Chemical Engineering 2022-08

Capturing green
opportunities
Carbon capture and storage or utilization (CCS/CCU) is a
key strategy that businesses can adopt to reduce their CO2
emissions. By selecting the right technologies, pressing climate
change mitigation targets can be met while benefitting from new
revenue streams.
Sulzer Chemtech offers cost-effective solutions for solvent-based
CO² absorption, which maximize the amount of CO2 captured
and minimize the energy consumption. To successfully overcome
technical and economic challenges of this capture application, we
specifically developed the structured packing MellapakCC™. This
packing is currently applied in several leading CCS/CCU facilities
worldwide, delivering considerable process advantages.
By partnering with Sulzer Chemtech – a mass transfer specialist
with extensive experience in separation technology for carbon
capture – businesses can implement tailored solutions that
maximize their return on investment (ROI). With highly effective
CCS/CCU facilities, decarbonization becomes an undertaking that
can enhance sustainability and competitiveness at the same time.
August
2022
www.chemengonline.com
Centrifuge
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August 2022 Volume 129 | no. 8
Cover Story
26 Scrolling or Pushing? Choosing the Right Type of
Filtration Centrifuge Understanding the working principles of
scrolling and pushing centrifuges can help when deciding which type
to use. Feed properties and other factors also play a role
.In the News

5 Chementator
Hybrid membrane separates CO2 with both high
permeability and selectivity; Biodegradable, corn-
based adhesive is non-toxic, with tunable properties; A
more sensitive way to differentiate chiral compounds;
Commercial debut for sand-based energy storage;
Upcycling of waste ABS into 3D-printable material with
enhanced properties; and more
12 Business News
Johnson Matthey to build U.K. gigafactory for H2 fuel-
cell components; Huntsman starts up MDI splitter in Geismar;
BASF doubles its polymer dispersions capacity in Dahej, India; Ineos
significantly expanding PAO production; and more 26
14 Newsfront Achieving Balance in Combustion

New hardware combined with monitoring technologies can help optimize
combustion now and in the carbon-conscious future
.Technical and Practical

5
23 Facts at your Fingertips Heat-Transfer Fluid
System Venting This one-page reference provides information on
addressing residual water and fluid degradation products in heat-transfer
fluid systems
24 Tower Doctor X-raying the Patient: Gamma

31
Scanning Vapor Cross-Flow Channeling
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers
31 Feature Report Ethernet-APL: The Future of Field

Connectivity Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (APL) provides
connectivity between field-generated data and enterprise systems.
Presented here is information on the design and operation of this rapidly 38
expanding technology
38 Engineering Practice Magnetic-Drive Positive-

Displacement Pumps for Chemical Processing
Applications Advances in sliding-vane and internal-gear seal-less
pump technologies can provide many benefits when compared to centrifugal
pumps or more well-known positive-displacement pump options
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM AUGUST 2022 1

42 Environmental Manager Steps to Improve Safety
Challenges in Hazardous Environments Compliance
with industry- and machinery-specific safety standards and classifications
is essential to make the safest possible environment for plant personnel,
especially those working in potentially hazardous conditions
.Equipment and Services

18 Focus on Pipes, Tubes and Fittings
A portable pipe-beveling tool prepares pipe for welding; Pipeline metal
detector facilitates hygiene standards; Tubing products for biotechnology
42 applications; A new tubing manufacturing plant starts up; Patented pipe
technology for H2 distribution; and more
47 Show Preview Achema 2022

Achema 2022, the global forum for the chemical engineering and process
industries, will be held August 22–26 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
18 .Departments
4 Editor’s Page Driving environmental progress
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the extent of EPA’s regulatory
authority poses some concern regarding environmental progress. Other
factors, however, are strong driving forces for ESG and sustainability goals
22 Chem Chronicles ‘Eye it before you buy it’: The

47 invention of cellophane A historical look at the invention and
development of transparent thin polymer films
72 Economic Indicators
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59 Hot Products
61 Europe Special Advertising Section
70 Classified Ads
70 Subscription and Sales Representative Information
71 Ad Index
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articles, Latest News, New Products, Webinars, Test
Cover photo: your Knowledge Quizzes, Bookshelf and more
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AG; The image
shows a three-stage Coming in September
Kraus-Maffei Pusher
Centrifuge from Look for: Feature Reports on Emissions Control ; and Temperature
Andritz Measurement and Control; A Focus on Compressors, Fans and Blowers; A Facts
Cover design: at your Fingertips on Gas Dispersion; a Newsfront on Modeling and
Tara Bekman Simulation Software; New Products; and much more
2 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM AUGUST 2022

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Editor s Page
EDITORS DANIELLE ZABORSKI
Driving environmental progress
T
List Sales: Merit Direct, (914) 368-1090
DOROTHY LOZOWSKI
Editorial Director
dzaborski@meritdirect.com he recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court limiting the au-
dlozowski@chemengonline.com ART & DESIGN thority of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to
GERALD ONDREY (FRANKFURT) TARA BEKMAN regulate emissions from power plants has many concerned
Senior Editor Graphic Designer
gondrey@chemengonline.com tzaino@accessintel.com about the effects the decision will have on efforts to address
PRODUCTION
climate change and other environmental concerns. The majority opin-
SCOTT JENKINS
Senior Editor
GEORGE SEVERINE
ion of the Court deems that the EPA does not have the authority for a
sjenkins@chemengonline.com Production Manager broad cap on carbon dioxide emissions, but rather that only the U.S.
gseverine@accessintel.com
MARY PAGE BAILEY Congress itself has such authority. (For more on the specifics of the
Senior Associate Editor INFORMATION
mbailey@chemengonline.com SERVICES
Supreme Court ruling, see Ref. 1)
GROUP PUBLISHER CHARLES SANDS
While the case before the Supreme Court was specifically about
Director of Digital Development regulating power plants, concerns are that the ruling may be setting
MATTHEW GRANT csands@accessintel.com
Vice President and Group Publisher, the groundwork as a precedent for how much authority the EPA or
Energy & Engineering Group
mattg@powermag.com
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
other federal agencies have over a spectrum of environmental regula-
AUDIENCE
SUZANNE A. SHELLEY
sshelley@chemengonline.com
tions. For example, this fall in Sackett v. EPA the Court is scheduled to
DEVELOPMENT hear arguments involving how to determine if wetlands are part of the
PAUL S. GRAD (AUSTRALIA)
JOHN ROCKWELL pgrad@chemengonline.com “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act.
Managing Director, Events & Marketing
jrockwell@accessintel.com
TETSUO SATOH (JAPAN)
JENNIFER McPHAIL
tsatoh@chemengonline.com Impact on environmental progress
Marketing Manager JOY LEPREE (NEW JERSEY) Regulations have played an important role in driving certain industrial
jmcphail@accessintel.com jlepree@chemengonline.com practices to meet regulatory requirements. However, the level of impact
GEORGE SEVERINE that limiting the regulatory authority of federal agencies will have on
Fulfillment Manager
gseverine@accessintel.com climate-change and other environmental initiatives is uncertain, as there
are other forces driving environmental progress.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
A strong driving force toward environmental, social and governance
JOHN CARSON JOHN HOLLMANN (ESG) and sustainability goals is the increased importance placed on
Jenike & Johanson, Inc. Validation Estimating LLC these goals by investors. A recent report by McKinsey & Company
DAVID DICKEY HENRY KISTER [2] says that leading investors consider ESG and sustainability to be
MixTech, Inc. Fluor Corp.
integral parts of their portfolio strategies, and that they have become
top priorities for executives in oil-and-gas and chemical companies.
HEADQUARTERS
40 Wall Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10005, U.S.
McKinsey’s research shows that “90% of the top 20 global chemical
Tel: 212-621-4900
Fax: 212-621-4694
companies have public commitments to reach net-zero emissions,
near-zero emissions or carbon neutrality by 2050.”
EUROPEAN EDITORIAL OFFICES
Zeilweg 44, D-60439 Frankfurt am Main, Germany An example of this commitment is a recent announcement by Shell
Tel: 49-69-9573-8296
Fax: 49-69-5700-2484 Chemicals Park Moerdijk, a subsidiary of Shell plc (www.shell.com).
CIRCULATION REQUESTS:
The company plans to invest “billions” in its chemical complex over
Tel: 800-777-5006 the next ten years to reach net-zero emissions and produce more
Fax: 301-309-3847
Chemical Engineering, 9211 Corporate Blvd., sustainable chemicals. In the announcement, the company cites that
4th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850
email: clientservices@accessintel.com it is addressing the changing needs of its customers who want more
ADVERTISING REQUESTS: SEE P. 69
low-carbon products and products made using recycled materials.
The driving force is growing customer demand.
CONTENT LICENSING
For all content licensing, permissions, reprints, or e-prints, please contact Numerous examples like this appear in Chemical Engineering’s latest
Wright’s Media at accessintel@wrightsmedia.com or call (877) 652-5295
business and technology news, showing an increased focus on de-
carbonization, plastics recycling, storage solutions to better implement
ACCESS INTELLIGENCE, LLC renewable energy resources and many more sustainable practices.
DON PAZOUR JONATHAN RAY Investment management companies are also focused on ESG and
Chief Executive Officer Vice President, Digital
sustainability. For example, BlackRock’s (www.blackrock.com) chair-
HEATHER FARLEY
Chief Operating Officer
MICHAEL KRAUS
Vice President,
man and CEO, Larry Fink, addressed these topics in his letter to CEOs
Production, Digital Media & Design this year [3], and wrote, “I believe the decarbonizing of the global
JOHN B. SUTTON economy is going to create the greatest investment
Executive Vice President TINA GARRITY
& Chief Financial Officer Vice President of Finance opportunity of our lifetime. It will also leave behind
MACY L. FECTO DANIEL J. MEYER the companies that don’t adapt, regardless of what
Chief People Officer Vice President,
Corporate Controller industry they are in.” ■
JENNIFER SCHWARTZ
Division President, Energy & Engineering,
Dorothy Lozowski, Editorial Director
Healthcare and Aerospace
9211 Corporate Blvd., 4th Floor 1. S upreme Court Limits EPA Authority to Regulate Power Plant Emissions,
Rockville, MD 20850-3240 www.powermag.com, June 30, 2022.
ROB PACIOREK www.accessintel.com
Senior Vice President, 2. S ustainability value in chemicals: Market tailwinds versus ESG scores,
Chief Information Officer
www.mckinsey.com, July 11, 2022.
3. T he Power of Capitalism, www.blackrock.com, 2022.
Chementator
Hybrid membrane separates CO2 with both high Edited by:
Gerald Ondrey
permeability and selectivity
C
onventional gas-separation Sintef BIOMETHANE
membranes normally ex- Different Types of Carbon-Capture Last month, NextChem, a
hibit a trade-off between Polymer Membranes subsidiary of Maire Tecni-
selectivity and permeability mont S.p.A. (Rome, Italy;
— a practical limitation referred to www.mairetecnimont.com)
as the Robeson upper bound. As a Self-standing was awarded a contract by
result, membranes designed to se- ENGIE subsidiary Storengy
lectively remove relatively low con- (Bois-Colombes Cedex,
centrations of carbon dioxide from France; www.storengy.com)
to perform an advanced
natural gas or fluegas are inherently Supported basic-engineering study
hampered by a low CO2 flux through for a plant that will produce
the membrane. second-generation biometh-
To overcome this constraint, re- ane from the pyrogasifica-
searchers from Sintef (Trondheim, tion of waste wood. Once
Norway; www.sintef.no), in collabo- Integrated the project has reached the
ration with professor Richard Spon- final investment decision
tak at North Carolina State University (not drawn to scale) targeted by the end of 2022
(Raleigh; www.ncsu.edu) and pro- lead author of the study. and is granted the related
fessor Liyuan Deng at the Norwegian Uni- In laboratory-scale tests, performed using permitting, NextChem, in as-
sociation with another Maire
versity of Science and Technology (Trond- membranes with ~20 cm2 area and gas
Tecnimont Group subsidiary,
heim; www.ntou.no), have developed flowrates of ~30 L/h (fully humidified 10/90 will act as an engineering,
membranes that integrate an ultrathin, CO2/N2 feed typical of fluegas), CO2 per- procurement and construc-
highly CO2-selective surface layer with a meabilities and CO2/N2 selectivities of up tion (EPC) contractor for the
highly permeable, but low selectivity, poly- to ~1,000 Barrer and ~1,000, respectively, methanation package of the
mer membrane in a concept referred to as have been measured. The membranes project, which is set to be
hybrid-integrated (HI) membrane technol- have also been studied using mixtures of implemented in Le Havre,
ogy (diagram). As described in a recent ar- CH4 and CO2 (typical of biogas plants), France as part of the Sala-
ticle in Science, the surface layer consists achieving selectivities of up to ~500. mander project. The plant
of surface-grown polyamines that concen- “The next stage is the stepwise upscal- will produce 11,000 ton/yr of
equivalent biomethane.
trate CO2 from the target gas stream. The ing of membrane area,” says Sandru.
NextChem will be respon-
CO2 is quickly transported through the Membranes with 500-cm2 area will be fab- sible for the engineering and
dense polymer membrane and the under- ricated in the ongoing CO2-Hybrid project cost estimating for the syn-
lying macroporous support. “The resulting and tested using real fluegas in static tests, thesis gas (syngas) purifica-
membranes retain high CO2 permeability followed by field testing in a coal-/natural tion, methanation unit and
with CO2 selectivities increased by more gas-fired Waste2Energy pilot facility. The methane upgrading of the
than 150-fold over the parent membranes,” goal is to achieve a 90% CO2 capture ef- plant. Comessa (Strasbourg,
says Marius Sandru, Sintef researcher and ficiency with 95% CO2 purity. France; www.comessa.
com) will be responsible for
the design and supply of
Biodegradable corn-based adhesive is the chemical reactor. The
non-toxic, with tunable properties technology to be used in the
A
plant has already been suc-
new class of adhesives being de- certified as GRAS (generally recognized as cessfully applied to the Gaya
veloped by the startup gluECO Ad- safe) by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin- pilot plant near Lyon, owned
hesives LLC (Ashburnham, Mass.; istration. Also, the company says the zein by ENGIE, which validated
www.glueco-adhesives.com) is adhesives can easily be separated from the the feasibility to produce bio-
based on corn proteins and has a host of slurry of recycled paper that is intended for methane. This will be the first
environmentally friendly properties, such as the production of new paper. commercial project in the
biodegradability and the ability to be eas- The properties of the adhesives are tun- world of its kind to inject into
ily removed in paper repulping processes. able, which means the end products can the grid methane produced
through pyrogasification of
The patent-pending technology behind the be adjusted for strength, flexibility and
waste wood.
adhesives was invented in the laboratory performance in extreme temperature, as
of Jon Wilker, a professor and researcher well as moisture and high-vibration condi- P-RECOVERY
at Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.; tions, gluECO says. As further advantages,
Kemira Oyj (Helsinki, Fin-
www.purdue.edu). It has been licensed for gluECO points out that the adhesives have
land; www.kemira.com) and
commercial development by gluECO. antimicrobial properties and can be pro- Veolia Wasser Deutschland
The adhesives are based on zein, a produced with a smaller carbon footprint than GmbH (Leipzig, Germany;
tein extracted from a byproduct of corn petroleum-derived alternatives. www.veolia.de) recently an-
milling. The zein-based adhesives are The company is planning to launch the
non-toxic, biodegradable, and have been adhesives in the fourth quarter of 2022. (Continues on p. 6)

nounced their collabo- A more-sensitive way to
differentiate chiral compounds
C
ration in the full-scale
technology assessment ircular dichroism (CD) is the estab- antiomers can also be distinguished from
of the new phosphorus lished method for distinguishing each other using helical X-ray light. At the
recovery technology
between enantiomers — the optical cSAXS beamline of SLS, they demonstrated
ViviMag. ViviMag is a
patented technology to
isomers of molecules that are mirror this on a sample of the chiral metal complex
recover phosphorus and images of each other. In this approach, cir- iron-tris-bipyridine in powdered form (dia-
other valuable resources, cularly polarized light is passed through the gram). The signal they obtained was several
such as iron, from sew- sample and is absorbed differently by the en- orders of magnitude stronger than what can
age sludge. The technol- antiomers. Although CD is widely used in ana- be achieved with CD. HD can also be used in
ogy has been developed lytical chemistry, in biochemical research, and liquid solutions and thus fulfills the prerequi-
by Wetsus (Leeuwarden, in the pharmaceutical and food industries, the site for applications in chemical analysis. The
the Netherlands; www. signals are very weak: the light absorption of ability to distinguish enantiomers is also an
wetus.nl), the European two enantiomers differs by just under 0.1%. important tool when separating them.
center of excellence for
There are various strategies for amplifying the The researchers were able to create light
sustainable water tech-
nology, and Technical
signals, but these are only suitable if the sam- with the desired properties with spiral-zone
University Delft (www. ple is available in the gas phase. Most studies plates, diffractive X-ray lenses through which
tudelft.nl), in coopera- in chemistry and biochemistry, however, are the X-rays pass before hitting the sample.
tion with Kemira, several carried out in liquid solutions. “With the spiral zone plates, we were able,
other private companies Now, Swiss researchers from the Paul in a very elegant way, to give our X-ray light
and municipal water Scherrer Institute (PSI; Villigen; www.psi. the desired shape and thus an orbital an-
companies. ch), EPF Lausanne (www.epfl.ch) and the gular momentum. The beams we create in
Kemira Oyj and Veolia University of Geneva (www.unige.ch) have this way are also referred to as optical vorti-
Wasser Deutschland will demonstrated a new method, which was ces,” says PSI researcher Benedikt Rösner,
conduct the first ViviMag
reported in a recent issue of Nature Pho- who designed and fabricated the spiral zone
industrial pilot trial at the
wastewater treatment
tonics. The new method exploits so-called plates for this experiment.
plant of Schönebeck, helical dichroism (HD), which re-
Germany, during the sec- lies on the shape (helical) of the
radiation’s wavefront, rather than
ction
ond half of 2022.
its polarization. reflemetry
FLUOROELASTOMERS At the Swiss Light Source (SLS) sym
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, at PSI, the researchers were able,
Belgium) recently intro- for the first time, to show that en-
Paul Scherrer Institute
duced a new portfolio of
high-performance Tec-
Commercial debut for sand-based energy storage
L
noflon peroxide curable
fluoroelastomers (FKM) ast month, operation began at Polar Night Energy
produced without the Polar Night Energy Oy’s (Tam-
use of fluorosurfactants
pere, Finland; www.polarnight
— a type of per- and poly-
fluoroalkyl substances
energy.com) first commercial
sand-based thermal-energy storage Energy Consumption
(PFAS) used as process
aids. The proprietary new system. The thermal storage system,
technology, called NFS which is located at the Vatajankoski
Electricity
(non-fluorosurfactant), power plant, is now producing low-
marks a breakthrough in emission district heating to the city of
FKM polymerization and Kankaanpää in Western Finland. The
aligns with the company’s unit has a heating power of 100 kW and Excess energy Heat
sustainability roadmap an energy-storage capacity of 8 MWh.
Solvay One Planet as Sol- Heat Storage
The storage system is an insulated
vay is setting the direction
for the fluoropolymers in-
steel tank (4-m wide and 7-m tall) that con- ing cold air through the piping, and then the
dustry to a more sustain- tains 100 tons of sand, and a network of heated air can be used to convert water to
able economy. pipes. Additional equipment, such as au- process steam or to heat district-heating
Last month, Solvay tomation components, valves and fan and water in an air-to-water heat exchanger.
started the mass sam- a heat exchanger (or steam generator), are The use of sand is said to be an effec-
pling of the new Tecno- located outside. The operating principle is tive solution for reducing CO2 emissions.
flon peroxide curable very simple: electricity is converted to heat According to a 2020 report by Mission In-
grades to allow the mar- by an electrical-resistance heater that heats novation (http://mission-innovation.net),
ket to test and adopt the air in a closed-loop piping system. When sand-based high-temperature energy stor-
NFS technology before
the hot air is circulated through the storage could save more than 100 million met-
the global roll-out of the
new portfolio. The com-
age, the heat is transferred to the sand. ric tons of CO2 equivalents (CO2e). Saved
pany aims to transition The sand can be heated to temperatures emissions would be around 3% of the cur-
Tecnoflon FKM to NFS by of 500–600°C, and stored for long periods rent emissions of the whole E.U., the com-
of time. The storage is unloaded by blow- pany says.
(Continues on p. 8)
Adapt-ability
in mixing
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the first quarter of 2024. Upcycling of waste ABS into
Peroxide-curable FKM rub-
bers are key to many critical
3D-printable material with enhanced properties
I
performance applications in
n an advancement toward circularity for covalent bonds that can undergo ther-
industries from automotive
and aerospace, oil-and-
commodity plastics, researchers at the mally activated bond-exchange reactions.
gas, chemical processing, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL; They exhibit mechanical robustness and
to electronics and health- Oak Ridge, Tenn.; www.ornl.gov) have chemical resistance because of their co-
care. Typical components developed a method for upcycling the valent network formation, but vitrimers can
include seals, gaskets, O- commodity thermoplastic acrylonitrile bu- also be malleable by reconfiguring revers-
rings and hoses. tadiene styrene (ABS) into an ABS-vitrimer ible cross-links through the associative
material that can be used in fused-filament bond exchange at elevated temperature,
METHANOL fabrication (FFF), a popular 3D-printing making it recyclable, the ORNL team says.
The European Union Inno- technique. When used in 3D printing, The ABS-vitrimers also have added sol-
vation Fund has selected the resulting material produces stronger, vent resistance, which enables their easy
Project Air, a unique produc- tougher and more solvent-resistant three- separation from mixed, unsorted plastic
tion facility for sustainable dimensional components (photo) that are waste commonly encountered in recycling
methanol in Stenungsund, themselves easily recyclable. scenarios. The team dissolved mixed plas-
Sweden, as one of 17 large-
“We need fundamental discoveries to tic waste in various solvents, and in each
scale green-technology
projects to be granted more
overcome the challenges of increased experiment, upcycled ABS maintained its
than €1.8 billion. Project Air, costs and deteriorating material proper- structure, while all other plastics, including
which is a collaboration be- ties associated with recycling,” says To- ABS, completely dissolved.
tween Perstorp AB (Malmö, monori Saito, ORNL researcher and cor- The researchers expect that the value-en-
Sweden; www.perstorp. responding author on the study. “Our goal hancing recycling process for the ABS-vitri-
com), Fortum Oy (Espoo, was to develop an easily adoptable strat- mers will also reduce CO2-equivalent emis-
Finland; www.fortum.com) egy that reuses plastic waste to create a sions by 65% compared to incineration.
and Uniper SE (Düsseldorf, more valuable material instead of generat-
Germany; www.uniper.ening fresh plastic.”
ergy), has applied for €97
ABS is used in a wide range of end-
million and the total invest-
ment is expected to amount
use products, including automobile com-
to more than €230 million. ponents, table-tennis balls, and LEGO
Project Air is based on blocks. Led by Saito, the ORNL team
innovative usage of exist- generated ABS-vitrimers by implementing
ing technology in a large- thiol-ene “click” chemistry to functional-
scale industrial application. ize butadiene segments with cysteamine,
To produce sustainable followed by reacting with a short-chain
methanol, the facility utilizes dialdehyde (glutaraldehyde) to produce
significant amounts of CO2 ABS-vitrimer.
and other residue streams
Vitrimers feature networks of dynamic ORNL
recovered from Perstorp’s
ongoing operations, biogas
from new dedicated plants Extending the operating temperature of
together with hydrogen biological phosphorus removal
C
from a new large electroly-
sis plant. Further, existing urrently, enhanced biological polyphosphate granules.
wastewater treatment will phosphorus removal (EBPR) tech- In the study, two laboratory-scale se-
be utilized as feed water for niques in municipal wastewater- quencing batch reactors (SBRs) were
the electrolysis. All electrical treatment plants (WWTPs) do not operated in parallel at 30°C and 35°C,
energy for the combined work well at temperatures above 25°C, respectively, for over 300 days. “Employ-
project will be renewable
which is common in warm countries. This ing a slow-feeding strategy and sufficiently
based. Large-scale produc-
tion is slated for 2026.
limitation is expected to extend to more high carbon input into biological reactors,
Project Air will be built at countries with the advent of global warming. we effectively limited the carbon uptake
Perstorp’s existing facilities To “future-proof” phosphorus removal, rates of competing bacteria. This allowed
in Stenungsund, strength- scientists from the Singapore Center for Accumulibacter to flourish and benefited
ening the regional chemi- Environmental Life Sciences Engineer- a stable and efficient process, represent-
cals industry cluster, Hållbar ing (SCELSE; www.scelse.sg), Nanyang ing basic conditions suitable for future full-
Kemi 2030. The sustain- Technological University (NTU), Singapore scale treatment plants,” says NTU profes-
able methanol from Project and the National University of Singapore, sor Stefan Wuertz, deputy center director
Air will be used to produce have developed a technique that removes of SCELSE, who led the study.
chemical products.
phosphorus from WWTPs at tempera- Unlike other P-removal methods, the
tures of 30–35°C. The method, described SCELSE-developed method does not in-
ALGAE OIL in a recent issue of Water Research, is volve chemicals, such as iron and alumi-
To save the world’s fish based on the bacterial genus Candidatus num coagulants. These methods produce
stocks and oceans, scien-
Accumulibacter, which accumulate phos- a large volume of inert sludge that needs to
(Continues on p. 10) phorus from wastewater and store it as be treated and disposed of afterwards.
Limpet tooth inspires strongest biomaterial
A
tists are searching for sustainable
ways to make healthy nutritional n interdisciplinary team of bi- terms of how it’s sourced and made, and
products, such as omega-3 fatty ologists, chemists and engineers at the end of its life can be biodegraded.”
acids, from fast-growing micro-
from the University of Portsmouth The key to the limpet tooth’s strength
algae. New research at Flinders
University (Adelaide, South Aus-
(U.K.; www.port.ac.uk) have be- is thought to be due to a structure that
tralia; www.flinders.edu.au) has come the first to successfully grow a limpet- combines flexible, tightly packed fibers
discovered a simple, low-cost and inspired biomaterial with extreme strength. of a scaffold material (chitin) interspersed
effective way to extract high-value The common limpet (Patella vulgata) is a with fine crystals of goethite. Those fi-
bioactive substances and other small, snail-like mollusk with a tongue cov- bers are laced through each other in
products from single-cell algae ered with microscopic teeth that are used much the same way that carbon fibers
oil. The researchers focused on for scraping food from rocks. The teeth are are used to strengthen plastic.
thraustochytrids, because this sin- a hard, flexible composite of chitin and goe- The researchers developed methods that
gle-celled algae can produce over thite (α-FeO(OH)) that, in 2015, was found allowed cell populations to grow outside of
50% of its weight as triglycerides.
to be the strongest known biomaterial — their natural environment (ex vivo) on se-
In the study, described in a recent
issue of ACS Sustainable Chem-
much stronger than spider silk and compa- rum-coated glass, onto which they depos-
istry & Engineering, the scientists rable to man-made substances. ited chitin and iron oxide. After two weeks,
reported a way to enrich the satu- The team has now successfully mimicked the material self-organized into structures
rated triglycerides produced in limpet tooth formation in the laboratory and that resembled the limpet organ, known
thraustochytrids. The method used it to create a new composite biomate- as the radula, which makes the teeth. Rib-
involves the direct reaction of el- rial, which is described in a study published bons of teeth could also be grown from
emental sulfur with the algae-oil last month in Nature Communications. tissue samples and individual teeth from
extract. The sulfur copolymerizes “Fully synthetic composites like Kevlar populations containing stem cells.
with over 90% of the unsaturated are widely used, but the manufacturing After successfully replicating the lim-
triglycerides into a class of materi-
processes can be toxic, and the materi- pet tooth formation, the team was then
als already used in such applica-
tions as Li-S battery cathodes,
als difficult and expensive to recycle,” says able to produce samples of biomaterial
slow-release fertilizers and insula- lead author Robin Rumney, from the Uni- 0.5-cm wide by mineralizing a sheet of chi-
tion. The unreacted oil is enriched versity’s School of Pharmacy and Biomed- tin. Now that proof-of-concept has been
in saturated triglycerides, which ical Sciences. “Here we have a material established, the researchers will explore
can further be separated by ex- that potentially is much more sustainable in scaleup and manufacturing possibilities.
traction and use, for example, in
biodiesel-fuel production
Biosynthesis of renewable, high-energy-
PURIFYING PYROLYSIS OIL density, cyclopropane-based fuels
C
Last month, BASF SE (Ludwig-
shafen, Germany; www.basf. yclopropane-functionalized hy- that fits in a given tank.
com) launched PuriCycle, a new drocarbons can be excellent To produce POP-FAMES, the sci-
line of products for the purification fuels because of their high en- entists first identified a set of iterative
of most complex waste-plastics-
ergy densities, but organic syn- polyketide synthases (iPKSs) — en-
pyrolysis feeds. The PuriCycle
portfolio includes new catalysts
thesis of such fuels is difficult. In work zymes that are capable of producing
and adsorbents that were de- recently published in the journal Joule, the desired polycycloproponatated
veloped to selectively remove or a research team led by Jay Keasling structures — in Streptomyces bacteria
convert a wide range of impuri- at the Joint Bioenergy Institute (JBEI; species, and expressed them in Strep-
ties in pyrolysis oils and enable Emeryville, Calif.; www.jbei.org) and tomyces coelicolor to obtain POP-fatty
downstream processing of cir- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory acids. The team further engineered the
cular plastics streams. PuriCycle (Berkeley, Calif.; www.lbl.gov) has dem- bacteria to increase the production of
can help users meet industry onstrated a sustainable biosynthetic the POP-fatty acids 22-fold, and finally,
compositional compliance stan- route to polycyclopropanated fatty-acid produced the methyl ester derivatives.
dards, benefit from high efficiency
methyl esters (POP-FAMES). These Project leader Keasling says, “This
purification and upgrading solu-
tions and increase their flexibility
compounds can be made into fuels with biosynthetic pathway provides a clean
in the chemical recycling process energy densities of 50 MJ/L or more (Jet route to highly energy-dense fuels that,
of plastics, says BASF. A, the common kerosene-based avia- prior to this work, could only be pro-
Purification of pyrolysis oils ob- tion fuel, has about 35 MJ/L). duced from petroleum using a highly
tained from waste plastics is said The potential energy in the strained, toxic synthesis process.”
to be among the most demanding three-carbon-rings in polycyclo- The research team is working on
technical tasks in chemical plas- propanated molecules translates into generating much higher volumes of the
tics recycling. Impurities, such as more energy for combustion than can POP-FAMEs for testing in rocket engines
halogen, nitrogen, oxygen and sul- be achieved with the larger ring struc- and elsewhere. The ultimate objective
fur compounds — but also higher
tures or carbon-carbon chains typically is to engineer the process into a work-
levels of reactive components
such as dienes — complicate the
found in fuels, the researchers point out. horse bacteria strain that could produce
downstream use and impose strict In addition, these structures enable fuel large quantities of POP molecules from
limitations on the further process- molecules to pack tightly together in a plant waste food sources (for example,
ing of such streams in the produc- small volume, increasing the mass — inedible agricultural residue and brush
tion of new materials. ❐ and therefore the total energy — of fuel cleared for wildfire prevention). n
We understand how you are challenged every day
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to enhance your plant’s safety and performance.
+ CAPITALIZE You gain more options to fit your needs, build up product
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www.endress.com/chemical

