the limit, says the company. The de- • high packing density
increasing demand for flexible manu- vice’s Xpert View feature offers an • self-healing membrane laminate
facturing situations. These robust, yet innovative way to visualize mea-
mobile cages feature double-hinged, surement results. Up to four signals
lockable doors, which fold back 270 can be displayed in one screen, in
deg to provide easy access. They are addition to the monitoring param-
fully fabricated from mild steel and are eters of choice. With Xpert View
supplied with two adjustable shelves at the press of a button, the op-
as standard, in either steel or ply- erator is able to get the full pic- MICRODYN-NADIR GmbH
Kasteler Straße 45
wood, which can be adjusted in 100- ture of a rotating-machine’s health 65203 Wiesbaden / Germany
mm increments. Additional shelves at a glance. — Prüftechnik AG, Phone + 49 611 962 6001
are available if required. — Stakrak Ismaning, Germany info@microdyn-nadir.de
Ltd., Crawley, U.K. www.pruftechnik.com ■ WWW.MICRODYN-NADIR.COM
www.stakrak.co.uk Gerald Ondrey
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 40I-7

New Products
This remote user interface is now one-minute test, eliminating the need
hazardous-location certified to wait for test results from remote
The EZ-Zone EZK (photo), a remote laboratories. The instrument requires
user interface (RUI) that can also be a sample volume as small as 100 μL,
used as a communication gateway, and displays dynamic viscosity at
is now available with an option for ambient conditions. It also extrapo-
Class 1, Division 2, temperature class lates kinematic viscosities at 40, 80
T4A, for use in hazardous locations. and 100°C, following industry-stan-
The EZ-Zone RUI can be utilized as dard formulas. — RheoSense Inc.,
a communications gateway device San Ramon, Calif.
to save cost, space and wiring when www.rheosense.com
digital communications are being
used with two or more EZ-Zone con- Latest software release builds on Watlow Electric Manufacturing
trollers. It can also serve as a display existing capabilities
for showing all parameter values for The latest release of Diagrams software
Elfab
up to 16 EZ-Zone controllers, which was introduced in March. Diagrams
helps improve the user-system inter- is engineering software that enables
face. As a communications gateway, the creation and delivery of intelligent
the RUI can deliver multiple commu- piping and instrumentation diagrams
nication protocol options. The de- (P&IDs) and other schematics. This
vice’s T4A temperature classification software update will enable engineers
means that its surface temperature to collaborate more efficiently on multi-
will not rise above 248°F (120°C). — discipline projects, thereby eliminating
Watlow Electric Manufacturing Co., errors and inconsistencies that could
St. Louis, Mo. otherwise lead to costly subsequent
www.watlow.com rework, says the company. The new
version includes enhancements that
Use these ribbed burst panels can enable engineers to optimize their
in vacuum conditions use of Diagrams, requiring fewer itera-
This newly launched ribbed bursting tions to develop a final, fully compliant
panel (photo) ensures that safe opera- and accurate schematic design, says
tions are maintained when low to me- the company. — Aveva Solutions, Ltd.,
dium levels of vacuum are present. The Cambridge, U.K.
panel’s unique design can withstand www.aveva.com
vacuum or backpressure of up to 40% RheoSense
of the minimum burst pressure, making Achieve vapor-pressure testing
it suitable for many standard applica- for up to 12 samples in one run
tions, such as silos and bucket eleva- The newly introduced RUN12 Auto
tors, where the dusty conditions com- Sampler (photo) can achieve rapid
monly associated with the storage and and continuous vapor-pressure test-
handling of grains and powders can ing of up to 12 samples in one run.
potentially lead to dangerous explo- The Auto Sampler’s corrosion-resis-
sions. The non-torque-sensitive panel tant construction makes it suitable for
has a low-profile, space-saving design, testing plain or aggressive samples
and is available with the optional bene- filled from tubes out of a bottle or
fit of an integral burst-detection system from attached syringes. The sampler
for instantaneous notification when the includes Sampling Pro technology, a
panel has functioned. — Elfab Ltd., valve design that minimizes the risk of Ametek Grabner Instruments
North Shields, U.K. cross-contamination between different

www.elfab.com sample types. Optional tapwater cool-
IDEC
ing allows sample transfer for various
Measure lubricating-oil viscosity vapor-pressure methods. — Ametek
with extremely small samples Grabner Instruments, Vienna, Austria
The new microVISC-m viscometer www.grabner-instuments.com
(photo) is designed to simplify daily
or routine measurements of lubricat- A solid-state relay with fast re-
ing oils’ viscosity. Requiring only a few lease times and little noise
drops of oil, the microVISC-m mea- The RV8S solid-state interface relay
sures oil viscosity through an easy, (photo) boasts a compact 6-mm

GROUP
footprint, and features high switching
LEADING WORLDWIDE cycles, extended operating life and
IN MIXING TECHNOLOGIES high-speed load switching. Common
uses of the RV8S include general load
Having advanced to world market leader, EKATO has provided switching in control systems for as-
their customers with more than 80 years of technical excel-
lence and experience. The companies within the EKATO GROUP sembly machines, solenoids, mold-
offer a broad spectrum of mixing technologies. ing machines and other applications
From modularly designed industrial agitators to turnkey requiring a high repetition rate. The
production plants, the EKATO GROUP provides a wide RV8S has operate and release times
range of engineering services and custom-made solutions for
the most challenging customer applications. The synergies that are much faster than electrome-
within the EKATO GROUP ensure reliable and cost-effective chanical relays. The relay also gener-
solutions that meet the highest quality standards for every
application. This is supported by a global service network.
ates no acoustic and far less electri-
cal noise than its electromechanical
www.ekato.com counterpart because it makes use
of semiconductor outputs instead of
electrically sparking contacts. The
RV8S can safely operate in tempera-
tures from –20 to 60ºC and humid-
ity from 5 to 85%. — IDEC Corp.,
Osaka, Japan
www.idec.com/usa
Hall 5.0 / Stand D42 Microprocessor-based gas

Your Contact in:
monitors with custom sensors
Europe,Tel. +49 7622 29-0, e-mail: info@ekato.com / USA, Tel. +1 201 825 4684, e-mail: usa@ekato.com Enmet
DUNN HEAT EXCHANGERS, INC.

Dunn’s specialized facility offers complete services for shell and tube type
heat exchangers and related process equipment.
24 hours a day. 7 days a week.
The GSM-60 (photo) is a micropro-

cessor-based gas monitor especially
designed for use in industrial process,
aerospace, pharmaceutical and semi-
conductor applications. The system
incorporates an internal sample-draw
REPAIR/RETUBING CLEANING/BAKE-OUT pump and gas sensors. The instru-
ment can be custom-configured with
both internal and external sensors for
monitoring a combination of gas pa-
rameters, including volatile organic
compounds (VOCs), dewpoint, oxy-
gen and carbon monoxide, or a num-
SAFE TRANSPORT ber of other target gases, such as
T E XC H ANG
H E Aality Service Since 19E RS I O3, HF, HCl and Cl2. As an option,
NN Qu 68
NC
DU
this monitor can also be connected

CL
to a wide range of remote 4–20-mA
N
EA TI O
N IN
G • REPAIR • FABRICA sensors or transmitters for toxic or
www.dunnheat.com combustible gases. — Enmet LLC,
409-948-1704฀•฀281-337-1222 Ann Arbor, Mich.
www.enmet.com
Please visit us:
ACHEMA
Frankfurt, Germany
A high-pressure microreactor sitioners are available in various lift 15. – 19. June 2015
for small-batch chemistry capacities, base and turntable sizes. Hall 8.0 Stand C23
With the inclusion of a heavy-duty,
360-deg turntable, they are suitable
for many applications, including pal-
letizing, de-palletizing, workstation
assembly and manufacturing. Many
options are available, including ac-
cordion skirting, oversized platforms,
platforms with beveled edges, pit-
mounted units, portability packages,
foot-pedal control, fork pockets, ex-
ternal power modules and more. —
Verti-Lift Inc., Louisville, Ky.
www.verti-lift.com
Supercritical Fluid Technologies Faster startup times with these

graphic terminals
The HPR-Micro Reactor (photo) is Rockwell Automation
a high-pressure reactor specifically
designed for small-batch reaction
chemistry, and is well suited for re-
search, process-development and
screening applications when re- DEFINING THE LIMIT
agents, catalysts or other essential
materials are expensive or available AS STANDARD
in very limited supply. The HPR-Mi- The new Allen-Bradley PanelView 800
cro Reactor comes standard with a family of graphic terminals (photo) is
10-mL reactor vessel for operation designed for a faster startup time, re- Electric actuators for the oil
up to 10,000 psi, inlet and outlet portedly two times faster than previ- and gas industry
valves and a pressure gage. Optional ous models. Available in 4-, 7- and
25-mL and 50-mL vessels are also 10-in. display sizes, the panels offer Safe, explosion-proof, tough.
available. Depending upon the tem- improved touchscreen responsive- AUMA offer a large portfolio of
perature option selected, operation ness and can be configured in por-
from –40 to 150°C is possible. The trait and landscape mode for greater
actuator and gearbox type ranges.
vessel closure is hand-tight, so no installation flexibility. Built-in Eth- ■ Automating all types of
wrenches are needed. The reactor ernet- and serial-communications industrial valves
is equipped with magnetically cou- ports support controller connectiv-
pled stirring for optimal mixing, and ity. The terminals are also certified ■ High corrosion protection
the overall assembly is protected by for Class 1, Div. 2 hazardous lo- ■ Integration into all commonly
a rupture-disc assembly. Multiple cations. — Rockwell Automation, used control systems
inlet ports are included for addition Milwaukee, Wis.
of solvents, reagents or gases. — www.rockwellautomation.com ■ Global certifications and
Supercritical Fluid Technologies, Inc., approvals
Newark, Del. Introducing pH sensors
www.supercriticalfluids.com that are able to learn
Mettler Toledo
Improve ergonomics with these
vertical work positioners
Verti-Lift Not knowing when pH sensors will

This company’s line of hydraulic and require maintenance or if a sensor
pneumatic work positioners (photo) is going to fail unexpectedly can be Discover our
keep workpieces close at hand and a problem. A solution (photo) to this solutions
eliminate unnecessary reaching and problem comes in the form of the for the oil
other operator movements, thus trademarked technologies, Intelligent and gas
enhancing ergonomics. These po- Sensor Management (ISM) and Sen- industry
www.auma.com
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015 Circle 2 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-02
sors That Learn. New ISM algorithms Krüss measuring accuracy of 1%, high re-
allow pH sensors to actually learn peatability and a large dynamic-mea-
from the conditions in a process. suring range. Built for longterm use,
Sensors That Learn delivers more the device features a full-bore flow
accurate sensor-health diagnostics sensor without moving parts or ob-
more quickly than previous versions, structions, and an overall sturdy and
and enhances the consistency of robust construction with no cables or
sensor-lifetime information. When an sensitive parts exposed. Therefore, it
ISM sensor is connected to a PC run- can uphold its measuring accuracy
ning the iSense software, all relevant without maintenance or subsequent
data are displayed on the software's is particularly well suited to quality- calibration for up to 20 yr, says the
iMonitor screen, allowing evaluation assurance applications on cleaned, manufacturer. With nominal sizes
of the probe. — Mettler Toledo AG, pretreated or coated materials. — ranging from DN 100–1,000, Opti-
Urdorf, Switzerland Krüss GmbH, Hamburg, Germany sonic 8300 is particularly suited to
www.mt.com/pro www.kruss.de high flowrates. Pressure and tem-
perature ratings are up to 200 bars
Robot-assisted measurements A new ultrasonic flowmeter for and 540°C, respectively. — Krohne
of surface free-energy superheated steam Messtechnik GmbH, Duisburg,
At the Hannover trade fair last month, Krohne Messtechnik
Germany
this company introduced its Large www.krohne.com
Surface Analyzer (LSA; photo), a
positioning robot combined with the These interlocks withstand
Mobile Surface Analyzer (MSA) con- temperatures over 1,800°F
tact-angle measuring instrument. In recent tests, the GL and QL inter-
The system performs fast, fully auto- The Optisonic 8300 (photo) is a dedi- locks (photo, p. 46) withstood tem-
mated surface free-energy (SFE) de- cated ultrasonic flowmeter for the peratures of up to 1,830°F (1,000°C).
terminations at freely defined posi- measurement of superheated steam. Performed by Score Group plc, the
tions on large samples. The system The two-beam flowmeter delivers a tests found the QL and GL to be
ACHEMA Halle 9.1, Stand C26

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Circle 50 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-50 Circle 48 on p. 102 or go to adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-48

Smith Flow Control the only in- WIKA Alexander Wiegand
A compact liquid flowmeter for
strument on industrial applications
the market The new
that combines SLS-1500
a housing of liquid flow-
only 19-mm m e t e r
compliant with the temperatures and dia. with ex- (photo) de-
Sensirion
conditions specified in API Standard plosion pro- livers fast
607 6th Edition — 2010 and ISO tection, claims and precise measurements for flow
10497:2010. The tests verified that, the manufacturer. The measuring in- rates of 0 to 40 mL/min. The device
in the event of a fire, the hardware strument, developed for sanitary ap- comes in a robust housing and is
will continue to function and the in- plications, has now obtained ATEX suitable in demanding industrial en-
tegrity of the locking mechanism and IECEx approval for the ignition- vironments and laboratory settings.
will be maintained. During the test, protection Type Ex i. The combina- With a typical response time of 20
the lock had one key inserted and tion of compact size, hygienic design ms, the SLS-1500 is able to moni-
one free; following cooldown, the and intrinsic safety makes the TR21 tor highly dynamic dispensing pro-
lock remained secure on the valve. a multi-application thermometer for cesses. The flow channel inside the
Only when the other key was in- processes in the food and pharma- sensor is completely straight and
serted could the lock be moved to ceutical industries. The TR21 has a open and has no moving parts. Inert
the open/closed position, as should measuring range from –50 to 250°C, wetted materials provide outstand-
happen. — Smith Flow Control USA, and is delivered with a direct sensor ing chemical resistance and excel-
Erlanger, Ky. output (Pt100) or integrated trans- lent biocompatibility. The SLS-1500
www.smithflowcontrol.com mitter (4–20-mA output). The sen- is compatible with SCC1 interface
sor can be calibrated without hav- cables, and thereby various out-
Miniature thermometer for ster- ing to open the process. — WIKA put connections. — Sensirion AG,
ile processes gets Ex approvals Alexander Wiegand SE & Co. KG, Staefa, Switzerland
The TR21 miniature resistance Klingenberg, Germany www.sensirion.com ■
thermometer (photo) is currently www.wika.de Mary Page Bailey and Gerald Ondrey
We Pump and Measure Liquids
Reliable Delivery and High Accuracy.

KRAL Pumps and Flowmeters.
KRAL Screw Pumps.
 Flow rates up to 940 gpm | 3,550 l/min.
 Pressure range up to 1,740 psi | 120 bar.
 Temperature range from -4 to 572 °F | -20 to 300 °C.
 Hermetically sealed option with magnetic coupling.
 API compliant option.
KRAL Volumeter®.
 Extremely accurate measurements of liquids in in Frankf
u
harsh industrial conditions.
EMA
ur
o
ACH 5
See y
 Accuracy of ± 0.1% for industrial applications

201 F85
and ± 0.015% for test lab applications.
,booth
ne
 Measurement range from 0.03 to 1,980 gpm | H all 8

Ju
15 th f
0.1 to 7,500 l/min. to 19th o
KRAL AG, 6890 Lustenau, Austria, Tel.: +43 / 55 77 / 8 66 44 - 0, e-mail: kral@kral.at www.kral.at
46 KRAL - USA, Inc., Tel.: +1 / 704 / 814 - 6164, Fax: +1 / 704 / 814 - 6165, e-mail: ENGINEERING
CHEMICAL sales@kral-usa.com www.kral-usa.com
WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MAY 2015
Facts At Your Fingertips
Catalysis Fundamentals
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins
C
atalysis is among the most im- state. The transition state is Increasing energy
portant chemical phenomena characterized by bonds that Ea for uncatalysed reaction
in industrial chemistry, as well are both partially formed and
as in many biological and research partially broken. Catalysts
fields. This one-page reference pro- form an intermediate species
vides a review of several of the funda- with one of the reactants and Activation energies for
Ea3 the steps of a catalyzed
Energy, kJ
mental concepts underlying catalysis. stabilize the transition state, Ea2 reaction
allowing the reaction to pro- Ea1
Catalyst basics ceed with a mechanism that Reactants
A catalyst interacts with chemical re- requires lower energy. As
actants to increase the reaction rate. products form, the catalyst is H for both
Catalysts form fleeting intermediate regenerated. catalyzed and
uncatalyzed
chemical complexes with reactants, reactions
allowing the reaction to follow a differ- Catalyst features Products
ent mechanistic pathway that requires The following summarizes
Reaction coordinate
lower activation energy (Ea) than the key catalyst characteristics:
corresponding uncatalyzed reaction. Reversible reactions. In 4. Desorption. The product mol-
Ea is often thought of as an energy the case of reversible reactions, the ecules desorb from the exterior
barrier over which the reactants must catalyst acts on both the forward and surface of the catalyst pores
pass to form products. Activation reverse reactions. The catalyst does 5. Diffusion. Product molecules dif-
energies are often shown on graphs not affect the position of the equilib- fuse back into the bulk fluid
that plot reaction coordinate against rium, but it does accelerate the rate at In most cases, one of these steps
thermodynamic free energy (Figure). which equilibrium is reached. contributes most significantly to the
Reaction coordinates are one-dimen- Energy. The presence of catalyst overall reaction rate, and often the
sional representations of the progress does not affect the potential energy others steps can be ignored or com-
of a chemical reaction. of the reactants or products. It affects bined when determining reaction
Catalysts are broadly categorized only the activation energy. rates. The significance of each step
as homogeneous or heterogeneous. Selectivity. In reactions with multiple depends heavily on the reactants
Homogeneous refers to those cata- feasible mechanisms, catalysts can and the reaction conditions.
lysts that are dissolved in the reac- often exhibit selectivity by binding to
tion medium, forming a single phase the transition state in a way that fa- Influencing factors
with the reactants. Heterogeneous vors one reaction pathway over oth- The following are factors that can play
catalysts exist as a distinct phase ers. Catalyzed reactions often show a a large role in determining which step
from the reaction mixture and are of- different product distribution than the is more or less significant:
ten porous solid particles. same uncatalyzed reaction. • Fluid-dynamic factors
Both categories are important for Reaction rate. In homogeneous-cat- • Catalyst properties (such as par-
industrial chemistry. Examples of liq- alyzed reactions, the reaction rate is ticle size, porosity, pore geometry
uid-phase, acid-base-catalyzed reac- generally proportional to the concen- and surface characteristics)
tions include hydrolysis of esters and tration of the catalyst, while in hetero- • Diffusion characteristics of fluid re-
amides, enolization of aldehydes and geneous catalysis, the reaction rate is actants and products
ketones, esterification of alcohols, proportional to the surface area of the • Activation energy requirements for
halogenation of acetone and others. solid catalyst and the concentration of adsorption and desorption of re-
Heterogeneous catalysts play a key active centers (catalytic sites). actants and products to and from
role in the production of petrochemi- solid surfaces
cals, including cracking, alkylation, Solid-catalyzed reaction steps • Overall Ea of the catalyzed reaction
polymerization, isomerization, dehy- Solid-catalyzed, fluid-phase chemical • Thermal factors (temperature and
drogenation and many others. reactions generally undergo the fol- heat-transport characteristics)
lowing steps:
Mechanism of action 1. Diffusion. Reactants in the fluid References
Most chemical reactions involve simul- phase diffuse to the exterior sur- 1) Perry, R.H. and Green, D.W., “Perry’s Chemical Engi-
neering Handbook,” 7th ed., McGraw Hill Professional,
taneous (rather than sequential) bond face of a catalyst particle and into Section 4, Chapter 12. 1997.
breaking and bond forming. Along the catalyst pores 2) Wijngaarden, R.J. and others, “Industrial Catalysis: Opti-
the pathway of reactants to products, 2. Adsorption. Reactants adsorb to mizing Catalysts and Processes,” Wiley-VCH, Weinheim,
the molecules adopt a configuration the active centers in catalyst pores Germany, 1999.
that represents the highest potential 3. Reaction. The surface-adsorbed 3) University of Texas, Chemistry 302. Course material on
chemical kinetics. Accessed from ch302.cm.utexas.
energy state, known as the transition reactants form products edu, April 2015.

Technology Profile
Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas
By Intratec Solutions
H
ydrogen (H2) is an important
chemical feedstock, mainly Central Semi-central
applied in the manufacture facility 40–160 km
facility
80–480 km
of ammonia and methanol,
and for hydroprocessing operations in Hydrogen
petroleum refineries. Also, since H2 is point of
use
an energy carrier, it has been consid-
ered for stationary power and trans- Distributed
facility
portation applications.
Hydrogen production technolo-
gies are separated into three main FIGURE 2. There are three types of hydrogen production facilities, and they differ in location and scale of
production
categories: thermal, electrolytic and
photolytic. In thermal processes, such stock is purified by catalytic treatment • A central facility with a nominal
as reforming and gasification, H2 is with H2 for removal of sulfur impurities. capacity of 450,000 ton/yr of H2
produced from biomass and fossil fu- In the hydrotreater, H2 reacts, over a erected on the U.S. Gulf Coast
els, such as coal and natural gas. In catalyst, with sulfur compounds pres- • Distribution costs and storage for
electrolytic processes, H2 is obtained ent in the feed stream to form hydro- feedstock and product were not
from water-splitting, using electricity gen sulfide (H2S), which is then ad- considered
that can be generated from a variety sorbed in the desulfurizer. The estimated total fixed invest-
of sources, such as wind. In photolytic Steam reforming. Purified natural ment for the construction of this plant
processes, light energy allows hydro- gas is mixed with high-temperature is about $460 million.
gen production using novel photo- steam and reformed into CO and H2.
electrochemical and photobiological The reforming reaction requires a large Global perspective
water-splitting processes. amount of heat and takes place in an There are three kinds of facilities for H2
In the U.S., H2 is mostly produced externally fired tubular reactor filled production: central, semi-central and
from natural gas using the thermal with catalyst. distributed facilities (Figure 2). They
steam methane reforming (SMR) Water-gas shift. CO and steam react differ in their location and scale of pro-
process. Natural gas is an important in a catalytic water-gas shift reaction, duction, characteristics that directly
feedstock for H2 production since it is forming additional H2 and CO2. affect H2 cost, competitiveness and
widely available and presents a high Purification. CO2 and other impurities timeframe to market.
hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, reduc- are removed from the H2 stream in a Central facilities are located far from
ing the generation of carbon dioxide pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) sys- the H2 point of use and are able to pro-
(CO2) byproduct. tem. The purge stream from the PSA duce large amounts of H2, benefiting
system is recycled to the reformer, from economies of scale. This type of
The process where it is burned with fuel to provide facility requires high capital investment,
In the process described below and heat to the reaction. The H2 product as well as a distribution infrastructure
depicted in Figure 1, H2 is produced obtained has purities of 99.99 wt.%. able to cover large distances.
from natural gas using an SMR pro- Semi-central facilities present interme-
cess. The process was compiled Economic evaluation diate H2-production capacity. They pres-
based on information available in the An economic evaluation of the pro- ent reduced distribution costs, since they
chemical literature. cess was conducted based on the are sited closer to H2 points of use.
Sulfur removal. Natural gas feed- following assumptions: Distributed facilities are small facili-
ties located close to or at the point
1) Hydrotreater of H2 use, reducing delivery costs.
2) Desulfurizer These facilities may present produc-
Natural 3) Reformer reactor
gas 4) Water-gas shift
tion capacities fitted to local demand.
H2 reactor They require less investment than the
ST 5) Pressure-swing
Air other facilities, although unit produc-
1 adsorber system
FU BFW
tion costs may be higher. n
ST ST Steam Edited by Scott Jenkins
4 FU Fuel
BFW Boiler feed water Editor’s Note: The content for this column is supplied by In-
2 3 tratec Solutions LLC (Houston; www.intratec.us) and edited by
Chemical Engineering. The analyses and models presented are
H2 prepared on the basis of publicly available and non-confidential
product
information. The content represents the opinions of Intratec only.
5 More information about the methodology for preparing analysis
FIGURE 1. Steam methane reforming process for hydrogen production can be found, along with terms of use, at www.intratec.us/che.