Business News
LINEUP Plant Watch BASF began production of polymer dispersions
in Dahej, in October 2014, and this additional
Johnson Matthey to build U.K.
AIR LIQUIDE production line will almost double its capacity.
gigafactory for H2 fuel-cell components
AKZONOBEL July 18, 2022 — Johnson Matthey plc (JM;
London; www.matthey.com) is building an Air Liquide invests in biomethane
ALTERRA ENERGY
£80-million gigafactory at its existing site production in China
BASF in Royston, U.K. to manufacture hydrogen July 12, 2022 — Air Liquide S.A. (Paris; www.
fuel-cell components. The gigafactory will airliquide.com) has invested in the group’s first
HENKEL
initially be capable of manufacturing 3 GW biomethane-production unit in China, which is
HUNTSMAN of proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel-cell expected to begin operation by the end of 2022.
components annually. The site is expected Located in Huai’an City in Jiangsu Province,
INEOS
to begin operation in the first half of 2024. the unit will have a production capacity of
JOHNSON MATTHEY 75 GWh/yr. This new unit will produce biogas
LOTOS GROUP Huntsman starts up MDI from agricultural and livestock waste coming
splitter in Geismar from local farms and purify it into biomethane
NESTE July 14, 2022 — Huntsman Corp. (The for injection into the city gas grid for household
PKN ORLEN Woodlands, Tex.; www.huntsman.com) started and commercial use.
commercial operation of a new methylene
SIEMENS ENERGY
diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) splitter at its Ube begins basic design for DMC and
UBE Geismar site in Louisiana. The $180-million EMC plant construction in the U.S.
splitter gives Huntsman the ability to produce July 6, 2022 — Ube Corp. (Tokyo; www.ube.
UMICORE
additional differentiated grades from the crude co.jp) is studying the feasibility of constructing a
VERSALIS MDI manufactured at the plant, thereby enabling new plant in Louisiana to produce commercial-
growth in the automotive, furniture, construction, scale volumes of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and
adhesives and coatings markets. ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC). The production
capacity is planned to be 100,000 metric tons
Umicore to construct per year (m.t./yr) of DMC and 40,000 m.t./yr
battery-materials plant in Canada of EMC derived from DMC. A final investment
July 13, 2022 — Umicore N.V. (Brussels, Belgium; decision is to be made in the first half of 2023,
www.umicore.com) plans to construct a plant with operations expected to commence in
for cathode active battery materials (CAM) and the second half of 2025.
their precursor materials (pCAM) in Ontario,
Canada. The planned facility would be the first Versalis and Forever Plast to construct
of its kind in North America, combining cathode plastics recycling facility in Italy
and precursor materials manufacturing at a July 6, 2022 — Versalis S.p.A. (San Donato
large industrial scale. Umicore is targeting to Milanese, Italy; versalis.eni.com) and Forever
start construction in 2023, with production Plast have signed a new agreement related to
startup at the end of 2025. the construction of an advanced mechanical-
recycling unit for selected post-consumer
AkzoNobel invests €20 million to expand plastics, in particular polystyrene and high-
production capacities in France density polyethylene. Located at Versalis’ Porto
July 12, 2022 — AkzoNobel N.V. (Amsterdam, the Marghera industrial site, the new plant will
Netherlands; www.akzonobel.com) is investing process 50,000 m.t./yr of pre-sorted waste
€20 million to expand production at two of its into recycled polymer compounds once it
sites in France. A total of €15 million will be comes onstream in 2024.
spent on the company’s aerospace coatings
facility in Pamiers, where production capacity Ineos significantly expanding
is being boosted by 50%. The other €5 million PAO production in Texas
will be spent on improving production flexibility June 28, 2022 — Ineos Group Ltd. (London;
at the decorative-paints site in Montataire. www.ineos.com) is executing a phased 50%
Building work is expected to start by the end expansion of its LaPorte, Tex. high-viscosity
of 2023, with the new installations at both polyalphaolefin (PAO) unit, which will be fully
locations due to be operational in early 2025. effective by mid-2025. The unit was initially
built with a capacity of 20,000 m.t./yr, and
BASF doubles its polymer was debottlenecked last year to reach
dispersions capacity in Dahej, India 25,000 m.t./yr. With this further investment,
July 12, 2022 — BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, it will expand again to almost 40,00 m.t./yr.
Germany; www.basf.com) completed the Ineos also recently started up a low-viscosity
installation and startup of a new acrylic- PAO unit in Chocolate Bayou, Tex. With a
Look for more dispersions production line in Dahej, India, production capacity of 120,000 m.t./yr, this
latest news on serving the coatings, construction, adhesives facility is said to be the world’s largest single
chemengonline.com and paper industries for South Asian markets. PAO train.
Henkel opens new portfolio by acquiring the wheel liquid- its intended merger with Lotos Group
adhesives plant in Mexico coatings business of Lankwitzer (Gdansk, Poland; www.lotos.pl). The
June 28, 2022 — Henkel AG (Düsseldorf, Lackfabrik GmbH. Completion of the antitrust clearance marks a leap forward
Germany; www.henkel.com) opened transaction is expected before the end for the merger, which will create an
a new plant for hot-melt adhesives in of 2022. Lankwitzer’s Rims and Wheel organization with annual revenue of
Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The business operates a manufacturing approximately PLN 250 billion (around
30,000-m2 facility will mainly produce site in Leipzig, Germany, as well as $53 billion). The new, expanded Orlen
pressure-sensitive and non-pressure- laboratories in Germany and Turkey. Group will be based on an integrated
sensitive hot-melt adhesives for use value chain, from upstream petroleum
in consumer goods and packaging. Neste acquires European rights to exploration and production, through
Alterra plastics-recycling process refining and petrochemical production.
BASF to increase U.S. production June 27, 2022 — Neste Corp. (Espoo,
capacity for specialty amines Finland; www.neste.com) purchased Air Liquide and Siemens Energy
June 28, 2022 — BASF will increase the the European rights to Alterra Energy’s create hydrogen electrolyzer JV
production capacity for key specialty (Akron, Ohio; www.alterraenergy.com) Siemens Energy (Munich, Germany;
amines manufactured at its Geismar, proprietary thermochemical technology www.siemens-energy.com) and Air
La. site. After completion of the capacity for the liquefaction of hard-to-recycle Liquide created a JV dedicated to the
expansion by mid-2023, BASF will be plastics into an intermediate product production of industrial-scale PEM
able to produce more polyetheramines that can be further refined into raw electrolyzers in Europe. Production is
and tertiary amines, complementing materials for plastics and polymers. expected to begin in the second half
its global network of specialty-amines Together with Ravago, Neste also of 2023 and ramp-up to an annual
production plants in Ludwigshafen, plans to set up a joint venture (JV) to production capacity of 3 GW by
Germany and Nanjing, China. deploy the Alterra Energy technology 2025. Air Liquide will take 25.1% of
in Vlissingen, the Netherlands. the JV, and Siemens Energy will hold
Mergers & Acquisitions the remaining 74.9% stake. The new
AkzoNobel acquires coatings PKN Orlen receives clearance for JV will be headquartered in Berlin,
assets from Lankwitzer Lackfabrik merger with Lotos Group Germany. One of the JV’s first projects
July 6, 2022 — AkzoNobel is bolstering June 24, 2022 — PKN Orlen (Płock, is the 200-MW Normand’Hy electrolyzer
its automotive performance-coatings Poland; www.orlen.pl) has secured the project in Normandy, France. ■
European Commission’s clearance for Mary Page Bailey
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Newsfront
Achieving Balance in
Combustion
New hardware combined with monitoring technologies can help optimize combustion now and
in the carbon-conscious future
C
ombustion has long been Emerson (Shako-
a delicate balancing act. pee, Minn.; www.
Chemical processors want emerson.com).
their combustion systems “This forces them
to be fuel efficient and available for into a very narrow
use, while at the same time, they operating range.”
must also be safe and meet emis- While oxides
sions standards. Unfortunately, of nitrogen (NOx)
these requisites are often at odds emissions have
with each other. Recently, the trend been the major
toward reducing carbon emissions pollutant to fret
is throwing yet another challenge at over, the trend XRG Technologies
combustion management. However, toward fuel effi-
thanks to new technologies and the ciency and decar- FIGURE 2. XRG’s Xceed system provides a modification to the combustion
inclusion of combustion monitor- bonization threat- system for fired heaters, furnaces and boilers that changes the way in which
combustion takes place to distributed combustion or disbursed combustion,
ing, processors may find it easier to ens to make this allowing for NOx and CO2 reductions by changing the heat transfer inside
achieve harmonious balance, even in delicate combus- the system
a carbon-conscious culture. tion balance even folks are considering changing their
“The general issue with combus- more precarious. “NOx emissions fuels to something like hydrogen or
tion is that as processors try to meet are now back on the table as an on- ammonia, which don’t produce CO2
production goals, they are forced going challenge because there are emissions.”
into a situation where minding emis- new rules in place that require NOx Mark Hannum, manager of In-
sions permits, efficiency and regula- reductions for a large number of novation and Research and Devel-
tions nearly forces them to run in a heaters and fired equipment,” notes opment with Fives North American
state that is at odds with what would Matthew Martin, chief R&D scientist Combustion (Cleveland, Ohio; www.
be the easiest and most efficient op- with XRG Technologies (Tulsa, Okla.; fivesgroup.com), adds: “While there
eration and would provide them with www.xrgtechnologies.com). “CO2 are currently not many regulations
the most reliability and best asset is a new challenge due to the focus regarding CO2 emissions in the U.S.,
lifetime,” says Neil Widmer, senior on decarbonization because unless many processors are creating their
business development manager with you’re burning ammonia or hydro- own corporate goals and/or antici-
gen, any combustion pro- pating future regulations and trying
Fives North American Combustion cess makes CO2.” to determine what they can do now
Chuck Baukal, director to ‘future proof’ their businesses and
of the Koch Engineered processes in a new application or
Solutions Institute (Tulsa, when installing new equipment. They
Okla.; www.kochengi- want to do this without sacrificing
n e e re d s o l u t i o n s . c o m ) any of their other needs regarding
agrees that this is a de- safety, reliability and efficiency.”
veloping trend to watch:
“Pollution emissions are Achieving emission goals
always an issue for the Combustion-equipment providers
chemical processing in- are continually improving existing
dustry, but one of the equipment to assist with reaching
FIGURE 1. EcoFornax LE and LEX (shown here) burners both newest challenges is a tighter emission regulations. For ex-
rely on lean premix. The LE also employs fuel staging and dilute great deal of attention on ample, there are new burner tech-
combustion mixing technologies to accomplish emissions and
efficiency goals CO2 emissions. So now nologies that produce lower NOx
Zeeco
EcoFornax LE and LEX burners pre-heat air. “These features make
both rely on lean premix, while the Xceed an enabling technology for
LE also employs fuel staging and di- CO2 reduction, but it does not itself
lute combustion mixing technologies reduce CO2,” explains Martin. “The
to accomplish emissions and effi- system is capable of firing hydrogen
ciency goals. “We have put these on or ammonia, so it could be used to
a number of process heaters, such replace part of your hydrocarbon
as glycol heaters, crude oil heaters, fuels with hydrogen or ammonia firing
titanium tetrachloride vaporizers and in order to reduce CO2 emissions.”
even some field-erected, high-pres- Zeeco, Inc., (Broken Arrow, Okla.;
FIGURE 3. Zeeco’s ultra-low NOx technologies sure boilers,” says Hannum. “Ad- www.zeeco.com) offers combustion
can handle high-hydrogen and other fuels. Recent
enhancements to the technologies make them ditionally, they are flexible regarding equipment that features ultra-low
more maintainable and make better use of internal fuel, so if a processor wanted to NOx technologies with the ability
fluegas inside of the furnace switch from natural gas to a fuel with to handle high-hydrogen and other
less carbon, this line would have ad- fuels, says Rex Isaacs, chief tech-
emissions and selective catalytic vantages for CO2 reduction, as well.” nology officer with the company.
reduction (SCR) equipment can be XRG offers its Xceed system, which “While we have been doing some
added to further reduce the pollut- provides a modification to the com- high-hydrogen applications for 20 to
ant. “Additionally, any efficiency im- bustion system for fired heaters, fur- 30 years, we’ve recently made some
provement you make to combustion naces and boilers that changes the enhancements to those technologies
equipment or fired heaters results way in which combustion takes place to make them more maintainable and
in less carbon emissions, because to distributed combustion or dis- to make better use of internal fluegas
burning more efficiently uses less bursed combustion, allowing for in- inside of the furnace. The ability to
fuel,” notes XRG’s Martin. “Improv- creased efficiency, as well as NOx and inert the H2, which burns at a higher
ing efficiency is a quick win when the CO2 reductions by changing the heat adiabatic flame than other fuels, de-
goal is reducing CO2.” transfer inside the system (Figure 2). lays combustion and also achieves
In addition, he says, many proces- “This is a physical change you lower NOx. At the same time, it re-
sors can see up to a 20% improve- make to your existing system,” says duces the local temperature inside
ment on the top end in combustion Martin. “It involves specialized noz- the burner, which reduces the dam-
and fuel efficiency by upgrading their zles that work with the burners in age to the metallurgy, increasing re-
fired heaters with technologies that the combustion system you already liability of the equipment” (Figure 3).
pre-heat combustion air or by re- have. This means the existing burner Koch Engineered Solutions also
vamping the heat-recovery section stays in place, so start-up and shut- offers a wall burner for ethylene ap-
in the heater. “These methods re- down routines remain the same. After plications that enables 100% H2 fir-
duce fuel consumption while allow- the system has begun operation and ing, with lower NOx performance
ing more throughput. So, specific to has reached steady state, the device compared to traditional ethylene
CO2 production, the amount of the is turned on and it changes the na- wall burner technology. This also
pollutant per unit of product goes ture of combustion. It is low temper- eliminates flashback, which can be
down,” says Martin. ature and very dilute, so it produces an operational concern and cause
Although, returning to that delicate very little NOx and the heat-transfer maintenance issues for customers,
balance, using pre-heated combus- uniformity of the process is greatly says KES’s Baukal.
tion air will increase efficiency, therefore increased. This eliminates hot spots “We’ve also engineered the Solex
reducing CO2 emissions, but the use in the fired equipment, so it can op- Burner, which can achieve single-
of pre-heated combustion air along erate to a higher capacity without ex- digit NOx emissions regardless of the
with the use of carbon-based fuels ceeding temperature limits.” fuel composition and independent of
tends to increase NOx emissions. The lower NOx emissions it en- furnace temperature,” explains Ryan
For this reason, some compa- ables mean that users can recover Morgan, vice president of OnPoint,
nies are developing technologies more heat and increase combustion a Koch Engineered Solutions com-
that help processors potentially re-
duce both NOx and CO2, while still
increasing efficiency and allowing
flexibility with fuels. “For medium- or
low-temperature process heaters,
we have equipment that will allow us
to have low emissions of NOx and
CO2, even when we preheat com-
bustion air,” says Hannum. “Our
EcoFornax line is amenable to hav- Honeywell Thermal Systems
ing air preheat and still providing re- FIGURE 4. Thermal IQ remote monitoring software records, archives and analyzes thermal systems to
ally low emissions” (Figure 1). provide real-time visibility into the thermal performance of combustion and actionable intelligence

Emerson
ing? Once you have your tems are running properly mainte-
baselines, you can deter- nance- and safety-wise, but also to
mine where you have gaps ensure the proper air-to-fuel ratio,”
and where you can improve explains Emerson’s Widmer.
and from there you can cre- He says in-situ oxygen probes,
ate a roadmap for the future such as the zirconium-based Rose-
and whether that requires mount 6888 In-Situ Oxygen Trans-
investments or not.” mitter provide a continuous, ac-
Todd Ellington, director, curate measurement of the oxygen
Global Product Marketing, remaining in fluegases coming from
with Honeywell Thermal So- any combustion process (Figure 5).
lutions, agrees. “We have Accurate measurements of furnace
hardware and control de- exhaust excess oxygen are directly
FIGURE 5. Emerson’s OCX8800 Combustion Fluegas Transmit-
ter provides a continuous, accurate measurement of O2 and vices that are capable of low related to and critical for maintain-
combustibles remaining in fluegases to permit a higher level NOx emissions and helping ing proper air-to-fuel ratio, resulting
of optimization to improve efficiency, so if in reduced energy costs, increased
you are already taking ad- safety and lower emissions.
pany. “The burner is designed with vantage of these low-emission burn- Additionally, the OCX8800 Com-
two significant combustion zones to ers and they are performing well, bustion Fluegas Transmitter provides
achieve these emissions levels from adding something like Thermal IQ a continuous, accurate measurement
start up to full capacity with minimal or remote monitoring software that of oxygen and combustibles remain-
CO emissions. In addition, the burn- is recording, archiving and analyzing ing in fluegases. This close-coupled
er’s compact flame lengths solve your system can provide real-time extractive analyzer permits a higher
many issues ultra-low NOx burner visibility into the thermal performance level of optimization. “It’s important
technologies face in today’s market.” of your combustion and actionable to measure and monitor both oxygen
intelligence. It becomes an enabler and combustibles and to do so in a
Preparing for CO2 reduction for reliability, safety and emissions way that allows you to make changes
While it may not yet be feasible to control and provides early warnings in the controls so that you have some
switch to carbon-free fuels due to the for predictive actions. If you can pre- wiggle room in the setpoint of the
capital expense of replacing or retro- dict, you can be more efficient and oxygen,” Widmer says.
fitting an existing combustion system effective now and see where you This is helpful, he continues, be-
for unknown emissions goals, com- need to go in the future. That’s the cause most trim controllers are very
bustion experts say there are steps power of data. It optimizes not only good at maintaining the oxygen
you can take to figure out where you how we use our thermal equipment, level, but not at optimizing it. “Some
currently are and what you need to but how we use our money and our days you might have very good fuel
do to reach corporate decarboniza- energy and provides a roadmap for sources or combustion conditions so
tion goals and future government the path we will need to take in the you could run oxygen at 1% without
regulations. Fortunately, these same future” (Figure 4). any combustibles or CO emissions
steps also help optimize the current breakthrough, but other days, condi-
combustion process. Optimizing combustion systems tions might not be as optimal. This
“We are having a very ‘wild, wild The bonus of monitoring combustion type of monitoring with the ability to
west’ moment regarding CO2 emis- to find a path toward the future is that manually make changes allows you
sions,” says Dale Smith, global it also helps processors optimize their to optimize for the combustion con-
growth leader, Connected Com- current combustion process, which ditions that day,” says Widmer.
bustion Services, with Honeywell aids in achieving that elusive
Thermal Solutions (Houston; www. balance of efficiency, reliabil- Koch Engineered Solutions
honeywell.com). “Many companies ity and emissions control, say
are voluntarily making sustainability the experts.
part of their corporate goals. We also “Today we strive to operate
know some regulations are com- at better efficiency. However,
ing and that California has already with different staging tech-
pushed some very aggressive emis- niques for low-NOx burners
sions targets out there. and because today’s com-
“What I suggest is taking a deep bustion tends to run leaner in
breath and collecting data on where excess air, which limits both
you currently stand,” Smith contin- NOx and CO2 emissions, but
ues. “Figure out your baselines: what raises potential for CO emis- FIGURE 6. OnPoint’s EMBER solution uses data from existing
are your burners doing, what you sions or unsafe fuel-rich con- instrumentation and links those data to proprietary calculations
to provide operators with recommendations on how to adjust
are emitting, how much fuel are you ditions, it’s very important to their combustion equipment to be more efficient, increase
using, how are you actually perform- make sure combustion sys- throughput and reduce emissions
Additionally, combustion provid-
HOW INDIVIDUAL AND

ers may offer advanced analytics to
produce solutions that can help pro-
RELIABLE DO YOU WANT YOUR

cessors drive increased throughput,
improved efficiency and reduced
emissions. KES’s Morgan says On-
Point offers one such solution called
EMBER that uses data from the
PROCESS SOLUTION?
plant to help optimize process heat-
ing operations (Figure 6). EMBER
uses data from existing instrumen- Customized process gas
tation and links those data to propri- compressors and blowers
etary calculations, which are hosted
in the cloud. That information is
used to provide operators with rec-
ommendations on how to adjust
their combustion equipment to be
more efficient, increase throughput
and reduce emissions. www.aerzen.com/achema
“Depending on the company’s pri-
orities, EMBER can help them man-
age those goals while continually PRODUCT LAUNCH HYDROGEN SOLUTIONS
benchmarking against the KPIs [key 22.08.2022 at 10:30 am | Hall 8.0 | Stand D38 or with LIVE STREAMING
performance indicators] they moni-
tor across the process unit,” explains
Morgan. “For example, you can track
energy intensity while also keeping
track of the amount of emissions
when trying to maximize throughput.
Our solution will produce the recom-
mendations to align those objectives
and help operators meet those with
the changing operating conditions
Engineered
117,5x123,8mm-chemical-engineering.indd 1 11.07.2022 11:09:13
they face every day.”

And, finally, a burner management Spray Solutions
system (BMS) is essential to provid-
ing optimized and safe performance, for your process...
notes Joe Medeski, Technical Sales
Engineer with Profire Energy (Lindon,
Utah; www.profireenergy.com). “The
ability to have deeper visibility into the
combustion operation and receive ac-
0 0 + nozzles
tionable insights and make informed
5 ,0
decisions is essential to optimizing
the balance between safety, efficiency
4
and emissions,” he says. “You want a
BMS, such as the Profire 3100 burner
management system, that sends an
alert when you are close to setpoints
so you can take these alarms and
notifications into consideration and
make any changes needed to keep
things from going astray. And, hav-
ing pre-determined setpoints is also
helpful to ensure that optimized op-
erating conditions are repeatable in
the same exact manner over a long
period of time.” n
Joy Le Pree 140 Years of Designing Spray Based Mass Transfer Solutions
(800) 777-2926 | chemical@lechlerusa.com | www.lechlerusa.com
Focus
Pipes, Tubes and Fittings
A portable pipe beveling tool sembly in state-of-the-art, ISO7/
prepares pipe for welding Class 10,000 cleanrooms and with
The Wart Millhog Portable Pipe Bev- sterility treatments. Vena Flexip is es-
eler (photo) is a right-angle I.D. clamp- pecially recommended for the trans-
ing tool for performing any angle of port of liquid or semi-liquid fluids in
end prep on 0.75 in. I.D. to 4-in. O.D. the food, cosmetics, chemical and
pipe of different schedules. Because pharmaceutical industries. It has a
it mounts securely into the pipe I.D. good resistance, especially in fatty or
using a self-centering draw rod as- oily foods and glycols, as well as in
sembly, it can bevel, face and bore alcoholic beverages. Shapes, such
different pipe thicknesses simultane- as elbows and bends, can also be
ESCO Tool ously to help assure high-integrity manufactured to adapt to any instal-
weld joints. Producing precise square lation. Vena Flexpure is a hose with a
and beveled pipe ends with ±0.001-in. polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) inner
accuracy, the beveler lets users weld layer that makes it highly resistant
pipe O.D.s that have different sched- to both acids and some basic clean-
ules. Easy to operate, it comes with in-place (CIP) solutions. Thanks to
pneumatic or electric motors, requires its ultra-flexible smooth-bore con-
no cutting fluids, and is ideally suited struction, it is ideal for processing
for onsite applications. A wide range powders, liquids and semi-liquids
of TiN-coated blades are available. — in applications where a highly hy-
ESCO Tool, A Unit of Esco Technolo- gienic design and good mechanical
gies, Inc., Holliston, Mass. performance are required. — Venair
www.escotool.com Group, Barcelona, Spain
www.venair.com
Pipeline metal detector
Fortess Technology
facilitates hygiene standards A new tubing manufacturing
Catering to the ever-changing food plant starting up
landscape and new product devel- Last October, the preparation of
opments (NPD), this company has floors, ceilings, exterior walls, elec-
upgraded its Pipeline Metal Detector tric service and plumbing lines were
(photo). With optimized metal detec- nearly finished at this company’s
tion sensitivity and high hygiene stan- new Warrington manufacturing fa-
dards, this detector protects produc- cility (photo). With the operational
tivity while providing users with safe, infrastructure approaching comple-
uncontaminated products. Available tion, additional cleanroom construc-
in standard 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-in. pipe tion can move forward swiftly to help
diameters, the latest machines are reach the goal of making and ship-
engineered to detect metal in high- ping tubing. The 90,000-ft2 build-
Venair Group viscosity foods and liquids (such as ing, sitting on seven acres, houses
meat products, gravies, syrups and several individual clean rooms for
more) to eliminate contaminants in extruding AdvantaSil high-purity
the processing line. The systems are silicone tubing and braid-reinforced
IP69K rated to prevent bacteria from hose and AdvantaFlex biopharma-
accumulating. Data capture and Con- ceutical grade thermoplastic elas-
tact Reporter software ensures the tomer (TPE) tubing. Most finished
system satisfies quality assurance tubing will be transported to the
(QA) mandates and compliance with company’s Southampton opera-
North American processing require- tions for post-production work in-
ments. — Fortress Technology Ltd., volving single-use tubing assem-
Toronto, Ont., Canada blies. Following completion of the
www.fortresstechnology.com project, the company anticipates
New Age Industries tripling its production capabilities for
Tubing products for silicone and TPE tubing. In February,
biotechnology applications a new silicone-tubing extrusion line
This company offers a new range and a new TPE-tubing extrusion line
of tubing (photo) and single-use as- began producing AdvantaSil silicone
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tubing and braid-reinforced hose weldable fittings, valves and pipes
and AdvantaFlex weldable and seal- designed for an operating pressure
able TPE tubing. — NewAge Indus- of 16 bars. In the beginning, two
tries, Inc., Southampton, Pa. metric dimensions, d25 and d50,
www.newageindustries.com will be available. — GF Piping Sys-
tems, Schaffhausen, Switzerland
Parker Hannifin Manutfacturing Germany
Corrosion protection for tube www.gfps.com
fittings and adapters
Last February, this company intro- A wide range of Schedule 80
duced the proprietary ToughShield polypropylene pipe fittings
Plus zinc-nickel surface treatment This company offers a full line of
for all tube fittings and adapters Schedule 80 pipe fittings (photo).
worldwide. The plating provides These fittings are produced from
excellent resistance for increased glass-reinforced polypropylene for
corrosion prevention while main- strength and durability. Polypropyl-
taining optimum properties and as- ene is the lightest of the thermoplas-
sembly values. ToughShield Plus tics. It has good resistance to most
is said to be the first commercially acids and is also a non-conductor
available standard plating system of electricity. These Schedule 80
for fluid power systems to provide fittings are available in sizes from
GF Piping Systems
up to 3,000 h of resistance to red 3/8 to 3 in. Fitting configurations
corrosion per ASTM B117 neutral include tees, elbows, crosses, nip-
salt-spray testing. ToughShield Plus ples, bushings, couplings, caps and
has been designed to save users plugs. A complete line of hose, tube,
time and money with extended tube pipe and nozzle fittings in a variety of
fitting and adapter life, easier main- materials are also available. — Bee
tenance and increased resistance Valve Inc., Elyria, Ohio
to corrosion migration to other sys- www.beevalve.com
tem components. ToughShield Plus
complies with the leading industry Patented pipe technology for
standards such as DIN and SAE, as H2 distribution
well as the environmental standards Earlier this year, this company was
RoHs, REACH and ELV. — Parker awarded a patent for its Pipe-Within-
Hannifin Manufacturing Germany A-Pipe technology (photo) for safely
GmbH & Co. KG, Kaarst, Germany and efficiently transporting hydro-
www.parker.com gen up to 1,000 miles inside virtu-
ally any existing oil and gas pipeline,
Weld PVC piping with water pipe, sewer line, storm drain
this IR-based system or other pipelines. This technology
Bee Valve The IR PVC-U (photo) is said to be is said to provide the safest, most
the world’s first infrared (IR) welded cost-effective, most readily deploy-
PVC-U (unplasticized polyvinyl chlo- able, and scalable way to address
ride) piping system that prepares re- end-user delivery of fuel-cell-grade
liable joints in a machine-controlled H2. The approach covered by the
process. The newly introduced IR patent utilizes flexible pipe rated for
PVC-U system is suitable for the H2 use by the American Society of
chemical process industries and Mechanical Engineers (ASME) with
water-treatment applications. It a 50-year useful life at 2,500 psi.
combines two fields of this com- That pipe is located inside a slightly
pany’s expertise, bringing together larger diameter one — referred to
the heritage of the PVC-U pip- as a “safety pipe” — that runs an
ing system and its IR-welding ma- inert gas in between the two pipes
chines. The company developed to constantly sweep for hydro-
H2 Clipper
the infrared welded PVC-U pressure gen molecules. With a capacity to
piping system to allow a machine- preserve purity levels of 99.7% or
controlled process, minimizing the higher, the new technology will help
risk of human error while making re- to ensure the required purity levels
liable, reproducible joints. This new needed for use of hydrogen in fuel-
jointing technology for PVC-U uses cell electric cars, buses, trucks and
no cements, contributing to environ- locomotives. — H2 Clipper, Inc.,
mental protection while improving Santa Barbara, Calif.
the chemical resistance. The new www.h2clipper.com n
system consists of the necessary Gerald Ondrey

Chem Chronicles
‘Eye it Before You Buy It’: The Invention of Cellophane
Transparent polymer film started with an accident . . . and spurred a packaging revolution
O
ne night in Paris, in 1900, purchased the exclusive rights to SHI
Swiss chemist Jacques make and sell cellophane in the U.S.

Brandenberger was en- in 1923. In 1924, DuPont chemist
joying dinner in a restau- William Hale Church reformulated
rant when he noticed that a fellow the transparent film, developing a ni-
patron had spilled a glass of wine. trocellulose lacquer that rendered it
As waiters scrambled to clear the not only waterproof but more mois-
table, it occurred to Brandenberger ture-proof, enhancing its fresh-food
that the process of removing and preservation properties.
replacing the soiled tablecloth was DuPont’s innovations also extend-
time-consuming and inefficient. He ed to production. Initially, making cel-
began to mull an application of re- lophane required the time-consuming
search he had been conducting into dissolution of cellulose from materials
the organic polymer cellulose. Bran- like wood, celery or cotton in alkali
denberger conjectured that he could and carbon disulfide to make viscose,
spray liquid viscose, created from prior to taking the liquid to a cellulose
natural sources of regenerated cellu- state via an acid bath. Within a few
lose, onto fabric and thereby create years, however, DuPont had invent-
waterproof coatings for tablecloths ed machines that enabled the mass FIGURE 1. A 1945 magazine advertisement touts
the transparent property of cellophane biopolymer
and other textiles. production of cellophane, ensuring a
Brandenberger’s initial experiments vast supply for what would become ing decisions based on visual inputs
in this vein were promising, but ulti- a booming packaging market. In- such as colors, textures and evident
mately disappointing. The fabric coat- deed, these developments catalyzed freshness. DuPont’s own consumer
ings he produced were indeed water- explosive growth of DuPont’s sales research found that 85% of food
proof, but the coatings proved far too of cellophane to food manufacturers purchasing decisions were made by
stiff to maintain fabric pliability. But — between 1928 and 1930, sales customers visually scanning prod-
Brandenberger noticed something of of cellophane tripled. By 1938, the ucts in store. Advertising of the pe-
interest: the coatings could be peeled “magical” transparent film accounted riod encouraged shoppers, bluntly,
off the fabrics without difficulty, yield- for 10% of DuPont’s sales and 25% to “eye it before you buy it” (Figure
ing a thin, diaphanous film. He began of its profits. The product you could 1). And when developments to cel-
to conceive that the value in his mate- “see right through” had become a lophane and competing products in
rial lay not only in its water resistance commercial juggernaut. the 1940s ensured that meat could
but also in its transparency. Cellophane’s emergence as a be wrapped to allow for an optimal
packaging innovation for the con- balance between moisture control
Commercial juggernaut sumer market coincided with, and and oxygen penetration, the provi-
By 1912, having enhanced his mate- encouraged, the rise of self-service sion of fresh red meat outside the
rial (especially through the addition of retailing, particularly of food products. butcher’s counter further ensured
glycerin, to soften it), Brandenberger In the early 20th century, customers cellophane’s packaging dominance.
had patented his product and de- typically purchased fresh foods from This dominance did not survive the
signed a manufacturing process for open-air markets, where quality was 20th century. Cheaper, petroleum-
it, selling the commercial rights to the uneven and food waste high. Gro- based films, such as polyethylene for
firm Comptoir des Textiles Artificiels cers sold customers canned prod- baked goods and polyvinyl chloride
(CTA). Brandenberger called the film ucts, or fresh foods that were select- for meat packaging, gradually ate into
“Cellophane,” a portmanteau of cel- ed and wrapped by store clerks. The wood-based cellophane’s market
lulose and the French word diaphane, introduction of cellophane wrapping, share. By the 1980s, production of
meaning transparent. The early especially when coupled with refrig- cellophane was almost halted. But in
adopters of this transparent film were erated store shelving, allowed sellers recent years, cellophane production
food product manufacturers, such as to present fresh goods in packaging has enjoyed a modest resurgence.
the American candy manufacturer, that connoted cleanliness, enhanced Its complete biodegradability stands
Whitman’s, which was a major cus- food safety and quality control, rein contrast with the plastic products
tomer by 1912. Companies like this duced ambient odors, and allowed that, in the minds of consumers, fill
recognized cellophane’s potential to for buyer’s easy access without the landfills, allowing consumers to “eye
revolutionize the packaging and re- involvement of a clerk. it before they buy it,” in a new way. n
tailing of perishable consumer goods. Most significantly, cellophane en- Edited by Scott Jenkins
Intrigued by the vast potential of abled consumers to see what they Editor’s note: This content is created by the research and curation
this product, the DuPont company were buying and to make purchas- team at the Science History Institute (SHI; Philadelphia, Pa.; www.
sciencehistory.org).

Facts At Your Fingertips
Heat-Transfer Fluid System Venting
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins
H
eat transfer fluids (HTFs) pro- system. The process Eastman
vide heating and cooling of continues until mois-

process equipment, including ture symptoms — in-
reactors, autoclaves, distillation col- cluding pump cavita-
umns, reboilers, mixers and dryers. tion, erratic flowrate
HTF system designs should provide at the discharge side
for effective system venting, both of of the pump, and rat-
residual water at startup and of deg- tling, knocking and
radation products during operation. boiling sounds in the
expansion tank and
Water concerns pipe — subside.
When commissioning new HTF sys- Once the HTF is FIGURE 1. Heat-transfer fluid systems need to be vented for residual
tems (Figure 1), a primary concern deemed adequately water at start-up and for fluid degradation products during operation
should be the effects of water: new dried, the fluid should
systems can be vulnerable to exces- be capable of con-
sive pressures from residual water. Hy- tinued heating to higher operating ports flashing into the vapor phase
drostatic pressure tests (leak checks) temperatures. Typical valve alignment and separation of the low boilers
conducted on the system during during normal operation is for valves from the heat transfer fluid for remov-
manufacture or onsite after mainte- A and B to be open, and valves C and al without incurring a significant loss
nance can be a typical water source. E to be closed. This valve placement of the HTF components. With valve
Complete water removal can be hin- allows a lower temperature in the ex- A closed and valves B and C open,
dered by traps and piping elevation pansion tank (commonly about 25% all the fluid flows through the expan-
changes. The best system designs of system volume), where its thermal sion tank. This process raises the
provide piping installations with slopes degradation rate is negligible. fluid temperature in the expansion
toward strategically placed low-point tank and increases the partial pres-
drains. After water is drained, but pri- Venting degradation products sures of the low-boiling degradation
or to filling, the system may be further In operation, the HTF deteriorates products. This allows the low boilers
dried by purging warm, dry air (or N2) at increasing rates as the operat- to flash into the vapor phase, where
through the system’s circuits until the ing temperatures approach the bulk their removal is supported by open-
exiting gas dewpoint reaches –34 to operating maximum for the specific ing valve E. Inert gas can be used to
–40°C, indicating moisture has been HTF, altering the condition and com- efficiently sweep those vapors across
adequately dried. Close attention to position of the HTF. Thermal degra- the surface of the liquid and out of
the drying process will significantly dation leads to the formation of both the vent line, where they can be con-
reduce the time needed to reach the high-boiling compounds, which in- densed and collected for disposal.
intended high operating temperatures crease fluid viscosity and potential Circulation through the expansion
at start-up. solids formation that increase risks tank also ensures that all HTF benefits
of coke or fouling deposits, and low- from reducing levels of low-boilers.
Removing moisture at start-up boiling compounds that decrease the After the venting process, return
Prior to circulation, ensure the cold fluid’s viscosity and that have boiling to the typical valve alignment for nor-
liquid level of the HTF in the system points lower than the boiling range of mal operation, where valves A and
is adequate. This is typically indicat- the HTF. Additionally, increasing low- B are open, and valves C and E are
ed by the expansion-tank liquid level boiling content can lead to flashpoint closed. This arrangement provides for
instrument (Figure 1). Next, heat depression by 45°C or more. the thermal expansion and contrac-
the liquid slowly while circulating The low boilers can be managed tion of the HTF volume to and from
throughout all piping circuits with the by routine system venting. Systems the expansion tank with temperature
assumption that water content may are best vented only when the con- changes. Continual venting and purg-
be excessive. Valve A is closed, and centration of low boilers exceeds ing is not recommended, as this can
valves B and C are open. The HTF recommended limits based on sam- deplete fractions of the HTF itself, cre-
is circulated through the expansion ple analysis of the fluid. ating related changes in its properties,
tank and heats to just above 100°C. The same procedure is followed performance and life expectancy. n
This temperature forces the moisture when commissioning a new sys- Editor’s note: This content was drafted by Kapil Bathla, a product
to flash into the vapor space of the tem, except higher temperatures are development and customer technical support specialist at Eastman
Chemical Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman.com).
expansion tank. Valve E is open, and needed. For many organic HTFs,
the ingress of inert gas sweeps the the venting procedure is conducted Sponsored by
water vapors from the vapor space at fluid temperatures near 180 to
downstream to a catch tank or flare 200°C. This temperature range sup-