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Managing Large Chemical
Plant Startups
Prudent planning and scheduling during a project’s front end can lead to more expedient
commissioning and startup activities
Mark Sheridan
Consultant
IN BRIEF
FRONT-END PLANNING
OWNER-CONTROLLED
COSTS
JUSTIFYING STAFFING
RESOURCES
OWNER TASK-FORCE
FUNCTIONS
CLARIFY CONTRACTOR
RESPONSIBILITY
PRE-COMMISSIONING
ACTIVITIES
OBTAINING ADEQUATE
RESOURCES
TIMING STAFF BUILDUP FIGURE 1. Seeing a large CPI facility through design, construction, commissioning and, ultimately, startup requires detailed
planning throughout, especially during the project’s front end
DETAILED PLANS AND
SCHEDULES
T
MONITORING PROGRESS he cost of starting up large new fa- This article describes the steps that should
cilities in the chemical process indus- be taken during the front-end planning and
CULTURE AND MORALE
tries (CPI; Figure 1) is a significant the pre-commissioning phase to ensure that
element in a project’s total finances. work progresses efficiently and that the likeli-
Typically these “owner-controlled” costs are hood of incidents is reduced. These strate-
budgeted to be 8–12% of the capital proj- gies should help realize the expected prof-
ect costs, depending on what is included itability during the plant’s commissioning,
in the project’s pre-startup budget. Actual startup and initial operation.
costs vary considerably, depending on how
well the pre-startup activities are planned Front-end planning
and executed. A key element in minimizing startup costs
Good startup planning and execution can is to begin startup planning on the project’s
save 1–3% of total project costs — typically front end. Front-end planning, for purposes
something in the range of $10–40 million of this article, begins during the develop-
for projects that are budgeted for $500 mil- ment of the initial appropriation request and
lion to $2 billion. This stake is large, yet the front-end engineering design (FEED), and it
people managing the startup preparations continues throughout the period in which the
are frequently inexperienced with this rather owner’s task force takes up residence in the
specialized work. This unfamiliarity often re- contractor’s offices.
sults in substantial inefficiencies, causing Much of the front-end work that is nec-
excessive pre-startup costs and delays that essary to support successful pre-commis-
frequently exceed budget and reduce first- sioning, commissioning and startup many
year profits. months in the future can be summarized
as follows: TABLE 1. TYPICAL OWNER-CONTROLLED PROJECT EXPENSES
• Identifying the resources that are Staff (until saleable product is produced)
needed from the owner’s company in Exempt and non-exempt staff payroll
terms of financial and human-resourc- Site-contracted work, such as security and janitorial staff
es contributions in order to make the Hiring and relocation costs
efforts for pre-commissioning through Project-related travel
startup a success Temporary peak-load contract staff
• Defining the focus of the owner’s Contractor assistance in pre-commissioning and commissioning
task force during the design phase Employee benefits
to ensure successful pre-com- Consultants (for specialized training, for instance)
missioning and commissioning in Corporate overhead allocations
the future Office facilities
• Identifying what is needed from the Rental and operating costs for temporary offices
engineering contractor to make the Operating costs for permanent offices
project comply with the owner’s stan- Office equipment leases and office supplies
dards to support good pre-commis- Office furniture and related equipment, such as file cabinets
sioning and commissioning plans Copying charges
Laboratory instruments, equipment and supplies
Owner-controlled costs Landscaping
While the accuracy of the project’s Information-technology telephone systems, networks, servers and computers
capital estimate is, to a great extent, Software license fees
at the mercy of the contractor, some Maintenance
expenditures are budgeted and spent Rolling stock purchase or lease (cranes, trucks, switch engines and so on)
directly by the owner, and are directly Stocking non-capital spare parts
under the control of the owner’s project Warehouse setup and stocking of consumables
and operations managers. A detailed Tool-room stocking
budget is needed on the project’s front Mobile-radio frequency purchase
end that identifies the expenses that Maintenance supplies
are associated with pre-commission- Vendor startup assistance
ing, commissioning and startup. This Consultant services
budget is normally developed and au- Specialized maintenance services
thorized as part of the overall project Commissioning activities
funding, but it is managed by the own- Raw materials cost (until saleable product is made)
er’s representatives separately from Initial inventories of chemicals and in-process materials
the project budget that the contractor Initial catalyst purchases
must meet. An in-depth assessment Non-capitalized operating equipment and supplies
will identify a large number of budget Process training simulator for control-room training
line items — perhaps 50–100 items Energy costs for steam generation (line blowing, turbine testing, distillation and so on)
— that can vary widely, depending on Maintenance vendor support during commissioning
the location of the new facility, whether Specialty services, such as chemical cleaning, pipeline blowing or catalyst installation
the project is a grassroots plant or at Costs to operate utility systems during commissioning
an existing site, the type of manufac- Initial technology licensing fees and royalties
turing process and the extent of new Other
technology involved. Sales-tax accrual
Some examples of these line items Insurance (property, workman’s compensation and so on)
are shown in Table 1. Particular atten- Property tax
tion should be paid to forecasting the Safety, emergency-response and first-aid treatment equipment
large-dollar line items — usually those
related to staffing, raw materials and Justifying staffing resources
pre-startup energy and chemical ex- While the owner’s senior managers —
penses — because these expenses those who authorize projects and staff-
tend to be underestimated. Contin- ing — have a good understanding of
gency should also be considered for the capital costs required for a large
unforeseen expenses, such as poten- project, they frequently do not appre-
tial project delays. For more informa- ciate the manpower required to suc-
tion on the importance of contingency cessfully bring a major project into op-
in project budgets, see Improve Your eration, or the drain on other company
Contingency Estimates for More Re- operations if positions are to be filled in-
alistic Project Budgets, Chem. Eng., ternally. When this is the case, delays in
Dec. 2014, pp. 36–43. filling positions as the work expands can

140
need, as well as help to determine the
n Temporary employees
n Permanent employees proper number of people on the task
120 force. The contractor must also have a
good understanding of the task force’s
100 functions — this encourages coopera-
tive work with that group during the de-
sign and construction phases.
80
Staffing, % of longterm
Depending on how well the owner’s

scope of work for the project is defined,
60 the degree of familiarity the contractor
has with the process and the depth of
Staffing, % of longterm versus
40 months from startup
involvement the owner wants in review-
ing the design as it progresses, the staff-
ing level of the task force resident in the
20
contractor’s offices could be around one
task-force member per $25–50 million
0
–24 –21 –18 –15 –12 –9 –6 –3 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 of capital investment.
After award of a contract to an engi-
Month from startup
Startup neering firm, the task force usually re-
sides at the contractor’s offices until the
FIGURE 2. It is important that temporary cause major difficulties in accomplishing project design is about 40% complete.
personnel are included in the staffing pre-commissioning work in time for a At this point, this group begins transi-
schedule at times of peak workload to
supplement the staff that will eventually successful startup. tioning attention to pre-commissioning
be permanent employees It is normally up to the project manager preparations and begins relocating
or operations manager who is involved in from the design offices to the construc-
the front-end planning to make the case tion site, becoming the nucleus of the
for adequate staffing prior to project au- facility staffing.
thorization. These individuals should de-
velop a detailed organization chart that Clarify contractor responsibility
shows peak and longterm staffing require- There are several issues that are crucial
ments. This chart will then be used as the to a successful startup that must be dis-
basis for budgeted staffing, allowing se- cussed with a contractor, some prior to
nior management to begin early planning awarding a contract. To the extent that
for succession of internally filled jobs. The the owner feels it advantageous, some
chart will also set the groundwork for filling of the following activities might be in-
positions in a timely manner as the proj- cluded as elements in the contract:
ect progresses from task-force formation 1. Align the contractor and owner’s finan-
through pre-commissioning. cial incentives as much as possible. If
For budgeting purposes, a typical the contract is incentive-based, the in-
staffing schedule as a percentage of centive should be based on successful
longterm staffing is shown in Figure 2. mutual accomplishment of whatever is
In addition, there should be contingency most financially important to the owner,
planning for additional staffing if needed. such as producing targeted volumes
Note that professional and supervisory by a designated date. Using a project
staffing (beyond the owner’s design mechanical completion date (a com-
task-force members already committed mon target for contractor incentives)
to the front-end planning) typically pre- as the goal is often counterproduc-
cedes operator and mechanic staffing tive. Having a mutual financial objec-
by 2–3 months. This helps to organize tive promotes mutual design, procure-
the work these employees will be doing ment and construction objectives, as
once they are hired and assigned to the well as harbors a more harmonious
pre-commissioning teams. relationship between the owner and
the contractor
Owner task-force functions 2. To help ensure an operable design
Once a project is authorized and owner and successful startup, identify the
representatives become resident in a activities for which the contractor is
contractor’s offices, the primary func- responsible, but in which the owner
tion of each member of the owner’s task wishes to be involved during the de-
force must be well defined. Identifying sign, procurement and construction
these functions will guide what skills functions. Also important to define is
and experience the task-force members which person in the owner’s organi-
TABLE 2. TYPICAL DEPARTMENTAL PRE-COMMISSIONING TASKS
Production Specify shop equipment and tool-room tools for purchase
Assist in hiring interviews for production personnel Establish and maintain electrical and instrument (E&I) files
Develop and maintain commissioning schedule Develop commissioning procedures for electrical distribution system
Write and approve commissioning procedures Develop commissioning and testing procedures for instrument loops
Develop operator certification process Develop commissioning procedure for online analyzers
Write and approve operating manuals Identify gases for analyzer calibration
Develop and conduct operator training Develop test procedures for safety interlock functions
Oversee process-simulator development Obtain radio licenses
Assign personnel to jobs Obtain radioactive source permit
Develop area safety rules Develop distributed controls system (DCS) graphics
Develop plans for major raw-materials contract administration Approve DCS system configuration
Develop log sheets Process engineering
Prepare operating budget Lead process-hazard reviews
Develop emergency-response procedures Assist with operating manual development
Assign emergency-response teams and conduct training Administer licensing agreements and related startup assistance
Label all lines and equipment Create material-safety datasheets (MSDS)
Review and comment on safety and health manual Develop non-routine operating procedures (for instance, catalyst-
Train production personnel on safety and health procedures reduction processes)
Train production personnel on transportation, security and safety and Develop process-simulation models
environmental regulatory compliance Assess technology questions that arise
Train selected personnel on contracts for feed, utility and products Set up control and field laboratory equipment and facilities
Train personnel on human-resources policies Establish control and field laboratory procedures
Establish production file system Develop operating contingency plans
Develop shift-turnover process Accounting
Develop daily production report Develop monthly cost-accounting reports
Define days and shift-communication methods Develop monthly financial closing process
Identify offsite disposal needs Develop general ledger accounts
Assist in developing process-control graphics Develop property tax roles
Maintenance Track non-capitalized project costs versus budget
Witness equipment-performance testing at vendor shops Audit project invoices from contractor
Participate in construction quality-assurance process Develop operating budget
Establish and maintain files for equipment, loop and logic diagrams Develop tax-related procedures
Assist in hiring mechanics Establish compliance methods for finance-related regulations
Develop and conduct mechanic training Safety and security
Set up spare-parts catalog and order equipment Develop safety and security procedures manuals
Receive, inspect and stock spare parts and maintenance supplies Develop training on safety and security procedures
Set up warehouse and equipment storage Develop regulatory-compliance processes for safety and security
Specify rolling stock (such as trucks and cranes) for purchase Hire security personnel
Set up mechanical integrity program Develop emergency-response processes and training
Set up programs for field-reliability checks Establish offsite contacts for emergency response
Establish work-order process Compile MSDS database
Develop job plans for selected jobs Establish compliance methods for safety and security regulations
Note: Similar responsibilities lists should be developed for human resources, environmental, purchasing, site project engineering, logistics and
other site groups
zation holds approval rights where owner will assume. Frequently, the
owner approval is to be required in contractor has a list of contractor
these activities and owner responsibilities that the
3. Thoroughly review the design stan- owner can review, or an industry
dards that the contractor will use, standard can be used
and confirm that those standards will 5. Agree with the contractor on the tim-
be used by subcontractors and all ing for obtaining the environmental
equipment suppliers as part of their permits, what special provisions are
bid packages needed for construction, commis-
4. Come to an agreement on which sioning and startup, and what im-
responsibilities the contractor’s pact permit timing will have on the
construction group will assume in overall project schedule
completing parts of the facility prior 6. List all required permits and identify
to turning them over to the owner, whether the contractor or the owner
as well as which responsibilities the will have primary responsibility for ob-

taining each. Although environmen- 10. Identify what assistance the contrac-
tal permits are the major permitting tor will provide during pre-commis-
issue, it is not unusual for construc- sioning, commissioning and startup,
tion of a new facility to require 20–30 as well as a cost structure for that
other permits from regulatory agen- assistance. Also, identify where key
cies, some requiring many months supplier assistance is required, as
to obtain. If any of these are not ob- some specialists require scheduling
tained in a timely manner, it can im- up to a year in advance
pact commissioning and startup In summary, spending time on a proj-
7. Specify in writing the extensive ect’s front end can help ensure that the
project documentation that the back-end efforts progress smoothly.
contractor is expected to provide These activities might include: ana-
from the contractor and the con- lyzing the project’s front end to make
tractor’s suppliers. The contractor certain that sufficient owner-controlled
should make delivery of supplier funds are authorized; identifying for se-
documents a condition of final pay- nior management what project staffing
ment in the purchasing terms and needs will ultimately be; specifying the
conditions with suppliers. Good owner’s task-force involvement in design
documentation is imperative for and procurement activities; and working
efficiently accomplishing pre-com- with the contractor to clarify the respon-
missioning activities sibilities that will facilitate commissioning
8. To the extent possible, the contrac- and startup.
tor and owner should align the con-
tractor’s construction areas with the Pre-commissioning activities
planned commissioning systems so Pre-commissioning activities include
that construction turnover is done in a all of the tasks that the owner’s per-
manner and sequence that supports sonnel must accomplish in preparing
timely commissioning to commission, operate and maintain
9. The owner’s task force should work the facility. Beyond this, pre-commis-
in conjunction with the contrac- sioning also includes the develop-
tor’s construction group during ment of processes and procedures
the first few months of the project that must be put into place to make
design to develop an agreed-to each department a fully functional
sequence and timing for system group. These departments may in-
turnovers. This turnover schedule clude operations, maintenance, pro-
later forms the basis for a detailed cess engineering, accounting, human
commissioning schedule resources, safety, environmental, pur-

Tracking progress of major pre-commissioning activities
Example
estimated
man-weeks
Develop pre-
commissioning plans Develop
15 commissioning & 40/60 means 40% actual
100/100 startup plans versus 60% planned completion
15 NOW
100/100
Plan Hire
Recruit & relocate exempts Hire & train temporary operators

60
98/100 Exempt orientation Orientation &
tentative job Final hourly job
20 assignments
Interview hourly employees Hire assignments
90
100/100 95/100 95/100 50/0
Conduct process Approve PHRs Implement PHR

120 hazard reviews (PHRs) recommendations
85/90 Write operating
manuals (OMs) Approve OMs
800
75/50
Develop commissioning Commission Operate utility systems
procedures Train utility systems
Activities
2,040
Startup
50/40 Commission process systems
Help create Commission System turnovers
DCS graphics DCS system from construction
160
Develop Begin shiftwork

Train operators on
operator Develop safety & environment,
certification training HR policy, emergency Train operators Final operator
process lessons response on jobs training
1,660
100/100 100/100 25/15
Months before startup

–24 –23 –22 –21 –20 –19 –18 –17 –16 –15 –14 –13 –12 –11 –10 –9 –8 –7 –6 –5 –4 –3 –2 –1 0
Note: This chart is an example for the production department of a facility. Other departments, such as maintenance and process engineering, will require similar tracking charts for their
different pre-commissioning tasks based on Table 2.
chasing and logistics. ager can do to ensure a project is well FIGURE 3. Tracking progress as startup
Some of these pre-commissioning managed once pre-commissioning ac- approaches is crucial to avoiding
project lag
activities involve interaction with the tivities begin is to staff the project so
contractor, such as witnessing se- that the large number of necessary
lected construction quality-assurance tasks can be completed in the required
activities or accepting custody of timeframe. To do this, managers must
equipment as construction is com- identify the pre-commissioning activi-
pleted. Most activities, however, pro- ties well ahead of time, plan them in
ceed independently of the contractor’s sufficient detail to estimate their man-
work, including staffing the facility, power requirements, and then build the
setting up equipment spare parts, staff required to accomplish them in a
establishing logistics capabilities and timely manner.
developing procedures for operating, For the support groups — those that
maintenance, human resources and will not be directly involved in commis-
cost accounting. Examples of depart- sioning work later — pre-commissioning
mental pre-commissioning responsi- activities can continue into the commis-
bilities are shown in Table 2. sioning period. However, for personnel
involved with production, maintenance,
Obtaining adequate resources process engineering and process con-
The period between initial staffing of the trol, it is essential that their pre-com-
site and initial shift operation of utilities missioning activities be completed
is typically the most hectic, intense pe- prior to the period when final operator
riod in a project’s cycle for plant person- job training and commissioning begin,
nel. An enormous amount of work must as equipment is turned over from con-
be accomplished. struction. Once this training begins, es-
The most important thing that a man- sentially all employees in these groups

will be fully committed to training, the project design is about 40%
then to the formal process of ac- complete. This is also roughly the
cepting systems from construc- same time that environmental per-
tion, and then to commissioning mit approvals typically allow field
these systems. If the bulk of the construction to begin. Budgeting
pre-commissioning work for these for sufficient staff when the project
four groups is not completed prior was authorized, as described ear-
to final training, they will be faced lier, will make timely staffing easier.
with unmanageable workloads and However, authorizing staff does not
conflicting priorities. necessarily mean that they will get
The number of people necessary into their intended positions in a
to accomplish all of the pre-com- timely manner.
missioning work depends on more The time required to fill perma-
than the project’s size. If the project nent positions is usually about
is being integrated into an existing two months. Operator positions
manufacturing site, fewer people might need to be backfilled by a
will be needed in support organi- slow bidding process at an exist-
zations to develop processes and ing site, or by a hiring process that
procedures than would be required requires recruiting, interviewing
for a new site. Just as important is and background checks. Profes-
the productivity of plant personnel. sional personnel assigned to the
Supervision can enhance commis- project often need to undergo a
sioning productivity by establishing lengthy process of being relieved
a productive environment so that from their existing assignments
new hires have adequate work prior to relocating. Project task-
facilities. Also crucial is the provi- force members, who typically are
sion of good orientation, resource destined to be key members of
materials, training and guidance the facility’s staff, may still have lin-
on the requirements for their pre- gering obligations associated with
commissioning tasks. the project design and procure-
To accomplish pre-commission- ment, such as witnessing equip-
ing work within the timeframe set by ment testing at vendor shops.
Pre-commissioning efforts at the site typically begin

in earnest when the project design is about 40%
complete.
construction, the level of staffing for These delays must be included in

supervisory, professional and hourly developing a pre-commissioning
personnel will almost certainly need staffing schedule.
to peak above that which is required The commissioning of utility sys-
for the longterm, as seen in Figure tems (electrical distribution, waste-
2. Frequently, temporary personnel, water treatment, air and nitrogen
such as operators, mechanics, en- distribution, freshwater treatment,
gineers, recruiters and accountants, steam and so on) progresses in
are used to supplement resources a logical sequence that begins
to levels above those needed for months ahead of the primary pro-
later ongoing operations. These cess systems. Therefore, staffing
temporary personnel can be bor- for utilities pre-commissioning ac-
rowed from other company facili- tivities, such as process-hazard
ties or hired from specialty contract reviews and training prepara-
firms. Even with this added staff, tion, should also move forward to
extremely long work-weeks are fre- accommodate that timing.
quently the norm.
Detailed plans and schedules
Timing staff buildup As mentioned previously, the
Pre-commissioning efforts at the workforce can be much more
site typically begin in earnest when productive if supervisors plan

pre-commissioning activities well safety, environmental and human
ahead of staffing the hourly posi- -resource practices
tions. This enables all new hires to • Install adequate office facili-
immediately begin working on spe- ties, including temporary fa-
cific tasks by being equipped with cilities that are only required
the tools and guidance necessary until permanent buildings
to progress efficiently. Some good are complete
examples of prudent early planning As pre-commissioning plans de-
are as follows: velop, each activity should have a
• List the training packages that lead person assigned as being re-
must be developed with a tenta- sponsible for its completion. The de- PROVEN
tive training schedule, including gree of success in completing these
the following items: operator job activities may later form the basis PERFORMANCE
training, mechanic training, regu- for those employees’ personal-
latory-required safety and environ- performance assessments.
mental training, human-relations
policy training and so on Monitoring progress
• Define the formatting and organi- While the planning and scheduling of
zational structure for the content pre-commissioning activities should ROTOFORM
of the commissioning procedures, be done with a great attention to de-
operating instructions, process tail, monitoring of progress should GRANULATION
hazard reviews and training seg- not be so detailed that the focus on FOR PETROCHEMICALS
ments. Also, develop training for overall progress is lost. It is impor- AND OLEOCHEMICALS
personnel who will be creating tant to simply understand whether
these packages pre-commissioning activities are pro-
• Identify and assemble the resource gressing at an overall satisfactory rate
documents that employees will and which of the large-manpower ac-
need in order to complete their pre- tivities may be lagging. One method
commissioning activities of tracking progress is to employ a
• Identify the methodology to be simplified “earned credit” system for
used for each process hazard re- major activities as milestones are
view. If software is to be used as accomplished. For smaller activities,
an aid to expedite reviews, be sure departmental leaders may simply re- High productivity solidi cation of
to procure and install the software port an estimated percentage com- products as di erent as resins, hot
on computer systems well ahead pletion by talking to the individuals melts, waxes, fat chemicals and
of time doing the work. caprolactam has made Rotoform® the
• Define the construction quality- The effort on tasks tends to follow granulation system of choice for
control activities in which the an 80%/20% rule — meaning that chemical processors the world over.
owners’ staff will participate, and the majority of the effort (80%) will go Whatever your solidi cation
develop the process for their par- into a few (20%) key activities. These requirements, choose Rotoform for
ticipation are the activities for which monitoring reliable, proven performance and a
premium quality end product.
• Identify and install the information- progress closely is most important. A
technology (IT) systems that will summary tracking system consisting
 High productivity –
be used for pre-commissioning of one page for each department’s re- on-stream factor of 96%
• Identify which parts of the process- sponsibilities, updated by departmen-  Proven Rotoform technology
control system (if any) are needed tal leaders twice monthly is typically nearly 2000 systems installed
prior to the entire system being sufficient. An example is shown in Fig- in 30+ years
turned over from construction ure 3. The progress of pre-commis-  Complete process lines or
• Develop job descriptions and cri- sioning activities should be communi- retro t of existing equipment
teria for hiring and relocating em- cated via a summary form throughout  Global service / spare parts supply
ployees, as well as the methods the organization as the project
for administering compensation moves forward.
and benefits. Develop training for
people who will be interviewing job Culture and morale
candidates Just as the construction group is
Sandvik Process Systems
• Develop an orientation package building a new facility, the site’s lead- Division of Sandvik Materials Technology Deutschland GmbH
Salierstr. 35, 70736 Fellbach, Germany
for new hires that covers safety, ership is building a new organization. Tel: +49 711 5105-0 · Fax: +49 711 5105-152
process and cultural information This requires a conscious effort if it is info.spsde@sandvik.com
• Develop the necessary policies to be done successfully. www.processsystems.sandvik.com

and procedures that will govern Employees come to a new site

with expectations based on the cul- large CPI facilities:
tures at their previous workplaces. • Prior to project approval, identify for
There may be an unresolved culture the owner’s senior management what
clash among employees if managers financial and manpower resources will
do not provide leadership in establish- be needed to successfully execute the
ing the desired cultural elements for a project
new site. • Before contract award, determine the
The human-resources leader can pro- contractor’s ability and willingness to
mote the development of, and help all provide the type of assistance need-
site functional groups establish, the cul- ed for a successful commissioning
tural elements for the new site. Whatever and startup
cultural elements site managers elect to • Focus the owner’s task force on spe-
It is important that leaders consciously work to identify desired