Tower Doctor
X-Raying The Patient: Gamma Scanning
Vapor Cross-Flow Channeling
Henry Kister shares lessons learned from troubleshooting distillation towers
I
n 1988, the author led a team to The challenge was to test this
troubleshoot a chemical tower that theory. Gamma scanning was
was revamped to achieve a small the most promising technique,
increase in capacity (up to 4%) by but no one had experience with
increasing the tray hole areas from applying gamma scans for diag-
8.5% to 13% of the active area. In ad- nosing VCFC, nor any idea as to
dition, radii were added at the bottom how to do it. So it was decided
of the downcomers to smooth the to brainstorm together with Tru-
exit of liquid and reduce downcomer Tec (now part of Tracerco) who
backup. Strangely, instead of gaining had extensive gamma scanning
capacity, it lost 5% capacity. expertise. Understanding the
Before 1992, the mechanism of challenge, Tru-Tec lined up their
vapor cross-flow channeling (VCFC) three top experts, and together
on sieve and valve trays was not rec- with the client’s top experts
ognized by the industry. The author and the author, met in Tru-Tec
inquired around, and everyone was LaPorte’s office. The meeting
telling him that the capacity reduction started about 3 p.m. and lasted FIGURE 2. Clear liquid heights derived from three gamma
should not have happened. There for a few tedious hours. A lot scan chords along the flow path length are plotted on a to-
scale column sketch. Tray liquid head values derived from
was one lead, as yet considered of ideas and stimulating brain- quantitative analysis of gamma scans are plotted so that
unlikely, that suggested that VCFC storming were tossed around, a liquid head of half the tray spacing is plotted as a point
could be taking place, a mechanism but no breakthroughs. People on the tray above. Zero liquid head is plotted as a point on
the tray floor. Hydraulic gradients can be inferred from the
well-known in bubble-cap trays. The began to wonder if there would diagram (a) Unflooded (b) Flooded
author was following this lead. be any resolution.
In VCFC (Figure 1) the hydraulic Just then, one of the Tru-Tec ex- [1,2]. The results are shown in Figure
gradient on the tray induces pref- perts spoke. “Looks like we have 2, where all the tray dimensions are
erential rise of vapor near the outlet brainstormed for a few hours and drawn to scale. Tray liquid head val-
and middle of the tray, and forms a got nowhere. Maybe we are doing ues derived from quantitative analysis
vapor-deficient region near the inlet it all wrong. So let me suggest an- of gamma scans are plotted so that a
to the tray. The high vapor velocities other way.” Then he continued, “Not liquid head of half the tray spacing is
near the tray outlet step up entrain- far from here there is an excellent plotted as a point on the tray above.
ment, while the low vapor velocities Mexican Restaurant called Don Key. Zero liquid head is plotted as a point
near the tray inlet induce weeping. They have fabulous food, but what is on the tray floor.
Interaction between adjacent trays more important, is they have an ex- In the unflooded scans (Figure 2a),
accelerates both the outlet entrain- cellent beverage called Don’KeyRita. hydraulic liquid gradients are flat or
ment and the inlet weeping. The It is similar to Margarita, except that it slight, sloping from tray inlet to out-
result is excessive entrainment and kicks like a donkey. After one or two let. Upon flood initiation (Figure 2b),
premature flooding at the tray middle of these, we may get more creative the hydraulic liquid gradients on
and outlet, simultaneous with weep- and come up with a winning idea.” the odd trays become very steep,
ing from the tray inlet, accompanied His motion was unanimously and en- especially between the middle and
by a loss of efficiency and turndown. thusiastically accepted. outlet. The even trays (trays 2, 4,
The theory was that increasing the Not only did we enjoy a delicious and 6), show large uniform hydraulic
tray open area on the trays led to the meal and Don’KeyRitas, but we left gradients stretching from inlet to out-
onset of VCFC and consequent pre- with a plan that everyone was happy let at flood initiation.
mature flooding on the trays. with — and laid the foundations to This intensification of the hydraulic
the quantitative scanning that is still gradients strongly supported VCFC
used to troubleshoot channeling. as the root cause of the observed
The winning idea was to scan premature flood. From an unlikely
three different chords along the flow hypothesis, VCFC became the lead-
path length, both under flooded and ing theory. Based on this diagno-
unflooded conditions, and to ap- sis, minor modifications were made
ply quantitative analysis to derive to tower auxiliaries that permitted
froth heights, froth densities and liq- raising tower pressure. With VCFC
uid heads. From the liquid heads, inducing a premature entrainment
hydraulic gradients can be inferred. flood, raising tower pressure rein-
FIGURE 1. This diagram depicts vapor cross-flow
channeling (VCFC)
The details are described elsewhere stated the lost capacity. Prior to the

modifications, raising the pressure tower, measures its temperature and ment and lessons learned to future
did not improve capacity because pulse, gets radiography to get an in- troubleshooters and tower doctors.
the trays were bottlenecked simul- side look. Then comes his diagnosis
taneously by downcomer backup and cure. Towers treated by Henry References
(which was debottlenecked by add- mostly get better very quickly.” 1. Kister, H. Z., Use Quantitative Gamma Scans to Troubleshoot
Maldistribution on Trays, Chem. Eng. Progr., February 2013.
ing the downcomer radii) and by en- Being son to two medical doctors
2. Kister, H. Z., Is the Hydraulic Gradient on Sieve and Valve Trays
trainment flood. who were blessed with phenom- Negligible? Paper presented at the Topical Conference on
The takeaway: When dealing with enal diagnosis ability, the author Distillation, the AIChE Meeting, Houston, Texas, April 2012.
a challenging problem, a change aspired to live up to this special
of environment from a four-wall honorary title. Like with medical Author
meeting room to a more pleasant doctors, some illnesses were a Henry Z. Kister is a senior
fellow and the director of
surrounding may help usher in a struggle to diagnose, others were fractionation technology at Fluor
creative solution. ■ easier. All were exciting. This col- Corp. (3 Polaris Way, Aliso Viejo,
Edited by Dorothy Lozowski umn will reminisce through some of CA; Phone: 949-349-4679;
Email: henry.kister@fluor.com).
the more entertaining cases. They He has over 35 years of
About the Tower Doctor may not have seemed entertain- experience in design,
troubleshooting, revamping,
“The Tower Doctor” is the honorary ing at the time, but looking back field consulting, control and
title bestowed upon the author of this at them, they leave unforgettable startup of fractionation processes and equipment.
article in 2002 by Richard Darton, memories and raise a smile or two. Kister is the author of three books, the distillation
equipment chapter in Perry’s Handbook, and over
professor of Engineering in Oxford One great aspect of being a tower 130 articles, and has taught the IChemE-sponsored
University and chair of the European doctor, one gets to work with and “Practical Distillation Technology” course more than
Distillation Network. “When a tower learn from some of the greatest 530 times in 26 countries. A recipient of several
awards, Kister obtained his B.E. and M.E. degrees
is not well,” says Darton, “people call engineers and operators that con- from the University of New South Wales in Australia.
Henry to diagnose the illness and tributed so much to the chemical He is a member of the NAE, a Fellow of IChemE and
find a remedy. He arrives with his industry. We hope that this column AIChE, and serves on the FRI Technical Advisory and
Design Practices.
doctor’s bag, examines the patient- can pass some of the fun, excite-
GF Piping Systems
With our process automation

solutions we ensure …
• stable water quality
• production efficiency and reduced operating costs
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Cover Story
Scrolling or Pushing?
Choosing the Right Type

of Filtration Centrifuge
Understanding the working principles of scrolling and pushing centrifuges can help
when deciding which type to use. Feed properties and other factors also play a role
W
Malte Junker hen looking for a proven solu- However, some statements can be made
and Peter tion for mechanical dewater- that are at least frequently true. In many
Schmidt
ing, you will most likely come cases, for energy and budget reasons, it
Andritz Separation
across centrifuges. In particu- makes sense to provide at least two-stage
GmbH
lar, filtration centrifuges, such as pusher solid-liquid separation, which is divided into a
or screen-scroll centrifuges, have made a thermal and a mechanical separation stage.
name for themselves due to their continu- The decision in favor of specific technologies
ous operating mode and their versatile field is considerably more complex, because, on
of application. In this article, we discuss the one hand, the material parameters of the
IN BRIEF the main differences between these pop- system (density, viscosity, particle size and
TECHNOLOGY AND ular centrifuges to help answer the ques- so on) must be observed, and on the other
OPERATING PRINCIPLES tion: “Scrolling or pushing — which filtra- hand, the objective of the separation step,
tion centrifuge fits my process?” To find the the value of the end product and the local
FEEDING CONDITIONS
answer, we introduce the two most com- conditions must also be considered.
CAKES, MOISTURE AND mon continuous-filtration centrifuges — For non-compressible or moderately
WASHING the pusher centrifuge and the screen-scroll compressible solids with average particle
FILTRATE QUALITY centrifuge — and explain their advantages diameters larger than 80 µm, continuous
and disadvantages in order to derive prac- filtration centrifuges have proven to be an
MAINTENANCE AND tical decision criteria for using them. efficient solution, as they allow very good
OPERATION The question of which combination of dewatering on the one hand, and a high
CONCLUDING REMARKS technologies makes sense, or even which throughput in relation to the investment
technologies make sense for a particular costs on the other hand [1].
process step, cannot be answered reliably in
a general way. This is because there are, of Technology and operating principles
course, different ways of conducting solid- As shown in Figure 1, there are no significant
liquid separation. Many of these ways are differences between a pusher centrifuge
not mutually exclusive, but there is a selec- and a screen-scroll centrifuge at first glance
tion of technologies whose reasonable se- when viewed from the outside.
quencing combines to create a system that Both machines are filled via a feed pipe,
works efficiently. and the solids are ejected at the front, with
Andritz Andritz
FIGURE 1. A direct comparison of a pusher centrifuge (left) and a screen-roll centrifuge (right) does not reveal significant differ-
ences from the outside

Andritz
In fact, all machine and process specifics can ultimately
be traced back to the solids transport and the associ-
ated differences in the structure of the filter cake. This
is explained in more detail in the following two sections.
Feeding conditions
In both types of centrifuge, the product to be processed
is fed into the machine centrally via a rotating feeding
system. The product is pre-accelerated before it hits
the screen, which retains the solids while allowing the
liquid (filtrate), to pass through.
Pusher centrifuge. In the pusher centrifuge, a ring of
solids (cake ring) is formed, which is pushed in the di-
rection of the discharge by the pusher plate. The empty
space that is left when the pusher bottom is retracted is
again filled with new product, allowing a new cake ring
to form that pushes the previous one onwards during the
forward motion (Figure 2). To provide continuous trans-
port of the product, the pusher centrifuge requires a con-
stant supply of product.
FIGURE 2. The sequence shown here demonstrates the operating principle of Certain minimum requirements must be met so that
a pusher centrifuge the cake ring is suitable for pushing. First, some prelimi-
the filtrate usually leaving the centrifuge tangentially. On nary dewatering is necessary so that the cake is not too
the drive side, the machines are also very similar at first wet and the next cake ring can be pushed forward. If
glance, as both machines can be designed with one or the cake moisture content was too high, the cake would
two drive motors, with the two-motor drive variant still splash forward, causing channeling and vibration in the
dominating in pusher centrifuges despite the advan- machine. The speed of preliminary dewatering depends
tages of single-drive systems. Single-drive systems, with on the particle properties, such as shape and size, as
a combined drive and pusher motor, such as the com-
mercial pusher centrifuge shown in Figure 1, allow the
reserve capacity available for pushing to be used for ac-
celerating the basket during the startup process, while
the reserve capacity available for the startup process can
be used for pushing during stationary operation [2]. This
allows significant savings to be made in electricity con-
sumption and installed power.
However, the inner workings of the pusher and the
screen-scroll centrifuge are very different. Pusher cen-
trifuges usually consist of one to three (usually two) bas-
kets, with a plate at the bottom, which is mounted on a
pusher shaft running inside a hollow shaft. The pusher
shaft is subjected to an oscillating axial movement so
that the so-called pusher plate performs a pushing
motion at the bottom of the basket, whereby the solid
material is pushed through the basket. Figure 2 shows
the operating principle of a pusher centrifuge with one
basket [3].
In contrast to this, screen-scroll centrifuges have a sin-
gle rotating basket, which is usually conical rather than
cylindrical. It is also perforated and lined with screens,
but inside it, there is a coaxial and co-rotating scroll
conveyor that rotates at a slight differential speed to the
basket and thus transports the solids out in a controlled
way. The differential speed is realized by a gearbox [4].
In both cases, the solids are dewatered during trans-
port through the centrifugal field and can be washed as
needed to enhance product quality. Similarly, the solids
are discharged continuously in both centrifuges.
Thus, the fundamental difference between these two
types of centrifuges is the method of solids transport. For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/82584-12

Andritz
feed, can be tolerated. Solids the liquid in the upper layers of the
that are compressible, fibrous cake only has to travel a short dis-
or unstable under pressure are tance to be removed by centrifugal
also easier to process. force. However, it remains to be said
All in all, the feed conditions that, all other physical conditions
for pusher centrifuges are more being equal, better dewatering can
demanding than for a screen- be achieved on pusher centrifuges
scroll centrifuge, and even than on the screen-scroll centri-
technical innovations, such as fuge. To compensate for this effect,
the prefiltration stages [5], are screen-scroll centrifuges are usu-
not always able to completely ally operated at higher speed than
eliminate this difference. pusher centrifuges.
Nevertheless, it should be noted
Cakes, moisture & washing at this point that the remaining resi-
The previous section showed dence time will of course no lon-
that the structure of the filter ger improve the residual moisture,
cake in the two types of ma- if the minimum residual moisture
chines is very different. But of a product is reached after only
FIGURE 3. This cross sectional view shows the various what role does this different six seconds at a certain centrifugal
components of a screen-scroll centrifuge structure play in the quality of acceleration, and thus in special
the solids at the discharge? cases, the residual moisture that
well as on the properties of the liq- Compact, relatively high cake rings can be achieved with the two tech-
uid, especially viscosity. Basically, the are formed in the pusher centrifuge nologies may be the same. This is
smaller the particles and the higher that are pushed through the machine often the case with very coarse par-
the viscosity, the higher the filtration by newly forming cake rings. In the ticles, which are easy to dewater.
resistance. High filtration resistance screen-scroll centrifuge, a compact, Another special case in which the
calls for slow pre-dewatering and, uniform cake covering is only formed above statement does not apply is
therefore, limited machine capacity. in absolutely exceptional cases due in applications involving sticky solids
Second, the solids must be able to the interaction of sliding and con- or solids with liquid inclusions. The
to form a solid cake. Solids that are veying. Viewed in cross-section, its scroll conveyor of the screen-scroll
compressible, fibrous or unstable filter cake has a roughly triangular centrifuge breaks up such struc-
under pressure often do not meet profile (Figure 3), while the one from tures to a greater extent, which can
the criteria, so they cannot be pro- the pusher centrifuge has a roughly sometimes result in lower residual
cessed at all or only in a special ver- rectangular profile (Figure 2). In ad- moisture than expected in screen-
sion of the pusher centrifuge. dition, the cake height is significantly scroll centrifuges.
Screen-scroll centrifuge. Looking lower with the screen-scroll centri- Washing. The second common
at the screen-scroll centrifuge, the fuge than with the pusher centrifuge, quality criterion for solids discharge
situation in the feed area is com- as mentioned before. is product purity. This can be influ-
pletely different. A filter cake is also Dewatering. It not only takes in- enced by cake washing, because
formed, but it slides in the direction creased centrifugal acceleration the aim of cake washing is to wash
of the solids discharge right from the but, above all, time to dewater the residues of mother liquor or other
start due to the conical shape of the solid material. In its simplified form, impurities out of the solids as ef-
basket. The result is that no cake ring this residence time is calculated ficiently as possible. To make this
in the proper meaning of the term is from the cake volume in the ma- possible, the filter cake must be
formed. Usually the scroll in the feed chine divided by the solids volume penetrated as completely and uni-
area initially acts as a brake to pre- flow to the machine. Since the filter formly as possible by a washing
vent solids from sliding down uncon- cake in the screen-scroll centrifuge liquid. Since liquid is known to fol-
trollably. This results in a significantly has a much lower cake height than low the path of least resistance, it
lower cake height, and the condi- in the pusher centrifuge, the over- is forced to flow through the thin-
tions for transporting the filter cake, all cake volume is smaller and thus ner areas of the cake in the screen-
such as adding further suspension the residence time is much shorter. scroll centrifuge, whereas there is
and pre-dewatering the cake, are no While it is not uncommon for pusher less flow through the thicker side of
longer needed. centrifuges to have a residence time the cake (Figure 3). Accordingly, the
In practice, this means that screen- of 20–40 s, it is more common for cake is not washed very thoroughly
scroll centrifuges can run with higher screen-scroll centrifuges to have a on the thicker side — if at all — be-
liquid quantities and higher viscosi- residence time of 2–6 s. This effect cause there is very little or no con-
ties, and also that even strong fluc- is weakened by the fact that a lower tact with the washing liquid.
tuations in the centrifuge feed, up cake height has a positive effect on Compared to the pusher centri-
to and including interruptions in the the dewatering behavior, because fuge, which has a mostly flat cake, the
Andritz
require washing through an celeration of the suspension leads
opening in the scroll, and in to particle breakage and wear on
a machine already in opera- the machine. It is often argued that
tion this opening can only be the screen-scroll centrifuge of the
moved by using a new scroll. same dimension produces less par-
ticle breakage in the feeding zone
Filtrate quality because it is fed to a smaller diam-
In many applications, the eter and therefore accelerates to a
quality of the filtrate is also lower peripheral speed. On closer
important. A key factor here inspection, however, this is not the
is the proportion of solids in case as, on the one hand, there is
the filtrate. The solids usu- less time for acceleration and, on the
ally consist of the fine frac- other hand, the screen-scroll centri-
FIGURE 4. The cartridge design enables faster cartridge tion. In order to keep this fuge is usually operated at a higher
change, and thus simplifies maintenance low, two measures can be speed. Hence, pusher and screen
same amount of wash water achieves implemented within the ma- centrifuges do not differ significantly
much higher washing efficiencies. chine. First of all, particle breakage in terms of particle breakage in the
However, the advantages of should be kept as low as possible. If feed zone, and the efficiency of the
washing in the pusher centrifuge there are fewer fines, less solid mat- feeding systems is more dependent
go even further. As a rule, there is ter can pass through to the filtrate. on the different systems used by the
an optimum point combining wash- And secondly, the filter cake should individual suppliers.
ing efficiency and residual moisture. be as compact as possible, as this Particle breakage can also occur
Due to the design, the washing prevents the fine fraction from finding during transport of the solids within
positions can also be adjusted in its way into the filtrate. the basket. In pusher centrifuges, the
pusher centrifuges already installed When it comes to particle break- filter cake is pushed forward by the
so that they can be set to the op- age, the feeding system is of central next filter cake, with the result that
timum. Screen-scroll centrifuges importance because uneven ac- particle breakage during transport
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2022_ChemEng_PAP_PRINT.indd 1 1/31/2022 11:23:38 AM
is very low, often even negligible. In advantages, because they are much if the materials processed are neither
the screen-scroll centrifuge, it is not more robust in the face of fluctua- compressible, fibrous, nor unstable
possible to prevent a certain fraction tions upstream. under pressure. Similarly, due to the
of the particles from entering the gap As far as ease of maintenance is nature of cake transport, the inten-
between the scroll and the screen concerned, it is similar to the feed- sity of particle breakage in a pusher
and being crushed. This effect can ing system. Although it tends to be centrifuge is minimal, while a certain
be mitigated by specifically reducing the case that screen-scroll centri- degree of particle breakage can-
the gap between scroll and screen fuges suffer greater wear on the not be prevented on a screen-scroll
[6], but it cannot be eliminated. An- screens and are operated more fre- centrifuge due to its design. In terms
other area of particle breakage is the quently at high speeds, which leads of maintenance, screen-scroll centri-
solids discharge, but this is irrelevant to more wear, the vibration level is fuges suffer greater screen wear but
to solids loss and therefore will not lower compared to the pusher cen- have lower vibration levels, so there
be discussed here. trifuge, which puts the above effects are no significant differences. The
As already mentioned above, sig- into perspective. However, the differ- cartridge design, which is now avail-
nificantly thicker and largely compact ences overall are minor, and it is the able for both technologies, simplifies
cake layers are created in pusher design of the machine and hence the the maintenance on both machines.
centrifuges. This results in less fine supplier that are important. When se- Both technologies come with their
particles passing through, as the fil- lecting a centrifuge in terms of main- own advantages and disadvantages,
ter cake already formed retains the tenance, it is important to ensure which makes a precise analysis of
fine particles. With the screen-scroll that the screen is easily accessible the specific application and operat-
centrifuge, the filter cake immedi- as it is a common replacement part, ing situation, as well as the opera-
ately slides out of the feeding zone, and that the entire rotating unit can tor’s priorities, indispensable. n
with the result that a thinner cake is be removed from the machine in one Edited by Gerald Ondrey
formed, whereby more fines find their piece because this is the only way to
way into the filtrate. In a way, the dis- minimize downtime for major main- References
advantage of the pusher centrifuge tenance work. A proven solution for 1. Schmidt, Peter, Filtration Centrifuges — An Overview, Chem.
Eng., December 2010, pp. 34–38.
for highly viscous and compressible the latter is the so-called cartridge 2. A detailed explanation of the combined motor used in pusher
solids turns into an advantage for the design (Figure 4), which is nowadays centrifuges can be seen in the following animation: https://
youtu.be/hyzbk18sRu0.
clarity of the filtrate here. available for both pusher centrifuges 3. The operation of a pusher centrifuge is explained in the following
and screen-scroll centrifuges. animation: https://youtu.be/WelAIeeE99Y.
Maintenance and operation 4. The operation of a screen-scroll centrifuge is explained in the
following animation: https://youtu.be/g_kS7nCsMuo.
The operating conditions described Concluding remarks 5. A detailed explanation of prefiltration technology is described
above indicate that in some cases In practice, both the pusher and here: https://youtu.be/k-6UdYF8JO4.
both pusher centrifuges and screen- the screen-scroll centrifuge have 6. Smigerski, Marl, Grinding Effects of Centrifuges, Aufbereitungs-
Technik 10, 1978, p. 48.
scroll centrifuges can be used. The proven to be efficient solutions for
decision criteria in such cases are non-compressible or moderately
ease of maintenance, operational compressible solids with average Authors
stability and investment costs. The particle diameters larger than 80 Malte Junker is product manager
issue of investment costs is com- µm. Since the fundamental differ- for continuous filtering centrifuges
at Andritz Separation GmbH (In-
plex and can only be seriously con- ence between the two technologies dustriestrasse 1-3, 85256 Vi-
sidered on a case-by-case basis lies in the form of solids transport erkirchen, Germany; Phone: +49-
because one or the other type of and the resulting different structure 172-52-30-321; Email: malte.
junker@andritz.com). After receiv-
centrifuge may have to be oversized of the filter cake, particular attention ing his Ph.D. in chemical engi-
in certain applications and thus be- must be paid to the advantages and neering in the field of aerosol cen-
trifugation at the University of
come unattractive in terms of cost, disadvantages arising from this. Stuttgart, Germany, he joined Andritz in 2014 as a proj-
despite possible advantages in pro- Due to the compact and high filter ect engineer for product management. Since 2016
cess performance. cake, pusher centrifuges score pri- Junker has been product manager for continuous filter-
ing centrifuges and specialized in pusher centrifuges, as
As far as operational stability is marily in terms of the quality of the well as screen-scroll centrifuges.
concerned, both technologies can solids and filtrate produced, while
be run stably in continuous opera- screen-scroll centrifuges prove to be Peter Schmidt is global product
tion. However, stable feed condi- more flexible, especially with regard to manager for filtering centrifuges at
tions are essential for this purpose in process stability, due to the low cake Andritz Separation GmbH (Industri-
estrasse 1–3, 85256 Vierkirchen,
the pusher centrifuge. If these con- heights and continuous movement of Germany; Phone: +49-8139-
ditions are present, it is in no way the solids. Screen-scroll centrifuges 80299-113; Fax: +49-8139-
inferior to the screen-scroll centri- can be run with higher liquid volumes 80299-150; Email: peter.
schmidt@andritz.com). He has
fuge in terms of stability. However, if and higher viscosities and can cope been with Andritz Separation since
feeding conditions are not stable or better with fluctuations in the feed. 1997, first as a student intern.
the feeding flow to the machines has Pusher centrifuges can normally From 2000 to 2008, he was project manager for pusher
centrifuges, and from 2008 to 2012 sales engineer.
to be stopped several times a day, achieve better degrees of dewater- Schmidt has a Diploma in mechanical engineering from
screen-scroll centrifuges have clear ing at the same physical conditions the Berufsakademie Ravensburg, Germany.

Feature Report
Ethernet-APL:
The Future of Field
Connectivity
Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer (APL) provides connectivity between field-generated data and
enterprise systems. Presented here is information on the design and operation of this rapidly
expanding technology
P
Gerd rocess plants today have vast rates of 10 Mbit/s with long cable lengths.
Niedermayer amounts of data available at the field Ethernet-APL complies with intrinsic safety
BASF SE level from smart devices. However, requirements, and functional safety solutions
Benedikt these data are hardly accessible are under development. Depending on the
Spielmann to other levels of the organization because topology design of the network, up to 50 APL
Endress + Hauser
of the different communications technolo- devices or even more than 200 APL devices
gies between the devices at the field level can exist on an Ethernet-APL segment.
and the Ethernet architecture at the enter- The technology was launched at the
prise level. This lack of data access hinders Achema Pulse Conference (Frankfurt, Ger-
IN BRIEF the implementation of digitalization projects many; www.achema.de) in 2021 [1] and has
and prevents process plants from achieving been tested in a laboratory at BASF (Ludwig-
LEGACY TECHNOLOGY
the maximum benefits of data-driven ap- shafen, Germany; www.basf.de). Many ben-
CHALLENGES
proaches, such as the use of digital twins or efits have been proven during this evaluation.
STANDARD ETHERNET predictive maintenance models. The technology is expected to expand rapidly
LIMITATIONS Ethernet-APL (Advanced Physical Layer) with many field devices with APL interfaces
FIELD CONNECTIVITY is overcoming these challenges by providing already available or soon to be available.
connectivity between field data and enter-
ETHERNET-APL
prise systems at the speed and bandwidth Legacy technology challenges
TOPOLOGIES
required for higher level applications. This Industrial instrumentation has progressed
INTEGRATION INTO article explains how Ethernet APL is being from the original pneumatic technology to
HIGHER APPLICATIONS used, and details its features and benefits. analog devices, and further, to digital technol-
FUNCTIONAL SAFETY Ethernet-APL transmits power and data ogies, such as HART, Profibus PA or Foun-
AND CYBERSECURITY via a two-wire cable and can achieve data dation Fieldbus. Each new technology has of-
fered benefits over the previous
FEATURES AND generation, but each still has
BENEFITS
limitations of its own.
BASF CASE STUDY The HART protocol is ex-
CONCLUDING REMARKS
tremely slow. Troubleshooting
and parameterization must be
performed locally at the device.
Wiring is expensive, and the
system requires complex proto-
col conversions for remote ac-
cess. HART technicians are re-
quired to scale measurements
manually during initial device
setup, as well as for device re-
placement. This technology is
primarily used for parameteriza-
tion and troubleshooting and
FIGURE 1. An Ethernet “gap” exists at the field-device level very rarely for process control.