cultural aspects and model a culture of their own choosing,
not have one evolve by default.
pursue, it is important that leaders con- cific objectives during project design,
sciously work to identify desired cultural and communicate these objectives to
aspects and model a culture of their own the contractor
choosing, not have one evolve by de- • Identify pre-commissioning activities
fault. This modeling often begins when and secure an adequate staff for the
personnel are relocated to their new site. tasks
Showing interest in and helping with • Identify “owners” for each pre-com-
personal issues associated with reloca- missioning activity and track progress
tions gets families settled smoothly and • Early in the pre-commissioning peri-
allows employees to reach a produc- od, develop requirements for the ma-
tive stage more quickly. Furthermore, jor tasks that are to be accomplished
however, it can help establish a positive so that teams are following the same
cultural foundation. guidelines as they develop commis-
Also related to culture and reloca- sioning procedures, write operating
tion is morale. Maintaining high mo- manuals, conduct process hazard re-
rale during these facility-preparation views, develop training modules and
phases of a startup is often challeng- interview candidate employees
ing. The enormous amount of work • Complete production, maintenance
that must be accomplished by a newly and process-engineering pre-com-
assembled group of people during the missioning activities before it is time to
pre-commissioning period tends to begin their efforts in commissioning
amplify the personal issues that arise • Identify and pursue objectives that will
from job changes, family relocations, help create the desired site culture
new assignments, new working con- • Monitor and respond to people’s
ditions and time constraints on task needs and concerns. Address
completions. These pressures all tend significant morale issues ■
to increase collective angst. As part Edited by Mary Page Bailey
of establishing a productive environ-
ment, leaders must consciously work Author
to identify and resolve significant em- Mark Sheridan (Phone: (713) 417-
ployee-morale issues and shape the 7700; Email: mmsheridan@comcast.
net) is a consultant in the area of plan-
culture that will make the group a high- ning and executing startups for com-
performance organization. modity chemical plants. Sheridan has
The management steps outlined in 40 years of experience in managing
commodity chemical-plant operations
this article will help prepare organiza- and large projects. He has worked on
tions for a safe, successful commis- the design, commissioning and startup
of two methanol plants during a 20-yr
sioning and startup period that accom- tenure with DuPont, and was the owner’s senior project man-
plishes business objectives. Adhering to ager and startup operations manager for an olefins plant now
the guidelines summarized below can owned by LyondellBasell. He has B.S.Ch.E and marketing
degrees from the University of Colorado.
help ensure timely, efficient startups for
Feature Report
Connecting Operations
Personnel to Reliability Efforts
Seven methodologies are described to help operations staff take greater ownership
of asset performance
T
he definition of ownership — to act erations personnel hold the key to delivering David
as an owner — implies certain re- optimal business objectives, through their ef- Rosenthal
sponsibilities. Consider the range forts related to the ongoing operation of the Reliability Strategy
of behaviors demonstrated by indi- assets. and Implementation
viduals when it comes to the automobiles To further explain this important con- Consultancy, LLC
they own. For some, car ownership leads cept, we must first understand the “bathtub
to a relentless pursuit of caring for every curves,” developed by Nolan and Heap in
aspect of the car, from operation to main- the 1960s and 1970s [1], which have driven
tenance. For others, it is a daily wish that maintenance practices in the airline industry
their cars will simply start when the ignition for decades. The authors developed six fail- IN BRIEF
is engaged. The outcome of the diverse be- ure curves that demonstrate how the prob-
OPERATIONS
haviors along this continuum of ownership ability of failure is a function of run time for OWNERSHIP
will have a direct impact on the reliability, machine components. The major finding
longevity and cost of ownership of these was that 89% of these failure modes occur THE PATH FORWARD
complex machines. randomly — often with little to no warning. DEVELOPING THE VALUE
Throughout the chemical process indus- At the time of these findings, industry’s ap- PROPOSITION
tries (CPI), owners of complex, costly ma- proach to maintaining industrial and other
ESTABLISHING METRICS
chines and systems (assets) tend to act along assets had been to rely heavily on preven-
this same continuum. In general, CPI opera- tive or time-based activities, such as planned CHANGING THE
tors typically want to ensure the delivery of overhauls. However, given that the majority EQUIPMENT-CONDITION
performance levels in terms of three impor- of failures occur randomly, it is not practi- MINDSET
tant measures — reduced lifecycle costs, cal to expect that a time-based approach to TRAINING AND
improved reliability, and increased longevity equipment maintenance will detect or iden- TROUBLESHOOTING
before replacement. However, different indi- tify all potential failures. While online moni-
INTEGRATING
viduals will go about achieving these objec- toring options can provide a close proxy for
MAINTENANCE WORK
tives in different ways. Within any CPI facility, realtime surveillance in some instances, we
PROCESSES
the quest to ensure reliability is thought to cannot place a mechanic at each machine
require three partners — personnel from the to constantly monitor its condition on a real- PERFORMING
operations, maintenance, and engineering time basis. The operations department is the EQUIPMENT ROUNDS
Depts. All three sets of individuals play vital only group with enough continual exposure AUTONOMOUS
roles in helping the asset to meet its impor- to the assets on the plant floor to be able to MAINTENANCE
tant objectives, via their interactions through- detect the earliest signs of many impending
out the lifecycle of each asset. failures. So why do many CPI facilities still
The efforts of the engineering department experience relatively high levels of reactive or
should be building in reliability since the de- breakdown-related maintenance, and fail to
sign itself has a greater impact on reliability effectively deploy their operational personnel
compared to the efforts by maintenance to provide close ongoing surveillance of the
and operations depts. combined. For many, assets in the field?
maintenance department efforts are thought
to be the primary element responsible for Operations ownership
the reliability of the installed assets. How- In recent decades, there has been a transition
ever, from our knowledge of various paths in operations department culture. Many retir-
for equipment failure (the majority of which ees lament the bygone era when operators
are random in nature), it turns out that op- knew not only how to operate their equipment

but also understood how to maintain TABLE 1. ALIGNMENT OF LEADING AND LAGGING METRICS AND MEETINGS
the function of all of the assets under Frequency Metric Meeting
their command. Historically, opera- Daily • Number of “bad actor” failure triggers Daily production meeting
tors relied on using their four senses (leading)
(hearing, seeing, touching and smell- • Number of critical-equipment failure
triggers (leading)
ing) to keep close track of how the • Number of on-condition exceptions
equipment was operating during their (leading)
shift. They would adjust settings, add • Number of audit exceptions (leading)
oil or grease, unplug and monitor their Weekly • Percent of preventive maintenance (PM) Maintenance-scheduling
equipment and be able to detect small work completed (lagging) meetings,
• Percent of predictive maintenance route production meetings
changes in the equipment condition completion (leading)
and rapidly report their findings to the • Pump repair-sheet compliance (leading)
maintenance department Some even • Operator-driven reliability exceptions —
performed minor tasks to fix a prob- no response
• Number of breakdown work orders
lem early so as not to allow it to grow analyzed (leading)
into a major downtime event. • Percent of proactive work completed
However, more recently, that cul- (lagging)
• Percent of proactive work scheduled
ture has slowly been replaced with (leading)
a new mindset about the appropri- • Number of machines that missed on-
ate division of labor — that “opera- condition checks (leading)
tions personnel run the equipment” Monthly or Quarterly • Downtime (lagging) Reliability management
and “maintenance personnel fix the • Pump MTBF (lagging) meeting;
• Percent on-condition work orders created Annual site strategy
equipment.” (leading) meeting
Nonetheless, today, due to the • Excessive work orders (rotating/electrical
complexities associated with main- and Instrumentation) (lagging)
taining complicated equipment and • Mechanical Availability (lagging)
• Pump failures (lagging)
support systems, participation by • Mechanical integrity inspections overdue
both of these functions is essential. (lagging)
In some industries, operating per- • Care plans created (leading) and imple-
sonnel have become “more comfort- mented (lagging)
able” with elaborate control systems
and control rooms, which took the include a more predictable and safer attainable by operations personnel.
operator’s exposure away from the work environment for all personnel, “Normalization of the abnormal”
equipment in the field. This drove an improved business targets for cost occurs when sub-optimal equip-
additional “wedge” into the culture of savings, higher overall productiv- ment conditions are tacitly accepted
ownership needed to maintain equip- ity (through reduced downtime and by those who operate the equip-
ment reliability. Now the question is, higher asset optimization), and the ment. Left uncorrected, these sub-
how do we return a state where op- development of new skill sets for optimal conditions typically lead to
erations personnel are once again plant personnel. reactive maintenance cultures, since
empowered to be a critical partner — The business impact of these the early signs of failure are not ac-
and allowed to take more of an own- added operations department efforts knowledged and used to drive pro-
ership role — in the quest to maintain should be demonstrated, by tracking active repair. For instance, a valve
the asset base, as needed? metrics that are related to key busi- that has “always been hard to close”
ness results. However, to be fair, the is often taken for granted, until one
The path forward tracking should involve only business day it does not close at all. Once the
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, man- results that operations personnel “new normal” state of equipment
agement did not have to present much could actually influence directly. Too conditions are established (the valve
of a business case for operations per- often, management tries to translate is replaced), the early detection of
sonnel to perform all of the tasks that the impact of operations department potential failure modes can be rec-
are required to maintain equipment. efforts using metrics that may be ognized.
Operator rounds and minor mainte- too strategic — such as mechanical The importance of the need to rec-
nance were an accepted part of the availability and mean time between ognize early signs of failure should be
job description. Today, owners must failures (MTBF) — and thus cannot driven to the floor-level personnel, so
develop more of a business case to be impacted easily by operations they can quickly recognize failure and
justify the use of operations person- personnel actions. To be success- request repairs when they have the
nel for such tasks, allowing them to ful, this path forward also requires smallest impact on overall plant oper-
act like the true owners of their equip- changing the mindset of company ation. This involves using periodic au-
ment assets. and plant managers, to establish dits and basic troubleshooting tools,
The path forward involves “selling” metrics that really show the perfor- and providing accurate descriptions
the benefits of more direct owner- mance of operations personnel in the of what equipment requires repair.
ship by operations personnel. These care of the equipment, and are thus Operations personnel should be en-
couraged and allowed to return to TABLE 2. LIST OF CONDITIONS TO BE RECOGNIZED DURING A RELIABILITY WALKTHROUGH
performing basic and simple repairs PRIORITY ONE WORK ORDER
(so-called autonomous maintenance). Leaks Repair obvious leaks from pumps, seals, valves and utilities
This approach will allow maintenance Address corrosion that indicates thinning and imminent failure
personnel to focus on performing
Environmental, health and Address any condition that presents a potential EHS hazard
proactive, strategic care tasks that safety (EHS) related
are designed to move the facility away PRIORITY TWO WORK ORDER
from reliance on reactive maintenance.
Condition monitoring Any out-of-place heat, odor, noise and vibration
In general, reactive maintenance
often engenders higher costs, more Be sure that oil levels and automatic greasers are readable and have an
appropriate date and level given their age in service
downtime, and a workplace that is
Lubricate any rotating equipment that shows signs of not being recently
less safe overall. oiled or greased
Detailed below are several meth-
Field instrumentation and Clean or replace dirty “non-readable” field instruments
odologies that can help drive a more- electrical conditions
effective partnership between own- Ensure that instrumentation is indicating process conditions as specified
ers and the operations department (flows, transmitters and seal panels)
Each of these is discussed in greater Address leaks and disconnected lines and wires
detail in the sections that follow: (1) Ensure that cabinets and other housings should show adequate pressures
Developing the value proposition; (2) and flows to meet area electrical classifications
Establishing metrics; (3) Changing Repair electrical fittings, exposed wires, missing fittings and broken con-
the equipment-condition mindset; duit, as needed
(4) Training and troubleshooting; (5) Housekeeping Remediate obvious housekeeping issues
Integrating maintenance work pro- PRIORITY THREE WORK ORDER
cesses; (6) Conducting operator
Visual factory Replace any missing or damaged oil tags, vessel signs, hazard diamonds
rounds; and (7) Increasing autono- and reading indicators on critical gages
mous maintenance. No single meth- Insulation and scaffolding Repair or replace any insulation that is missing or loose
odology will secure the role of the
Address any scaffolding that is in need of repair or removal
operations personnel as owners of
Painting Repaint any color-coded pipe that has become aged, per plant standards
the assets, but efforts to include op-
erations personnel more completely Labeling and signage Ensure that correct signage and line labeling is present per plant and unit
standards
in the care of the assets will eventu-
PRIORITY FOUR WORK ORDER
ally deliver the desired results.
1. Developing the value proposi- Painting Refresh aged paint on vessels and structures, per plant standards
tion. In general, a value proposition Demolition Remove unused, unrepairable or obsolete equipment
is a business or marketing statement
that summarizes why an individual temperature, pressure and so on. achieve many safety, productivity,
consumer should buy a product or Historically, operations personnel and cost goals that are established
use a service. This statement should have stressed that their first respon- by management. In many facilities,
convince a potential consumer that sibility is to operate the process in a operators are hoping for a predict-
one particular product or service will safe manner. They are also tasked able work shift, where the process
add more value or solve a problem with data recording and meeting is running at steady state with little
better, compared with similar offer- responsibilities. One can argue that variation and upsets. Processes that
ings. The ideal value-proposition some of the data they are record- are not reliable tend to call for reac-
statement is short and appeals to the ing during operator rounds — for tive maintenance, which contributes
customer’s strongest decision-mak- instance, “Is the pump running?” — to unsafe behaviors. Thus, a useful
ing drivers. It is important to make sure are a form of “management control” value proposition for CPI operators
operations personnel understand and may not even be reviewed by may be expressed as follows: For
all of the reasons why they should supervisors. Some operators do not operators of CPI assets who want to
take a more active role in equipment- understand what the data tells them work in a safe and sustaining envi-
care activities. and they question why such data are ronment in order to provide for their
Management should first focus on being recorded at all. Based on this families and loved ones, reliable op-
“selling” operations personnel on the background, it is no wonder that for erations require a day-to-day focus
potential benefits of joining their col- many operations personnel, equip- on reporting out-of-range condi-
leagues in maintenance and engi- ment monitoring often takes “a back tions, recognizing the early signs of
neering depts. in the pursuit of more seat” to other responsibilities and equipment failure, troubleshooting
reliable operations. Historically, man- they may not understand its full value loss of function, recording required
agement has told operations person- in influencing asset reliability. data, and looking out for each
nel that their primary job was to en- Appropriate monitoring of equip- other’s safety.
sure that the manufacturing process is ment and providing basic care does Management needs to reinforce
operated within the acceptable range improve the operating environ- that safety, sustainability and predict-
of key operating variables — such as ment for operators, and will help to ability are the strongest drivers in all

CPI operations. These words — and TABLE 3. SAMPLE WORKSHEET TO PRODUCE A "FIVE WHY" REPORT
concepts — should be constantly Equipment location First floor
reinforced at all levels of supervision, Equipment description Process pump
and should appear on information Failed component Impeller and valve
boards throughout the facility and be
Date of event and time 2/4/15 second shift
stressed at daily meetings. A small
Name (Leading the discussion) T. Jones
portion of the operations group will
already understand the message, Names (Participating) Various
while another portion of the Opera- 1. Failure description – What happened? The pump was making a loud noise.
tions group will require some evi- 2. Why did it happen? Cavitation is occurring.
dence to get them involved. 3. Why did it happen? Flow conditions changed.
2. Establishing metrics. The adage 4. Why did it happen? The inlet to the pump was plugged.
“What gets measured, gets im- 5. Why did it happen? The inlet valve upstream failed.
proved” is heard throughout the Root-cause statement: The impeller failed from cavitation that occurred as a result of changing flow
business landscape. However, met- conditions.
rics can be a double-edged sword Major corrective action: How can this be prevented? Where else does this apply? Ensure that valves up-
and sometimes individuals and stream of the pump are tested for proper operation.
groups can become bogged down Actions and responsibilities: Maintenance will change the valve and replace the pump impeller.
by “paralysis by analysis” when ex- Action: Who: Date:
cessive metrics are tracked, but
Action Who Date
for no clear purpose. Nonetheless,
tracking of appropriate metrics can
drive behaviors. People adjust their the needle” on plant operations that ability, because they can point to
behaviors based on what aspects will eventually impact MTBF. Table 1 many examples that indicate that
of their performance are being mea- illustrates this concept further. management is not willing to fix
sured. For instance, if plant person- Table 1 also shows the timing of items they report. The path forward
nel are evaluated for process uptime reporting leading and lagging met- is for management to demonstrate
alone, they may not make the best rics. Leading metrics should be its commitment to remediating these
decisions about how they operate discussed daily to weekly, whereas early signs of failure, as a proven way
the equipment. lagging metrics should be discussed to forestall larger problems later.
Tracking the right combination of weekly, monthly and quarterly, be- One useful method to deploy is
metrics can propel an organization cause the ability to change lagging the reliability walkthrough. Just as
toward desired targets for improve- metrics generally takes more time. many manufacturing operations per-
ment, while focusing on the “wrong” Operations and maintenance perform safety walkthroughs of their
mix can steer people toward contra- sonnel can become frustrated when units, another set of audits should
dictory actions and may lead to more seeing little movement in lagging be performed to monitor equipment
inefficiency in terms of wasted costs metrics, when their focus should re- condition. Plenty of preparatory work
or time. The “right” mix of metrics in- ally be on “moving the needle” with is required before starting. The first
cludes both “leading metrics,” which those metrics they can impact di- step is to gain buy-in with produc-
measure process activity such as the rectly over shorter time horizons. tion management to perform these
amount of practive work scheduled, 3. Changing the equipment- audits. Such buy-in can be gained
and “lagging” metrics, such as main- condition mindset. As noted, “nor- by showing existing field evidence
tenance-schedule compliance and malization of the abnormal” is the of conditions that require repairs,
mechanical available, which mea- enemy of reliable operations over the such as missing conduit covers, bad
sure an outcome. long run. The acceptance of sub- valves and missing oil containers.
In general, lagging metrics are optimal existing conditions, such as Recognizing a prevailing lack of at-
more strategic, and thus manage- loose fittings, small leaks, tough-to- tention toward equipment is vital to
ment tends to put disproportionate close valves, and many others rep- encourage a change in attitude. Le-
emphasis on them. However, opera- resent the waiting room for failure. veraging management’s commitment
tors are often not able to meaningfully Unfortunately, these conditions be- to improving reliability is another.
impact these metrics. For instance, come part of the landscape in many Once buy-in is achieved, the main-
in the case of reliability, focusing on manufacturing facilities, and with the tenance and reliability departments
MTBF with maintenance and op- existence of higher-priority reactive need to set up a standard for what
erations personnel generally draws work, they often never get fixed. conditions are considered abnormal,
blank stares. However, directing their Operations personnel are exposed and make it a priority to fix these
attention to leading metrics, such as to these conditions on every shift. conditions in accordance with the
percent of work orders with work his- They often bring attention to these existing maintenance execution pro-
tory, percent of scheduled lubrication issues but get little response. When cess (Table 2).
routes completed, and percent of this pattern persists at a facility, it is Next, establish a schedule for
exception found on equipment mon- difficult to recruit operators as part- these audits. Participation should in-
itoring routes, allows them to “move ners in the pursuit of improved reli- clude Production management, op-
erators, maintenance or reliability en- TABLE 4: OPERATOR ROUND CHECKLIST
gineers and maintenance personnel.  Focus on quality, cost, safety, environmental and productivity data
One attendee is assigned to be the  Ensure the data you collect or the tasks you ask your operators to perform add true value to your busi-
scribe to record what is found and ness – focus on critical assets
 Minimize travel and enable remote monitoring
set the priorities for the work.  Include expected ranges and support with visual techniques
After the audit, the list is converted  Provide feedback systems so personnel know the work they are performing means something
to work-order requests. These au-  Set up clear responsibility and accountability
dits should be more than just a  Enable data gathering with simple tools
 Train people to do inspections and gather data properly
“fix-it” tour. They should represent a  Include troubleshooting steps if variations are found
culture-changing event so that over  Manually record data first, automate the recording of data second
several months of audits, operations  Convert manual recording to the use of electronic handheld devices (10% productivity improvement)
personnel will begin to better under-
stand what represents acceptable and engineering personnel, the first processes. A partnership is built on
equipment conditions. They begin to steps are to determine the gaps in eliminating boundaries. Many manu-
see management’s commitment to their understanding of equipment facturing locations restrict operations
improved reliability and safety. Even- operation, and related principles of department access to their comput-
tually (after a year or so), a variety of pressure, temperature and flow. Any erized maintenance management
metrics are used to show progress. identified gaps should be included in system (CMMS). This barrier pre-
Relevant metrics include percent the training matrix that is required for vents operations personnel from ex-
reactive work, percent mechanical operator responsibility progression. ecuting their role in equipment care,
availability, percent process uptime Trainers may come from in-house potentially creating restrictions in
and MTBF. Consistent effort will gen- engineers, maintenance personnel, submitting work requests. At some
erally show improvement across all training professionals, third-party locations, operations personnel
classes of assets, especially when vendors and even local colleges. must contact a maintenance rep-
participants demonstrate patience, During training, the topic of trouble- resentative or a supervisor to sub-
commitment and consistency. Con- shooting deserves special attention. mit work requests. This added step
sistency is important — plant per- The aim is to drive troubleshooting to can restrict which needed work
sonnel must avoid the temptation the floor level, so that problems can is performed.
to postpone audits due to other de- be solved quickly and avoid involve- In general, operations personnel
mands or priorities, attendance is- ment from the maintenance depart- should be given limited access to
sues, weather, and downtime. ment Such an approach benefits the CMMS. For example, opera-
4. Training and troubleshooting. both maintenance and operations tors should be able to submit work
Operator training is often restricted efforts. Operators should be required requests at any time. The mainte-
to safety and process-operations- to perform basic troubleshooting nance department gatekeeper on
related areas. For operators to prog- from the first signs of variance from the CMMS system will ultimately
ress to increased levels of responsi- normal operations. One easy tool to decide the priority of all submitted
bility, they generally focus on improv- use is a “Five Why” structure (Table work requests. The site can set up a
ing their breadth of unit knowledge, 3). It requires the participant to ques- few logon identifications and termi-
achieving better process under- tion each observed result by asking nals for access and provide opera-
standing and developing increased “Why?” five times to drill down on tions personnel with access to view
analytical capabilities. However, often the events that occurred, in order to work orders and their status.
left out of the training is attaining im- identify a root cause. The quickest way to frustrate any
proved understanding of equipment Although the “Five Why” approach initiative by operations personnel who
operation. Also, understanding the is limited in its application, it does are willing to participate in the care of
principles related to pressure, tem- apply to many situations faced by the equipment is to not provide feed-
perature and flow measurement may operations personnel. Oftentimes, back to the suggestions they make.
not be part of their training matrix. operations personnel can resolve the Giving operations personnel access
And yet insufficient training in these issue themselves before calling their to the CMMS will allow them to view
topics can lead to failure in CPI op- colleagues in maintenance. Even if and track the status of audit findings
erations. The majority of failures in they cannot resolve the issue, the and other submitted work orders and
the manufacturing environment re- information derived from the initial suggestions they may submit.
sult from how the equipment is op- investigation and troubleshooting ef- The maintenance department also
erated. Examples include improper forts will improve the content of work has a role to play in this partnership
pump operation, running equipment order requests, which will help main- when it comes to work-order execu-
outside of design limits, improper tenance personnel to be more effi- tion. For instance, work-order sched-
setup, lack of lubrication and missing cient. Operations personnel should ules should be distributed to opera-
needed adjustments, to name a few. also be included as part of more tions personnel so they can prepare
A lack of understanding of machine formal root-cause investigations, as for the work to be performed. Priori-
operation is another hurdle facing op- a participant, so they can contribute ties should reflect the current state of
erations personnel. For operators to needed information. the operation department priorities.
partner effectively with maintenance 5. Integrating maintenance work After responding to a work order,

maintenance personnel should seek Some equipment-round sheets are “pencil-whip” (give a cursory effort
out the specific operations personnel no more than checklists and contain but not complete) rounds as they
with the work-order response to ac- no standards to help personnel rec- may not understand their purpose.
knowledge their submission and en- ognize abnormal operating condi- To make equipment rounds most
sure their satisfaction with the work tions. Data are typically gathered by effective, operations personnel
and the condition of the area after operators with little understanding of should always start with a focus on
the work was performed. why it is important to the operations the critical assets (at least at the be-
6. Performing equipment rounds. of the process. Periodic equipment ginning), rather than all assets, to
A widely held belief in industry is rounds in some cases represent a make best use of the time.
hat “Operators can fail the best de- form of “control” designed by super- Useful data to be gathered in the
signed equipment, but they can also vision to keep people moving. Given field should indicate the “health” of
run marginal equipment.” this landscape, operators tend to the assets. The use of visual tech-
niques will allow an individual to
understand quickly if many types of
equipment are operating normally.
ONE WORLD.
For example, note the expected
range on a pressure gage and
mark on the operator-rounds sheet
whether that gage is operating within
ONE WATER. the target range. Ensure that some-

one is reviewing the operator-rounds
sheets (or their equivalent in an elec-
ONE EVENT. tronic database) and that feedback is

given when variances are observed.
Table 4 provides a brief checklist that
can be used during operator rounds
so their efforts align with the recom-
mendations discussed above.
7. Autonomous maintenance.
The early detection of failures ben-
efits chemical process operations
through greater uptime, reduced
COUNTLESS maintenance costs and a safer

working environment. As operators
are closest to the daily operation of
OPPORTUNITIES. mechanical assets in a CPI facility,

increased operator awareness and
involvement in all reliability efforts is
a key enabler to this early defense
WEFTEC 2015 is the event for water professionals, industry experts, and the
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advancement of water. tional failure. Constant monitoring
by these strategic personnel pro-
STAY DISCOVER ACCESS GLOBAL MAKE vides an opportunity to correct a
COMPETITIVE THE NEWEST BUSINESS VALUABLE variance before it has a chance to
AND RELEVANT IN INNOVATION OPPORTUNITIES CONNECTIONS affect overall plant operations.
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comprehensive quality exhibition in U.S. Commercial around the world such rudimentary tasks as tightening
educational sessions the world with more Service International and all sectors of flanges, replacing packing and so
available today. than 1,000 exhibiting Buyer Program. water quality. on), rather than requesting mainte-
companies.
nance department involvement and
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the cost of the repair and take main-
88th Annual Water Environment Federation
Technical Exhibition and Conference
tenance personnel away from other
September 26 – 30, 2015
Register Today! proactive tasks that are needed to
www.WEFTEC.org provide asset care.
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois USA
Encouraging autonomous mainte-
nance activities for certain tasks by
TABLE 5. OPERATOR-DRIVEN RELIABILITY ACTIVITIES formed by a solid partnership be-
Level one: Standard operations Level two: Operator-involved main- Level three: Operator- tween operations, maintenance,
— Non-contact, tenance — Inspection and monitor- performed maintenance — and engineering personnel, all
troubleshooting ing (Non-contact) Autonomous maintenance performing their respective roles
• Startup, operations, change- • Walkarounds • Tighten bolts, adjust in applying the “right” practices
over, adjustment, shutdown • PM inspections (including check- belts and tighten valve throughout the life of all plant as-
• Use human senses ing oil and lube levels) packings
• Address source of leaks, dirt, • Manage lubrication closely • Change light bulbs and sets. No successful reliability effort
grease other problems • Low-tech condition monitoring other indicator lights can be accomplished without all
• Raise awareness of “bad (using strobe light, stethoscope, • Install flange blinds three groups “pulling their weight.”
actors” vibration pens, IR temperature) • Assist in maintenance
• Change procedures and • Monitor critical process variables • Adjust and calibrate
Unfortunately, cultural norms within
carry out training • Bearings and motor temperature • Replace filters and other CPI operations often do not allow
• Carry out routine house- • Inspect couplings consumables all parties to participate fully.
keeping and cleaning • Inspect belts and sheaves • Fix leaks In particular, operations person-
• Change filters • Inspect chains and sprockets • Perform failure analysis
• Clear plugged pump suction • Check ultrasonic leaks nel often consider that their role is to
“run” the equipment while mainte-
nance personnel repair it upon failure.
operators offers one solution. Unfor- executing simple tasks, such as Nonetheless, operations personnel
tunately, industry’s history with uti- setup, cleanup, adjustment, align- have the most direct and consistent
lizing operators for these tasks has ment and checking that are required exposure to the equipment over time,
not always yielded a success story. to ensure proper asset operation. which gives them invaluable access to
Site-specific work rules, lack of train- Level two tasks attempt to use detect the early signs of potential fail-
ing, lack of a value proposition, and operators for some condition-based ure. Thus, they can play a critical role
“perhaps exaggerated” concerns for tasks, including the use of some non- in reducing machine failures. Each of
safety tend to keep operators from contact tools to diagnose asset con- the seven methodologies discussed
being allowed to handle these impor- dition. Lubrication is included in this here provides essential elements to
tant tasks. level and will require the setup of a lu- help drive an operational excellence
However, with strong manage- brication program (consisting of mini- program, and promote greater coop-
ment support, these obstacles can mal selection of lubricants, establish- eration among the three groups in the
be — and have been — overcome ing color-coded lubrication locations, triad, in order to maximize safety and
at many CPI locations. First, a policy establishing lubrication storage, and process uptimes while lowering oper-
is needed to indicate which elements developing checklists that direct ap- ating costs. n
of corrective (autonomous), preven- propriate lubrication protocols). Per- Edited by Suzanne Shelley
tative and predictive care can be formance of level two tasks does not
performed by operators, and then to require mechanical skills, perhaps just References
establish buy-in among all affected some rudimentary training. 1. Nowlan, F. Stanley, and Heap, Howard F., Reliability-
parties. Maintenance personnel can Level three moves closer to the Centered Maintenance, National Technical Information
Service, Report No. AD/A066-579, December 29,
be assured that operators are not definition of autonomous mainte- 1978.
trying to replace them. Staff support nance, with operations personnel
is needed to convert the appropri- carrying out some basic care tasks, Author
ate preventive maintenance tasks to using a few select tools. What is im- David Rosenthal is a reliabil-
condition-based tasks for operators portant in this level is the inclusion of ity consultant with more than 35
years of experience, and owner of
to perform. In fact, roughly 30% of the expectation that the operations Reliability Strategy and Implemen-
preventive maintenance tasks can personnel will assist with the trou- tation Consultancy, LLC (2914
be done by operators. Table 5 sum- bleshooting of equipment failures. Ocean Mist Ct., Seabrook, TX,
77586, Phone: 215-620-2185;
marizes the important steps that are Maintenance personnel will even- Web: www.reliabilitywithoutfailure.
needed to establish a multistep ap- tually come to view the assistance com; Email: davida.rosenthal@
prodigy.net). He provides a wide
proach — one that recognizes three from operations personnel as a ben- range of maintenance and reliability consulting services,
levels of possible operator-driven re- efit to the overall mission of the facil- aimed at designing and implementing asset-care strate-
liability activities. ity; which is to maintain and restore gies to improve uptime and reduce operating costs. He
previously led asset management services for Jacobs
The selection of which of these safe, reliable function. In facilities Engineering Group (Houston). Rosenthal spent the ma-
levels to perform will be a function that have adopted this approach, jority of his career with the Rohm and Haas Co., a spe-
of site needs, culture and opera- the maintenance department often cialty chemical manufacturer. During his 29-year career
with Rohm and Haas, Rosenthal held roles related to
tor skill level. As indicated in Table remarks that consistency in the way maintenance leader, reliability leader, process and proj-
5, operators in level one perform in which the equipment is operated, ect engineering, and technical management in various
normal operating tasks along with monitored and maintained provides facilities. In 2012, Rosenthal served as president of
AIChE. He currently leads the Advisory Board to the Soc.
non-contact tasks involving the four great benefits. of Maintenance and reliability professionals. Rosenthal
senses (hearing, seeing, touching graduated from Drexel University with a B.S.Ch.E., and
and smelling). Of course touching Closing thoughts holds an M.S.Ch.E. from the University of Texas. He is a
registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania, and a
can be done with limitations. In ad- Success in achieving site reliabil- certified maintenance and reliability professional
dition, the Level one group includes ity is based upon the “triad” that is (CMRP).