Fieldbus technologies also have a
slow data-transfer rate, although it is
faster than the HART protocol. How-
ever, fieldbus systems are complex
in terms of their protocol conver-
sions for remote access, engineering
of segments, and troubleshooting.
There is some industry resistance
to widespread adoption of fieldbus
technology due to the complexity
associated with its use.
Existing industrial architecture has
an electronic or fieldbus layer for field
devices, a plant Ethernet network
for supervisory and control layers,
FIGURE 2. Several examples of potential network topologies are possible with Ethernet-APL
and an enterprise Ethernet for man-
agement and planning. However, to
enable the seamless data access trinsic safety requirements. Devices, in hazardous areas. The concept is
across all layers, a single network switches, wiring and terminals found derived from the well-known FISCO
technology is required. Making vast in hazardous areas must be certified (Fieldbus Intrinsically Safe Concept)
quantities of data available in real as explosion proof or non-sparking and provides a simple installation
time for optimization and analytical depending on the area classification. without Ex calculations.
models, while meeting the require- Standard Ethernet does not meet APL Port Profiles. This specifica-
ments of the harsh environments in these intrinsic-safety requirements tion defines the power supply via the
process plants, has been one of the for industrial applications. same two-wire cable with different
primary drivers leading to the devel- Ethernet-APL is designed to over- power profiles. In addition, the pre-
opment of Ethernet-APL. (Figure 1). come these limitations without losing ferred cables and connection tech-
the benefits of Ethernet technology nology is defined.
Standard Ethernet limitations for industrial use. APL Engineering Guideline. This
Standard Ethernet seems to offer user-centric document supports end
many of the features needed for the Field connectivity users during planning, installing and
next generation of industrial field in- Major user organizations and lead- commissioning of APL networks. It
strumentation. However, there are ing manufacturers worked together provides many useful information in
some drawbacks that make it impos- over the last years to develop an terms of topologies, shielding, ca-
sible to implement directly into indus- Advanced Physical Layer for Ether- bles and so on.
trial settings. For example, 100BASE- net that meets the requirements of APL Conformance Tests. Via these
TX Ethernet has a data rate of 100 process plants. The requirements mandatory conformance tests, it is
Mbit/s full duplex, but cable lengths for this new technology were aligned ensured that APL components are
are limited to 100 m. with the NAMUR organization (User interoperable with each other.
Standard Ethernet uses CAT5/6 Association for Automation Tech-
cables that have four internal wires. nology in the Process Industries; Ethernet-APL topologies
This is incompatible with industrial in- Leverkusen, Germany; namur.net) Ethernet-APL can be designed
stallations, which require a two-wire and noted in an official NAMUR using different topologies to match
solution for field instrumentation. It recommendation [2]. The following the requirements of each process
is vital for an industrial Ethernet so- standards and guidelines are the plant. “Star” topologies suit plants
lution to integrate with the existing most important documents in the with a compact layout, while “trunk-
two-wire infrastructure to prevent the context of Ethernet-APL: and-spur” topologies are similar to
need for rewiring whole plants, which IEEE 802.3cg-2019. This new IEEE fieldbus architectures (Figure 2). De-
would not be financially justifiable. standard 10BASE-T1L defines the pending on the switch variant, it is
Many field instruments are loop- full duplex 10 Mbit/s data transmis- possible to mount APL field switches
powered, meaning that they receive sion via a two-wire cable for long in Zone 2 or Zone 1 areas and to
the power supply from the same pair cable runs. It is mainly relevant for connect APL field devices in different
of wires that transmits their data. the PHYs (the PHY layer defines the Ex zones, including intrinsic safety
Standard Ethernet is not designed physical and electrical character- (Ex ia).
to supply power at this scale, and istics), which are integrated in the Star topologies require externally
therefore cannot be used on many APL devices. powered APL field switches. These
field instrument installations. IEC TS 60079-47. This technical switches supply power to each APL
One of the most critical features specification for a two-wire, intrinsi- field device connected on the spur
of industrial field instrumentation in cally safe Ethernet ensures the instal- line in a point-to-point configuration.
process plants is compliance to in- lation of two-wire Ethernet devices Several APL field switches can be
www.ekato.com
FIGURE 3. The chart shows a comparison of field-level technologies in process plants
connected in line or in a ring forma- APL switch vendors are providing

tion using copper cables or fiber- the possibility to connect devices
optic lines. using either Profibus PA or Profinet-
Trunk-and-spur topologies require APL at the same APL field switch.
an additional APL power switch, This means that the Ethernet-APL MIXING SOLUTIONS FOR
which supplies power from the cen- technology can be installed on site
tral control room to the field via a even if some instruments are not yet PLASTICS RECYCLING
powered trunk line. Both APL field available with an APL interface.
switches and APL field devices are • Customized reactor concepts
powered via this APL trunk. No other Integration into higher • EKATO PARAVISC & PARASEG
field-level power supply is needed. applications
There is no general rule about Ethernet-APL is a new physical layer for demanding mixing tasks
which topology shall be preferred. for the field level connectivity. Ac- • Optimizing upstream mixing
It always depends on the plant de- cording to the ISO OSI model, the • CFD & FEM expertise
sign, communication requirements upper layers are independent of this
• Safe scale-up to production size
and the environment. In general, the physical layer, which means that any
star topology provides more flexibility industrial Ethernet protocol can be • Joint development agreements
in terms of redundancy and number implemented on top of Ethernet-APL. for new processes
of devices per segment. The trunk- This includes Profinet, EtherNet/IP or
and-spur topology might be more Modbus TCP. These protocols and
relevant if additional power supply in their functionalities are important for
the field requires a lot of effort. upper-layer integrations.
Ethernet-APL offers a path for Profinet. Profinet is a well-estab-
migrating a brownfield plant to this lished industrial Ethernet protocol VISIT US!
new technology. Power condition- used in many industries already. In Hall 11
ers, junction boxes and field barriers combination with Ethernet-APL, Booth A65
must be replaced with APL switches. Profinet will also fully enter the pro-
Any existing cable that does not cess industries. The GSD (general
meet the specifications for Ethernet- station description) file is the Profinet
APL will have to be replaced as well. device driver that is used for the in-
The well-known Fieldbus Type A tegration to distributed control sys-
cables, which meet the required APL tem (DCS). This file is stored on each Your partner for
cable characteristics, are the pre- device, which makes it easy to inte- advanced mixing solutions:
ferred cable type for Ethernet-APL grate new devices onto the network. Phone: 1 201 825 4684 Ext. 205
installations. Specific SPE cables for Profinet PA Profile 4 offers additional info@ekato.com
10BASE-T1L are also suitable. benefits, such as harmonized inte-
For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/ 82584-14
tion of digital twins for like computer emergency response
equipment monitoring teams (CERT) and VDE (Association
and optimization. for Electronic, Electrical and Infor-
mation Technologies) vulnerability
Functional safety and management show that they have
cybersecurity systems in place to manage issues
Safety infrastructure is that may arise.
normally built separately At the device level, security is af-
to process control infra- fected at different touchpoints. Firm-
structure. This physical ware update files must be certified
separation increases as authentic before loading on a de-
diversity and indepen- vice. Authentication and authoriza-
FIGURE 4. The BASF APL evaluation laboratory is shown here dence, which improves tion prevent unauthorized access to
safety system availabil- field devices. Security is a major area
gration and diagnostic messaging. ity. Safety applications are tradition- of focus for the industry and contin-
It supports vendor-independent de- ally equipped with 4–20-mA technol- ues to receive significant investment
vice exchange because parameters ogy. However, the bandwidth and for future developments.
are automatically downloaded after reliability of Ethernet-APL is creating
exchange without any other system an opportunity to unify the infrastruc- Features and benefits
adaptations. ture for safety and process control Implementing Ethernet-APL is cost
Profinet features like S2 System applications, while still meeting the effective at each lifecycle stage of
Redundancy and the Media Re- most stringent safety standards. The a plant. During engineering, APL
dundancy Protocol (MRP) ensure next logical step is to enable the use components might be more ex-
a very high plant availability. This is of Ethernet-APL in safety applica- pensive, but the complete network
because the system can cope with tions. There is no limitation to the infrastructure, the absence of EX-
both cable failures and controller use of Ethernet-APL for safety ap- calculations and the fully extendable
failures without interruption. plications. The relevant adaptations architecture speed up the engineer-
All process variables of a device are mainly on the level of Ethernet ing process and reduce costs. In-
are available via Profinet in digital protocols. stallation is error-free and the com-
form and without conversion losses. In the context of Profinet as an missioning stage benefits from fast
Parameterization, troubleshoot- industrial Ethernet protocol over and remote access for parameter-
ing, asset management. These use Ethernet-APL, PROFIsafe is already ization. This means shorter com-
cases are possible remotely via the available as an additional layer that missioning times and earlier startup
network and in parallel to the pro- acts according to the black channel of production. During operation and
cess control system because infor- principle. PROFIsafe is a well-es- maintenance, the availability of data
mation is available at a much higher tablished technology that has been enables improved optimization and
speed and performance using Eth- used in factory automation for many predictive maintenance.
ernet-APL. This means that mainte- years. This means Ethernet-APL, Ethernet-APL overcomes the limi-
nance personnel can troubleshoot in combination with Profinet and tations of current field level technolo-
field devices remotely and efficiently its black channel layer PROFIsafe, gies. Ethernet-APL with 10 Mbit/s
by accessing the cause and remedy will be the solutions to bring digital is 300 times faster than fieldbus
information for the device. They can communication even into functional technology and even 8,000 times
also troubleshoot the Ethernet net- safety applications. faster than the HART protocol. This
work itself by accessing the frames Connecting field devices to the speed offers significant benefits dur-
and packages information without Ethernet network introduces secu- ing commissioning, operation, and
the use of oscilloscopes. rity concerns. There are three areas maintenance. A parameter report,
Cloud / IIoT / data-driven applica- where security must be taken into for example, can be created within
tions. An edge device on the facil- account: seconds — even remotely, instead
ity Ethernet provides an interface to • At the device of within several minutes — locally at
the cloud. This means that field data • At the point of integration to the the device.
can be accessed directly by higher- Ethernet network Speed is not the only advantage
level applications without passing • During development of Ethernet-APL. The number of
through via a process control sys- IEC 62443 is the standard gov- devices per loop is significantly in-
tem. This setup fulfills concepts like erning cybersecurity of industrial creased. Using a trunk-and-spur to-
NAMUR Open Architecture (NOA) automation and control systems. pology, up to 50 field devices can be
[3, 4] and related use cases. Edge Manufacturers must certify their connected to an Ethernet-APL seg-
devices make high volumes of data development lifecycle against this ment. This is a substantial improve-
available in real-time. The technology standard [5]. As a further safeguard, ment on the 16-device limit for an
opens the door for the implementa- organizations belonging to bodies equivalent Foundation Fieldbus seg-
TIGRON ACTUATORS
ment. If you adopt a star topology, digital field connectivity through the
you can connect several APL field development of Ethernet-APL. By
switches in line and add APL devices 2019, BASF had established a test
up to the limit of a controller. This laboratory for Ethernet-APL using
limit can be further extended by add-
ing another Ethernet interface within
the controller.
prototype equipment from several
vendors (Figure 4). The purpose of
the laboratory was to evaluate Eth-
ROBUST
Ethernet-APL is based on the ernet-APL technology for commu-
SAFE
Fieldbus Intrinsically Safe Concept nication between distributed control
(FISCO) for two-wire fieldbus solu- systems and field transmitters and
tions, which is already known in pro- valves. These tests were very suc-
cess plants. For Ethernet-APL, the cessful and many benefits with Eth-
CERTIFIED
same electrical parameters are used ernet-based communication could
and specified in 2-WISE (two-wire in- be identified.
trinsically safe Ethernet). In this way, Laboratory tests show that Ether-
it does not require any Ex calcula- net-APL offers substantial improve-
tions, which significantly reduces the ments compared to analog technol-
engineering effort when implement- ogy and Profibus PA or Foundation
ing intrinsic safe solutions. Fieldbus. It is possible to upload and
The volume and speed of data download sensor information in a va-
transfer available using Ethernet-APL riety of formats, including PDF, with Made by AUMA
is making possible some higher- a speed which is 300 times greater
level applications that the industry than what BASF could achieve with
has been demanding for some time. fieldbus technologies.
Condition monitoring and predic- Using the two-wire technology
tive maintenance are prime exam- of Ethernet-APL simplifies installa-
ples where the comprehensive data tion and maintenance activities for
available from smart devices can be field technicians. There is no differ-
monitored, analyzed and used to ence between connecting an ana-
determine equipment health. Predic- log transmitter and an Ethernet-APL
tive maintenance techniques enable device. Polarity is irrelevant, so the
users to identify issues before they wires can be connected to either
affect device performance so that terminal without affecting the read-
equipment can be repaired before it ing. Motor controllers and frequency
has a negative impact on production converters can also connect to the
(Figure 3). same (or to a separate Ethernet
ring), meaning that all instrument
BASF case study and electrical devices use the same
Historically, new product develop- network technology.
ment happened in secret and with Profinet as the industrial Ethernet
a small group of researchers and protocol over Ethernet-APL, includ-
developers. However, a modern ing PA Profile 4, offers many advan-
approach includes pilot customers, tages to fulfill the requirements of
product managers, market spe- standardization and high availability.
cialists and salespeople. It is with Changing a faulty device on an
this approach in mind that BASF Ethernet-APL network with Profinet AUMA World:
implemented an APL laboratory to protocol is simply a matter of dis-
Discover your valve
participate in the development of connecting the old device and con-
automation solution
Ethernet-APL. This APL evaluation necting the new device. The DCS will
laboratory is led by the electrical, write the configuration to the device,
instrumentation and automation allowing it to communicate with the
specialists Mathias Koch and Philip DCS directly after booting up. This
Kling, under the supervision of one even works for a device exchange
of the authors (Niedermayer). across vendors.
BASF started the digital com- Profinet systems automatically
munication journey for field instru- compensate for wire breaks using
mentation in 2005, with Foundation media redundancy. If a wire breaks
Fieldbus and Profibus PA. But it was in the field, the device will still have
only in 2016 that Ethernet was first a path to transfer the information to
proposed as a realistic alternative for the DCS. Controller redundancy is
www.auma.com
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM AUGUST 2022 For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/82584-15
also built into the Profinet solution. pressure and temperature, will be
If a controller goes down, the redun- available this year. This means that
dancy partner will take over and de- projects using Ethernet-APL can be
vices will automatically communicate realized now.
SMART with the alternate controller. This fea- Security for Ethernet-APL systems
ture satisfies the high availability re- and devices will also continue to ex-
DEWATERING quirement of process plants. pand in future developments. Stan-
Several types of APL field switches dards are regularly being updated to
AND DRYING were tested in the BASF laboratory reflect new threats and to address
leading to some recommendations to gaps in the technology. As such,
SOLUTIONS vendors. For example, proxies within vendors will continuously be adding
the APL field switches allow for the new security features to their devices
FOR NON-STOP connection of PROFIBUS PA devices and solutions over time.
PERFORMANCE, SAFETY, to the switch, which makes the tran- Functional safety solutions are
AND PUREST PRODUCTS sition to Ethernet-APL even easier. also under development, so that
BASF is enthusiastic about the ca- Ethernet-APL devices can be used
pability that Ethernet-APL offers for for either safety or non-safety appli-
predictive maintenance. Fast data cations. This has several advantages
transfer means that more information for the industry, including the simpli-
With many years of ex- can be processed by higher-level fication of field networks into a single
perience and a portfolio applications to analyze equipment layer and the reduction in spares-
including everything from health and identify issues before they holding requirements.
centrifuges to filter press- cause a failure. Edge devices con- The simplicity of installation and
nect to an Ethernet-APL ring and the benefits of data integration from
es, disc and drum filters, transfer data directly to the cloud. the field to the enterprise level makes
various drying technolo- This means that field data becomes Ethernet-APL a key technology for
gies and dynamic cross- almost instantaneously visible from the future of the industry. n
flow filters, ANDRITZ of- anywhere in the world. Edited by Scott Jenkins
Future developments for Ethernet-
fers the right solution for
APL will expand the use of this tech- References:
petrochemicals, poly- nology into functional safety applica- 1. https://www.ethernet-apl.org/presentations
mers, speciality chem- tions. There are substantial benefits 2. https://www.namur.net/en/publications/news-archive/ne-
168-is-newly-published.html
icals, pharmaceuticals, to be gained from this approach, 3. https://www.namur.net/fileadmin/media_www/Dokumente/AK_
or soda ash production. including the single-network tech- Position_2.6_Ethernet_APL_2021-07-09_EN.pdf
4. https://www.namur.net/en/focus-topics/namur-open-architec-
nology, increased flexibility in plant
Our portfolio is also con- design, and lower inventory require-
ture.html
5. https://webstore.iec.ch/publication/64292
stantly expanding – giv- ments, because the same device 6. https://www.pcne.eu/article/safety-over-ethernet-apl-1/
ing you the opportunity could be used for safety and non-
reduce costs, improve ef- safety functions. BASF is already ex- Authors
ficiency, and ensure unin- periencing the advantages of digital Gerd Niedermayer is the senior
measurement, like increased output electrical and instrumentation
terrupted operations. and product quality, increased main-
(E&I) engineering manager in the
Plant Engineering Department of
tenance efficiency due to detailed di- BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Ger-
agnostic information, and increased many; Email: gerd.niedermayer@
basf.com). Niedermayer gradu-
plant availability. The organization is ated from the University of Karl-
VISIT US AT working with vendors to unlock the sruhe with a focus on electrical
systems and automation technol-
benefits of Ethernet-APL for func-
ACHEMA ogy and then started working in the global plant engi-
tional safety, too [6]. neering department of BASF SE as an electrical, instru-
mentation and control engineer. Shortly after, he was
FRANKFURT, GERMANY responsible for E&I engineering and execution of global
Concluding remarks plant engineering projects of BASF in Europe, North and
HALL 12.0, BOOTH C19 Ethernet-APL is a rapidly expanding South America and Asia.
AUGUST 22–26
new technology that will shape the
future of field data architecture. The Benedikt Spielmann has a de-
high speed and bandwidth offered gree as M.Sc. in Business Admin-
istration and Engineering. He
by Ethernet-APL enables digitaliza- works as Marketing Manager In-
tion initiatives like digital twins and dustrial Communication at En-
predictive maintenance. The first dress+ Hauser in Reinach, Swit-
zerland. Since 2019, he has
APL devices are already available, coordinated the Ethernet-APL
and further APL devices for other activities within Endress+Hauser
measurements including flow, level, and is an expert in industrial Eth-
ernet protocols like Profinet.
FLEX-A10061-00-7600
ORIGINAL.
flender.com