Engineering Practice
Flare-Gas Recovery Methods for Olefin Plants

Adding flare-gas recovery units at strategic locations of an olefin plant can not only
reduces emissions, but will save money as well
Farhad Ghadyanlou Steam Acid gases Methane-rich tailgas
Morvarid Petrochemical Plant H2-rich tailgas
Back to compression
Demethanizer
Ali Vatani
Deethanizer
University of Tehran
TLE C2
splitter
Feed
Water
A
lthough gas flaring is neces- Ethylene
sary at some chemical pro- Depro-
Gas panizer
cess industries (CPI) plants
or facilities, more and more
efforts are underway to reduce flaring, C3 splitter
not only to help reduce emissions of TLE Debuta-
nizer
air pollutants, noise and light, but also
Fuel oil and Recycle
to save both energy and raw mate- gasoline
rials, which translates into money —
potentially millions of dollars.
Today, plant operators are becom-
ing more conscientious about reduc- Feed and furnace Quench and Compressor and Hydrocarbon-separation section Gasoline
ing the release of greenhouse gases section fractionation section condensate section Propylene
(GHGs), especially carbon dioxide, in TLE = Transfer line exchange
an attempt to prevent further global FIGURE 1. A typical flowsheet for an ethylene plant is shown here [1]
warming. In some countries, existing
or pending regulations on the release can be recovered, with correspond- essential [2–4].
of GHGs, or the imposition of carbon ing savings of more than a million Flares are classified according to
taxes are forcing operators to rethink dollars per hour. different viewpoints, for example in
the simple option of gas flaring. terms of the following:
In some cases, however, it can Olefin plants • Height — elevated (according to
make good economic sense to re- Olefin units (Figure 1) are among the the support, which can be self
cover rather than burn the flare most profitable plants in the petro- supported, guyed wire, derrick)
gases, which are often valuable hy- chemicals industry. Due to the nature and ground flares
drocarbons that can be used as fuel of these units, there is a good poten- • Assisted fluid for smokeless op-
or even feedstock. The investment tial for using FGRUs during startups eration — steam-assisted or air-
costs for adding a flare-gas recov- to reduce emissions and recover assisted flares
ery unit (FGRU) can thus be offset by capital. Given the expanding num- • Combustion chamber — open,
utilizing the energy or the resources ber of olefin units in the world today, semi-open or closed flares
(or both) recovered by the FGRU. with flaring an integral part of the fac- • Number of tips — multipoint or
The environment benefits by reduc- tories, large amounts of energy and matrix flares
ing the volume of flare gases that are capital are lost. Therefore, it makes • Flare-gas pressure — high-,
actually flared. good sense to consider more deeply medium- or low-pressure flares
In this article, we investigate meth- the use of FGRUs with such units. • Special areas — storage areas or
ods to recover flare gases and thus terminals can have dedicated flares
reduce gas flaring in olefin plants. As Flares and flaring
an example, the benefits of installing Flaring is a safe and effective method Flaring points in olefin plants
an FGRU after the cold flare drum at for the disposal of hydrocarbons in To achieve zero flaring, we must
an ethylene plant are presented. situations where there is an equip- first investigate what are the main
The article examines flare-gas ment failure or in emergencies, such reasons for flaring. Activities where
recovery methods and the advan- as instrument failure, power failure or flaring is used include plant startups
tages of applying them to olefin a fire in the plant. Many vapors are and shutdowns, maintenance proce-
plants. The case study presented corrosive, explosive or flammable dures, plant upsets and sometimes
here concludes that significant and cannot simply be released into even normal operation.
amounts of ethylene and fuel gas the atmlosphere, so burning them is Flaring leads to the release of large
amounts of CO2, carbon monoxide, Flare header To flare Carbon bed for
oxides of nitrogen (NOx), hydrocar- Carbon bed for C5+ recovery propylene recovery To flare
(down-
bons and other volatile organic com- stream
pounds (VOCs) and others. Besides of water
Existing knock- seal)
emissions to the atmosphere, simple out drum
Water seal
flaring is a loss of both energy and
raw materials.
For instance, an ethylene plant
with a production capacity of 1.2 bil-
lion lb/yr of ethylene can easily flare
about 5 million lb of ethylene during a
single startup. Assuming a flaring effi- Compressor
suction
ciency of 98%, the resulting air emis- Filter
scrubber
sions will include at least 15.4 million
lb of CO2, 40,000 lb CO, 7,400 lb Blower
NOx, 15,100 lb of hydrocarbons and
100,000 lb of VOCs. This is just a
Vacuum
normal accounting of ethylene flaring C5+ separator
Vacuum
pump pump
emissions. If all the flaring sources
C5+
are included, such as ethane, pro- stream Propylene-rich stream Compressor
pylene and propane, huge amounts
FIGURE 2. This flare-gas recovery system is based on beds of activated carbon [8 ]
of air emissions can be produced
through one single plant startup. By scheduled. Unscheduled flaring may flare until the unit can be returned to
reducing the volume of flare gases, be caused by a trip. Scheduled (or normal operating conditions.
we can also be assured of complete planned) flaring occurs during shut- We can summarize the following
combustion and a smokeless flare. downs, maintenance and startups. methods that can be used in reduc-
The main activities at olefin plants During a shutdown, the plant feed ing gas flaring in ethylene plants:
that lead to gas flaring are from the will usually be decreased to the mini- 1. Define recycle streams for the re-
following sources: mum amount with which the plant covery of off-specification products
1. Cracked-gas-compressor (CGC) is still stable, and the cracking-gas 2. Maintain the amounts in towers by
suction: When the compressor is compressor will be out of service. keeping them in total reflux status
stopped; from the initial startup of This process will lead to flaring. 3. Properly control feed when inject-
furnaces until the furnaces reach Startup is a situation that leads ing feed into furnaces, one furnace
their full capacity; and during the from the initial state of the process after another
commissioning of the compressor to the final operating conditions. 4. Cool the chilling section as quickly
2. Chilling train tailgas outlet: When During this operation, the feed is as possible to reach the optimum
there is a limitation to the fuel-gas gradually increased and equipment temperatures
system from the demethanizer, ad- will be pressurized, and hot or cold 5. Ensure that conditions are normal
ditional products will be sent to the liquids will reach their operating con- before the demethanizer flow is
flare for plant-safety considerations ditions. During these activities, large established downstream
3. Deethanizer top product: When amounts of gas are directed toward 6. Return high-purity ethylene back
this stream is not within design a flare boom. into the reflux drum to reduce the
specifications for sending to the Unscheduled flaring includes op- settling time in the tower [5–7]
hydrogenation reactor, there will eration failures, equipment failures,
be flaring in order to prevent cata- electrical failures and so on. When Ethylene plant FGRUs
lyst deactivation such events occur, the best option There are several methods for flare
4. Hydrogenation reactor outlet: A to ensure the safety of equipment gas recovery, which include the fol-
large amount of flaring in an olefin and personnel is flaring, which is an lowing general categories:
plant occurs at this point. The out- effective, safe and fast method for 1. Physical: The gases are recovered
let stream from the reactor will be handling gases that are generated. and purified by special equipment
sent to the flare until the required For plant trips that lead the unit into and pressurized (if required) for
specifications are achieved. There a purge condition, activities must be process units to be used as fuel
will also be gas flaring after send- quick and effective to return the unit or feedstock
ing this stream to the C2-splitter to normal operating conditions. 2. Chemical: The flare gases are
tower until the tower reaches the Most trips occur with cracked- reacted over a catalyst and con-
normal operation conditions and gas compressors, refrigeration cycle verted into industrial materials that
liquefaction occurs compressors, instrument failure, can be recovered
5. C2-splitter top stream: Until the weather and so on. These trips may 3. Biochemical: This newest method
tower product reaches the re- cause a partial or total shutdown of a of recovery is performed using
quired specifications, there will be plant. In such circumstances, pipes bacteria that carry out degradation
gas flaring and equipment are depressurized reactions in the towers, thereby
Flaring may be scheduled or un- and the vent streams are sent to the converting the flare gases into

Bursting disc
must have a good understanding of
Flare- how the flare gases are produced,
opening distributed and best consumed at
valve
(FOV) the production facility.
Designing an FGRU for an ethyl-
Flare Ethylene/ethane ene plant is far more complex than
to quench
Flare tower designing one for a liquified natural
gas
WF drum
gas (LNG) plant or for petroleum re-
fineries, because the processes and
equipment performance at an ethyl-
ene plant are highly sensitive to the
compositions involved. For example,
Cooler
To flare
changes in the heating value of fuel
Separator gas fed to the furnace can cause
Fresh caustic the destruction of the special burn-
Liquid-ring compressor ers. Composition changes can even
cause problems in the pyrolysis pro-
cess, resulting in a plant shutdown.
Spent caustic
Therefore, when introducing flare-gas
FIGURE 3. This proposed FGRU can be used on the outlet of the wet flare drum to return C2 components recovery in ethylene plants, one must
to the quench tower
be very careful to keep the operation
Bursting disc of the plant stable and ordered.
There are two physical-separation
Flare- processes that can be used in olefin
opening
valve FGRUs: membrane separation and
adsorption. It should be noted that
the use of temperature-swing ad-
Flare
sorption (TSA) greatly increases the
risk of undesirable olefin polymeriza-
Flare gas
Cold flare drum tion reactions; but with pressure-
swing adsorption (PSA), such risks
Compressor can be avoided.
C3 to refrigeration cycle Figure 2 shows an example of an
or C3+ storage adsorbent system based on acti-
vated carbon (AC) for flare-gas re-
To flare covery. There, one can see that a
FIGURE 4. This proposed FRGU can be used on the outlet from the dry and cold flare drum for the recov- stream from the main header from
ery of C3 components the knockout (KO) drum is directed
to the FGRU. This stream is directed
Bursting disc to a blower and sent to the absorber
H2 and CH4 system. (The blower prevents any
Flare- problems that might occur in the
opening flare-gas header).
valve Ethylene
The first pair of AC beds are for C5+
recovery and second pair for propyl-
Flare
ene recovery. The stream leaving the
top of the propylene adsorption beds
Olefin Cold flare drum Cooler Flare is rich in nitrogen, and is sent to a flare
unit
Separator downstream of the KO drum [3, 8].
Compressor
In addition to adsorption beds (in-
cluding PSA), membrane-based sep-
aration systems can be used for the
FIGURE 5. The design for a FGRU used on the outlet of the cold flare drum to recover ethylene, methane
recovery of propane/propylene and
and fuel gas ethylene at the refrigeration cycles
charge, with the remaining gases
simpler components tip maintenance, as well as reduce sent to the C3+ storage tank. It is
Regardless of which method is thermal radiation, light, noise and notable that the recovery and reuse
used, the recovery of some or all of odor. Ultimately, flare-gas recovery of valuable components, such as C2
the flare gases will decrease combus- leads to increased plant efficiency. or C1–C3, from the wet flare (WF)
tion products and the release of pol- In order to select the most appro- drum to the quench tower is pos-
lutants into the atmosphere, reduce priate solution for flare-gas recovery sible and economical (Figure 3). This
fuel requirements and minimize flare- and the reduction of gas flaring, you should be kept in mind during the
TABLE 1. EMISSIONS FROM FLARING TABLE 2. EMISSIONS FROM FLARING
Pollutant Without FGRU With FGRU Thermal radiation (kW/m2) Noise level (dB)
(lb/h) (lb/h)
Distance (m) Without FGRU With FGRU Without FGRU With FGRU
NOx 9.90 6.65
10 5.66 3.46 86.30 85.00
CO 71.42 48.01
20 5.87 3.44 86.19 84.89
CO2 75.50 50.76
30 6.04 3.40 86.02 84.72
initial design stage for a new plant, 40 6.14 3.32 85.78 84.49
so that the design of the refrigeration 50 6.17 3.23 85.50 84.21
cycle can include enough cooling to 60 6.14 3.12 85.18 83.89
supply the FGRU. In this way, we can
70 6.04 2.99 84.83 83.54
recover valuable gases and reduce
emissions form gas flaring. 80 5.88 2.85 84.46 83.17
Generally, all of the quench towers 90 5.67 2.71 84.08 82.78
in an olefin plant operate in the pres- 100 5.42 2.56 83.68 82.39
sure range of 0.4–0.5 barg. Because
caustic is available both for cooling tion of the capacity of the compres- Where:
and as the absorbing media, it can sor system that is used [9, 10]. Q = production rate
be used for operating the liquid-ring Ex = emissions of pollutant x, lb/h
compressor in Figure 3. Emissions from flaring EFx = emission factor of x (from the
Additional methods are possible In order to compare the emissions the U.S. Environmental Protection
for recovering flare gases from the of pollutants, noise (acoustical) and Agency's compilation of emission
cold flare drum, as shown in Figures thermal radiation for a plant before factors, AP-42 [11]
4 and 5. In these methods, the outlet and after the introduction of a FGRU, Table 1 shows the results of the
gas from the cold flare drum are sent one must first be able to calculate calculation for the emissions of NOx,
to the FGRU using one compressor. these values for the case of flaring CO and CO2 before and after the in-
Because the gas in this section (cold only. Simulations were performed stallation of a FGRU.
section) is dry, it is not necessary to using commercial software for a typi- Noise and radiation. The thermal
use a special compressor, such as cally sized olefin plant with a flare gas radiation and noise level as a func-
a liquid-ring compressor. Another capacity of 90 metric tons per hour tion of distance from the flare can be
important advantage is that an ab- (m.t./h), and the results were com- calculated using commercial soft-
sorption tower (and regeneration of pared to the same plant that uses ware for flare systems. The results
the absorbing fluid, if using amines) the third proposed FGRU shown of these calculations are presented
is not required. in Figure 5. The 90-m.t./h value is in Table 2.
typical for the startup of an olefin It is also possible to make quick
Parameters affecting FGRU unit that had been shutdown due to estimates of the thermal radiation
The parameters with the strongest a problem in the cold section. The released during flaring of gases by
influence on the recovery system is calculations for the simulaton were using Equation (3):
the composition of the flare gas. In based on the following equations:
general, changes in molecular weight Pollution emissions. In the high- (3)
in the stream going to the FGRU can temperature combustion processes, Where:
create the potential for overloading several hundred to several thousand Q = production rate
the compressor, leading to possible chemical reactions are taking place. H = heating value
damage. Molecular weight changes Assuming complete combustion, V = volume of gas
can also increase the temperature of the following general reaction can A simple calculation for noise emis-
the gas after compression. The fol- be used: sions can also be performed using
lowing three compositions have the Equation (4), which is based on the
most notable influence: VDI 3732 Guidelines for an elevated
1. The effect of N2 on heat exchang- flare [12]:
ers and compressor performance
2. The effect of H2 and light gas on (1)
compressor performance
3. The effect of steam on the sepa- Of course, complete combustion (4)
ration drum, the compressor and is not normally achieved in flares,
membranes so there will also be carbon mon- Where
The temperature of the inlet to the oxide, NOx and other hydrocarbons LWA = weighted average sound
compressor must also be controlled. released during flaring. A simpler power of the total noise emitted, dB
If the compressor inlet temperature way to calculate the effluent of pol- q = gas mass flowrate, ton/h
is higher than the design tempera- lutants during flaring is to use Equa- q0 = reference mass flowrate, ton/h
ture, the gas must be diverted to the tions (2): For a flare that burns a gas stream
flare. It should be pointed out that of 90 m.t./h with a heat of combus-
the capacity of the FGRU is a func- (2) tion of 2,390 kJ/kg, Equations (3)

and (4) give 59,800 kJ/s or about 60 TABLE 3. INVESTMENT COSTS FOR ONE and Shapour Taghipour from Mor-
MW of power released by the flare. ETHYLENE-PLANT FGRU varid Petrochemical Plant for their
This value drops to about 40 MW Cost Item support and guidance.
with the introduction of a FGRU that $16,900,000 Equipment
reduces the volume of gas flared by Refrences
$3,890,000 Instrumentation
about 40% (35.9 m.t./h). 1. Process Analytics in Ethylene Production Plants, Oil &
For the same 40% reduction in $997,000 Piping Gas Industry, 2007.
flare gas being flared, Equation (4) $797,000 Electrical 2. Ghadyanlou, F., “Flare Design,” 1st ed., Andishesara
Publishing Co., March, 2011.
shows a reduction in sound emis- $5,980,000 Operation
sions by about 6.8 dB. 3. Shahini, M.,“Flare Gas Management,” Jahanno Publish-
$26,300 Construction and installation ing Co., 2th Ed., March 2011.
$29,800,000 Total 4. Baukal, C.E. and Schwartz, R. E., “The John zink Combus-
Payback tion Handbook,” 1st ed., CRC Press,March 27, 2001.
Table 3 shows that the total invest- 5. Falaqi, F. H., "The Miracle of Petrochemicals-Olefin In-
ment costs for the FGRU proposed unplanned shutdowns. This means dustry: An In-Depth Look at Steam Crackers,” Universal
in Figure 5, which is capable of han- that about $9 million/yr of valuable Publishers, Fla., 2009.
dling a flare-gas stream of 90 m.t./h, gases are returned to the plant and 6. Liu, C., and Xu, Q., Emission Source Characterization
is about $30 million [13, 14]. the investment costs are recovered for Proactive Flare Minimization during Ethylene Plant
Start-ups, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 49, 2010, pp. 5,734–
Based on the installation of such a after about three years of operation 5,741.
FGRU after the cold flare drum, we of the FGRU. The environmental 7. Yang, X, Xu, Q. and Li, K., Flare Minimization Strategy
have calculated that 43.3 m.t./h of benefits of reduced emissions of pol- for Ethylene Plants, Chem. Eng. Technology, 33, No. 7,
ethylene and 10.8 m.t./h of fuel gas lutants, noise and thermal radiation 2010, pp. 1,059–1,065.
can be recovered and returned to are an added bonus. ■ 8. Page, J. E., “Reduction of Hydrocarbon Losses to Flare
Systems,”1st Industry Technology Conference, Houston,
the olefin plant. The value of the re- Edited by Gerald Ondrey April 22–25,1979.
covered gases is roughly equivalent 9. Zadakbar, O., Vatani, A. and Karimpour, K. Flare Gas Re-
to about $52,000/h. Acknowledgment covery in Oil and Gas Refineries, Oil and Gas Science
According to monitoring studies, The authors would like to thank and Technology, Rev. IFP, Vol. 63, No. 6, 2008, pp.
this olefin plant has about 185 hours Najem Beg and Sacha Sarshar from 705–711.
of flaring per year during planned or Caltec Co., and Gholamreza Jokar 10. Blanton, R. E., Environmentally and Economically Benefi-
cal Flare Gas Recovery Projects in Petrochemical Facilities,
National Petroleum Refiner's Assn. Environmental Confer-
ence West, San Antonio, Tex., September 2010.
11. AP-42, Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors,
5th ed., U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washing-
ton, D.C., www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42.
12. VDI 3732 – Characteristic Noise Emissions Values of
Technical Sound Sources – Flares, VDI Guideline, Verein
Deutscher Ingenieure, Düsseldorf, Germany, 1990.
13. Trambouze, P., “Petroleum Refining — Material and
Equipment,” Vol. 4,Technip Editions, Paris, 1994.
14. M. Peters, M., Timmerhaos, K. and West, R. E., “Plant
Design and Economic for Chemical Engineers,” 5th ed.,
McGraw-Hill Co. New York, December 2002.
Authors
Farhad Ghadyanlou is the
manager of the R&D Dept. of the
Technology Metals | Advanced Ceramics Morvarid Petrochemical Plant,
(Petrochemical Zone No 2 , Pars
Economical Energy Zone, Assa-
luyeh, Iran; Phone: +98-772-
Ultra 76 Plus Tantalum Alloy 7293035, Ext: 5086; Email:
ghadyanlou@gmail.com). He holds
an M.Sc. degree in chemical and
Corrosive Resistant Material for Hot Concentrated Acid Applications environmental engineering from
H.C. Starck’s ULTRA 76 Plus tantalum alloy combats aggressive, hazardous chemical corrosion in the Islamic Azad University, South Branch of Tehran and a
most severe hot acid environments. B.Sc. in chemical engineering and the gas industries from
Islamic Azad University of Omidea (Khuzestan, Iran).
> Minimized hydrogen embrittlement
> Extends equipment service life Ali Vatani is an associate pro-
> Reduces operation downtime fessor in the School of Chemical
> Increased operating temperatures in HCI, H2SO4 acids and other acids Engineering, College of Engineer-
> Eliminates separate “Platinum Spot welding” application steps ing at the University of Tehran
(Enghelab Ave., Tehran, Iran;
Download a free brochure at www.hcstarck.com, call +1 216.392. 5077, +33 6.69.01.85.48 Phone: +98-21- 66461024;
or email info@hcstarck.com. Email: avatani@ut.ac.ir). Among
the many lecture courses he offers
are those dealing with oil-and-gas,
Visit us at ACHEMA 2015
Hall 5.1, Stand D50
petrochemicals, gas processing
and distribution and two-phase fluid mechanics He holds
B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Tehran,
and a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds (U.K.).
Engineering Practice
Troubleshooting Tube-Deterioration
Mechanisms in Direct-Fired Heaters
A practical step-by-step guide for reducing tube failures
Babak Maghbooli and
Hamidreza Najafi
Farayand Sabz Engineering Co.
F
orced outage of a direct-fired
heater is the worst nightmare
for any operator in a petro-
leum-refining or petrochemi-
cal plant. Since fired heaters are not
replaceable by spares, forced outage
in many cases means emergency
shutdown of the entire plant. In most FIGURE 1. Misunderstanding warning signs led to
cases, actual tube failure or even se- a dramatic internal coke build up, followed by high
tube metal temperatures, creep and finally tube
vere tube deterioration are responsi- rupture in one of the pass outlets of a visbreaker
ble for outage of a direct-fired heater. plant heater. Operators had unintentionally ignored
Tube-deterioration mechanisms are high tube-skin temperatures for one week
not only an economical concern, but
also a matter of safety for the plant plex metallurgical phenomena, and
and personnel. An unpredicted tube inspection engineers with degrees or
rupture may lead to disastrous explo- specialties in metallurgical engineer- FIGURE 2. In this example of good trouble-
sions and severe human casualties. ing should evaluate and explicate shooting, operators observed a failed tube hanger,
which triggered the alarm for possible roof tubes
In order to prevent such unwanted them; but after the inspection or eval- sagging and led to the heater shut down for main-
events and keep the fired heater tubes uation stage, the main root causes of tenance and hanger repair
functional as long as possible, many such problems are mostly simple and
petroleum refineries and petrochemi- can be explained to an operator with of internal coke buildup (fouling),
cal plants have organized a preven- the aid of fact sheets or flowcharts. such as back pressure in the speci-
tive program, which according to the If the operators are being kept out fied pass, maybe serious courses of
American Petroleum Institute [1], is of the loop, it is always possible for action would have been considered
referred to as a “reliability program.” personnel to misinterpret a sign of before raising the tube metal temper-
tube deterioration. And since heater ature to values that eventually caused
Reliability programs inspectors are not around all of the severe creep and tube rupture.
A good reliability program includes time, such misinterpretations could Explaining the root causes of the
various detailed inspection programs easily lead to a disastrous event. deterioration mechanisms to the op-
performed both during heater opera- erating team can prevent deteriora-
tion and overhaul or occasional main- Dangers of misunderstandings tion in the first place. It is important
tenance shutdown periods. Continu- As an example, consider Figure 1, that the inspection team arrange
ous assessments of the remaining which demonstrates a dramatic tube meetings in which operating person-
lifetime of tubes and the supervision rupture case that was the result of nel walk through the chain of events
of heater performance are also in- misunderstanding the warning signs and performance imbalances that
cluded in the program of many pe- and a lack of root-causes knowledge lead to a tube failure.
troleum refineries. Although reliability on the part of operating personnel. As another example, the situation
programs have proven successful In this particular case, the pass out- shown in Figure 2 was dealt with
during long periods of heater opera- let was near the internal header-box before the shield section tubes ex-
tion, many heaters are still victims refractory linings. Because of this, the perienced serious sagging, which
of tube-deterioration mechanisms. operators had unintentionally ignored could easily lead to tube rupture and
That is because heater operators or high tube-skin temperatures and as- possible explosion. As the operators
field engineers are often kept out of sumed that they were misreading the were aware of the possible threat of
the loop of a reliability program. refractory wall temperature by the in- roof tubes sagging (in case of fallen
It is true that deterioration mecha- frared pyrometer. If they were aware of or failed tube hangers), observing the
nisms are mostly categorized as com- other warning signs and root causes failed hanger at the floor of the heater

TABLE 1. TYPICAL FIRED HEATER TUBE -DETERIORATION MECHANISMS AND ROOT CAUSES
Improper mechanical or steam air decoking procedures

Chemical composition of process fluid (critical species)
Heavy hydrocarbon molecules pyrolysis (coke buildup)
Refractory damages or improper refractory repair

Misplaced or failed tube support or hanger
High pressure drop across heater passes
Faulty roll procedures or workmanship

Heavy fuel-oil combustion problems
Improper two-phase-flow regime*

Upstream equipment malfunction
High content of impurities in fuel
Increased heater charge rate

Control systems malfunction
Undue force to close fittings

Low process fluid flowrate
Cyclic heat-load variations

Poor heater-casing design
Improper fuel pressure
Heat flux imbalances
Flame impingement
Mineral sediments
High firing rate

Thermal shock
Air Leakage
Root Cause
Problem
Problem category sub category
Hotspot --- • • • • • • • •
Internal fouling • • • • • • • • •
Fouling
External fouling • • • • • • •
Internal corrosion • • • • • •
Corrosion External dew-point • • • •
corrosion
Minor creep • • • • • •
Creep Bulging • • • • •
Bowing and sagging • • • • • • • • • •
Vibration --- • • • • • •
Erosion --- • • •
Thermal fatigue --- • • •
Mechanical --- • • • • •
deterioration
Note: * In this article, the term “improper two-phase-flow regime” refers to “slug flow” regime only and complex two-phase-flow phenomena caused by poor de-
sign, or improper operating conditions (problems like sudden flash evaporation or mist flow) are beyond the scope of the current study.
triggered an alarm, which led to the would ignore or misunderstand vital 2. Internal fouling
shutdown of the heater for mainte- signs of a possible tube-deteriora- 3. External fouling
nance and hanger repair. tion mechanism. 4. Internal corrosion
A good troubleshooting guide can In this article we propose a simple 5. Creep (general or minor creep)
demonstrate the fact that failed roof root-cause analysis and also a com- 6. Bulging
hangers are caused by overheating puterized troubleshooting algorithm 7. Bowing and sagging
in the convection section. In this vein, that directs the heater operator from 8. Vibration
by monitoring burner flame heights one root cause of a possible tube- 9. External dew point corrosion
and burner fuel pressures (control- deterioration mechanism to another, 10. Erosion
ling the amount of heat released), as in sequence. The algorithms indicate 11. Thermal fatigue
well as monitoring bridge wall tem- how each of the improper perfor- 12. Mechanical deterioration
perature, operators can prevent this mances for a given cause is to be
phenomenon in the first place. corrected, and continues until all Root-cause analysis
possible causes for tube-deteriora- It should be noted that before enter-
Troubleshooting tion mechanism can be corrected. ing the root-cause-analysis phase,
Even if a company offers proper one should not neglect the possibility
training courses for personnel, and Tube-deterioration mechanisms that the material of construction used
has an effective reliability program According to the valuable references for the heater tube can be a possible
and an effective schedule of visual listed at the end of this article [1, cause of some of the problems re-
inspections, these measures will not 3–4], as well as our field experience, ferred to above. Thus, readily available
reduce the importance of practi- typical fired-heater tube-deteriora- data for allowable stress and corro-
cal troubleshooting knowledge. An tion mechanisms that may lead to sion rates for various tube alloys, as
operator without proper knowledge tube failure can be classified into the a function of temperature, should be
and understanding of root causes following 12 main categories: made available from appropriate tube
and a troubleshooting sequence 1. Local or longitudinal hotspots manufacturers. These data should
A
FIGURE 3. Troubleshooting algorithm for

hotspots on the tubes Hotspots on tubes can be the result of internal or external problems.
First check external problems which are mainly caused by faulty burner
performances.
Do you experience flame impingement on tubes ?

Solve the problem according to the instructions given in burner Yes
troubleshooting guide found in Ref. 2. Caution: Since the flame of fuel gas is hardly visible, flame impingement
can be easily ignored by the operator. Inspect the firebox carefully and use
Yes Is your problem solved? sodium salts to make sparks and turn the flame pattern into a visible form.
No No
One of the main external reasons that leads to hotspots is heat-flux imbal-
Solve the problem according to instructions given in burner ances, mainly caused by non-asymmetric burner-firing patterns along the
troubleshooting guide found in Ref. 2. Yes
Yes firebox.
Is your problem solved? Do the burners frequently go out and stay ignored by the operator?
No
No
Adjust the fuel pressures to the same value on each burner, also No Are the fuel pressure gauges on
adjust the air and draft amounts accordingly. every burner showing the same
value?
Caution: If by doing so flame patterns were corrupted or
Yes misshaped, based on the problem refer to burner troubleshooting Yes
guide found in Ref. 2.
After solving the problem, adjust fuel pressures.
Is your problem solved?
No
Solve the problem according to instructions given In case of fuel oil firing, you may No If there is no external reason for
in burner troubleshooting guide found in Ref. 2. Yes suffer poor atomization the hotspots in the firebox, your
Yes problems causing misshaped tube may be suffering from an
Is your problem solved? flame patterns and firing rates internal fouling phenomena.
along the firebox.
No Do you have poor atomization
problems?
Go to Point B in Figure 4
Seek engineering consultancy.
End trouble shooting procedure.
be checked before taking any step actions, which are provided by com- A practical example
for understanding the root causes of prehensive algorithms described in Let’s assume that an operating
tube-deterioration mechanisms. the next section. team tries to prevent a future tube
In order to analyze each deterio- failure like the one shown in Figure
ration-mechanism category and its Troubleshooting algorithms 1. In order to achieve this goal, it is
subcategories in the most concise The comprehensive troubleshooting obvious that they need to trouble-
and efficient way, a root-cause- algorithm is based on the logic de- shoot the deterioration mechanisms
analysis table is proposed (see picted in Figures 3 to 6 (and contin- that are responsible for this event.
Table 1). ues in Figures 8–15 at www.chemeng First of all, an inspection team
By understanding the root causes online.com), and has been successfully should identify the nature of tube-
of tube-deterioration mechanisms, used to recognize what the tube-dete- deterioration mechanisms that have
one has passed through the primary rioration mechanism might be, indicate led to such a disaster. A preliminary
step of tube-damage troubleshoot- the cause of the problem and correct analysis would demonstrate that
ing. Now what matters most is the the heater defect, so as to achieve the severe tube creep accompanied by
proper sequence of troubleshooting proper tube operating lifetime. internal fouling (coke buildup) are to

B FIGURE 4. Troubleshooting algorithm for internal fouling
Internal fouling may be caused by coke Low process-fluid flowrate is one of the If the problem is not caused by human
formation or other material sediments main causes of internal fouling. Low error, then in most cases, a malfunction
(usually minerals salts dissolved in crude flowrate can cause high skin temperature of the control system is responsible. In
Yes
oil). Follow the questions below to be and coke buildup as a result of pyrolysis such cases, perform immediate control-
able to differentiate between the two can occur. Did you experience low flowrate systems maintenance or even replacement
phenomena. in one or multiple passes of your heater? procedures.
No
Go to Point DC Consider coke buildup Did you experience any fire-side End
with high probability. Solve (external side) hotspot problems troubleshooting
the problem according to Yes (mentioned in Figure 3) like over procedure.
the instructions given in firing or flame impingement for
the burner troubleshooting long periods of time?
guide found in Ref. 2.
No
The fouling is 90% caused Is your fired heater in atmospheric crude

by mineral sediments. Yes distillation preheater service or is it located
downstream of a de-salter?
No
Fouling is 90% caused by Did the fouling happened right after Consider removing and
mineral sediments or even Yes overhaul or upstream equipment’s replacing the tubes with
small particles carried out by malfunction? supervision of inspection
fluid stream into the furnace department.
tubes. No
Yes
If your furnace is in heavy fluid service, like vacuum-distillation-tower charge heater or Follow spalling and decoking
visbreaker service or any vaporizing heavy feed service, consider your fouling problem with steam and air procedure
DC No
as coke buildup. according to the vendor’s
instructions.
Caution: Coke buildup in gas reactive services like olefin plant furnaces is beyond the Is your problem solved?
scope of this algorithm, look at the proper references.
Follow spalling with steam procedure according to vendors instructions.

No
Yes
be blamed. This particular heater is ternal fouling, caused by rapid local 4. Heavy fuel-oil combustion
in visbreaker service, which can be coke formation, made an insulating problems
classified as a thermal cracking pro- layer, which in turn led to higher tube 5. Low process fluid flowrate
cess. In thermal cracking of heavy skin temperatures for long periods 6. Upstream malfunction of
petroleum cuts, coke formation is of time. In this vein, high tube-skin equipment
an unwanted side reaction that can- temperature led to severe creep and 7. Pyrolysis of heavy hydrocarbon
not be eliminated, but the reaction eventually disastrous tube rupture. In molecules (coke buildup)
rate and duration can be controlled order to solve this problem and pre- 8. Mineral sediments
and reduced by maintaining proper vent it from ever happening again, 9. High firing rate
operating conditions. In some cases the main cause — internal fouling With the exception (in some cases)
the interval between decoking pro- — should be clearly understood and of root-cause Number 9 (high firing
cesses can be extended by up to analyzed. By taking a look at Table 1, rate) [2], all the other causes can be
three to four years. one can find the root causes of inter- treated by the stepwise troubleshoot-
In this particular case, unwanted nal fouling, which are as follows (not ing procedure outlined in this article.
coke deposition had occurred dur- necessarily in order of priority): In order to solve the internal foul-
ing the first year of an operating 1. Flame impingement ing problem, the operator can start
period. This event was unpredicted 2. Heat flux imbalances with the procedure given in Figure
and surprising for the operators. In- 3. Improper fuel pressure 4. This procedure starts with the
C FIGURE 5. Troubleshooting algorithm for external fouling
There are two types of external fouling, metallic oxides and external scaling.
Follow the questions below to be able to differentiate between the two. End troubleshooting procedure.
Yes
The particles are metallic oxides Do the external particles
Seek engineering consultancy.
(MOs). Proceed to point MO. respond to a magnet?
No
No No
Yes Because of possible metallurgical changes, some particles do Metallic oxides are mainly Solve the problem
not respond to a magnet therefore be sure that tube’s surface is caused by over firing or high Yes according to instructions Yes
not scratched or thinned in the particle position. fuel gas temperature ranges. given in burner
Does the tubes thickness decreased in the particle position? Do you experience uneven heat troubleshooting guide
distribution or over firing found in Ref. 2.
No conditions?
In case of gas firing, external No The external fouling is soot or
scales (other than oxides) scale. Do you use fuel oil in Yes MO
are caused by complex heat burners?
transfer phenomena that
needs advanced engineering
consultancy and determining
the reason is not a straight
forward step.
Yes
There is a possibility that your

No fuel oil has a high content of
Seek engineering consultancy. Solve the problem according Main cause of soot formation
vanadium. In high-temperature
to instructions given in burner Yes in fuel oil combustion is poor
ranges or unexpected thermal
troubleshooting guide atomization or combustion
shocks, vanadium oxide would
found in Ref. 2. issues with fuel oil.
attack tube material, rapidly
Do you experience burner poor
causing dangerous corrosion
Yes Is your problem solved? performance?
and reducing tube thickness.
Optimize your firing conditions
No and revise fuel composition if
possible.
There is a possibility that your fuel oil has a high content of sulfur No
(in the form of mercaptans, H2S or any bound or unbound form). Yes
Analyze your fuel and in case of high sulfur content, consider fuel
change or upstream process modifications. No No
Do you frequently experience
Seek engineering
thermal shocks or high firing
Is your problem solved? consultancy.
rates in the fire box?
Yes
simplest solution, which is solving this cause, the operator is asked is not the case in this example,
low process-fluid flowrate in heater to check for burner firing problems, may happen in crude charge heat-
passes. Low process-fluid flowrate like flame impingement, heat-flux ers that are placed after de-salters
can cause high tube-skin tempera- imbalances, improper fuel-oil pres- and heat exchanger networks in
tures that can lead to internal fouling. sure or heavy fuel-oil combustion most refineries. Apparently, if the
It should be noted that human error problems. If any of these problems heater is in crude charge service,
and control-equipment malfunction have been observed for long oper- checking the de-salter’s malfunc-
are the main causes of low process- ating periods, one can almost be tion should be the next step in the
fluid flowrate. It is mandatory to pre- certain that the internal fouling is troubleshooting algorithm. If this is
pare a regular program for checking due to coke buildup. In order to not the case, upstream equipment
control equipment accuracy. Also, solve any burner-firing problem, malfunction can be the next cause.
assign experienced personnel to the operator can refer to the de- Small particles carried by a fluid
control sensitive equipment, such as tailed troubleshooting algorithms stream can plug heater tubes and
fired heaters. described in Ref. 2. reduce flowrate locally or in a whole
If the problem is not related to Mineral sediments fouling, which pass. Similar to low process-fluid

D FIGURE 6. Troubleshooting algorithm for internal corrosion
Internal corrosion is mainly influenced by the chemical End troubleshooting Seek engineering
composition of the process fluid. Do you have sulfur procedure. DE consultancy.
No compounds present in your process fluid composition?
Yes Yes
Its possible that the inlet process fluid contains particulate

No Do you experience localized or general tube-wall thinning? matter. Particulate matter can increase the corrosion rate by
stripping away protective scale and exposing the fresh metal
to continuous corrosion process (see Ref. 1). Inspect upstream No
Yes process equipment and resolve any deficiency that can cause
particulate formation in process stream.
Yes No
Sulfidic corrosion may have happened inside the tube walls,
beware of chemical components like chlorides and hydrogen Did you experience high corrosion defects after a recent
that can aggravate the corrosion rate. Also local flame overhaul or upstream equipment malfunction? Mostly de-salter
impingement and high skin temperatures can increase the malfunction or low performance?
corrosion rate.
Yes Yes Two-phase flow currents with high linear

Control the chemical composition of the process fluid and Go to Point velocity in either of the phases, or slug
lower critical species concentration. In case of frequent flame DE flow regimes can cause local or overall
impingements, solve the problem according to instructions corrosion and even enhance the corrosion
given in burner troubleshooting guide (Ref. 2). rate caused by other factors. Consult an No
expert engineering team and try to figure out
Is your problem solved? possible improper flow regimes in boiling
regions of tubes. Is your problem solved?
No
Yes
Do you have naphthenic acids present in No

No Is your fired heater in atmospheric or vacuum towers charge
your process fluid composition? heating service?
Yes
Do you experience tube wall thinning in turbulent areas, such as bends

No
or pass outlets?
Yes
No
Naphthenic acid corrosion may have occurred inside the tube walls. Control the chemical composition of Yes Go to Point
Beware that high skin temperatures can increase the corrosion rate. process the fluid and lower critical species DE
concentration if possible.
Key:
A Hotspot B Internal fouling C External fouling D Internal corrosion
flowrate, this can lead to severe in- heavy feed is vaporizing, coke in some cases eliminate — coke
ternal fouling. Operators should be buildup is a likely possibility. As coke buildup phenomena.
warned about the possibility of this formation in these kinds of heaters Other steps of this algorithm are
problem, specifically after overhaul is highly anticipated, controlling op- dedicated to the decoking and spal-
or upstream equipment malfunc- erating conditions, especially the ling practices that should be fol-
tion and maintenance. items mentioned in previous steps of lowed, depending on the nature of
As the next step, the nature of this algorithm, is very important and the internal fouling problem.
the process should be noted. For vital. By following the right steps, Following this procedure would
visbreakers or any service in which operators may control — and even usually eliminate and even prevent
8,500
— Pass A — Pass C
Acknowledgment
8,000 — Pass B — Pass D The authors wish to thank the help
7,500
and contribution of Alan Cross. He
is always a mentor to us who gives
7,000 us the courage and motivation for
Heater pass flowrate, bbl/d
6,500 preparing and submitting our experi-

ences in engineering papers.
6,000
5,500 References
1. American Petroleum Institute, “Inspection of Fired Boil-
5,000 ers and Heaters,” Recommended Practice No. 573, API,
Washington, D.C., Feb. 2003.
4,500
Early warnings of internal fouling in 2. Maghbooli B., Najafi H., Bakhtiari A., Correcting Improper
4,000 pass A (rapid decrease in feed flowrate, Performance of Direct Fired Heaters: A practical, step-
accompanied by 80 psig pressure by-step approach for finding the root cause and trouble-
3,500 increase in pass inlet) shooting burner problems, Chem. Eng., May 2013, pp.
39–46.
3,000 3. American Petroleum Institute, “Damage Mechanisms Af-
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92
Time, days fecting Fixed Equipment in the Refining Industry,” Recom-
mended Practice No. 571, API, Washington, D.C., April
FIGURE 7. This graph shows the operating history of the process fluid flowrate in four passes of a vac- 2011.
uum distillation unit charge heater. Ignoring early signs of internal fouling caused by rapid coke buildup,
4. Patel S., Typical Fired Heater Problems and Root Causes,
led to disastrous tube rupture, like the one depicted in Figure 1 Hydrocarbon Process., March 2007, pp.68–69.
The complete set of troubleshooting algorithms is

future internal-fouling problems, as of possible internal fouling, this available online at www.chemengonline.com
for the case history shown in Figure problem may not have endured for
1. Surveying the operating history such a long operating period that Authors
of the heater proved that long-time would lead to tube rupture. This is Babak Maghbooli is a
local flame impingement was the another reason for the necessity member of the research and de-
velopment team of Farayand
main cause of this event, and tuning of an operator-involved reliability Sabz Engineering Co. (No.117,
the draft and excess-air amounts program in refineries in addition to Somaye Street, Tehran, Iran;
could have solved the problem in good troubleshooting knowledge Email:maghbooli@xthermo.
the first place. and training. com). With more than six years
of experience in the field of tun-
As a final note, we should add ing process fired heaters and
that our experiences have proven Computerized algorithm troubleshooting their problems,
that in similar case histories, in- A computer program (computer wiz- he has provided consultancy services to more than
five petroleum refineries in the field of troubleshoot-
creasing the awareness and knowl- ard) can easily be developed based ing, maintenance and analyzing mechanical and ther-
edge of operating teams about the on logic described in Figures 3–6, mal behavior of fired heaters and boilers. He also has
initial signs of internal fouling phe- and 8–15. By using this program in practical and professional experience in the field of
process simulation and developing root cause analy-
nomena is as important as know- industrial environments, like petro- sis procedures for chemical process problems. He is
ing the troubleshooting sequences. leum refineries and petrochemical an advanced VBA programmer and has developed
For example, in a similar case that plants, operators will be able to un- many process simulation solutions in MS-Excel for
happened in a vacuum charge derstand and correct the root causes various consulting projects. He holds a B.Sc.Ch.E.
degree from Arak University and he is an associate
heater, operators were too much of a possible deterioration mecha- member of IAChE and CSChE.
dependent on infra-red pyrometer nism in more efficient ways. As a
measurements of tube-skin tem- result fewer maintenance operations Hamidreza Najafi is head of
peratures. That misreading of the or mandatory tube replacements will the research and development
skin temperature made them igno- be needed. team of Farayand Sabz Engineer-
rant to the actual problem that was It should not be forgotten that the ing Co. (same address as above;
Email:hrnajafi@xthermo.com). He
taking place. As depicted in Figure main cost saving and also safety is a professional object-oriented
7, the process fluid flowrate had benefits of this program will result programmer and his main interest
decreased during coke buildup and from the following: is developing simulator packages
for industrial processes. With
simultaneously, the heater pass • Fewer forced direct-fired-heater more than 12 years of experience,
inlet pressure increased 80 psig. outage events due to tube failure he has practical and professional experience in the
These two events are very obvious • Elimination of disastrous events, fields of thermal radiation, especially for design and
simulation of thermal cracking furnaces and process
early warnings of internal fouling in such as a heater explosion caused fired heaters, and also development of chemical kinet-
the specified heater pass (Pass A by unpredicted tube ruptures ics and thermodynamics framework for simulator soft-
of Figure 7). • Extending the operating lifetime of ware. He has provided numerous solutions for process
The operators had simply re- heater tubes problems in these fields for various oil and petrochemi-
cal companies. He has a B.Sc.Ch.E. degree from Sharif
lated the decreased flowrate to • The possibility of increasing University of Technology and a M.Sc.Ch.E. degree from
the control equipment malfunc- throughput and decreased down- Shiraz University. He is an associate member of IAChE
tion and ignored it. If the operators time for decoking operations ■ and CSChE.
were aware of other warning signs Edited by Gerald Ondrey

Environmental Manager
Optimizing Pressure Relief Systems

Alternative designs for pressure relief systems may offer investment cost savings
Peter Cain
1:500 Main flare header
Process Consultant
Unit BL Unit BL Unit BL Flare
IN BRIEF stack
BACKGROUNd
Safety valves Safety valves Safety valves
TRAdITIONAl ClOSEd unit 1 unit 2 unit “n”
SySTEMS
OPTIMIzEd ClOSEd 1:500 1:500 1:500