Engineering Practice
Magnetic-Drive Positive-Displacement Pumps
for Chemical Processing Applications
Advances in sliding-vane and internal-gear seal-less pump technologies can provide
many benefits when compared to centrifugal pumps or more well-known positive-
displacement pump options
Geoff VanLeeuwen and cussion has begun to revolve around for maintenance and repair and main-
Michael Coburn, PSG
F
another design distinction: is the best tenance requirements — some of the
acilities in the chemical pro- pump — be it PD or centrifugal — for major headaches that are inherent in
cess industries (CPI) use a CPI applications sealed or seal-less? operating a pump.
wide array of flowing sub- This article answers that question So, if we can agree that there are
stances that must be pro- while illustrating that seal-less PD compelling reasons to consider in-
cessed, stored and transferred during pump technologies, including sliding- corporating seal-less pumps in a
manufacturing activities. The technol- vane and internal-gear pumps, can chemical-processing operation, the
ogy tasked with facilitating this liquid ultimately be the better choice for cer- next question becomes, “Which type
movement is the industrial pump. As tain applications within the realm of the of seal-less pump?” Which brings the
befits what has grown into a very large PD pump universe (Figure 1). discussion back to the centrifugal or
global industry, a number of compet- PD pump conundrum.
ing technologies are constantly posi- Un-sealing the deal There has been recent growth in
tioning themselves to grab the atten- The difference between sealed and next-generation seal-less designs
tion — and capital-investment dollars seal-less pump technologies is very that feature a magnetic-drive (mag-
— of the world’s chemical processors. simple — sealed pumps use dynamic drive) coupling that is used to transmit
The oldest of these battles divided seals to keep the liquid contained, torque to the pump. In these configu-
the camps into those that favored while seal-less pumps do not require rations, a magnetic coupling connects
centrifugal pump technology, which dynamic seals to contain the liquid. the driving shaft to the driven shaft
uses velocity, momentum and kinetic Sealed pumps can accommodate a without use of a dynamic seal to keep
energy to transfer the liquid — but constant bleed of trace fluid across the pumped liquids contained.
only if the pump is operating at or near the seal faces (even in double seals), Admittedly, mag-drive seal-less
its best efficiency point (BEP) — and whereas seal-less pumps offer true pumps typically have a higher pur-
those with an affinity for positive dis- leak-free operation. Although sealed chase price than basic sealed pumps,
placement (PD) pump technologies, pumps remain more common, seals but as the seals and accompany-
which capture a fixed volume of liquid are viewed as the weakest link in a ing seal-support systems get more
and transfer it “like clockwork.” These pump’s operational chain, with some complicated (and remain more prone
distinctions have led some to call analyses of pumping operations in- to failure), they get more expensive.
centrifugal pumps “emotional,” since dicating that upwards of 80% of all For example, a triple-lip seal can cost
changes to their liquid and system envi- pump failures may originate at the $3,000, and if you’re repairing or re-
ronment directly influence their opera- seal. A quick tour through any CPI fa- placing it every 12 to 18 months,
tional capabilities, while PD pumps are cility will support this hypothesis: look that cost will add up, along with the
seen as more “stoic,” with the pump for wet baseplates and empty base- added expense of any maintenance
steadfastly achieving peak efficiency plates. Both indicate reduced uptime or repair calls. Or, for double mechani-
at all times, no matter the changes in related to a failure in a sealing device. cal seals that require seal-support
operating environment. Now, this doesn’t mean that all of systems, the seal-support system
In recent years, however, the dis- these failures are solely the seal’s fault. adds $4,000 to $8,000 itself in pur-
In fact, there are many operational chase cost, plus associated costs for
occurrences — including pulsation, monitoring equipment.
vibration, shaft deflection, dry run, Financial considerations aside, mag-
viscosity, temperature and pressure drive seal-less PD pumps outperform
changes and liquid crystallization, to their seal-less centrifugal cousins by
name just a few — that can cause offering new functionality that is not
the seal to leak or fail, either of which possible with centrifugal pumps. First,
will put the pump out of service. Re- seal-less PD pumps are self-priming
gardless, a compelling case is created and have good suction-lift capabilities,
FIGURE 1. A sliding-vane pump is a type of seal-
for seal-less pumps, since using this while mag-drive centrifugal pumps,
less positive-displacement (PD) pump that can pumping technology could theoreti- just like sealed centrifugal pumps, rely
offer some operational benefits when compared to cally significantly reduce seal-related on an integral reservoir that must be
centrifugal pumps or more well-known PD downtime occurrences, ancillary costs pre-filled before it is turned on. This
pump options
TABLE 1. SAMPLE OPERATING DATA FOR MAG-DRIVE PUMPS
Sliding vane Internal gear
Maximum flowrate 520 gal/min (1,968 L/min) 500 gal/min (1,893 L/min)
Maximum pressure 225 psi (15.5 bars) 200 psi (13.8 bars)
Temperature range –30 to 240ºF (–34 to 115ºC) –30 to 500ºF (–33 to 260ºC)
Viscosity range 0.2 cP to 500 cP 5 cP to 50,000 cP
Solids handling Suspended Dispersed
Materials of construction Ductile/cast iron, stainless steel Ductile iron, carbon or stainless
steel, stainless steel
Reverse operation Yes Yes
(bi-directional pumping)
FIGURE 2. Sliding-vane pump technologies are
Heat jacketing No Yes designed to handle a wide range of fluid viscosi-
ties and pressures, including media with sus-
pended solids
means that they technically are not ment. Finally, seal-less PD pumps can
self-priming pumps, but pre-primed run dry for extended periods, process to be air-operated double-diaphragm
pumps. Second, seal-less PD pumps suspended solids, and accommodate (AODD) and peristaltic (hose) pumps.
allow for bi-directional operation. Sim- systems with zero net positive suc- The standout feature of both of these
ply rotate the pump forward or back- tion head available (NPSHa), whereas technologies is their ability to pull a
wards to achieve line stripping in either centrifugal pumps struggle in each of perfect vacuum, which thereby en-
direction, saving on fluid waste and these areas. ables them to self-prime and achieve
improved safety in your facility. Third, good suction lift.
seal-less PD pumps are not sensitive Assessing the PD options Specifically, AODD pumps are a
to changes in operating environment With seal-less centrifugal pumps re- first-choice seal-less technology for
(liquid or system conditions), unlike moved from the equation, it’s time to utilitarian pumping applications for a
centrifugal pumps, which must be fully consider the seal-less PD op- number of reasons: they are inexpen-
tuned to a single BEP or they will react tions. The most popular in chemical- sive, very flexible and easy to operate
negatively to changes in their environ- processing applications have proven (all you need is an air hose and suction
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WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM AUGUST 2022 39
peristaltic pumps are larger than many ing new performance throughout
other technologies, which means the pump’s operational life. Vane
they require more operating space. pumps uniquely allow a wide viscos-
Also, when or if the pump’s hoses fail, ity and pressure range, and are well
a catastrophic leak can occur, and suited for challenging applications,
hose degradation during operation such as those with suspended sol-
can compromise the integrity of more ids, varying system pressure, zero
sensitive liquids. NPSHa, liquid-vapor mix and regular
On the other hand, two of the dry-run operation.
lesser-known seal-less PD pump Reliability. Mag-drive sliding vane
FIGURE 3. Magnetically driven internal-gear pumps
have a simple design with fewer components than
technologies that feature a mag-drive technology allows for extended and
other pump types, resulting in streamlined mainte- design are sliding-vane and internal- expected dry-run; high suspended-
nance and reduced downtime gear pumps. The basic advantages of solids levels (up to 20% in some
pipe). There are also some shortcom- these mag-drive pumps are that they cases); zero-NPSH-required per-
ings: their flow and pressure capaci- are electrically driven, so there is no formance that is ideal for challeng-
ties are narrower than some other PD need for compressed air; they have ing pump inlet conditions, includ-
pump technologies; they create pul- a wide and consistent flowrate range; ing with liquids featuring up to 20%
sation in the liquid path; and because they create no pulsation in the liquid; vapor or air content; and provides
air is expensive, they can be costly they operate well at higher tempera- uptime without the use of current-
to operate, especially when used in tures; they are immune to changes in monitoring systems.
continuous-duty applications. liquid viscosity or pressure; and they Functionality. The mag-drive sliding
Peristaltic pumps are suitable for are truly self-priming, meaning they vane technology can achieve suction
handling thick slurries and liquids with can prime while being fully dry, right lift of more than 25 ft (7.6 m) without
large solids. They deliver flowrate con- out of the box. The following sections the need to pre-prime the system;
sistency despite changes in pressure, take a closer look at the specific ad- provides bi-directional flow; and can
but their flowrate range is limited, and vantages of these technologies. line strip to reduce product waste
pulsating flow can occur, which will Sliding-vane pumps during or after production runs.
make it difficult to dial in a specific Sliding-vane technology (Figure 2) Flexibility. The mag-drive sliding-
flowrate. From a footprint standpoint, self-compensates for wear, sustain- vane technology provides a wide

operating range that is immune to improves liquid circulation through age new options that combine leak-
changing fluid and system condi- the coupling area. This results in lon- free, seal-less performance with the
tions. Furthermore, a wide flow and ger magnet life, lower operating tem- inherent operational advantages that
pressure range is achievable, poten- peratures and more efficient cleaning positive-displacement sliding and
tially over a smaller equipment model and flushing processes. By compari- gear pumps possess. ■
range, optimizing asset flexibility. son, some gear-pump designs fea- Edited by Mary Page Bailey
ture a long, tortuous flow path, which Author
Internal-gear pumps can raise the temperature of the liquid Geoff VanLeeuwen is the direc-
Today’s advanced magnetically cou- as it is being transferred to levels that tor of products and applications
for Blackmer and PSG (1809 Cen-
pled internal-gear pumps (Figure 3) can compromise magnet life. tury Avenue SW, Grand Rapids, MI
have a simple design that features So, now the decision involves a 49503; Phone: 1 (616) 241-
only seven main components. The choice between PD seal-less mag- 1611; Email: geoff.vanleeuwen@
heart of the design is a bearing-to- drive sliding vane and seal-less psgdover.com; Website: www.
blackmer.com). He has worked at
bearing support system that elimi- mag-drive internal gear pumps. Blackmer since 2014 and held
nates leaks. The pump’s short spin- Table 1 provides some representa- previous roles at Sargent & Lundy
dle also overcomes the challenges tive operating information to com- and Innotec. VanLeeuwen is a Licensed Professional
Engineer in Illinois and Michigan. He holds a B.S. in me-
that are inherent in pump technolo- pare sliding-vane and internal-gear chanical engineering from Calvin University and an M.S.
gies with longer spindles, namely the technologies, which operators can in energy engineering from the University of Illinois Chi-
impact of overhung loads that can use to select the best option for their cago, along with an M.B.A. from Grand Valley State
University.
lead to premature wear and failure. specific applications.
Also, unlike centrifugal pumps that Recent advancements in seal-less
rely on cantilevered bearings, internal sliding vane and internal gear pump Michael Coburn is the product
manager for EnviroGear and PSG,
gear pumps have a symmetrical shaft technology provide new functional- (1815 S. Meyers Road, Oakbrook
support, which eliminates shaft de- ity, reliability and flexibility for CPI fa- Terrace, IL 60181; Email: michael.
flection during operation, resulting in cilities. These pump designs are leak- coburn@psgdover.com; Phone:
1-909-422-1731; Website: www.
less maintenance and downtime. free and help eliminate pervasive pain psgdover.com/envirogear). Coburn
Another standout feature of some points of legacy technologies that has worked at PSG for five years,
magnetically coupled gear pumps is have been used in CPI applications. and has over 15 years of experi-
a single-liquid-chamber design that Now, chemical processors can lever- ence in engineering. He holds B.S.
and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering.
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220705 L2201286-Chemical Engineering - adv. - 206.4x142.9mm EN.indd 1 5-7-2022 09:06:46
Environmental Manager
Steps to Improve Safety Challenges
in Hazardous Environments
Compliance with industry- and machinery-specific safety standards and
classifications is essential to make the safest possible environment for plant
personnel, especially those working in potentially hazardous conditions
Carolyn Reifsteck, Paul Hensy and dards and processes. Compliance machine or group of machines and
Chris Liston with several industry- and machin- quantify the associated risk via the
N
SICK, Inc. ery-specific safety standards was following measures:
avigating the world of in- applied to make the safest pos- • Identifying hazards during setup,
dustrial safety standards sible environment for its employees. operation, maintenance and cleaning
can feel like being in un- Some of these standards are listed • Establishing minimum perfor-
charted waters. In the sea in Table 1. mance requirements for the safety-
of standards that need to be applied This article outlines a step-by- related parts of the control system
to machinery, systems, processes step overview of how this chemi- • Evaluating existing risk-reduction
and facilities, companies can find cal manufacturer applied these measures and providing recommen-
a beacon of hope by cultivating standards to make machinery safer dations for improvement
machine safeguarding solutions to for employees. Although the many prerequisites
comply with standards (Figure 1). for building safe machines and sys-
These standards may come from a 1. Conduct a risk assessment tems are diverse, all risks must be
wide range of global organizations, When designing or installing a ma- identified. Then, appropriate mea-
including the following: chine, any potential risks must be sures for minimizing risk need to be
• The International Organization assessed, evaluated and mitigated. identified and their potential effec-
for Standards (ISO; Geneva, Swit- Where necessary, additional protec- tiveness at reducing risk defined.
zerland; www.iso.org) tive measures must be implemented A risk assessment enables manu-
• The American National Stan- to protect operators and other indi- facturers to identify gaps in safety
dards Institute (ANSI; New York, viduals from any remaining hazards. compliance to begin the work to
N.Y.; www.ansi.org) Sometimes this process begins put together a plan to improve upon
• The Occupational Safety and with an activity called machine these gaps. After this large chemi-
Health Administration (OSHA; Wash- safety prioritization, which provides cal manufacturer completed the
ington, D.C.; www.osha.gov) manufacturers with a list that de- risk-assessment process, discus-
• The American Society of Safety scribes which machinery in the fa- sions were commenced to develop
Professionals (ASSP; Park Ridge, Ill.; cility should be prioritized first for a a risk-mitigation strategy to bring
www.assp.org) safety upgrade and which ones can the equipment into compliance
• The National Fire Protection As- be completed later (Figure 2). Other with the applicable standards for
sociation (NFPA; Quincy, Mass.; projects start immediately with a the industry.
www.nfpa.org) more comprehensive risk assess-
This article describes the experiment, which is a sequence of logi- 2. Craft a safety concept plan
ences of a large global chemical cal steps based on the systematic Within this global chemical manu-
manufacturer with locations around analysis and evaluation of risks. facturer’s numerous facilities around
the world that recently navigated The main goal of a risk assess- the world, people are constantly
the implementation of safety stan- ment is to identify and document interacting with machines. The in-
hazards for machinery, current herent hazards within the chemical
manufacturing processes and other process industries (CPI) make it es-
elements of the chemical produc- sential that the employer properly
tion process. Risk assessments address those concerns to provide
evaluate the tasks performed and a safe work environment for its em-
help to identify potential hazards, ployees, so it was an essential pri-
the potential severity of hazards, the ority to raise the level of safety and
frequency of exposure to hazards awareness within its facilities.
and the specific strategies that can The ultimate risk-mitigation strat-
be implemented to mitigate those egy is designed according to the re-
FIGURE 1. The vast array of equipment types and hazards and avoid harm to employ- sults of the risk assessment. If nec-
materials handled mean that chemical manufac-
turing facilities must comply with a wide range of
ees and the machinery. essary, risk-reduction activities can
industrial standards to ensure the safety of em- This methodology will identify the follow a risk assessment. Risk re-
ployees, equipment and the environment potential hazards associated with a duction can include the completion
tem must be equal to or higher than
the required performance level. Per-
formance levels range from a to e,
and the Performance Level Require-
ment (PLr) is based on three param-
eters: severity of injury, frequency
and/or exposure to hazard, and pos-
sibility to avoid hazard or limit harm.
With this global chemical manufac-
FIGURE 2. Machinery safety prioritization is often turer, the ISO EN13849-1 standard FIGURE 3. Plants may include a blend of general-
the first activity in the risk assessment process. It (see Table 1) was referenced to de- purpose and customized components, so compa-
helps plants to determine which pieces of machin- termine the necessary performance nies must seek differentiated solutions to estab-
ery are in most critical need of safety upgrades lish an overarching safety plan
level to reduce risk on machinery in
of a safety concept or a functional- its facility. The company determined and uptime.
safety design of the control systems, that PLd was the best option for Many of the control components
as well as engineering the design of its processes. In some cases, this and devices at the manufacturer’s
the suitable protective measures. performance level is higher than re- facilities are general-purpose, and
The safety standard level that the quired, but the company believed therefore must be tailored for use
corporation required was identi- that setting this requirement at PLd in a Class 1, Div. 2 environment (for
fied as Performance Level d (PLd). would provide a distinct advantage to instance, installed into a purged
A performance level is a value used protecting its employees while meet- cabinet or an explosion-proof enclo-
to define the ability of safety-related ing the core values of the company. sure). Other times, areas of the facil-
parts of control systems to perform The next step involved determining ity were unclassified to install certain
a safety function under foreseeable the most efficient, optimal way to components. Applying the correct
conditions. The required perfor- incorporate a compliant safety solu- products to meet the appropriate
mance level is used to achieve the re- tion into the company’s complex ap- standards was critical, especially
quired risk reduction for each safety plications. Safety is vitally important, for a global organization with similar
function. The performance level of but it is also critical to not unneces- machines located in different facili-
safety-related parts of a control sys- sarily hinder processes, productivity ties all over the world.
Optimize ACHEMA, Frank

Au gu st 22 –
furt/Main
26 , 2022
Please visit us
:
Your
7
Hall 8, Booth J3
Process
Use the Optimal Technology for All Vacuum Ranges
Your added value
■ Pumps for vacuum generation down to ■ Chambers, components and valves
ultra-high vacuum ■ Pumping stations and customized solutions
■ Vacuum measurement and analysis ■ HiScroll pumps und OktaLine Root pumps
equipment are ATEX-certified
■ Leak detectors and integrity test systems
Pfeiffer Vacuum GmbH

Germany
T +49 6441 802-0 www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com

TABLE 1. A SUMMARY OF SELECTED INDUSTRIAL SAFETY STANDARDS part of the risk mitigation strategy,
Standard Date of Title/reference Typical application and the machinery was made safe
issue to meet standards and ensure the
2015 Safety of machinery – Functional safety standard that safety of workers interacting with
Safety-related parts of control provides guidance on Performance this machinery with Class 1, Div. 2
ISO 13849-1 2015
systems – Part 1: General prin- Levels non-contact safety switches and
ciples for design other safety equipment.
2012 Safety of machinery – Functional safety standard that Shrink/stretch wrapper. The
ISO 13849-2 2012 Safety-related parts of control provides guidance on validation shrink/stretch wrapper machine
systems – Part 2: Validation processes
consists of a spinning table for
2020 Safety of machinery – Risk-assessment standard that gives finished product on pallets to be
ANSI B11.0 2020 General requirements and risk guidance on the process and what wrapped in stretch wrap. There are
assessment hazards to look for
a number of hazards associated
2012 Safety of machinery – Gen- E.U. risk-assessment standard, which with this type of machine. There is
ANSI/ISO
2012 eral principles for design – Risk is harmonized with ANSI B11.0
12100
assessment and risk reduction the potential for crushing hazards,
pinch-point hazard, and thermal
OSHA 29, CFR Not appli- General requirements for all Provides guidance on machinery-
§1910.212 cable machines guarding requirements
hazard. All of these can lead to bro-
ken bones, potential amputation
OSHA 29, CFR Not appli- Control of hazardous energy – Guidance on LOTO on general ma- and burns if not addressed prop-
§1910.147 cable lockout/tagout (LOTO) chinery
erly with safety measures. In order
2016 Control of hazardous en- More recent guidance and current to protect people from these haz-
ANSI/ASSE
2016 ergy – lockout/tagout and alter- state of the art on controlling hazard-
Z244.1
native measures ous energy
ards, safety light curtains can be
implemented at the entrance and
Mechanical power-transmission Covers machinery-guarding require-
OSHA 29, CFR Not appli-
apparatus ments for power-transmission equip-
exit of the machine with a request-
§1910.212 cable
ment to-enter locked door. When some-
one requests to enter, the rotating
2018 Electrical Standard for In- Guidance on emergency-stop buttons
NFPA 79 2018 dustrial Machinery (e-stops), color-coding for pushbut- arm that wraps the product will stop
tons, wires, fuses and so on moving when the door is opened.
2021 Standard for electrical Arc-flash safety guidance
Filter press. The filter press machine
NFPA 70E 2021 consists of frames of cloth filters that
safety in the workplace
2019 Performance Requirements Guidance on applying safety devices,
remove solids. The frames become
ANSI B11.19 2019 for Risk Reduction Measures: guards, resets and so on full of the solids and must be manu-
Safeguarding and other ally cleaned. This is a high frequency
activity carried out by workers of the
Market availability of differentiated them. More details about specific global chemical company. Hazards
solutions and services from third- safety measures for each equip- associated with this machinery in-
party providers affords plants sev- ment category are provided in the clude crushing hazards, nip-point
eral advantages. This enables plants following sections. hazards and impact hazards. These
to use numerous products that may Screen pack changers. The chem- have the potential for amputation or
not be rated for Class 1, Div. 2, but ical manufacturer utilized screen fractures of limbs. These safety haz-
still meet that certification by using pack changers as a part of its pro- ards will be addressed to ensure the
multiple relevant products (Figure 3). cess. This machine’s main purpose continued safety of workers. This
is to remove contaminants from a is done by using a moveable inter-
3. Execute machine safeguards molten polymer stream. The screen lock guard to provide access to the
As part of the manufacturer’s ma- changer consists of a hydraulic cyl- machine, but still allowing access to
chine safeguarding solution, the inder. The cylinder has two sections the machine when necessary. When
risk-mitigation strategy from the in the slide plate where the molten someone enters the work area,
risk assessment (Step 1) and func- polymer flows through. The screen an output indicates a stop to the
tional safety design of the controls packs on the machine can often be
from the safety concept (Step 2) changed during operation without
are integrated into the existing interrupting workflow or reducing
equipment to provide that final safe production time.
working environment for the plant. However, there are hazards as-
Typical safety-critical applications sociated with this machine that
within the chemical industry in- needed to be addressed. First,
clude screen pack changers, box there is the potential for third-de-
dumpers, pelletizers, drum lines, gree burns from the molten hot
shrink wrappers and more. This polymer that flows through the ma-
global chemical manufacturer has chine. Second, it provides a pinch-
all of these types of machinery and point hazard with the potential for FIGURE 4. Chemical products are loaded onto
pallets for shipping. This process carries the risk
plans are in place to apply appro- amputation of limbs. Both of these for personnel injuries and product loss if certain
priate safety measures to each of safety hazards were addressed as preventative measures are not taken

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hydraulic cylinder. project. Some manufacturers may Authors
Palletizer. A palletizer machine uti- certify to FM standards, but not to Carolyn Reifsteck is the manager
lizes electric and pneumatic actions ATEX standards, meaning that cer- of business consulting for safe pro-
ductivity at SICK, Inc. (6900 W.
to move and load finished product tain items could not necessarily be 110th St., Minneapolis, MN
onto wooden pallets (Figure 4). Sim- used globally. 55438; Phone: 800-325-7425;
ilar to other machines, the palletizer In light of these challenges, the Email: info@sick.com). For over
has a crushing hazard and a pinch- company put together a team seven years, Reifsteck has pro-
vided support for customers at
point hazard, with the potential for with third-party partners that have SICK on safety solutions and ser-
broken bones or amputation. Safety branches in many countries and vices. She is currently the manager
measures are planned to prevent include broad expertise and knowl- for the safe productivity team, focused on providing safety
services, including risk assessments, engineering consul-
these from happening. A robot pal- edge in the safety industry interna- tations, validation and commissioning consults and more.
letizer is one option to meet safety tionally, with active members on a Paul Hensy is a safety solution
standards in this application. wide range of safety standardization specialist at SICK, Inc. With over 25
committees. Another important fac- years of experience in the industrial
Overcoming major challenges tor was to develop vendor-agnostic safety industry, Hensy is an experi-
enced safety specialist with a dem-
Throughout this ongoing project, solutions that meet safety standards onstrated history of providing
there have been a few challenges regardless of what type of equipment support for process control, engi-
to overcome. The biggest challenge has been installed in each facility. A neering, control systems design,
business development, and pro-
was that this was a large, ongo- final challenge is ensuring that the cess automation. He has been with
ing international project with more proper validation is carried out for the SICK for over 11 years.
than one standard that needed to developed risk and safety plans. The Chris Liston is a sales manager
be implemented across several in- validation phase is a comprehensive at SICK, Inc. In this role, he is re-
ternational and U.S. locations. This point-to-point check to ensure ev- sponsible for working with key in-
ternational customers and top-tier
required an in-depth knowledge on erything identified in the risk-mitiga- engineering firms in the process
the intent of all the standards, as tion strategy and engineered during automation space. He has spent
well as how to properly implement the functional safety design of con- most of his career working in the
oil-and-gas industry, with the last
them within these complex appli- trols has been implemented properly seven years specifically in process
cations. This also proved challeng- during installation. n automation. Before joining SICK,
ing when finding suppliers for the Edited by Mary Page Bailey Liston was the regional sales manager of HIMA
Americas, Inc.
Imagine. Design. Deliver.