SySTEMS Flare KO
Unit KO drum Unit KO drum Unit KO drum drum
COST SAvINGS
FIGURE 1. This sketch shows a simplified pressure-relief system for a petroleum refinery
P
ressure relief systems for the chemi- 2. Realize dynamic-system load model-
cal process industries (CPI) are es- ing. This analysis for a complete petro-
sential to prevent a process system, leum refinery is very complex and is not
or any of its components, from being normally used, but it can also result in
subjected to pressures that exceed the maxi- flowrate reductions.
mum allowable accumulated pressure, by After defining the minimum possible vapor
emergency venting to a closed relief system. flowrates that correspond to the overpres-
These relief systems are normally very sure relieving rates defined by the design
conservatively designed. For large, new case, the closed relief system may be sized.
petroleum refineries with capacities around
300,000 barrels/day (bbl/d), this can result Traditional closed systems
in costs of up to 1% of the total refinery A closed pressure-relief system is designed
capital investments (Capex). to safely control overpressurization of pro-
This article presents simple project alter- cess units during emergencies by relieving
natives to traditional closed relief systems the vapors to the flare, which destroys hydro-
[1], based on American Petroleum Institute carbons in a high-temperature flame. Figure
(API) standards, that can present significant 1 shows a typical closed relief system that
investment-cost reductions. collects vapors and liquids in process-unit
headers and separates the liquid in process-
Background unit knockout (KO) drums before sending the
Overpressurization of process units can vapor phase to the main flare header, and fi-
occur due to several reasons as indicated in nally to the flare unit for destruction.
API-521 [2]. Some of those reasons are the In the traditional system, the unit KO drums
following: and the flare KO drums are projected for the
• General power failure maximum vapor and liquid flowrates as de-
• Cooling water failure termined from the analysis of the overpres-
• Instrument failure sure causes and indicated in API-521 [2].
• External fire The KO drums, process units and flare
Normally, general power failure or utility unit, are sized to separate particles in the
failure results in the highest vapor load for a range of 300–600 μm in diameter, and to
closed pressure-relief system, and is there- hold liquid discharge for 20 to 30 minutes as
fore used as the design case. Before sizing a per API-521 item 7.3.2.1.2 for these maxi-
closed relief system, it is advisable to reduce mum flow conditions.
these very high vapor loads by the following: The unit flare headers and the main flare
1. Use high-integrity protection systems header are also sized for these maximum
(HIPS) as recommended in API-521, flowrates. All the headers slope with a mini-
which can result in a significant reduc- mum inclination of 1:500 toward their respec-
tion of the vapor flowrates to the flare. tive KO drums, and are continuously purged
Air coolers
FIGURE 2. This large, horizontal process-unit KO drum requires the air coolers FIGURE 3. A large, horizontal flare-unit KO drum can require a very high piping
to be mounted very high arrangement
using combustion gas or nitrogen This implies the need to install the Figure 2 shows such a situation.
from the upstream end toward the collection headers very high above If it was possible to change the de-
KO drums to avoid ingress of air into grade level, since they must drain sign criteria for the process-unit KO
the system. to the KO drums. Equipment, such drums, the process-unit flare header
as air coolers that must be mounted and the air coolers may be installed
Optimized closed systems above the process unit headers are at a lower level with considerably
The calculation criteria for sizing the consequently also very high. This lower installation costs as a result of
flare KO drums and process-unit KO requires long stretches of process the use of less structural steel and
drums
Chemicalresult in very large
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determined through consideration
of both the maximum vapor release
case as well as the release case with
the maximum amount of liquid.”[2]
Analyzing the above, we can con-
clude the following:
1. Process unit KO drums are not
mandatory.
2. There is no size limit for droplet
carryover of process-unit KO
drums — larger than 600 μm in
diameter is permitted.
3. Process-unit KO drums, if in-
stalled, are provided to collect
FIGURE 4. This sketch depicts a very high pipe rack to support the main flare header liquid.
4. Flare-unit KO drums must be
At the flare unit, the KO drum is cated on the main flare line upstream sized in order to retain droplets
even larger than the process unit of the flare stack or any liquid seal. If larger than 600 μm, as it is up-
drums, and as a result, the main flare there are particular pieces of equip- stream of the flare.
header at the inlet to the vessel is ment or process units within a plant 5. Process-unit KO drums should
very high, as can be seen in Figure 3. that release large amounts of liquid be designed to provide sufficient
Consequently, the main flare header to the flare header, it is desirable to volume for 20–30 min emergency
at the flare-unit battery limits (BL) is have knockout drums inside the bat- liquid release unless the expected
also very high. Since the flare header tery limits to collect these liquids. response time is longer.
in large, new, petroleum refineries is This reduces the sizing requirements Taking into consideration the
normally very long (about 2 km), it for the main flare knockout drum, as above conclusions, the process-unit
means that at the farthest point from well as facilitates product recovery. KO drums can be sized consider-
the flare unit the header is at least “In general, a flare can handle small ing basically only the liquid hold-up
5 m higher than at the flare-unit bat- liquid droplets. However, a knockout time. The flare-unit KO drums, lo-
tery limits. This installation requires a drum is required to separate drop- cated downstream, will collect liquid
lot of structural steel to maintain the lets larger than 300 μm to 600 μm droplets larger than 600 μm in diam-
flare header at the required height, in diameter in order to avoid burn- eter. Therefore, the criteria for siz-
and consequently high investment ing liquid outside the normal flame ing process-unit KO drums can be
costs for the pipe rack are required envelope. If unit knockout drums are changed from separation of droplets
(Figure 4). provided upstream of the main flare greater than 600 μm in diameter to
The criteria used to size the KO knockout facilities, these drums may liquid hold-up.
drums for carryover of droplets that be sized to separate droplets typi- As there is no worry about droplet
are 600 μm in diameter is, according cally greater than 600 μm in diam- carryover, it is possible to consider
to API-521, to eliminate the possibil- eter. The use of unit knockout drums the use of vertical KO drums in the
ity of incomplete combustion with ex- effectively reduces the sizing require- process units instead of a horizontal
cessive smoking, possible “burning ment for the main flare knockout vessel, as they present several ad-
rain,” and even flame-out of the flare. drum and facilities, See 7.3.2.1. vantages when designed only for the
It is clear that the flare unit KO “The liquid hold-up capacity of a collection of liquid as seen below:
drum must be sized according to flare knockout drum is based on • Smaller vessel
this limitation as it is upstream of the consideration of the amount of liquid • Has a smaller footprint and can
flare. However, this limitation is not that can be released during an emer- be installed closer to the pipe
necessary for the process unit ves- gency situation without exceeding rack
sels, as these are upstream of the the maximum level for the intended • The height of the process unit
flare-unit KO drum. In this case, if degree of liquid disengagement. This header is lower, which saves on
large droplets are carried over from hold-up should also consider any structural steel in the pipe rack
the process-unit KO drums, the liquid that can have previously ac- • The arrangement of the process
flare-unit KO drum will retain them cumulated within the drum that was unit header can be simplified, re-
and maintain adequate conditions not pumped out. The hold-up times sulting in a smaller total length
for the flare. vary between users, but the basic • Air coolers, if installed, can be
API-521 item 6.4.3.6.7 presents a requirement is to provide sufficient lowered, reducing process pip-
clear explanation of the design pa- volume for a 20 min to 30 min emer- ing to and from the equipment
rameters for these vessels: gency release. Longer hold-up times • Reduced weight of the pipe rack
“Some flare systems require a flare might be required if it takes longer to and KO drum reduces founda-
knockout drum to separate liquid stop the flow. It is important to realize tion requirements
from gas in the flare system and to as part of the sizing considerations These vertical KO drums can be
hold the maximum amount of liquid that the maximum vapor release designed without internals, and
that can be relieved during an emer- case might not necessarily coincide with the outlet flare nozzle at 180
gency situation. with the maximum liquid. Therefore, deg from the inlet nozzle and at the
“Knockout drums are typically lo- the knockout drum size should be same elevation, as the liquid droplet
carryover is not in question. How-
Vapor outlet ever, the designer should avoid very
large droplet carryover, which results
in vessels with a smaller length-to-
diameter ratio than usual for vertical
Vapor inlet gas-liquid separation vessels. The
reason to remove very large drop-
lets in the process units is not to
overload, with liquid, the new main
header proposal presented below.
Top view Front view As can been seen in API-521 item
6.4.3.6.7 (quoted earlier), process-
unit KO drums are not mandatory.
But, because condensation always
Vapor inlet
occurs in flare headers, it is recom-
FIGURE 5. This flare-unit KO drum is equipped with horizontal inlet connections mended to maintain the process-unit
KO drum unless this header can be
Main flare header drained to the main flare header out-
1:500 1:500 1:500 side the battery limit (OSBL).
This change of design criteria for the
Unit BL Unit BL Unit BL process-unit KO drums will reduce
Flare the vessel volume by up to 80%, re-
stack
1:500 sulting in a considerable investment-
Safety valves Safety valves Safety valves
unit 1 unit 2 unit “n” cost reduction for the inside the bat-
tery limit (ISBL) relief system.
1:500
OSBL cost reductions may be ob-
1:500 1:500
tained for the main flare header by
Flare KO reducing the elevation above grade
Unit KO drum Unit KO drum drum
Unit KO drum level of this very large (diameters
FIGURE 6. This schematic shows a closed pressure-relief system using the alternative suggested here around 80 in.) and long pipe. This
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can be done in two steps — the main-header KO drum). over to the main flare header. Provi-
first of which is to reduce the header This suggestion is based on API- sions must be made to permit iso-
height at the flare unit battery limits. 521 item 7.3.1.3.8, which states: lation of the process-unit KO drums
This may be done by a simple al- “A small drain pot or drip leg can be used for this service from the pro-
teration of the header’s inlet piping necessary at low points in lines that cess units during shutdown.
arrangement to the very large, hori- cannot be sloped continuously to the This installation collects conden-
zontal flare-unit KO drum — which knockout or blowdown drum.” [2] sate formed in the main flare header
can be over 8-m dia. — by changing An alternative to the installation along its extension, reducing the
the vertical inlet connections to hori- of a second main-header KO drum amount carried over to the flare-unit
zontal ones, as indicated in Figure 5. and pumps, which require addi- KO drum and permitting a reduction
In large petroleum refineries, this al- tional investment costs, is to in- in its size.
teration to the inlet connections can tegrate the process units with the Figure 6 shows a schematic de-
result in a reduction of the header main flare header by carefully design of a closed pressure-relief sys-
height at the flare unit battery limits signing the process-unit KO drums tem using the alternatives suggested
by more than 4 m. and headers. in this section.
The second step is to reduce the This alternative is to use some, Further integration of the ISBL and
large increase in height of the main two or three, of the process-unit KO OSBL flare projects can bring gains
flare header from the flare unit to drums to receive condensate from by considering the pressure profile
the farthest process unit because the OSBL main-flare header. In this of the main flare header determined
of the required slope of 1:500. This case, it is important to make sure by the refinery-flare design case. The
may be achieved by installing a ves- that the liquid hold-up capability of pressure at the battery limit of the
sel and pumps along the pathway the selected process-unit KO drums process unit farthest from the flare
to collect condensate, thus dividing considers this additional service unit will be higher than the process
the header into two approximately requirement and that they are ad- unit closest to the flare unit. In the
equal parts. The first part is from equately sized. It is also necessary traditional approach, the maximum
the farthest process-unit drains to to make sure that the response time pressure at the battery limits of all
the header collection vessel, and used to size all the process-unit KO the process units is defined as a
the second is from this vessel to the drums is adequate and that large constant value and is the same for
flare-unit KO drum (an intermediate quantities of liquid will not be carried all process units.
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Taking this into consideration, Cost savings to 20% as compared with the tradi-
this profile permits that the process As can be seen from the above tional project. ■
units nearest to the flare unit can re- discussion focused on petroleum Edited by Dorothy Lozowski
duce the diameter of the ISBL flare refineries, fairly simple project con- References
headers until the maximum permit- siderations can reduce the cost of 1. Mukherjee, S., Pressure-Relief System Design, Chem.
ted back pressure is reached for the construction of a closed pressure- Eng., November 2008, pp.40–45.
most critical pressure-safety valve relief system. It is possible to sig- 2. Pressure-Relieving and Depressuring Systems, API
Standard 521, Fifth Edition, January 2007 and Ad-
(PSV). Normally the most critical PSV nificantly reduce the size of the dendum, May 2008.
is the valve with the lowest set pres- process-unit KO drums, while at
sure. All ISBL headers should be de- the same time save considerable Author
signed for the maximum possible ve- structural steel used for the ISBL Peter Cain is a process con-
sultant for Petrobras in Brazil
locity and values of over 35% of the and OSBL pipe racks. It is also in- (Phone: 55-21-98211-0627;
Mach number should be pursued, dicated that by careful calculations Email: petercain@rocketmail.
but limited to 50%, and approxi- of the closed flare system with in- com). He has more than 40 years
of experience in positions includ-
mately maintained along the ISBL tegration of the ISBL with OSBL, ing process engineer, job leader,
header, by adjusting the diameter to it is possible to reduce the flare technical coordinator, technical
minimize header costs. header diameters. manager, principal partner and
The main flare header should also In comparison with the traditional petroleum, chemical,consultant in the petrochemical,
industrial waste and nuclear
be sized carefully, to minimize the approach, this new manner to proj- fields. For the past 16 years, he has worked with
diameter, by considering the maxi- ect the pressure relief system offers Petrobras on the installation of several industrial units
mum possible process-units bat- a reduction of about 30% in the in areas such as hydrogen generation, hydrocracker
and hydrotreatment units, power generation, cooling-
tery-limit pressures defined by the height of the main flare header and water towers, crude and vacuum distillation and oth-
back pressure of the PSVs. Once around 20% in the height of the unit ers that are parts of modern petroleum refineries. He
more, the diameter of the header flare headers. This together with the is also participating in the basic engineering and FEED
should be adjusted to maintain the much smaller unit KO drums, re- projects of two, new 300,000-bbl/d refineries and has
presented several project revisions to reduce Capex
vapor velocity for the design case, duced header diameters and less and Opex. He has also realized the “clean up” of sev-
which is approximately constant process piping for the lowered air eral areas contaminated with oil as principal partner
from the farthest process unit to coolers, permits an investment cost and founder of a waste treatment company. Cain holds
Mu?llerGmbH_ChemicalEngineering_e_86x123_2015.qxd:MüllerGm
an honors degree in applied physics from Bath Univer-
the flare unit. reduction for the relief system of up sity in England.
NEW When it comes to harsh

operating environments…
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from 15/06 to 19/06/2015
you covered. Hall 3.1 / Stand A75
Roto Hammer is pleased to

offer another NEW product –
Stainless Steel Chain Wheels for:
Ultra-Clean
• Harsh operating environments The new cGMP-drum
• High moisture environments
We also ofer galvanized chain wheels to
offers process reliability by
extend the life of the product in corrosive
environments. validated cleaning procedures
Our entire CL Series line of chain wheels is Details of the Ultra-Clean line:
available in stainless steel. All components – Sanitary welded edging
of the chain wheel are constructed of 316 – Geometry of beads and bottom optimized
stainless steel. for clean discharge of product and for
drum cleaning
Call us today toll free: – Body, base and lid in stainless steel AISI 316
– FDA-approved silicone elastomer
1-800 -477-7686 seal ring, USP Class VI
918-446-3500 • rotohammer.com – Choose from a range of 20 different sizes
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Also available:
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Industrieweg 5 - Phone: +49(0) 7623/ 969-0 - Fax: +49(0) 7623/ 969-69
Chain Storage Bucket with Lockout/Tagout A company of the Müller group
feature - patent pending info@mueller-gmbh.com - www.mueller-gmbh.com

Show Preview
chema 2015 — the 31st
A
is said to be the shortest PCP on the
world forum for the chemi- market — 42% shorter and 57% lighter
cal process industries (CPI) than previous PCP models. A version
— will be held June 15–19 specific for food applications can be
in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Or- used in meat, animal-feed, sugar and
ganized by Dechema e.V. (Frankfurt; beverage processes. The industry-
www.dechema.de), this year’s event specific model (photo) is suitable for
features 11 exhibition halls, which will use in many CPI sectors, including
provide a platform for over 3,600 reg- chemicals, minerals, paper and waste-
istered exhibitors to showcase inno- water. The pump’s patented connect-
vative products and services. Concur- ing system has only three screws,
rently with the exhibition, an extensive and the shaft line can be removed
Burocco Industrial Valves
technical conference will take place, without disconnecting from the pipes.
with numerous panel discussions, lec- EcoMoineau pumps are also said to
tures and special sessions planned. use 10% less energy than previous-
For further details on the event’s generation PCPs due to their light-
agenda, please visit www.achema. weight construction. Hall 8.0, Stand
de. Special focus will be given to the D5 — PCM Europe S.A.S., Levallois
following topics: advances in bio- Perret, France
based processes; innovative process www.pcm.eu
analytical technologies; and industrial
water management. Energy-efficient solutions
Chemical Engineering, in collabora- for VOC, NOx destruction
tion with Vogel Media (Würzburg, This company’s vapor and oxidation
Germany), will be covering Achema systems are suitable in many abatement
2015 in the Achema Daily, a bilin- applications, including the destruction
gual, daily newspaper that is distrib- of volatile organic compounds (VOCs),
uted to event attendees. For readers hazardous air pollutants, oxides of
unable to attend Achema 2015, a nitrogen (NOx) and odorous emis-
digital version of the Daily will also be sions, in a wide range of processes,
available online. such as tank venting, separations,
The following show preview includes mixing, coating and more. Regenera-
PCM Europe
a small selection of the products and tive thermal oxidizers (photo) have an
services that will be on display at especially high destruction capability,
the exhibition. while still remaining energy-efficient,
says the company. Hall 9.1, Stand
Use these control valves in B48 — Anguil Environmental Systems,
cryogenic plants Milwaukee, Wis.
Series 4000 control valves (photo) are www.anguil.com
designed for super-vacuum-insulated
cryogenic plants, and can also be used Lightweight, long-lasting
in pilot or experimental plants. These LED-based luminaires
valves are machined from stainless The Exlux 6402 Series (photo) of LED-
steel, and are rated for temperatures based linear luminaires is intended for
from –196 to 100°C. Internal parts can hazardous-area use. These luminaires
be removed or replaced without the boast a lifespan of up to 100,000
need to remove the valve body from operating hours and weigh around a
the pipeline, simplifying maintenance third less than comparable products.
Anguil Environmental Systems operations. Handwheel functionality is A variety of accessories and mount-
included for emergency operation. Hall ing parts are available, including op-
9.1, Stand E7 — Burocco Industrial tions for pole-mounting. Exlux devices
Valves s.r.l., Pray, Italy can operate at ambient temperatures
www.burocco.it of –30 to 55°C. Two standard models
are available with or without diffusers,
Compact progressive-cavity in lengths of 700 and 1,310 mm. Hall
pumps use less power 11.1, Stand C4 — R. Stahl Schalt-
The EcoMoineau C is a stainless-steel geräte GmbH, Waldenburg, Germany
R. Stahl Schaltgeräte progressive-cavity pump (PCP) that www.stahl.de
This system performs new products for third-generation bio-
non-destructive sealing analysis processes will be studied. Hall 4.0,
The Induction Integrity Verification Sys- Stand F46 — GEA Wiegand GmbH,
tem (I2VS; photo) provides analysis of Ettlingen, Germany
induction-sealing integrity for bottles www.gea-wiegand.com
without causing packaging-line slow-
down. Inspection is performed through This microvalve operates
the closed cap, without physical con- extremely quietly
tact, in an entirely passive, non-de- The Type 6712 Whisper Valve (photo)
structive fashion. The system’s infra- is a microvalve with a height of 26 mm
red technology eliminates the need and a width of 7 mm, making it small DIR Technologies
for conventional inspection techniques enough to fit inside a miniature ap-
that rely on destructive and line-slow- paratus. The low overall weight of the
ing sampling methods. When a prob- Type 6712 is an advantage in dispens-
lem is detected, the operator is notified ing, pipetting and dosing applications.
immediately of the possible source of With its non-impact actuator, the Type
the defect. Hall 3.0, Stand J49 — DIR 6712 can control flowrate very quietly.
Technologies, Haifa, Israel The new actuator is designed to op-
www.dir-technologies.com erate at a sound level below 36 dB,
and the typical metal-to-metal contact Robert Bosch
Use three different media in one noise of a solenoid valve is eliminated.

cycle with this cleaning machine Compared to similar-sized valves, the
The RAN 3080 (photo) is an exterior working pressure range of Type 6712
washing machine that removes product valves is very high, at 3 bars during
residue and other contamination from switching and 8 bars during the flush-
glass containers using a high-pressure ing process of the open valve. Hall
cleaning process. The machine con- 11.1, Stand E62 — Bürkert Fluid Con-
sists of a rotary platform for cleaning trol Systems, Ingelfingen, Germany
and an identical rotary platform for dry- www.burkert.de
ing. Pressurized air flows continuously
over the containers’ closure caps, Polypropylene structured GEA Wiegand
preventing moisture from entering the packing reduces clogging risks

containers. The RAN 3080 features This company’s 2H Massdek struc-
three individual washing stations, and tured packing (photo) is intended as
up to three different media can be used an alternative to random packing in
per cycle. Due to the strict separation packed columns and gas scrubbers.
of the cleaning and drying areas, the Made of polypropylene, these pack-
machine prevents re-contamination of ings operate with very low pressure
the containers after washing. Depend- drops, and maintain the original gas
ing on production requirements, the and liquid distribution, even with large
machine can be equipped with dif- bed heights. When compared to ran-
ferent containment devices. Hall 3.1, dom packings, these structured pack-
Stand C71 — Robert Bosch GmbH, ings have less horizontal surfaces, and
Stuttgart, Germany are characterized by uniform distribu-
www.boschpackaging.com tion of specific surface area throughout
the column’s cross section, minimizing
Modular microfiltration plants for the risk of clogging. Plastic construc-
bioprocessing applications tion gives 2H Massdek packings long- Bürkert Fluid Control Systems
This company’s modular microfiltration term stability and allows them to be re-
plants (photo) apply a low-pressure cycled rather than disposed. Hall 4.0,
crossflow membrane process for sep- Stand F46 — GEA Heat Exchangers,
arating colloidal and suspended par- Bochum, Germany
ticles in the size range of 0.5–10 μm. www.gea-heatexchangers.com
Microfiltration is used in many appli-
cations, including fermentation, broth This valve series has extensive
clarification and biomass clarification optimization potential
and recovery. A recent application of This company’s 290 Series includes a
the modular microfiltration plant is wide range of valves for many fluid ap- GEA Heat Exchangers
an installation at a pilot facility where plications and media types. Stainless-

ASCO Numatics steel and bronze bodies are among Abrasion-resistant ceramic
the available options, and many ac- mixer components
cessories can be added to further This company’s line of ceramic-con-
optimize the product. The motorized taining impellers and other mixing
version (photo) is designed for appli- components (photo) boasts a sig-
cations where electrical actuation is nificant improvement in lifetime due
required. This lightweight valve has a to the inherent resistance of ceramic
low power consumption of just 12 materials to wear, abrasion and cor-
W and proven operation for more rosion. Should a replacement com-
than 1 million cycles, according to the ponent be required, only the actual
company. Also included in the 290 worn-out part needs to be replaced,
Series are proportional valves. Hall and the other parts, such as hubs
9.0, Stand B4 — ASCO Numatics, and blade holders, can remain within
Lucé, France the vessel. Specific areas of applica-
www.asconumatics.eu tion for ceramic mixing components
include pigment production and min-
Linear actuators that monitor ing processes with concentrated sus-
crucial functions pensions, as well as any process that
The PSF (photo) and PSF-M (with demands high product purity with re-
manual override) models of linear ac- spect to traces of metal abrasion. Hall
tuators are designed for industrial ap- 5.0, Stand D42 — Ekato RMT GmbH,
plications, as well as for the heating, Schopfheim, Germany
ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) www.ekato.com
sectors. In the PSF Series, an inte-
grated power spring activates a fail- A test system for determining
safe functionality in the case of power water-vapor transmission rate
loss. The PSF-M model is operated by The W3/330 is a test system for de-
using a handwheel or two local-control termining water-vapor transmission
buttons. Important actuator functions, rate that is suitable for use with flexible
such as thrust, supply voltage, set films, sheets, foils and packaging ma-
value and temperature are monitored. terials. The system’s patented design
PS Automation Additional accessories, including allows for the simultaneous testing of
two-signal relays and heating imple- up to three specimens with indepen-
ments are available. Hall 8.0, Stand dent results. The water-vapor trans-
J36a — PS Automation GmbH, Bad mission rate is obtained by analyzing
Dürkheim, Germany and calculating the electrical signals
www.ps-automation.com that are generated as the water vapor
permeating from the specimen is
These positioners include carried via dry nitrogen over an elec-
integrated stroke-testing trolytic sensor. The system can be
The Trovis Safe Series of positioners easily connected to a maximum of
has been optimized for use with on/off 10 instruments to accomplish up to
valves in safety-instrumented systems, 30 tests at the same time. Hall 4.2,
and is certified to comply with Safety Stand N36 — Labthink Instruments
Integrity Level (SIL) requirements. Par- Co., Jinan, China
tial-stroke testing capabilities are inte- www.labthink.com
grated into the positioners, which allow
for early fault detection in pneumatic Monitor complex reactions with
Ekato RMT
shutoff valves. Partial-stroke testing these liquid analyzers
can be started either manually or au- LiquiSonic analyzers (photo) provide
tomatically. Test data are saved in the monitoring of process parameters,
positioner, and the condensed state such as concentration, and can be in-
indicates the valve status. Other fea- tegrated into many processes, includ-
tures of Trovis Safe positioners include ing gas scrubbing, phase separations,
discrete signal analysis and ready-con- neutralizations, dissolution or blend-
figured parameters for shutoff valves. ings. The instruments can also moni-
Hall 11.1, Stand C75 — Samson AG, tor complex reactions, such as crys-
Frankfurt am Main, Germany tallization (where saturation degree,
SensoTech www.samson.de crystal content and metastable range
can be analyzed) or polymerization. out the risk of sample loss, allowing
Based on sonic-velocity measurement, users to profile reaction kinetics and
the analyzers provide high precision perform design of experiments (DoE) Capp ApS
and stability with minimal maintenance studies earlier. Hall 4.2, Stand P63 —
requirements, says the company. Hall Freeslate, Inc., Sunnyvale, Calif.
11.1, Stand F75 — SensoTech GmbH, www.freeslate.com
Barleben, Germany
www.sensotech.com Fine particle-size separation
for wet or sticky materials
A versatile pipette designed The ScreenX product line consists of
with ergonomics in mind multi-frequency vibrating (MFV) sieves
Bravo pipettes (photo) are ergonomi- that are able to achieve particle-size
cally designed to provide a balanced separation in a size range of 10 mm
weight distribution throughout the pi- down to as fine as 7 μm. With its pat-
pette, which ensures comfort during ented MFV technology, the ScreenX Printing International
extended pipetting periods. Fully au- line is said to be especially suitable for
toclavable, these pipettes have a vol- screening materials that are wet, sticky,
ume range of 0.1 μL to 10 mL. Bravo prone to agglomeration or chemically
pipettes are compatible with all major aggressive. The rectangular, double-
brands of tips, and a built-in over- decker RS 2310 model (photo) has
sized indicator allows for easy volume been used in numerous applications,
monitoring and precise adjustment. including aggregates, mining and
Hall 4.2, Stand B48 — Capp ApS, glass, with capacities as high as 15,000
Odense, Denmark kg/h. Hall 6.0, Stand E81 — Cuccolini
www.capp.dk S.r.l., a Virto Group company, Reggio
Emilia, Italy Freeslate
This tablet-printing machine www.virtogroup.com

provides high resolution
The Agate DSL (photo) is a tablet- Use this TOC analyzer for
printing machine that prints logos ultra-pure water applications
and authentication labels onto a vari- The QuickTOCPurity (photo) is an
ety of solid-dosage products, includ- analyzer customized to measure total
ing soft- and hard-gel capsules and organic carbon (TOC) for pure and
freeze-dried tablets. The machine’s ultra-pure water applications. The
indirect-transfer printing technique sample is introduced via an injection
immobilizes the product under the loop, which prevents environmental
printing head, allowing for very accu- influences on the sample. Inside the Cuccolini
rate linear printing, with a resolution oven, thermal oxidation of the sample
of up to 0.1 mm. Additionally, an op- occurs at 1,200°C, after which the LAR Process
tional camera-inspection system with produced CO2 is measured by a non- Analysers
individual rejection can be integrated dispersive infrared (NDIR) detector. Up

into the machine. Hall 3.1, Stand C98 to six sample streams can be mea-
— Printing International N.V./S.A., sured in one unit, and integrated cali-
Aalter, Belgium bration and validation techniques en-
www.printinginternational.com able operators to check and monitor
the analyzer remotely. Hall 11.1, Stand
This system optimizes up to C87 — LAR Process Analysers AG,
eight reactions simultaneously Berlin, Germany
With the CM Protégé reaction-opti- www.lar.com
mization system (photo), research-
ers working in pharmaceutical and A rupture disc specially designed
fine-chemical development can fully for transport containers
optimize up to eight reactions simul- The Intermodal Container Disc (ICD;
taneously. Each reactor can be inde- photo) is a fully lined rupture disc that
pendently heated (up to 200°C) and provides high-performance overpres-
pressurized (up to 400 psi) while being sure protection with an operating ratio
stirred overhead. The system also proof up to 90% combined with a ±5%
vides fully automated dispensing and burst tolerance. When directly installed Elfab
sampling at reaction conditions with- between industry-standard flange fit-

Freeman Technology tings, the ICD can protect containers sures that the solvent and sample
used for carrying gases and liquids, fluid are thoroughly mixed, resulting
complying with several international in homogeneity of the mixture and
standards relating to the transporta- accurate, repeatable measuring re-
tion of hazardous materials. The disc sults. Well-suited for use with fuel-
can also be used in conjunction with containing free water and other highly
traditional safety-relief valves. Hall contaminated liquids, the S50DP is
9.0, Stand B45 — Elfab Ltd., North equipped with a wear-resistant ce-
Shields, U.K. ramic piston pump, which provides
www.elfab.com a constant flowrate of 25 mL/min at
a pressure range of 0 to 6 bars. An
This powder rheometer can test integrated particle sensor measures
many bulk properties sample fluids with a maximum con-
The FT4 Powder Rheometer (photo) centration of up to 24,000 particles
uses a patented dynamic methodol- per mL. Hall 4.1, Stand A58 — Pamas
ogy, a fully automated shear cell and GmbH, Rutesheim, Germany
several bulk-property tests, including www.pamas.de
density, compressibility and perme-
ability, to quantify powder properties Filtration and extraction systems
in terms of flow and processability. for sensitive production areas
The FT4 delivers data that help sup- The CR Series of extraction and filtra-
port longterm optimization of powder tion systems (photo) is designed for
processes, and accelerates research use in cleanrooms and sensitive pro-
and development efforts, says the duction areas. The CR Series’ trans-
company. Industries where the FT4 is fer-liner system alleviates the need for
applicable include pharmaceuticals, filter replacement inside a cleanroom.
Elaflex Gummi Ehlers
chemicals, toners, foods, coatings, CR extraction systems are also offered
metals, ceramics and cosmetics. Hall with documented function tests and
4.2, Stand L36 — Freeman Technol- classification measurements related
ogy Ltd., Tewkesbury, U.K. to the intended use of the device, for
www.freemantech.co.uk operational qualification. Customers
can also receive instruction on the
These expansion joints require assembly and installation of a system.
no protective sleeve Hall 3.0, Stand D10 — TBH GmbH,
The ERV-BR is a rubber expan- Straubenhardt, Germany
sion joint (photo) constructed from a www.tbh.eu
Pamas highly abrasion-resistant, specialized
rubber compound. Except for cases Laboratory chairs that adapt
of extreme strain (for instance, sharp to repeated movements
and rough-edged matter), there is no The Labster chair was designed to
need to use an additional inner-pro- automatically adapt to the special
tective sleeve with the ERV-BR. Suit- sequences of movements and sit-
able for slurries, sludges, emulsions, ting positions required by laboratory
and dusty or powdery products, workers, providing freedom of move-
these joints are available in sizes from ment, even during sustained and re-
25 to 300 mm, with larger dimensions petitive positions, such as sitting in a
available by request. Hall 8.0, Stand forward incline while pipetting. The
L93 — Elaflex Gummi Ehlers GmbH, ergonomic chair also upholds the
Hamburg, Germany high standards of hygiene demanded
www.elaflex.de for S1 to S3 safety-class laborato-
ries and Class 3 cleanrooms, as its
A programmable particle coun- seamless design prevents dust or
TBH
ter for highly contaminated contaminant collection on the chair
liquids itself. Hall 4.1, Stand J27 — Bimos,
The S50DP online particle counter a brand of Interstuhl Büromöbel
(photo) has an automatic dilution GmbH & Co. KG, Meßstetten-
system that adds a programmable Tieringen, Germany
amount of solvent to a sample. The www.bimos.de ■
system’s inner structural design en- Mary Page Bailey
Gulf Coast
special advertising section
Badger Meter
BETE Fog Nozzle
Carver Pump Company
Charles Ross & Son
Cleaver-Brooks
Collins Instrument
Delta Screens
PHOTO: HTRI
Dipesh Engineering Works

Eastman Chemical Co.
Emerson Process Management
Endress+Hauser
Hayward Flow Control
HTRI
John Zink Hamworthy Combustion
Orion Instruments
RedGuard
Service Radio-Industrial Blind Solutions
Team Industrial Services
TLV Corp.
Wood Group Mustang Engineering
Gulf Coast 2015 Special Advertising Section
Reduce risk for project success and performance

Emerson’s Global Project Services Team collaborates with organizations to deliver
project certainty
I n a landscape of increasing technical complexity and fewer expe-

rienced resources, process industries are challenged to success-
fully execute projects. The impacts of missed deadlines, budget
overruns, and unexpected scheduling hits can quickly spiral a proj-
ect plan out of control.
65% 35%
As the largest project execution organization in the world,
Emerson Process Management helps companies efficiently and ef-
projects around projects under
the world $500M
FAIL FAIL
fectively deliver projects by leveraging knowledge, experience, and
technology. With Emerson’s integrated project execution, users are A project is considered to have failed if the schedule
slips or the project overspends by more than 25%,
implementing projects on time and within budget. the execution time is 50% longer, or there are
severe and continuing operational problems
By engaging Emerson early, companies can invest properly at into the second year of the project.
–Speed Kills, Klaver, Ali.
the beginning of a project to minimize project risk, lower costs, and 2012 Project Manager Magazine
drive faster implementations. Emerson’s proven planning and front

end engineering design (FEED) process helps project teams define
the right scope of work and achieve predictable project results.
Dedicated Emerson experts with extensive, global experience en-
sure accurate estimation upfront, reduce re-work, and mitigate the Without proper planning, too many projects fail, says Emerson
risk of late design changes. By simplifying and standardizing both
software and hardware configurations, Emerson helps eliminate un- ganizations can work with Emerson experts at every project phase
necessary work and protect project schedules. from anywhere in the world.
Working with Emerson experts means not having to reinvent No matter the size or scope of a project, Emerson delivers proj-
the wheel with every project; users get access to the wealth of ect certainty with a solution that streamlines project management
knowledge from a company that has provided process automation from the earliest planning stages through implementation and on-
solutions for over 100 years. With processes and tools based on in- going support, delivering projects on time and within budget.
dustry best practices, using Emerson’s collaborative platforms, or- www.emersonprocess.com/projectcertainty
The single source for emissions control

John Zink Hamworthy Combustion has been leading the industry for more than 80 years
with continuous innovation and proven performance
I nvestment in facilities and experts is

a vital part of John Zink Hamworthy
Combustion’s success. Their research and
company’s researchers continually improve
product performance and develop patented
technologies that drive future solutions.
tion and vapor recovery installations, uti-
lizing technologies recognized as “Best
Demonstrated Technology” and “Maximum
development centers make up the larg- Products include: Achievable Control Technology” by the U.S.
est, most advanced testing complex in the Flare systems: Advanced design and tech- Environmental Protection Agency.
industry, allowing engineers to push inno- nologies set the standard for upstream, Biogas: 700+ biogas flare systems in opera-
vation, gain expertise and measure perfor- downstream and biogas flare industries. tion, including enclosed and elevated land-
mance under real-world conditions. Ph.D. Thermal oxidation: 3,500+ installed sys- fill systems, blower skids and the Ultra Low
engineers use advanced computational tems protect the environment by destroying Emissions (ZULE) flare system, which deliv-
fluid dynamics to solve turbulent fluid flow up to 99.9999% of many hazardous wastes. ers the highest destruction efficiency avail-
problems involving multiple-step chemical Process burners: Conventional low-NOx and able with the lowest emissions.
reactions and non-linear heat transfer. The ultra-low-NOx systems reduce pollution and Marine and offshore: Thousands of instal-
maximize heating efficiency for ethylene lations of gas and oil combustion systems.
and refining industries. Specialized burner systems cover a variety
Boiler burners: Customized solutions ac- of fuels and a range of applications includ-
commodate variable fuels, emissions levels, ing main and auxiliary boilers, thermal heat-
boiler types and flame geometry for indus- ers and flare systems.
trial steam generation, power generation In addition, thousands of profession-
and marine markets. als have attended combustion and pro-
Flare gas recovery: Systems provide near- cess courses at the John Zink Institute. The
zero flaring, decreasing emissions and re- courses, taught by some of the world’s most
covering flare gas to be re-used as fuel or recognized engineers and educators, are
John Zink Hamworthy Combustion feedstock for environmental control with an held at the company’s state-of-the-art
operates the largest, most advanced immediate return on investment. test facility or on-site at customers’ plant
testing complex in the industry Vapor control: 2,000+ vapor combus- locations. www.johnzinkhamworthy.com

Rapid growth for communications and blinds provider

Service Radio-Industrial Blind Solutions committed millions of dollars of additional inventory
to its new Houston location for industrial blinds and communication products
S ervice Radio-Industrial Blind Solutions (IBS) is a premier sup-

plier of two-way radios and industrial blind products to the in-
dustrial maintenance and construction industries. Thanks to its
From its headquarters in Houston, Texas, Service Radio-IBS
operates throughout the Gulf Coast and far beyond
rapid growth, geographic coverage, state-of-the-art technology in-

frastructure, and commitment to service, Service Radio-IBS is able
to respond swiftly to customer service and equipment needs. By
employing the right people, training those people, operating as a
team, and positioning the company strategically throughout the
marketplace, Service Radio-IBS is able to provide an extremely high
level of service.
What sets Service Radio-IBS apart in terms of communication
technology is the fact that the company provides solutions to com-
munications problems within industrial environments, not just the
equipment needed to talk.
Everything the company does is built around the needs of indus-
trial plants and contractors. Time is money to these customers, so
the service component is critical. With the expansion of its invento-
ries and locations, Service Radio-IBS now has close to 11,000 radios
coast to coast. It also has the largest inventory of industrial blinds
in the U.S., representing nearly 50,000 units strategically located in
Louisiana, Los Angeles and Houston. The company also manufac-
tures custom blinds for specific needs.
Utilizing Service Radio-IBS’ products and services allows cus-
tomers to finish projects on time, run their businesses effectively
and save millions, the company says. www.srr-ibs.com
Predictive maintenance brings business benefits

Predictive maintenance for sensors protects against failure, increasing safety, uptime,
reliability and profitability
labor costs and increasing plant uptime, re- These smart sensors constantly deliver
liability and profitability. information on their state, so that probes
Accurate pH measurement is critical for are replaced only if necessary or cleaned
processes such as electrolysis. Memosens and regenerated in the lab where possible.
sensor technology can enhance pH mea- This predictive maintenance even increased
surements and substantially cut costs for safety by reducing the time personnel
chemical companies. One company was spent in the field. It triggered a continuous
having trouble with analog pH measuring improvement process where all measur-
points due to high-impedance connections ing points were gradually retrofitted with
Endress+Hauser’s Liquiline platform that were susceptible to faults and malfunc- WirelessHART technology, allowing the facil-
– the Liquiline M CM42 two-wire tions, resulting in high maintenance ex- ity to centrally analyze all sensor status in-
transmitter for pH/ORP, conductivity or penses and low reliability and availability. formation. www.us.endress.com/
oxygen measurements; Liquiline CM44 By fitting all measuring loops with digi- memosens-predictive-maintenance
multiparameter transmitter; and Liquiline tal Memosens technology, the company
CM44R DIN-rail device – supports all created a common platform for sensor
current and future Memosens sensors data, allowing the measured value to be
converted directly to digital signals inside
T he Memosens digital protocol from

Endress+Hauser enables complete
galvanic isolation of digital sensors and
the sensor. Since the sensors use inductive
coupling, both for the signal transmission
and power supply, this tackled the major
eliminates the cable and transmitters as an problem of pH measurements at its roots. Memosens digital sensors are galvanically
influence on the performance and perceived Memosens sensor electronics can be pre- isolated, thanks to inductive coupling for
health of a sensor. Better data leads to bet- calibrated in the lab under ideal conditions, power and bidirectional data transmission,
ter and more proactive maintenance deci- so a sensor can be exchanged quickly and reducing moisture and corrosion problems
sions to protect against failure, reducing easily on site. associated with pH measurement

Traditional values with innovative pump designs

After 75 years Carver Pump Co. continues to supply pumps destined for some of the
toughest industrial and military applications
signs are routinely being developed to in-
sure optimum performance.
Specifically designed for applications
that require moderate to high discharge
pressures, Carver has engineered a horizon-
tal ring-section multi-stage pump known as
the RS Series.
The RS Series is available in five sizes
for flows ranging up to 1,400 GPM and pres-
sures up to 1,500 psi. Featuring a product-
lubricated radial sleeve bearing as standard
and two matched angular contact bearings
refining, to handle the thrust, a low-pressure suction-
power genera- side mechanical seal suits most require-
tion, general manufac- ments. Depending on the installation or
turing and pulp/paper markets. application, these units are also available in
Boasting a product line known for its a dual bearing/seal arrangement as an al-
rugged construction features, a variety of ternative design using ball bearings for both
Carver RS Series pump horizontal and vertical end-suction pumps radial and thrust loads, plus a balanced me-
for multistage, axial split-case self-priming chanical seal for the discharge end.
O ver three-quarters of a century, Carver

Pump Co. has attained a reputation for
creating value by providing pumps of pre-
and API applications units are suitable for
land-based, mobile and shipboard installa-
tions. With traditional values utilized in all
Carver RS Series pumps are ideally suit-
ed for industrial and process applications
including pressure boost systems, boiler
mium quality with innovative designs for the phases of the operation to produce units feed, reverse osmosis, desalination and
automotive, chemical processing, mining, of premium quality, new and innovative de- mine dewatering. www.carverpump.com
Plastic control valves handle corrosive chemicals

Collins 2-in. valves and actuators are specially designed to handle corrosive fluids – acids,
bleaches, chlorine, pH control – and aggressive environments
C ollins Instrument Company’s line of

economical 2-in. flanged plastic control
valves handle corrosive liquids including
environments that can attack the outside
of the valve and actuator. Collins plastic
control valve packages withstand salty ma-
hydrochloric acid, caustic, sulfuric acid, and rine atmospheres as well as industrial en-
many others. With bodies of either PVDF vironments that are too corrosive for metal
or polypropylene, these highly-responsive valves and actuators.
control valves are specifically designed for Collins actuators incorporate a unique
use with corrosive media and/or corrosive internal locking ring to attach the cylinder
atmospheres. to the yoke. A semicircular groove is ma-
Suitable for applications in numerous in- chined inside the lower edge of the cylin-
dustries, including chemical, petrochemical, der, and a matching groove cut in the yoke.
pulp and paper, and municipal, these valves When the yoke and cylinder are assembled,
are extremely corrosion-resistant, and fea- a flexible polypropylene rod is inserted into
ture fast-acting positioning (stroke rate Plastic valves and actuators from Collins the groove through a slot in the side of the
approximately 1⁄2 in./s). They are available cylinder, securing the two sections together.
with a wide selection of trim sizes, in globe, The integral positioner eliminates the need Along with its corrosion resistance the
angle, and corner configurations. for external linkages which are subject to Collins control valve features a stem pack-
The differential-area piston eliminates corrosion and malfunctioning. Valves may ing arrangement that virtually eliminates
the necessity for auxiliary loading regula- also be furnished without a positioner for the problem of fugitive emissions, thereby
tors. All actuator parts apart from the inte- on/off applications. protecting the environment.
gral positioner are molded of glass-filled, Collins also offers a plastic pneumatic Located on the Texas Gulf Coast in
UV-inhibited polypropylene. Before ship- actuator. The combination of a plastic ac- the town of Angleton, Collins Instrument
ment, the aluminum positioner and a por- tuator and a plastic valve body provides an Company has been serving the chemical
tion of the cylinder are immersed in Dip effective way to handle both corrosive ma- and petrochemical industry for over
Seal to provide atmospheric protection. terials flowing through the valve, and harsh 65 years. www.collinsinst.com

Spray lances and injectors custom engineered

BETE is a one-stop resource for drop-in custom spray lances, quills, injection lances, and
chemical injectors
lessly moves the lance. The mechanism is
flexible in its configuration, allowing alter-
nate electric, pneumatic, or hydraulic power
BETE is a true single-source sources to drive the unit.
supplier for spray nozzles, lances, Just as BETE can provide the lance on
piping spools and small vessels which the spray nozzle is installed, BETE
can also provide the piping section into
which the lance is installed. There are many
through all phases of the process to ensure benefits to single-sourcing all components
F or decades, refineries and chemical

plants have counted on BETE Fog Nozzle
to supply complete fabricated assemblies
all mechanical and performance require-
ments are met.
BETE Fog Nozzle provides custom re-
related to the spray nozzle.
When all the work is done by one facility,
there are no miscommunications between
that can be custom designed starting with tractable lances that allow a nozzle to be contractors about size, orientation, or loca-
the spray nozzle. Beginning with the pro- removed for inspection or service with- tion of the spray ports. The nozzles can be
cess conditions, BETE can recommend the out taking the process offline. A retract- trial fit into the spool piece as part of the
most appropriate nozzle and then incorpo- able lance allows the operator to withdraw manufacturing process before leaving the
rate it into an assembly that meets all me- a nozzle, isolate it from the process, and factory, eliminating last-minute surprises.
chanical design criteria. then remove it completely for servicing – all BETE provides everything customers
From the simplest to the most complex while maintaining the integrity of the pro- need, from the concept stage to on-site de-
requirement, incorporation of client speci- cess boundary. livery, right down to the gaskets, studs, and
fications is routine for BETE – as is design, For smaller pipe sizes, retractable lances nuts. BETE’s Application Engineers can take
fabrication, and inspection to code require- can be inserted and withdrawn manually. a sketch, produce a recommendation and
ments, such as B31.3, B31.1, and Sec VIII-1. For larger sizes, or any size where automa- drawing of a proposed solution with the
All design and fabrication work is performed tion or ease of use is required, BETE offers right custom fabrication designed to meet
at the same facility, with close coordination a robust retraction mechanism that effort- the required application. www.bete.com
Alleviate headaches caused by faulty steam traps

The TrapMan system from TLV uses a combination of ultrasonic and temperature
measurement, backed up by a powerful database, to diagnose steam trap condition
O ne faulty steam trap loses an average

of 11 lb/h (5 kg/h) of steam,
notes steam specialist TLV. Faulty
probe tip on the trap for 15 sec-
onds – then TrapMan collects and
measures the trap’s condition
steam traps can cause a number automatically. It compares the
of headaches for plant manag- measurements against em-
ers. There is the increased cost of pirical test data of over 4,000
maintenance, loss of plant effi- trap selections, and can store
ciency, lowered man- 1,600 individual tests.
ufacturing quality, Data is then uploaded to
and a greater safety TrapManager database soft-
concern for work- ware for detailed analysis
ers. TLV’s TrapMan and reporting. The soft-
alleviates these ware can be configured
pains by being the to a user’s needs, help
first diagnostic instru- predetermine inspection
ment to test a steam trap routes, and track and plan
and make an automatic judg- preventative maintenance.
ment of its operating condition. TrapManager is compatible
TrapMan records both tempera- with Windows XP/Vista/7.
ture and ultrasonic levels to identify dan- The TrapMan is easy to train on,
gerous blocked steam traps, or quantify weighs only 2 lb and is intrinsically
steam loss. This combination improves site safe. The device eliminates variations in
safety, reduces cost, and efficiently allo- testing caused by human error, with its ac-
cates maintenance expense. curacy validated by Lloyd’s Register. Properly-working steam traps save time
The operator needs only to hold the www.tlv.com and money, and increase safety

Optimize steam generation Thermal fluid testing and

through level control analysis will pay off
How to increase boiler efficiency with the Stop issues from becoming problems, with
Aurora magnetic level indicator Eastman’s Total Lifecycle Care program
S team is invaluable in a chemical plant. From

cleaning to fermentation to chemical re-
covery, steam is incredibly versatile, and de-
pending on the plant, large quantities may
be required. The problem is that, when not
properly regulated, steam generation can
be a costly process. Liquid level control
using the Aurora magnetic level indica-
tor from Orion Instruments can increase
boiler efficiency and prevent equipment
damage.
Aurora combines high-visibility mag-
net-based local indication with Eclipse
guided wave radar for accurate monitor-
ing and control. Aurora’s patented design
allows for both of these technologies to
operate totally independently of each other
in a single chamber, providing unparalleled
accuracy and safety with a small spatial
T herminol heat transfer fluids are commonly used in offshore and
onshore oil and gas processing, fractionation, refining, trans-
portation, and recycling operations. Therminol 55, Therminol 59,
footprint. An endless number of possible Therminol 62, Therminol 66 and Therminol VP1 have successfully
configurations and wide range of construc- demonstrated low-cost, reliable, and safe performance in these ap-
tion materials, including exotic alloys, plas- plications for five decades.
tics, and ceramics, make Aurora suitable for When Eastman Therminol heat transfer fluids are used within
nearly every kind of application and process suggested temperature limits in a well-designed and well-main-
media. Furthermore, Aurora’s rugged contained system, they should provide years of excellent service.
struction makes it a safer and more reliable Thermal fluid in a heat transfer/coolant system can operate under
alternative to sight glass gauges. demanding conditions. The fluid can experience degradation that
How can Aurora improve steam genera- results from thermal and possibly oxidative stresses. Frequent fluid
tion specifically? The key to maintaining ef- testing and analysis can:
ficiency within a boiler is keeping the liquid • extend fluid performance life;
water at the correct level. When the water • help protect equipment, saving maintenance costs;
level is too high, the steam might not prop- • help avoid unplanned downtime;
erly separate from the water. This leads to • promote safety/fire prevention; and
reduced boiler efficiency and unwanted • conform to insurance and fire safety recommendations that may
moisture being carried into the process. impact insurance premiums.
When the level is too low, the boiler tubes Regular sampling, testing, and analysis of thermal fluid will also
risk becoming exposed, which can cause satisfy recommended practices published by insurance underwrit-
them to overheat and become damaged. ers and fire prevention associations:
Fortunately, Aurora’s guided wave radar • NFPA 87, Recommended Practice for Fluid Heaters
transmitter allows for real-time level con- • Global Asset Protection Services, GAP.7.1.5
trol, ensuring the boiler operates continu- • FM Global Datasheet 7–99 on Heat Transfer by Organic and
ously at an optimum water level, leading to Synthetic Fluids: “2.5.4.1 Test samples of the heat transfer fluid
reduced energy demands and lower mainte- for impurities and/or degradation at least yearly.”
nance costs. Eastman provides heat transfer fluid testing and analysis to help
In addition to boilers, Aurora can help detect fluid contamination, thermal degradation, moisture, and
improve the operation of chemical reactors, other issues that can help avoid corrosion, heat transfer decreases,
deionization tanks, chemical injection skids start-up issues, blockages, fouling, freezing, pump cavitation, fire,
and much more. and other performance issues.
www.orioninstruments.com Eastman provides complimentary Therminol fluid sample collec-
tion kits. Each kit includes a collection bottle, instructions on safe
Best of both worlds: The Aurora magnetic sampling, and shipping documents to return the sample to one of
level indicator from Orion Instruments Eastman’s in-house ISO-certified laboratories on four continents.
combines state-of-the-art guided-wave There, expert lab technicians analyze each sample for key quality
radar with high-visibility local indication indicators, and send back a detailed report with suggestions for
for a level measurement and control corrective action, if needed. The Eastman technical team will also
solution that is reliable and versatile answer any questions that may arise. www.therminol.com