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to gain a custom bulk material handling solution. Drive
process improvements, increase productivity, enhance
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269.673.2125 | MaterialTransfer.com/equipment

Show Preview
cal gear pumps. The system is suit-
22 - 26 August 2022 | Frankfurt am Main, Germany
able for building up a comparatively
PLEASE VISIT US IN HALL 9.0 STAND B1
high pressure with low-viscosity
A
media. The CoreCommand range
chema (www.achema.de), the also includes a pump control system
global forum for the chemi- (photo) that can be easily integrated
cal engineering and pro- into existing processes. Operation is
cess industries presented by carried out via a touch-sensitive, 7-in.
Dechema e.V. (www.dechema.de), is panel. The control system is housed
taking place August 22–26 in Frankfurt in a small control cabinet that com-
am Main, Germany. This year’s event plies with industrial standards. Due to
Ystral
will feature over 2,000 exhibitors and the control panel’s small dimensions,
a comprehensive technical program. it can be flexibly positioned near
The Achema Technical Congress will the pump. Hall 8.0, Stand F38 —
bring together thought leaders and Witte Pumps & Technology GmbH,
technology experts to discuss impor- Tomesch, Germany
tant topics, including: the hydrogen www.witte-pumps.com
economy; laboratory and analytics
advancements; bioprocessing; and This versatile radar sensor offers
much more. This year, several co-lo- safety and security
cated events will expand the breadth VegaPuls 6X (photo) is a radar sen-
of topics, including: Climate-Neutral sor that can measure level in nearly
Chemical Industry 2050; Automation any application. The sensor features
in Dialog; the International Powder and a new radar-chip technology and a
Nanotechnology Forum (IPNF) 2022; self-diagnosis system that immedi-
Witte Pumps & Technology
and more. This show preview covers ately detects damage or interference,
a small selection of the products and ensuring higher availability and safety.
services of Achema’s exhibitors. In addition to SIL certification, the mat-
ter of cybersecurity is fully taken into
Faster battery processing with account through compliance with se-
this powder-dispersion system curity standard IEC 62443-4-2, which
BATT-TDS (photo) is a new powder- specifies the strictest requirements for
dispersing system that enables quick secure communication and access
mixing of electrode slurries used in the control. Hall 11.1, Stand C63 — VEGA
manufacture of lithium-ion batteries. Grieshaber KG, Schiltach, Germany
The system is said to reduce the time www.vega.com/radar
required for the production of electrode
slurries from around 2–6 h to just a few Use these plasticizers where
minutes. The system inducts powders durability is a must
dust-free under vacuum into a stream Elatur DinCD is a new family of plas-
of liquid, thereby creating conditions ticizer for durable products. The new
for optimal dispersion of diverse com- product, a cyclohexanoate, is char-
ponents in a continuous sequence. In- acterized by a combination of perfor-
dependent control of key parameters, mance properties, such as low-tem-
including flow and shear rates, offers a perature flexibility, and high ultraviolet
wide process window. Hall 12.0, Stand (UV) resistance, thus contributing sig- VEGA Grieshaber
C68 — Ystral GmbH, Ballrechten- nificantly to the weather resistance and

Dottingen, Germany durability of the products made from it.
www.ystral.com Due to its low viscosity, Elatur DinCD
is easily processed and is suitable for
New gear pumps and control demanding interior and exterior appli-
systems for low-viscosity fluids cations, such as textile fabrics, roofing
The new CoreCommand gear pump membranes, floor coverings, adhe-
is a dosing pump for low-viscosity sives and sealants, as well as paints
media in applications where high and coatings. The new product is to be
pressure and a wide temperature manufactured in Marl, Germany. Hall
range are required. The pump also 9.1, Stand D66 — Evonik Industries AG,
features a two-stage pump system, Essen, Germany
which is an unusual feature in typi- www.evonik.com

Flexible ozone-generation system the possibility of individual customiza-
adapts to fluctuating conditions tion. Rigorous quality controls and tests
Ozone is increasingly being used to on an in-house wet bench ensure that
eliminate as many pollutants as pos- strict criteria and standards are met.
sible from wastewater. Ozone breaks Hall 11.1, Stand C15 — Swan Analyti-
down trace substances through oxi- cal Instruments AG, Hinwil, Switzerland
dation or converts them into smaller www.swaninstruments.ch
molecules. They are then easier for
micro-organisms to break down in a A specialized flowmeter for
post-treatment stage or can be re- hydrocarbon processing
moved by means of absorption. Mak- Designed for use in hydrocarbon pro-
ing ozone generation as cost-effective cessing applications, the Fluxus H831
ProMinent
as possible is not easy, because ozone ultrasonic flowmeter (photo) combines
quantities vary greatly due to the huge highly precise non-invasive measure-
fluctuations in wastewater quantities ment of volume flow and sound speed
and the composition of trace elements. with advanced calculation features.
The Dulcozon OZLa is a new ozone It is approved for operation in ATEX/
system (photo) that can be fitted with IECEx zone 1. Flow measurement is
up to 16 ozone-generator modules. carried out non-intrusively with ultra-
The modules can be activated and sonic transducers mounted on the
deactivated as required. The amount outside of the pipe. Fluxus H831 has
of ozone produced can therefore be two intrinsically safe (Ex-ia) process
adapted to fluctuations, for example in inputs for connecting pressure and
a clarification plant where varying vol- temperature sensors. This allows
umes of wastewater are treated. Hall the transmitter to directly determine
VDM Metals International
8.0, Stand J94 — ProMinent GmbH, API gravity, operational density, den-
Heidelberg, Germany sity at base conditions and kinematic
www.prominent.com viscosity. Temperature and pressure
compensation allows for precise,
High-performance alloys for standard volume-flow measurement
aggressive conditions of liquid hydrocarbons. Typical appli-
This company provides alloys that are cations for the Fluxus H831 are mass
designed for the chemical process in- balance, leak and interface detection,
dustries, particularly for high-temper- product identification in tank farms
ature applications in combination with and oil terminals, quality checks and
aggressive corrosive conditions. The verification or temporary replacement
new Alloy 699 XA (photo) offers well- of stationary measuring devices. Hall
balanced metal-dusting resistance, as 11.1, Stand A16 — Flexim GmbH,
well as excellent processability and Berlin, Germany
weldability, says the company. The alloy www.flexim.de
also features favorable thermal-me-
Swan Analytical Instruments
chanical properties and microstructure A new line of low-pulsation
stability. It is offered in various product rotary-piston pumps
forms, including bars, sheets, plates, This company is launching a new
wires, welding rods, powder and rotary-piston pump that is energy ef-
seamless tubes. Hall 11.1, Stand C59 ficient, low in pulsation and hermeti-
— VDM Metals International GmbH, cally sealed, combining the advan-
Werdohl, Germany tages of other well-known pumping
www.vdm-metals.com technologies. The pump’s design,
in which the torque of the outer
A wide range of analyzers for con- shaft is transmitted to the pistons
tinuous water monitoring by magnets, reduces the pump’s
This company’s analytical instruments maintenance requirements. The new
(photo) are dedicated to continuous pumps can handle toxic, corrosive
water monitoring and provide a flexible, or viscous liquids, and are suitable
customized solution to comply with for conveying shear-sensitive and ex-
the monitoring needs of a wide range plosive materials. Hall 8.0, Stand C1
of water-treatment facilities. The range — Paul Bungartz GmbH & Co. KG,
Flexim includes single components or com- Düsseldorf, Germany
plete, panel-mounted instruments with www.bungartz.de
Capturing green
opportunities
Carbon capture and storage or utilization (CCS/CCU) is a
key strategy that businesses can adopt to reduce their CO2
emissions. By selecting the right technologies, pressing climate
change mitigation targets can be met while benefitting from new
revenue streams.
Sulzer Chemtech offers cost-effective solutions for solvent-based
CO² absorption, which maximize the amount of CO2 captured
and minimize the energy consumption. To successfully overcome
technical and economic challenges of this capture application, we
specifically developed the structured packing MellapakCC™. This
packing is currently applied in several leading CCS/CCU facilities
worldwide, delivering considerable process advantages.
By partnering with Sulzer Chemtech – a mass transfer specialist
with extensive experience in separation technology for carbon
capture – businesses can implement tailored solutions that
maximize their return on investment (ROI). With highly effective
CCS/CCU facilities, decarbonization becomes an undertaking that
can enhance sustainability and competitiveness at the same time.

Process technologies to advantages of other extruder models
support circularity — absolute temperature control, ca-
This company will showcase its pabilities to mix active substances,
comprehensive mass-transfer port- low-shear thin-layer rolling-out and
folio (photo), process technology large surface exchange — can now
solutions, technology licensing and be applied in material-critical areas
Sultzer
engineering capabilities, placing a in quantities of several hundred
particular focus on sustainable pro- grams per hour. Hall 4.0, Stand B8
duction and circular strategies. This — Entex Rust & Mitschke, GmbH,
will feature a virtual reality (VR) area, Bochum, Germany
where visitors will be able to explore www.entex.de
full-scale photorealistic reproduc-
tions of real-world processing and This microreactor is designed
manufacturing facilities that leverage for electrochemistry scaleup
the company’s equipment. Users This organization has developed a
will be able to learn how plants can flexible and scaleable microreac-
maximize throughput, product qual- tor for electrochemical conversions
ity and energy efficiency, driving (photo). Parallel arranged electrodes,
their productivity and sustainabil- small distance between the elec-
ity. The group will also showcase trodes, and their operation under
purification technologies that help laminar flow conditions lead to ho-
to address challenges in plastic re- mogeneous and beneficial process
Entex Rust & Mitschke
cycling and upcycling processes. conditions overcoming limitations
Hall 4.0, Stand D48 — Sulzer Ltd., linked to conventional electrosyn-
Winterthur, Switzerland theses. The reactor concept, based
www.sulzer.com on a plate-stack design approach,
allows not only the operation of
A new generation of extruders one electrochemical cell in various
for laboratory use configurations, but also the exten-
This company has expanded its sion to a larger number of cells for
range of modular extruders with a scaleup. Now, this expansion ap-
new planetary roller extruder for lab- proach has been validated through
oratory use, the 30 Series (photo). an application of Kolbe electrolysis
This unit’s size makes it possible to increasing the number of cells in
Fraunhofer IMM3
perform series of tests for formula- the stack up to four. Starting from
tion and product development at fatty acids obtainable from biomass,
laboratory scale. The design features Kolbe electrolysis allows the syn-
of the new extruder mean that the thesis of valuable chemicals. Envi-
ZO NE 1/21
New for
ISM_MA0171_220706
IS-SW1.1
Your expert for mobile communication solutions

in explosion hazardous and industrial areas. WWW.ISAFE-MOBILE.COM
sioned is a further increase up to highest explosion protection require- a crucial gap in flow chemistry.
20 cells corresponding to a pro- ments. Zone entrainment of explo- Combining the newly acquired tech-
duction capacity of about 3 kg/h sive gases is ruled out as a result. nologies with existing capabilities
of production. Hall 9.1, Stand E64 Due to the expansion of the series, enables the group to tackle com-
— Fraunhofer Institute for Microen- pumping speeds range from 280 to plex processing issues, including
gineering and Microsystems (IMM), 8,100 m3/h. Depending on the ap- continuous reactions, crystallization
Mainz, Germany plication, there is a choice between processes that have a high crystal
www.imm.fraunhofer.de equipment category 2G or 3G. All concentration, and continuous dry-
pumps are suitable for temperature ing and filtration processes at all
This series of explosion-proof class T3. Installation is possible with- production scales, from laboratory
pumps has been expanded out flame arresters. This means that and research to commercial. The
This company has expanded its the full pumping speed of the pump company will be highlighting an en-
OktaLine range of Roots pumps is effectively available. The pumps gineered facility that demonstrates
(photo), which are designed for use are suitable for universal use due the working steps from continuous
in potentially explosive environments to their variable differential-pressure reaction, crystallization, filtration
or for evacuating explosive gases. and flexible rotational speed. All and drying to the mixing process
Designed in accordance with the pumps can be used at ambient tem- and dosing into the final packaging.
ATEX Directive (2014/34/EU1 or peratures ranging from –20 to 40°C. Hall 12.0, Stand A21 — Dec Group
1999/92/EC) with pressure surge Hall 8.0, Stand J37 — Pfeiffer Vac- SA, Lausanne, Switzerland
resistance of PN 16, they meet the uum GmbH, Asslar, Germany www.dec-group.net
Pfeiffer Vacuum
www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com
This flexible atomizer simplifies
Expanded flow-chemistry spray-drying operations
range for a large span of flows The patent-pending Air Bearing
With the recent acquisition of Alcon- Atomizer (ABA; photo, p. 52) pro-
bury Weston Ltd. (AWL), this com- vides low-maintenance operation
pany has expanded its continuous- for spray-drying applications. Con-
processing capabilities and bridged ceptually, a thin film of pressurized
Visit us!
ACHEMA, Frankfurt a. M., Germany
August 22–26, 2022
Hall 3.0, Stand F50
Visit us!
Powtech, Nuremberg, Germany
September 27–29, 2022
Hall 3, Stand 3-639
SOME THINK
THAT BAG
FILLING
SYSTEMS ARE
STATIONARY.
WE THINK
DIFFERENT.
beumer.com

BEUMER_fillpac_FFS_Chemical_ChemicalEngineering_206_4x142_9px_2MH_EN.indd 1 04.05.22 10:37
air “levitates” the shaft of the rotary Multifunctional flowmeters that
atomizer, yielding a virtually friction- are extremely compact
less operation with true alignment The Flexi-Flow thermal mass flowme-
while eliminating wear parts. Unlike ter (photo) combines the advantages
established air-bearing technology, of a unique through-chip-sensor with
this new technology’s efficiency and proven bypass technology. The com-
effectiveness is due to a proprietary air pact meters and controllers are 35%
Dedert International
distribution mechanism. The system is smaller than traditional instruments,
oil- and contact-free and runs on utility making them the smallest on the mar-
air level, meaning that no lubrication ket for flow ranges up to 20 ln/min, says
system is necessary. The permanent- the company. The instruments feature
magnet-motor technology is 95% ef- very stable flow control, but also very
ficient with high power levels and high fast control, with settling times smaller
disc-tip speeds. The atomizer has than 150 ms. Flexi-Flow instruments
only one moving part, which elimi- have integrated temperature and pres-
nates premature wear, reduces spare sure sensors and an onboard gas data-
parts and lowers maintenance require- base for high accuracy, even at varying
Bronkhorst High-Tech
ments, such as bearing-changes. process conditions. The instruments
In addition, a rotating maintenance are adaptable to many applications due
stand is provided for ease of servic- to their wide dynamic flow ranges. The
ing and cleaning. The units are avail- temperature and pressure signals may
able in three sizes to meet a full range provide the user with information about
of industrial spray-dryer capacities: the actual process conditions, making
ABA-25 (25 kW), ABA-100 (100 kW) the meters capable of multiparameter
and ABA-300 (300 kW). Hall 4.0, measurement and control. Hall 11.1,
Stand G3 — Dedert International A/S, Stand F3 — Bronkhorst High-Tech BV,
Ballerup, Denmark Ruurlo, the Netherlands
Buss-SMS-Canzler www.dedert.com www.bronkhorst.com
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Continuous monitoring of
thin-film evaporators
This company offers predictive main-
tenance solutions for mechanical seals
and bearings on thin-film evaporators
(photo, p. 52). The predictive-main-
tenance platform includes an early
warning system to enable optimized Arkema
availability with minimal downtime.

Status information can be transmitted Durable fluoropolymers with a
to mobile phones so that personnel wide processing window
can remotely check equipment. Hall This company’s flagship fluoropoly-
4.0, Stand B24 — Buss-SMS-Canzler mer resins — the Kynar range — are
GmbH, Butzbach, Germany designed for excellent durability and
www.sms-vt.com resistance to aggressive chemicals,
radiation, sunlight and ultraviolet
Valve actuators for extremely light. The polyvinylidene difluoride
harsh environments (PVDF) resins are especially suited for
High-performance Tigron valve actua- the ever-growing semiconductor ap-
tors (photo) meet the requirements of plications market (photo). With rigid,
demanding applications, from petro- flexible and highly flexible grades
available, Kynar PVDF resins pro-
AUMA Riester vide a balance of mechanical prop-
erties and melt processability for a
wide range of process applications.
Hall 9.1, Stand A31 — Arkema S.A.,
Colombes, France
www.arkema.com
Single-use separators eliminate

cleaning requirements
The kytero single-use pharma separa-
tor (photo) provides high separation
leum production, storage and transport efficiency, simple and safe handling
to downstream processing. They are GEA Group
ATEX and IECEx certified for the high-
est gas group IIC T4, which includes
hydrogen. Other approvals are also in
progress. A wide temperature range
from –65 to 75°C, IP68 protection and
an extremely resistant powder coat-
ing ensure that Tigron devices operate
safely and reliably in harsh environ-
ments. The smart actuators are avail-
able in different sizes and combinations
to suit all valve automation tasks, includ-
ing high-precision operation of control
valves and choke valves. Operation via
magnetic pen is available for extreme and the elimination of costly clean-
conditions. A commissioning assistant ing procedures. With its maximized
makes setting up easy and safe. Tigron separation efficiency, yields up to 98%
actuators provide non-intrusive setup and gentle product handling, kytero
without requiring additional tools for systems enable new ways for pro-
commissioning. In hard-to-reach loca- cessing cell-culture-based fermenta-
tions, or where vibration is a problem, tions in pilot plants, laboratories and
the controls can be mounted separately small-scale biopharmaceutical pro-
from the actuator. Hall 8.0, Stand C23 duction facilities. As the systems rely
— AUMA Riester GmbH & Co. KG, on disk separators, the use of filtration
Müllheim, Germany is significantly reduced. The kytero
www.tigron.auma.com 500 was developed for a capacity of

IPCO_Chemicals_ad_55.6x254.indd 1 08/03/2022 14:42
up to 150 L/h and is thus suitable for potentially explosive environments,
laboratories and small batches. For including in gas (Zone 1) and dust
scaleup applications, another model atmospheres (Zone 21). Follow-
will soon become available, says the ing the 2018 launch of LiTex — the
manufacturer. The gentle feed system world’s first lithium-ion battery for
preserves the vitality of shear-sensitive use in Ex-protected environments
products. With the single-use sepa- — this new certification is a key
Stöcklin Logistik
rators, all product-contacting parts prerequisite for Korean Certifica-
are replaced after use, preventing tion (KC) , which is required in Asian
any cross-contamination without the markets. The explosion-proof LiTex
need for cleaning and sterilization. battery can be charged at any time
The frictionless drive system provides in the ATEX zone, just like a normal
100% biocontainment by eliminat- Li-ion battery, which increases effi-
ing the need for seals or mechanical ciency and availability of equipment.
bearings. Setup and changeover time In the past, users had to leave the
(only 5 to 10 min for preparation) is explosion-proof room or even the
minimal. No auxiliary equipment, such shop floor to charge the battery. As
as water, buffers or tanks, is required. charging usually takes around 8 h,
Hall 4.0, Stand G66 — GEA Group, batteries had to be changed during
Düsseldorf, Germany shift operation in order to continue
www.gea.com working. This significant loss of time
is eliminated by LiTex’s pressurized
These battery-operated forklifts charger. According to the company,
Ridart
are now IECEx-certified a battery life cycle of at least 5,000
Last December, the Ex forklift se- full cycles is guaranteed. Hall 9.1,
ries, equipped with LiTex batteries Stand A59 — Stöcklin Logistik AG,
(photo), received the IECEx safety Laufen, Switzerland
certification for safe operation in www.stoecklin.com
Call the Experts

for all your solids processing
Solids Mixing Applications: Written for engineers, by engineers

Ribbon & Cone Blenders APIs ∙ Ag-Chemicals
Fluidizing Mixers
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Vacuum Drying Polymers ∙ Powdered Metals With editorial offices around the world, Chemical
Dryers & Complete Systems Proteins ∙ Resins ∙ Vitamins Engineering is well-positioned to keep abreast of all
the latest innovations in the equipment, technology,
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An overfill protection valve for of the gummy product, and a special
underground storage tanks
This company offers a wide range
agitator installed in the hopper helps
to loosen any clumped gummy prod- Thin Film
Evaporator 4.0
of brass, aluminum and stainless- ucts and separate them one by one.
steel safety valves for use in petro- When compared to a typical check-
chemicals facilities. The company’s weighing system, a designated count-
Model 442 overfill protection valve ing machine can increase productivity
(photo, p. 54) is designed to prevent because loss rate is reduced. Hall 3.1,
the overfill of underground storage Stand G69 — Countec Ltd., Gyeonggi-
tanks by providing a positive shutoff Do, South Korea
of product delivery. The shutoff valve www.countec.com
is an integral part of the drop tube
used for gravity filling. The Model Andritz Seperation
442 is certified as a two-stage shut-
off valve. When the liquid level rises
to about 95% of the tank capacity,
the valve mechanism is released,
closing automatically with the flow.
The operator may then stop the fill-
ing process and disconnect and
drain the delivery hose. As long as
the liquid exceeds the 95% level,
the valve will close automatically Crossflow filters ensure high
each time delivery is attempted. product quality and yield
If the delivery is not stopped and The Krauss-Maffei dynamic cross-
the liquid rises to about 98% of flow filter (DCF; photo) is suitable
tank capacity, the bypass valve for the clarification of liquids and for
closes completely. No additional concentrating and washing of solids
liquid can flow into the tank until in a broad variety of chemical and
the level drops below a reset point. biochemical products. Whether the
Hall 9.0, Stand A30 — Ridart S.r.l., targeted products are solid or liquid,
Gazzada Schianno, Italy the Krauss-Maffei DCF increases
www.ridart.it yield and product quality. The filters
offer extremely high yields and can Signal Monitoring for
Countec
process highly concentrated sus- Easy warning system
pensions up to a viscosity of 7,000
Predictive maintenance
mPa·s. Product quality is assured
Best availability at minimal
due to the DCF’s single-pass filtration
downtime
concept, short residence times and
the elimination of gas contact. Higher Status information to the mobiles
permeate flux means that a smaller of your staff
installed equipment footprint is re- A cooperation product of Buss-SMS-Canzler GmbH,
METAX Kupplungs- und Dichtungstechnik GmbH
quired. Hall 12.0, Stand C19 — An- and BestSens AG
dritz Separation GmbH, Graz, Austria
www.andritz.com/separation Join us at
This system can be adapted to Continuous casting for ACHEMA in Frankfurt

count tablets or gummy products membranes, films and more 22 – 26 August 2022
The DMC Series is an automatic tablet/ This company offers continuous film- Hall 4.0 Stand B 24
capsule counting machine (photo) that casting systems (photo, p. 57) for
can be equipped with special parts the production of membranes, sep-
and devices and modified to become arators, ceramic tapes and optical
a counter for gummy products. By films. The systems use a stainless-
replacing the hopper and tray for the steel belt to transport a layer of liquid
gummy, it is possible to count and fill product through a series of carefully
both conventional tablets and gummy controlled sections. This involves Buss-SMS-Canzler GmbH
products with a single counting ma- heat and mass transfer in the evapo- Kaiserstr. 13 – 15 | 35510 Butzbach | Germany
chine. The adaptable gummy-exclusive ration process or a controlled phase- Tel. +49 6033 85 0 | info@sms-vt.com
tray features an embossed stainless- separation process in a precipitation
steel surface to improve the flowability section. Once these processes have sms-vt.com

Sponsored Editorial
Air Bearing Atomizer

D edert continues to revolutionize the industry while challenging
the competitive market in launching their new patent-pending
Air Bearing Atomizer. This technology provides a robust, low main-
tenance, and trouble-free operation for spray drying applications.
Conceptually, a thin film of pressurized air “levitates” the shaft
of the rotary atomizer, yielding a virtually frictionless operation
with true alignment while eliminating wear parts. Unlike estab-
lished air bearing technology, this new technology’s efficiency and
effectiveness is found in Dedert’s proprietary design with novel air
distribution mechanisms, which allows the following operational
advantages:
• Oil-Free & Contact-Free: This Atomizer is oil and contact free run-
ning on “utility level” air with no lubrication system necessary as bearing-changes. In addition, a rotatable maintenance stand is
• Simple & Ultra-Sanitary: The oil-free operation prevents risk of provided for ease of servicing and cleaning.
product contamination for food-grade applications while simpli- The Air Bearing Atomizer comes with a control and monitoring
fying maintenance and sanitation requirements. All internal parts system in an integrated control module for easy on-site setup, com-
are FDA compliant, featuring stainless-steel construction and a plete with a HMI, a PLC and instrumentation for utilities control. A
lightweight Titanium disc. graphical user interface (GUI) provides an intuitive and comprehen-
• Sustainable & Energy-Efficient: The permanent magnet motor sive interface of the complete system along with the data recording
technology is 95% efficient with the capability to achieve high for all the parameters.
power levels and high disc-tip speeds, which enhances the sus- This new product line is available in three (3) sizes to meet the
tainability index value and lowers overall CO2 emissions due to full-range of industrial spray dryer capacities: ABA-25 (25kW), ABA-
reduced energy consumption. 100 (100kW), and ABA-300 (300kW).
• Reliable and Low-Maintenance: The robust atomizer has only one Learn more about the Air Bearing Atomizer at Achema 2022
moving part, which eliminates premature wear-and-tear, reduces (Frankfurt, August 22-26), Dedert will be exhibiting in Hall 4.0 at
spare parts usage, and lowers maintenance requirements such Booth G3! https://www.dedert.com
With a Europe-based team built on