Delivering predictable results in E&C

Wood Group Mustang’s proven solutions in engineering and construction minimize
expenditures and help to optimize production
All designs are backed by a strong support team and the latest
in project control and 3-D design tools. Wood Group Mustang has
vast experience with the industry’s leading technology licensors
and providers while remaining technology-neutral, allowing the
best solution to be delivered for the project at hand.
Projects are managed from concept through operation.
Personnel have experience in most licensed and proprietary pet-
rochemical, chemical and polymer processes, and regularly assist
clients with the introduction of “first of a kind” technologies. In
addition, they also offer comprehensive technical and economic
studies, technology evaluation, experimental program design, pilot
plant programs, and acquisition of physical and chemical property
data aimed at delivering predictable results.
With a proven track record of providing solutions that minimize
expenditures and optimize production, Wood Group Mustang con-
tributes significantly to its clients’ profitability. As an example, the
Wood Group Mustang provides clients with high-quality, company completed the largest expansion project in a particular cli-
high-value projects on time and within budget ent’s history – on time, within budget and with zero safety incidents
– increasing capacity of the facility by 45%.
W ood Group Mustang is a recognized leader in engineering,

procurement, and construction management for the refining,
chemicals, and polymers industries. The company’s process en-
In the U.S., Wood Group Mustang has offices in Texas, South
Carolina, Colorado, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Louisiana.
They also have numerous global locations to serve their clients.
gineers and project managers average more than 20 years in the These locations all have on-site teams and virtual support, includ-
process industry, with extensive knowledge of all project execution ing the latest in project tools and shared resources of all disciplines.
aspects for the industries they serve. http://marketing.woodgroupmustang.com/fullcircle/
A new twist in butterfly valve design

BYV Series butterfly valves from Hayward Flow Control feature advanced designs and
materials to combine strength, corrosion resistance, and ease of operation
T he revolutionary and patent-pending

BYV Series Butterfly Valve from Hayward
Flow Control incorporates the most ad-
• body and disc in PVC, CPVC and GFPP
materials;
• EPDM, Viton or nitrile liners with over-
Hand lever engineered for enhanced strength and UV performance
vanced thermoplastic design and construc- sized face;

Ergonomic grip and lockouts
tion for butterfly valves in the industry • hydro-dynamic centric disc design for in-
today. Available in multiple thermoplastic creased flow performance; 72-spline interlocking throttle
plate with 19 locking positions
materials from sizes 2 in. through 12 in. • one-piece 316 stainless steel stem with One-piece stem with threaded
a threaded gland for positive stem
retaining gland for positive
(DN50–300), the BYV Series has an ex- stem retention
tremely robust one-piece body construction retention; High visibility disc position and
flow rate indication
while lighter weight than metal valves of • stem bearing and seal retainer for abso- ISO 5211 top flange and stem
drive for ease of actuation
equal size. lute stem positioning and sealing; Molded-in hang tag holes
The revolutionary hand lever features a • ISO 5211 Top flange and stem drive;
72 spline interlock mechanism allowing for • external disc position and flow indication; Robust one-piece valve body
in PVC, CPVP or GFPP
19 stopping positions at every 5 degrees. • all sizes meet ANSI B16.10 / ISO 5752 nar-
Hydro-dynamic disc for
The engineered hand lever material incor- row face-to-face dimensions. increased flow performance
porates a UV inhibitor for enhanced per- Additional options include field-installable Over-sized liner face maximizes
flange surface contact
formance in outdoor applications. The BYV 316 stainless steel lugs, gear operators, Reinforced lug holes standard.
also features reinforced lug holes, and can pneumatic or electric actuators, manu-
Overmolded or field-mounted
316 stainless steel lugs available
be ordered with overmolded 316 stainless al limit switches, stem extensions, 2 in.
steel lugs for dead end service or isola- square operating nut and chain operator for transfer and processing; waste and water
tion needs. The BYV Series is available in gearboxes. treatment; aquatic and animal life support
ANSI 150 and DIN/EN PN10 flange patterns BYV Series butterfly valves are made systems; mining; metal plating and surface
with a pressure rating of 150 psi / 10 bar at in Clemmons, NC, U.S., and backed by finishing; marine; landfill and environmen-
70°F non-shock across all sizes and materi- Hayward’s exclusive two-year warranty. tal infrastructure; and theme parks.
als. Key features and benefits include: Typical applications include chemical www.haywardflowcontrol.com

What you don’t know can cost you

RedGuard explains some myths around blast-resistant buildings, which can be cost-
effective as well as offering excellent protection to people and assets
learned that every application is different. Blast pressure is a key part of the BRB
Fact: Our SafetySuites are permanent BRBs design formula, but duration and response
that can be purchased to meet specific op- level ratings tell the real story of how a BRB
erational needs for years to come. will hold up to a blast. Some manufacturers
Myth #2: BRBs are only for rush construc- claim a 5 or 8 psi rating, but with a high re-
tion jobs. sponse level. This is virtually meaningless,
Though SafetySuites can be erected in as “high response” equates to high dam-
a fraction of the time needed for traditional age, with a high risk of casualties. Interior
buildings, they are a superior, permanent fittings are important, too, since a tough
construction solution. They often cost less steel box, alone, does not make a safe BRB.
Well-designed blast-resistant buildings than traditional buildings, and do a better Fact: Blast pressure ratings, taken alone,
are in no way inferior to traditional job of protecting personnel and resources. can provide a misleading view of safety.
constructions, says RedGuard Fact: BRBs are superior to traditional build- Myth #5: BRB design is still experimental.
ings for all construction projects. While blast engineering is a compara-
A lot of myths still surround the use of

blast-resistant buildings (BRBs) as tra-
ditional building replacements, writes Tim
Myth #3: BRBs lack the comforts and ame-
nities of traditional buildings.
This myth is probably a holdover from
tively new science, RedGuard has worked
with some of the world’s most respected au-
thorities—and then performed blast testing
Taton, North American Sales Manager with the early days, when all of our engineering under realistic conditions. A SafetySuite de-
RedGuard. Understanding these myths resources were devoted to creating the saf- signed for a specific application will protect
could save many thousands of dollars, not est building in the world. personnel during a blast event, at a fraction
to mention lives. Fact: The inside of a SafetySuite is often of the cost and construction time of a tradi-
Myth #1: Modular blast-resistant buildings indistinguishable from that of a traditional tional building.
(BRBs) are only available for lease. building, offering all the same amenities. Fact: SafetySuites are built on proven engi-
When we pioneered the BRB industry, Myth #4: A blast pressure rating is the only neering concepts that have been fully test-
we offered only lease units, but we quickly important factor when specifying a BRB. ed and proven safe. www.redguard.com
Process equipment designed and built with passion

Dipesh Engineering Works is a one-stop-shop for the design, manufacture, and supply of
coded process equipment, plants, skids and systems
P roducing equipment that

delivers the precise pro-
cess conditions necessary for
complex chemical and petro-
chemical unit operations, with
lifetime value, requires more
than process and mechanical
knowledge. It needs passion.
Such passion drives Dipesh
Engineering Works not just to
support its clients’ goals and From small items to large, Dipesh Engineering Works delivers
to meet the relevant process
or engineering standards and Recently a petrochemical Passion has taken Dipesh
specifications, but to go beyond company had to augment its from being a basic manufacture
these, providing the insight and distillation facilities on a “war of wooden vats, back in 1979,
innovative approaches that en- footing”. The Dipesh team was to a versatile and trusted pro-
able the equipment to deliver. in action right from the process cess equipment manufacturer
At every opportunity, engi- design stage. All equipment in India, working in virtually all
neers at Dipesh support clients items were closely integrated, metals, coatings and linings.
in their objectives with passion. so as to save time during erec- The company is already
This approach enables Dipesh tion and pre-piping. The project trusted by many multinationals
equipment to over-perform, for was completed quickly and on and strives to be a globally ac-
long periods and without prob- time, with no compromise in ei- knowledged designer, manufac-
lems. That’s value, the company ther equipment quality or plant turer and long-term partner.
points out. performance. www.dipeshengg.com

Increasing efficiency in the boiler room

Cleaver-Brooks is a complete boiler room solutions provider that helps businesses run
better every day
C leaver-Brooks manufactures the widest

range of Nebraska-engineered, indus-
trial watertube boilers and pioneered the
Natcom burners: Engineered for a specific
application and furnace configuration. The
company’s advanced burner technology
creates efficient solutions based on exhaust
combustion products, thermal and chemi-
cal conditions, corrosion effects, structural
world’s highest-efficiency, ultra-low emis- meets the most stringent NOx, CO, VOC and analysis, seismic calculations and vortex-
sions burners. It offers the most advanced, particulate emissions requirements. induced load analysis.
integrated, boiler controls and burner man- Steam-ready Nebraska D integrated sys- Waste heat boilers: A complete selection of
agement systems, and manufactures the tems: Reduce the design-to-installation pro- waste heat boilers to recover heat from pro-
broadest line of heat recovery systems in cess by as much as 30%. cess and generate steam, reducing the need
the world. Heat recovery steam generators: Global for fired steam generation or recovery heat
Watertube boilers: Designed to achieve provider of packaged, modular, field-as- from solid, liquid or gaseous incinerators.
maximum efficiency, reliability and low sembled heat recovery steam generators Selective catalytic reduction: Design and
emissions. D-Style, A-Style, O-Style and (HRSGs) for specific applications. integrate selective catalytic reduction
Modular configurations are available. Sizes Exhaust solutions: Freestanding stacks for (SCR) into boiler and HRSG systems to re-
range from 10,000– customers with the most demanding appli- duce NOx emissions to single-digit levels.
1,000,000 lb/hr. cations. The engineering team Available in a complete integrated system
or with the burner in a retro-
fit application.
As the pioneer of pack-
aged firetube and watertube
boilers, Cleaver-Brooks is
the only manufacturer in the
world to offer an entirely in-
tegrated boiler room solu-
tion for any size application.
Cleaver-Brooks offers a fully integrated boiler room solution for any size application www.cleaverbrooks.com
Leading in process heat transfer technology

New developments built on a legacy of high-quality research forge the future for heat
transfer research expert HTRI
H eat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) has

been conducting experimental stud-
ies in heat exchanger technology for more
and feature enhancements to several func-
tions, including mechanical design, tube
layout, and interoperability with other
than 50 years. The company has expanded software packages. A new product to be
its renowned applied research program announced in June will provide key perfor-
and state-of-the-art facility in Navasota, mance indicators for shell-and-tube heat
Tex. As part of an investment to meet the transfer equipment and support for single
growing needs of nearly 1,500 corporate and two-phase refinery heat exchangers,
member sites, HTRI now offers computa- reboilers, condensers, and preheaters.
tional fluid dynamics (CFD) testing, crude Xchanger Suite uses an integrated
oil fouling studies, and AHRI Standard 400 graphical environment with modules for:
Certification Testing. • shell-and-tube exchangers; HTRI’s research facility in Navasota, Tex.
HTRI conducts proprietary research for • jacketed-pipe and hairpin exchangers;
companies around the world and provides • plate-and-frame exchangers; and reduce heat exchanger costs using in-
support, training, and specialized contract • plate-fin exchangers; novative cost analysis methods. The other,
services to the processing industry. Data • spiral plate exchangers; I2 Air Fluid Innovation, Inc., offers an eco-
from rigorous computational studies are • fired heaters; friendly approach to preventing bio-fouling
used to rapidly analyze heat exchanger • air coolers and economizers; in heat exchangers, heat pumps, and other
problems and help prolong equipment life. • tube vibration analysis. heat transfer equipment.
The company recently released an up- In addition to marketing its own products, HTRI continues to move forward with an
dated version of the acclaimed software, the company is now the exclusive distribu- eye toward widening the boundaries of ex-
HTRI Xchanger Suite, which is considered tor for two new technologies which expand perimental research. This dedication to ex-
the most advanced available for the design, the options available to HTRI customers. cellence assures customers of a high level
rating, and simulation of heat exchangers. One, Exchanger Optimizer software, helps of operating confidence in equipment de-
New capabilities include method updates processing plants maximize their resources signed with HTRI technology. www.htri.net

Advanced screening and filtration system solutions

Delta Screens supplies precision-made screening solutions for the filtration of process
fluids, and also for retaining catalyst particles and other media within reactors
tions. The company’s screening and filtration products are engi-
neered and manufactured to produce superior results in media
retention, filtration, liquid-solid separation, and sizing and classify-
ing granular materials.
Offering screening solutions for the world’s most demanding en-
vironments, Delta Screens’ expertise brings decades of screen and
filtration experience, advanced manufacturing processes and cutting-
edge technologies to ensure the highest quality screening products.
The company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility produces a
complete line of long-lasting and top-performing screens, engineered
to withstand the rigorous working conditions of industrial operations.
D elta Screens brings

deep experience and
manufacturing excellence to critical
Known globally for manufacturing screens for oil and gas pro-
duction where extreme pressures and temperatures require the
highest quality, Delta Screens is renowned for delivering screens
filtration and media retention applications. that meet strict tolerances. That expertise lends itself to a broad
Headquartered in Houston, Delta Screens provides array of industrial process applications.
custom and standardized screen solutions for a Available in a variety of alloy options, Delta Screens’ products
wide array of process industries, including oil and are tracked from the moment raw materials arrive at the facility to
gas production, refining and petrochemical processing, biofuels, the second a screen is shipped as part of a total quality assurance
chemical processing, and mining and aggregates. and quality control program designed to guarantee the highest pos-
In refining and chemical processing, Delta Screens provides a sible screen performance and longevity.
broad selection of reactor screen internals for numerous applica- The company is ISO 2001 compliant and provides complete QA
documentation, manufacturing traceability reports, and in-process
Delta Screens designed these screening systems for internal inspection reports immediately upon completion.
vessels used in refining and petrochemicals (photo, above) www.deltascreens.com
Verify plant performance to prevent costly breakdowns

Portable ultrasonic flowmeters can help to identify leaks, blockages and other process
defects before they turn into serious incidents, says Badger Meter
P rocess plant managers need to be able to identify problematic

equipment or system issues before they evolve into larger, more
costly failures, notes flow measurement specialist Badger Meter.
Wherever liquids are being handled, irregular flowrates are a
common indication of a leak, blockage, or other defect. In many
cases, flowmeters are installed permanently into pipelines, but this
is not always the case. Where permanent meters are not installed,
or where systems are frequently altered to accommodate changing
processes, it’s important for plant maintenance personnel to have
the flexibility to quickly monitor flow without breaking into the pipe-
line and holding up production.
An ideal solution is to use non-invasive ultrasonic flowmeters,
which are easily clamped onto the outside of pipes without inter-
fering with process flow. Badger Meter’s Dynasonics DXN portable
flowmeter is capable of measuring a wide range of fluid types, from
water to slurries, using ultrasonic sensors set to either Doppler or
transit-time modes. Verifying process flows with a Dynasonics DXN flowmeter (inset)
With an intuitive Windows-based touch-screen interface, techni-
cians can store multiple custom site parameters to allow for quick Badger Meter is based in Milwaukee, Wis. The company manu-
set-up at different monitoring locations. Measurement data can factures a variety of flow instrumentation and control products for
also be logged and saved offline, helping operation personnel to water, air, steam, oil, other liquids, and gases. Operating principles
recognize long-term performance trends. include electromagnetic, positive displacement, turbine, ultrasonic
Using a Dynasonics DXN portable flowmeter can help companies and variable-area flowmeters, plus small control valves. The portfo-
control maintenance and lost production costs by quickly and easily lio also includes brands such as Blancett, Hedland, Preso, Cox, and
identifying irregularities in process flow. Research Control valves. www.badgermeter.com/dxn

Minimizing downtime, maximizing performance

Team Industrial Services offers a wide range of specialized services that allow plant
turnarounds to be conducted quickly, effectively, and above all safely
T urnarounds allow for necessary maintenance and upkeep of

operating units and are needed to maintain safe and efficient
operations. Founded in 1973, Team Industrial Services is the
worldwide leader in minimizing equipment and asset downtime,
providing a number of services to assist with turnarounds and out-
ages including on-line maintenance, inspection and repair. The
company provides critical services to its customers that enable
them to maintain and operate their facilities and equipment in a
safe and productive manner.
Team’s line of specialized industrial services includes bolting/
torquing, concrete repair, emissions control, exchanger services,
field machining, fitness for service, heat treating, hot tap/line stop,
isolation test plugs, leak repair, manufacturing/engineering, me-
chanical integrity, NDE/NDT inspection, project services, specialty
welding, turnkey tank program, valve insertion, and valve repair. Safe working methods are always a priority for Team personnel
Team employs only the best, most qualified technicians to en-
sure each and every job is completed to the highest standards range of industries – with service locations in five continents. The
every time. The company maintains management systems and doc- company recognizes that its global success is ultimately measured
umented work procedures designed to assure compliance with all by its customers’ trust and confidence, which can only be earned
applicable laws, regulations and internal requirements, as well as through continuing outstanding service. Team’s trained and certi-
to facilitate the continuous improvement of its processes, products, fied technicians are available worldwide 24/7/365. From single
and personnel. The highest priority at Team is the safety of employ- part repair to turnarounds and shutdowns – planned or unplanned
ees, clients, and other contractors. The company is committed to – Team has the training, experience, technology and know-how to
safety excellence and strives daily for zero injuries and incidents. deliver high-quality maintenance, inspection, and testing services
Today, Team is rapidly growing its global footprint across a wide anytime, anywhere. www.TeamIndustrialServices.com
A classic mixing tool for the petroleum industry

Ross LPD Static Mixers are rugged, reliable devices for inline mixing at minimal pressure
loss, with applications throughout the oil and gas industry
R oss Low Pressure Drop (LPD) Static Mixers are used throughout
the oil and gas industry for turbulent-flow mixing applications.
These heavy-duty low-maintenance devices serve in continuous op-
erations where high performance and accuracy are required, such
as on-line water determination of crude oil; dosing of various ad-
ditives into gasoline; blending different kinds of fuel oils; gas-gas
blending; and pipeline reactions, among others.
Static mixers have no moving parts and the energy for mixing is
available in the form of pressure. Pressure loss – a natural conse-
quence of static mixing – sometimes becomes the deciding factor
in mixer selection. The LPD Static Mixer remains a classic choice for
many inline blending requirements due to its simple and durable
design capable of uniform mixing with little pressure loss. The mixer
elements consist of semi-elliptical plates carefully positioned in se-
ries to split and rotate the product 90 deg. in alternating clockwise
and counterclockwise directions.
LPD mixers in diameters from 1 in. through 2.5 in. are welded to
a central rod, while larger elements are welded to four outside sup-
port rods for maximum rigidity and stability. Units as large as 48 in.
diameter can be supplied as stand-alone mixer elements or as mod-
ules complete with a mixer housing and injection ports.
Established in 1842, Ross is one of the oldest and largest mixing
equipment companies in the world. Ross mixing, blending, drying
and dispersion equipment is used throughout many industries in
Shown are removable LPD mixing elements supplied with a the manufacture of foods, adhesives, electronics, coatings, cosmet-
retainer ring which goes between two mating flanges to keep ics, pharmaceuticals, plastics and composites.
the mixer from spinning or moving downstream www.staticmixers.com

Product Showcase
When a plugged
drain line would
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the Buyers' Guide
Model A100
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CU Services LLC
Tel: 512-337-7890
725 Parkview Cir,
Elk Grove Vlg, Il 60007
Fax: 512-213-4855
Phone 847-439-2303 Email: dburleson@accessintel.com
rcronfel@cuservices.net
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Software
The Chemical Engineering store offers a variety of
industry topics you will come to rely on.

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Consulting Indeck can custom design
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We stock large inventories of:
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Advertisers Index
Advertiser ............................. Page number GEA Wiegand GmbH ..............................13I PNC Financial Services Group ..............40a
Phone number Reader Service # 49 7243 705-0 1-855-762-2361
Abbe, Paul O........................................ 23D adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-27 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-46
1-855-789-9827 GF Piping Systems Ltd............................29 PompeTravaini ........................................12I
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-01 41 52 631 11 11 39.0331.889000
AUMA Riester GmbH & Co. KG ..............43 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-24 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-47
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-02 H.C. Starck ............................................. 70 Quest Integrity ........................................44
Badger Meter, Inc. ................................ 12D 1-216-392-5077 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-48
1-877-243-1010 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-30 RedGuard ........................ FOURTH COVER
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-03 Hayward Flow Control .......................... 13D 1-855-REDGUARD
BASF ....................................................... 21 1-888-429-4635 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-49
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-04 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-29 Rembe GmbH.........................................44
Belimed GmbH ....................................... 81 Honeywell International .......................... 15 49 2961 50714
41 71 64 48 500 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-32 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-50
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-05 HTRI ........................................................34 Ross, Charles & Son Company .............. 14
Berndorf Band GmbH ............................ 23I adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-31 1-800-243-ROSS
43 2672 800-0 Industrial Blind Solutions ......................... 16 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-51
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-06 1-800-255-3349 Roto Hammer Industries Inc. ..................83
BETE Fog Nozzle, Inc. ............................35 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-33 1-800-477-7686
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-07 John Zink Company LLC...........................9 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-52
Beumer Group GmbH & Co. KG ............. 11 1-918-234-1800 Sandvik Process Systems....................... 57
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-08 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-34 49 711 5105-0
Bluebeam Software, Inc. ........................25 Kral AG ...................................................46 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-53
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-09 43/5577/86644-0 Silverson Machines, Inc. .........................49
Bronkhorst - High Tech B.V. .............. 40I-6 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-35 1-413-525-4825
adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-10 KSB AG .............................................. 40I-5 adlinks.chemengonline.com/56197-28
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May 2015; VOL. 122; NO. 5
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Economic Indicators
2013 2014 2015
Download the CEPCI two weeks sooner at www.chemengonline.com/pci
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT COST INDEX (CEPCI)

625
(1957-59 = 100) Feb. '15 Jan. '15 Feb. '14 Annual Index:
Prelim. Final Final
2007 = 525.4 600
CE Index ______________________________________________ 570.6 573.1 574.9
Equipment ____________________________________________ 691.8 694.8 697.6 2008 = 575.4
Heat exchangers & tanks _________________________________ 631.4 636.4 637.2
2009 = 521.9 575
Process machinery _____________________________________ 673.8 663.5 663.9
Pipe, valves & fittings ____________________________________ 863.2 868.9 881.9 2010 = 550.8
Process instruments ____________________________________ 404.0 407.2 412.9 2011 = 585.7 550
Pumps & compressors ___________________________________ 950.9 948.7 931.7
Electrical equipment ____________________________________ 513.8 513.9 515.5 2012 = 584.6
Structural supports & misc ________________________________ 748.0 758.0 759.6 2013 = 567.3 525
Construction labor _______________________________________ 319.1 321.5 321.5
Buildings _____________________________________________ 545.4 546.9 541.4 2014 = 576.1
Engineering & supervision _________________________________ 320.1 320.1 322.8 500
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Starting with the April 2007 Final numbers, several of the data series for labor and compressors have been converted to
accommodate series IDs that were discontinued by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
CURRENT BUSINESS INDICATORS LATEST PREVIOUS YEAR AGO

CPI output index (2000 = 100) ____________________________________________________ Mar.'15 = 91.8 Feb.'15 = 92.4 Jan.'15 = 92.7 Mar.'14 = 90.0
CPI value of output, $ billions _____________________________________________________ Feb.'15 = 1,887.9 Jan.'15 = 1,834.4 Dec.'14 = 1,924.3 Feb.'14 = 2,154.1
CPI operating rate, % __________________________________________________________ Mar.'15 = 76.8 Feb.'15 = 77.3 Jan.'15 = 77.6 Mar.'14 = 76.0
Producer prices, industrial chemicals (1982 = 100) ____________________________________ Mar.'15 = 245.4 Feb.'15 = 241.8 Jan.'15 = 246.4 Mar.'14 = 291.1
Industrial Production in Manufacturing (2002=100)* ____________________________________ Mar.'15 = 101.2 Feb.'15 = 101.1 Jan.'15 = 101.3 Mar.'14 = 98.8
Hourly earnings index, chemical & allied products (1992 = 100) ____________________________ Mar.'15 = 157.4 Feb.'15 = 157.5 Jan.'15 = 157.6 Mar.'14 = 156.7
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100) ______________________________ Mar.'15 = 107.3 Feb.'15 = 107.8 Jan.'15 = 108.2 Mar.'14 = 106.7
CPI OUTPUT INDEX (2000 = 100) CPI OUTPUT VALUE ($ BILLIONS) CPI OPERATING RATE (%)
100 2300 80
95 2200 78
90 2100 76
85 2000 74
80 1900 72
75 1800 70
J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
*Due to discontinuance, the Index of Industrial Activity has been replaced by the Industrial Production in Manufacturing index from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board.
Current business indicators provided by Global Insight, Inc., Lexington, Mass.
CURRENT TRENDS
EXCLUSIVE AD SPACE AVAILABLE!
Feature your marketing message T he preliminary value for the February
2015 CE Plant Cost Index (CEPCI;
top; most recent available) declined
The Economic Indicators department includes current industry from the previous month’s value and
trends and the Plant Cost Index. As one of the most valued sections now stands at 0.7% lower than the cor-
in the magazine, your ad is guaranteed to reach decision makers responding value from a year ago. The
each month. Contact your sales representative to secure this spot. Equipment, Construction Labor and
Buildings subindices dipped slightly from
JASON BULLOCK TERRY DAVIS January, while the Engineering & Super-
jbullock@chemengonline.com tdavis@chemengonline.com vision subindex held steady. Meanwhile,
the Current Business Indicators (middle)
DAN GENTILE PETRA TRAUTES showed an increase in CPI value of
dgentile@chemengonline.com ptrautes@accessintel.com chemengonline.com/mediakit output for February, but the level is still
below that of one year ago.

2015 CHEM SHOW
NOV 17-19 / JAVITS CENTER / NYC
U S H E R I N G I N T H E N E X T 1 0 0 Y E A R S O F P R O C E S S I N N OVAT I O N
Since 1915, The Chem Show is where producers of chemicals, pharmaceuticals,

food and other processed products find the latest equipment and solutions
for their operations. Join us in New York City as we embark on a
new century of innovation in process technology.
B E C O M E A N E X H I B I TO R
O R LE A R N M O R E :
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M E D I A PA R T N E R
203-221-9232
E N D O R S E D BY


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May

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