FLEXIBILITY partnership and trust,
IS A KEY FACTOR DEDERT can optimize your drying &
for manufacturing performance & evaporation process to lower your operating
reliability in a rapidly evolving & maintenance costs for new or
chemical industry. existing applications.
Whether the need is to meet

food-grade applications or
to improve energy-eﬃciency
DEDERT can support your unique
requirements with experience &
innovative adapted to new
market demands.
Over 50 years of
process solutions
INNOVATIONS

been completed, the solid formed or tures a light containment concept
transformed product is removed from with dust-tight machine protection
the belt. At this stage, the product will up to Occupational Exposure Band
be either in final or intermediate form; (OEB) 3. Besides the production of
the latter requiring further process- small and medium-sized batches,
ing, such as post-drying, leaching or the compact system supports the
stretching. Key benefits include ultra- development of continuous tablet
efficient continuous production, the production. When combined with the
ability to cast very thin films to fine company’s Solidlab 2 Plus system,
tolerances and producing high-quality the TPR 200 Plus is particularly suit-
microporous membranes. A pilot film- able for laboratory-scale test runs and IPCO Germany
casting line with a Venturi dryer module subsequent scaleup. The automati-
and a conventional impingement-dryer cally adjustable powder feeder with
section is available for customer trials automated process-development
at the company’s productivity center in software allows users to define the
Fellbach, Germany. The unit features optimal parameters for the formula-
a winding and unwinding unit and is tion feed going into the die. The new
capable of handling water- or solvent- system also allows users to improve
based casting solutions. Hall 4.0, existing processes and increase the
Stand D4 — IPCO Germany GmbH, product yield and quality in tablet pro-
Fellbach, Germany duction. Process efficiency benefits
www.ipco.com from an integrated data-acquisition
system, which assesses tablet quality
A flexible tablet press for and process stability. Hall 3.1, Stand
laboratory-scale test runs C71 — Syntegon Technology GmbH,
The TPR 200 Plus tablet press (photo) Crailsheim, Germany Syntegon Technology
offers efficient processing for vari- www.syntegon.com ■
ous granules and pellets. It also fea- Mary Page Bailey
Visit us!
Mastering the ACHEMA
22 - 26 August
2022
challenges of Messe Frankf

urt
Hall 11.0
metal dusting Booth C59
VDM ® Alloy 699 X A (2.4842 / N06699) is a newly developed

high-temperature nickel alloy for application under metal
dusting conditions. The material features excellent pitting
resistance, creep resistance and weldability under argon.
VDM® Alloy 699 XA is available in all standard semi-finished

product forms and as powder for additive manufacturing.
The use of VDM® Alloy 699 XA offers new technical possibili-
ties while at the same time reducing maintenance costs. If you
want to learn more about material characteristics and appli-
cations, please get in touch with us!
Materials for the future.
vdm@vdm-metals.com
www.vdm-metals.com

Save Time and Money without lowering
your quality standards.
Hapman’s UHMW Polyethylene hopper and discharge is light
weight while maintaining extreme durability. As with all Helix™
conveyors, the P-300 can be easily disassembled for cleaning in
less than 5 minutes without any special tools. It is FDA approved
and the smooth surfaces allow excellent material flow. In addition,
the P-300 polyethylene models are up to 25% less than the Series
300 stainless steel models, is in stock, and can be ready to ship in
as little as 48 hours saving your company time and money.
All Hapman equipment is delivered with an industry exclusive
Performantee™ – a true performance guarantee. For more
information, call 800-427-6260, e-mail sales@hapman.com,
or visit hapman.com
HAPMAN
www.hapman.com
Breather valve for overpressure and vacuum safety

Protection for low-pressure tanks in a wide range of industries
The ELEVENT® breather valve from REMBE® protects vessels with low design
pressures against overpressure and vacuum in a pressure range of 2–200
mbarg. This makes it the optimum solution for low-pressure vessels inside storage
tanks, dryers and other vessels in the chemical, pharmaceutical and food indus-
tries.
For example, ELEVENT® is ideal for use in dryers in which free-flowing pro-
cess media, such as cocoa, raw tablet materials or teas, are processed under
vacuum. If the vacuum pressure inside the vessel begins to drop, the valve opens
and thus ensures targeted pressure equalisation, which is of immense importance
both for the stability of the dryer as well as the quality of the sensitive substances
inside. Controlled maintenance of the pressure level is achieved via a very low
leakage rate of up to 1x10-6 mbar x l/sec. This prevents both emissions of vola-
REMBE® GmbH tile gases or other environmentally harmful substances, as well as the formation
Safety+Control of explosive mixtures or a potentially dangerous ingress of air.
www.rembe.com

High-Performance Gas Cleaning, Emission
Control and Gasification Solutions from
Beltran Technologies
Beltran Wet Electrostatic Precipitator Systems are specified for
cleaning a wide range of gas streams. WESP’s are used for
metallurgical processing operations and sulfuric acid gas clean-
ing. WESP’s are also used downstream from wet or dry flue gas
desulfurization units, which cannot capture fine particulates and
acid aerosols. They are superior on high ash content and sticky
residues (which August also contain mercury and heavy metals),
oily residues/tars, mercury (as condensed oxide), emissions from
municipal solid waste (MSW) in waste-to-energy applications and
biomass syngas cleaning.
•Ultralow emission of submicron particulate, acid mist and visible
Beltran Technologies, Inc. plumes
www.beltrantechnologies.com •Advanced modular design—minimized field assembly, flexible

configuration
•Available in corrosion-resistant alloys, conductive composites or
FRP construction
Chemical Engineering’s premium

product showcase for the latest
products and technologies in the
chemical processing industries.
to subscribe to the e-letter, please visit:
www.chemengonline.com/eletter-signup
26033

Europe 2022 Special Advertising Section
Europe
special advertising section
Inside
Andritz........................................ 63
AUMA.......................................... 68
Beumer....................................... 64
Bronkhorst.................................. 62
Buss-SMS................................... 63
EKATO......................................... 68
Endress & Hauser........................ 64
Flender........................................ 65
Flexim......................................... 66
Georg Fischer.............................. 66
i.Safe Mobile............................... 63
IPCO............................................ 68
Pfeiffer Vacuum........................... 61
Phoenix Contact.......................... 62
Sulzer.......................................... 65
VDM Metals................................ 67
Ystral........................................... 67
Universal Control Unit for Pumps and

Measurement Instruments
OmniControl from Pfeiffer Vacuum can be individually configured and intuitively operated
T he OmniControl unit allows the comprehensive control of a com-

plete vacuum system using just one device. It combines the
control of the total pressure with the control of the pumps. The unit
communicates with products that support the Pfeiffer Vacuum RS-
485 protocol (e.g. HiPace, HiScroll, HiLobe, MVP and DigiLine). This
makes it possible to exchange and process data between various
Pfeiffer Vacuum products without any difficulty and without having
to invest in additional devices. Optional gauges from the ActiveLine
range (with analog output) can also be connected.
The 3.5 touch screen with an intuitive user interface ensures
easy and convenient control of the vacuum system. For example, a
button for switching the devices on and off can be added. The total
pressure and the pump parameters (RPM, power input etc.) can be
displayed at the same time.
The basic version of the OmniControl is available with or with-
out an internal power supply. With the Gauge/IO option, there is no
need for a separate vacuum gauge controller. Various inputs and
outputs are provided for connecting external components. For ex- Easy control of vacuum systems with
ample, a valve can be switched according to the pressure level. OmniControl unit from Pfeiffer Vacuum
With the Data option, the measured values can also be saved as
a CSV file on a USB stick or a MicroSD card. The data can then be
analyzed and archived. The data items to be saved can be freely de- devices, as well as vacuum systems and chambers. The company
fined (total pressures, RPM, error codes etc.) stands for innovative solutions and high-tech products in the ana-
Pfeiffer Vacuum offers a full range of hybrid and magnetically lytical, industrial, research & development, semiconductor and fu-
levitated turbopumps. The product portfolio comprises also back- ture technologies markets.
ing pumps, leak detectors, components, measurement and analysis www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com

Mass Flow Control #Redefined

Compact Multifunctional Mass Flow Meters/Controllers for Gases
T he new FLEXI-FLOW by Bronkhorst combines the advantages of

a unique through-chip-sensor with proven by-pass technology.
The compact thermal mass flow meters and controllers are 35%
cess conditions. So in fact, FLEXI-FLOW is more than just a flow meter
or controller; it’s a multi-parameter measurement/control device.
For easy setup and monitoring of the instruments and your pro-
smaller than traditional instruments, the smallest on the market for cess, Bronkhorst introduces a USB-C port, optional Bluetooth com-
flow ranges up to 20 ln/min. Due to the new sensor technique, the munication, and NAMUR status indication by means of coloured
instruments feature very stable flow control, but also very fast con- LEDs and digital output parameters. FLEXI-FLOW is available in 2
trol, with settling times smaller than 150 ms. pre-configured models, as a built-to-order version, or as a custom-
ised, multi-channel solution, each including free and easy soft-
ware tools for configuration, and for diagnostics and predictive
maintenance.
Top 5 unique features

➊ Multi-parameter measurement: flow, temperature, and
pressure
➋ Very compact instrument, saving space & weight
➌ Simple & secure connection through Bluetooth and compre-
hensive App
➍ Adaptable to many applications through wide dynamic flow
range
➎ NAMUR status indication keeps you informed about your
process
FLEXI-FLOW instruments have integrated temperature and pres- Highlights

sure sensors and an on-board gas database for highest accuracy, ● Swift response to setpoint changes
even at varying process conditions. With this new technology, the ● Stable gas flow control
instruments are adaptable to many applications through their wide ● Proven bypass technology
dynamic flow ranges (up to 1:1000). The temperature and pressure ● Precise measurement
signals may provide the user with information about the actual pro- www.bronkhorst.com
Use Cases around MTP, NOA and Power-to-X

Ready-to-operate control cabinets for
A s part of this year’s Achema,
power-to-gas applications
Phoenix Contact will be demon-
strating in Hall 11.1 Booth A27 how the
company is turning new technologies Another focus of the trade fair presentation will
into practical solutions in coopera- be the interaction of MTP and NOA (Namur Open
tion with various partners. There is no Architecture). Using a live demo, visitors can find out
question that in the future, plants will how the sensor system of an agitator vessel sends
be composed of process modules that M+O data (Monitoring & Optimization) to the con-
can be seamlessly integrated into the trol station via the NOA side channel. The Aucotec
overall solution using MTPs (Module Engineering Base platform then displays, among
Type Package). This not only saves other things, maintenance requirements and changes
time: Modular plants can always be in the field. One of the great challenges of our time
adapted to changing market require- is climate change. If the rise in temperature is to be
ments. A joint use case with X-Visual limited, energy must be generated exclusively from
Technologies GmbH, Semodia GmbH, renewable sources. But volatile generators require
ABB AG and Wotten Consulting illus- storage solutions, such as the conversion of solar and
trates what a continuous engineering wind energy into power-to-gas. On request, Phoenix
process from process engineering to Contact supplies ready-to-operate control cabinets
module orchestration looks like. The for corresponding systems. As the centerpiece, the
example of a trace heating system will PLCnext controllers installed there not only control hy-
also show how services such as tem- drogen production. They also monitor the filling levels
perature control can be encapsulated. in the tanks, supply the electrolytes in a controlled
Furthermore, Phoenix Contact will manner, control the ventilation as well as the water
demonstrate with Seepex on a Smart pre-treatment and implement the electrical load man-
Dosing Pump that this can be easily automated by using the MTP agement as well as safety-related applications including emergency
Designer from Phoenix Contact as well as providing the operator shutdown. This use case will also be presented at Achema.
with different services. www.phoenixcontact.com/en-us/

World’s first Smart process solutions for

smartwatch for dewatering and drying
Zone 1/21 I n hall 12.0, booth C19, ANDRITZ
will be presenting latest insights
i.safe MOBILE introduces into its comprehensive portfo-
multifunctional ATEX/ lio covering the broadest range
of technologies and services for
IECEx-certified smartwatch mechanical and thermal solid/
IS-SW1.1 liquid separation as well as fully
integrated systems. From filters
T he innovation lead-
er i.safe MOBILE
complements its over-
and centrifuges to many different
types of dryers; all optimized with
the most innovative automation
all portfolio for ex- solution on the market today –
plosion-proof mobile the Metris addIQ control system.
devices and solutions One highlight will be the newly
with the introduction launched ANDRITZ screen scroll
of the world’s first centrifuge HX. It can process
smartwatch for zone 1/21 industry use in bulk chemicals, minerals, agro- ANDRITZ screen scroll centrifuge HX
the chemical, pharmaceutical, petroleum chemicals, and food, even under
processing and other demanding branches difficult feeding conditions. It is designed for improved product quality and maintainability.
of industry. With this development, the R&D New features include a Gentle Feeder™ feeding system, a modular scroll, and a rotating
team of the German-based manufacturer assembly that can be removed and replaced in one piece (express cartridge). The express
has succeeded, to close a crucial gap in the cartridge design enables the entire rotating assembly to be replaced without dismantling
area of employee safety and organisation. any process piping, reducing downtime to less than eight hours, even for major mainte-
The manufacturer developed and integrated nance work. Minor maintenance work can be done without removing the cartridge as the
a “personal device” established in every- scroll and screens are easily accessible and removable. The scroll itself is a modular unit de-
day life into working areas across industry signed specifically for cost efficiency and rapid repairs – worn parts can be replaced sepa-
ATEX/IECEx zones 1/21. The smartwatch can rately using standard tools. These new features minimize maintenance costs and maximize
be paired with i.safe MOBILE devices via uptime.
Bluetooth and functions as a complemen- www.andritz.com/separation
tary hands-free wrist display, remote SOS
button and RFID reader. The IS-SW1.1 can
emulate various RFID smartcards for access Thin Film Evaporator 4.0
control systems and simultaneously moni-
tor the user’s vital signs pulse and oxygen 24/7 monitoring of mechanical seal
saturation.
The new smartwatch contributes sig-
nificantly to the safety of the employees by
displaying hands-free important messages,
T hin film evaporators,
short path evaporators
and thin film dryers are ro-
parameters to keep the vac-
uum and the process run-
ning. Therefore, the three
hazard messages and measured values di- tating equipment widely companies Buss-SMS-
rectly on the user’s wrist – without picking used in thermal separation. Canzler GmbH, the number
up the smartphone. In emergency situa- Typical applications among one in thin film technology,
tions, it is possible to make a call directly others are the recovery METAX Kupplungs- und
via the SOS button of the smartwatch on of catalysts, omega-3 en- Dichtungstechnik GmbH,
the wrist (connected to the emergency app richment, sewage sludge specialist in design and
of the smartphone) - the employee can eas- drying and evaporation of manufacturing of mechani-
ily be located via GPS. The monitoring of monomers from polymers cal seals, and BestSens AG,
pulse and oxygen saturation additionally down to very low concen- specialist with proprietary
complement the safety concept. Coupled trations. In such equipment sensor technology, devel-
with the push-to-talk-enabled smartphone, a rotor applies the feed material to the inner oped a mechanical seal equipped with in-
users can apply the smartwatch as remote surface of the heated shell to a thin layer. tegrated status monitoring. The monitoring
PTT button. From this thin layer the feed evaporates delivers data of the mechanical seal opera-
With the integrated RFID chip, the smart- partially. This allows thermal separation of tion, which is the base of the decisions for
watch can be used very flexible. RFID tags components from the feed or the drying of a goal-oriented maintenance. On top of the
attached to machines or sensors can be the feed material. predictive maintenance, the status monitor-
read and the associated measured values In many of such processes the equip- ing allows the setup of an easy warning sys-
can be shown directly on the clock display. ment is operated under vacuum to reduce tem and status information to the mobiles
Due to RFID card emulation, the watch is ex- the evaporation temperature. Thus, the of your staff. All these features improve the
cellently suited for commercially available shaft of the rotor drive needs to be sealed save operation of the mechanical seal and
access control, time recording and payment with a mechanical seal to minimise the air minimise equipment downtime of thin film
function systems based on MIFARE i.e. intake from the environment. The tightness evaporators.
www.isafe-mobile.com of the mechanical seal is one of the critical www.sms-vt.com

Improved customer service

with BEUMER Smart Glasses:
The virtual view
I f faults and downtimes occur in machines

and companies are unable to rectify them
as quickly as possible, this can be expen-
solved quickly and precisely
– at any time. BEUMER ex-
perts are available around
sive for them. With the BEUMER Smart the clock, seven days a
Glasses, the BEUMER Group has devel- week. Language barriers or
oped a pioneering product that helps users a lack of specialist knowl-
to avoid precisely this quickly and easily: edge are therefore no longer
BEUMER Customer Support employees look relevant when troubleshoot-
over the shoulder of the customer’s service ing. Based on the recorded
BEUMER Customer Support sees the same as the carrier
technician virtually and solve the problem images, the experts can better
on site and can directly specify the correct actions.
together with him. Remote commissioning clarify with the operator why
is also possible. the fault occurred in the first place. Corona pandemic is massively changing the
The employee at the machine puts on travel behaviour. Due to travel restrictions,
the glasses and starts the BEUMER Support Looking into the distance with the technicians cannot always be on site.
App via voice command. He transmits a ser- smart glasses Nevertheless, it is important to get new
vice number and a pin code to the hotline, machines up and running quickly. The data
and the connection with image and sound With the digital solution, customers can goggles allow an overview of the entire sys-
is established securely. The BEUMER tech- not only be helped in case of malfunctions tem: BEUMER Customer Support sees the
nician receives the same image that the or downtimes of existing plants. Remote same as the wearer on site and can directly
customer sees. This means that he can give maintenance is also possible, in which prescribe the correct actions. In this way, he
him instructions directly and display all rel- BEUMER experts connect to the system – guides the user step by step through com-
evant information in the field of vision. The regardless of the time or day. This increases missioning. The BEUMER experts can react
employee has both hands free to follow the the availability of the machines, as no long flexibly with this procedure.
expert’s instructions and perform the nec- journeys are required. In addition, there is www.beumer.com
essary actions. In this way, faults can be the option of remote commissioning: The
On-site calibration services

Maximizing process uptime while reducing risks and
safeguarding compliancy
A flowmeter that is not measuring prop-

erly can cause many problems. For ex-
ample, in a custody-transfer application,
tion accuracy can be guaranteed only under
laboratory conditions. However, this is only
partially true. Flowmeters and many other
even the smallest error can cost an opera- measuring devices can also be calibrated
tor millions of dollars a year. And though directly on-site. There are several advan-
calibration may not be the biggest or most tages to this:
important task on the to-do list of a chemi- • Plant availability improves as the device is of scheduled downtime, so manufacturing
cal plant, it can have a big effect throughout calibrated nearline or inline. is not affected. However, experience shows
the plant. Outsourced to experts, calibration • Sources of error can be detected and elim- that windows for scheduled downtime get
positively affects production, compliance inated on-site, while the ability to achieve shorter and shorter. Usually, instrumenta-
and the risk of quality or safety deviations. the same result in a calibration lab is lim- tion is handled last. This is why calibration
Flowmeters are often removed from sys- ited. Calibration technicians on-site can should always be performed in a time-opti-
tems for the purpose of calibration and sent detect errors during installation and iden- mized manner. On-site calibration reduces
to a calibration laboratory. The commonly tify blockages or contamination in the coordination efforts, eliminating the need
held belief is that the necessary calibra- pipes directly in the system. to remove and transport an instrument to a
• Cost savings increase due to calibration facility. While it might take days
the speed of completion, reduced or weeks for a device to return from a cali-
downtime and the elimination of bration lab, an on-site calibration can be
an inventory of replacement parts. performed within hours.
• There is no need to disassemble With in-depth application, metrology
and ship contaminated devices, and measurement expertise, certified op-
contact with hazardous substanc- erators, and traceable documentation,
es can be reduced, and costly de- Endress+Hauser can maximize the potential
contamination can be avoided. of on-site calibration without compromising
Calibration requires time. safety or compliancy.
Ideally, calibration runs are part https://eh.digital/onsite-calibration

Flexible couplings for

every challenge
I n nearly a hundred years, the flexible pin couplings N-Eupex have
proven to be one of Flender’s most successful solutions. For even
more reliability and flexibility, innovations were added. Especially in
pump applications, the new double-cardanic coupling N-Eupex DKS
can be used as a problem solver. It is the shortest double-cardanic
coupling on the market. The shortened overall length enables cost-
optimized use with a small shaft distance dimension without los-
ing the advantages of a double-cardanic coupling connection. The
new N-Eupex ERN is equipped with a torque limiter, which provides
even more security in the drivetrain in many applications. The cou-
pling variant allows users to specify a maximum torque so that criti-
cal torques for the motor and output machine are not transmitted.
Machines and systems are protected from overload and damage.
With the N-Eupex B plus clamping element, Flender introduces a
third new coupling that ensures frictionally engaged clamping con-
nections. The plain, cylindrical machine shaft end is connected to
the coupling hub via a clamping connection without a feather key
and service ability is increased. The new products allow users addi-
tional flexibility in their systems without losing the compact design
and high load capacity of a pin coupling.
The new flexible couplings N-Eupex ERN with torque limiter

(right), N-Eupex B with clamping element (left) and N-Eupex DKS
with shortest double-cardanic design (center) of Flender.
www.flender.com
Well-rounded separation technology

Sulzer Chemtech shares its innovations to support circularity at ACHEMA 2022
S ulzer Chemtech is showcasing its cutting-edge
processing solutions for chemical engineering, en-
vironmental protection and bio-based production at
ACHEMA 2022. Attendees to Stand D48 (Hall 4.0) will
be able to interact with the company’s leading experts
and explore the separation and mixing technologies
that can help businesses drive efficiency, sustainability
and competitiveness.
ACHEMA, one of the world’s leading chemical
and process engineering exhibitions, will return to
Frankfurt am Main, Germany, to offer a unique platform
for industry players to discuss the latest trends and tech- As a premier processing technology provider, Sulzer Chemtech
nologies in the sector. As a premier processing technol- will showcase its mass transfer portfolio, technology
ogy provider, Sulzer Chemtech will showcase its process licensing and engineering capabilities on its stand.
plants and mass transfer solutions, placing a particular
focus on sustainable production and circular strategies. world processing and manufacturing facilities that leverage Sulzer
During the event, the company’s specialists will hold a techni- Chemtech’s equipment. User will be able to learn how plants can
cal presentation on August 25, from 10:30 a.m. This will discuss the maximize throughput, product quality and energy efficiency, driving
current challenges in plastic recycling and upcycling as well as how their productivity and sustainability. Anyone interested in learning
innovative purification technologies are helping to address these more about Sulzer Chemtech’s offering will also be able to discuss
and support plastic circularity. In particular, the presenters will how to advance their operations and optimize their carbon footprint
showcase how Sulzer Chemtech’s innovative separation technolo- with leading experts available on stand throughout the event.
gies can be used to develop ground-breaking chemical recycling fa- Visit Sulzer Chemtech’s stand (Hall 4.0, Booth D48) at ACHEMA
cilities to process a wide range of polymers, including textiles. 2022, taking place from August 22-26, 2022 in Frankfurt am
Sulzer Chemtech will also display its comprehensive mass trans- Main, Germany, by registering at: https://www.achema.de/en/
fer portfolio, technology licensing and engineering capabilities on the-achema/participation
its stand. This will feature a virtual reality (VR) area, where visitors www.sulzer.com
will be able to explore full-scale photorealistic reproductions of real-

Trends and mega trends in process engineering

Y stral, the mixing and dispersion technol-
ogy specialists, take the experience they
gain from one industry and apply the solu-
tion. The trends presented by ystral at the
exhibition will provide visitors with ideas for
solutions of which they might not be aware
tions in other sectors. This multi-industry of – offering unique insights and prompting
approach allows producers to benefit from new ways of improving their manufacturing
ystral’s extensive knowledge across a multi- processes.
tude of products, processes, and industries.
New technologies, changing production Some of the process engineering
requirements, frequent product changes, trends ystral will present at
and stricter requirements for occupational ACHEMA include:
safety and environmental protection are
fundamentally changing manufacturing • Cleaning without agents
processes. • Clean production processes without bio-
Trends in process technology often dif- cides or preservatives
fer across industries, even for similar pro- • Cold chemistry
cesses, as manufacturers do not always • Possibilities of process intensification
have insights into solutions from other sec- • Realisation of intensive processes outside other ystral technologies. Furthermore, the
tors. Today’s process technology is devel- the tank mixing and dispersion technology specialist
oping through mega trends such as Smart • Development from co-grind to slurry will introduce the newly developed powder
Factories, digitisation, and modular fabrica- manufacturing dispersing system YSTRAL BATT-TDS, which
• Moving from batch to inline processes reduces the production time of lithium-
At the exhibition booth in hall 12, stand ion-electrode slurries in battery manufac-
C68, ystral will show how, within the con- turing from two- to six hours, to just a few
text of these trends, changing process minutes.
requirements can be dealt with using inno- Visit ystral in hall 12, booth C68 at
vative mixing and dispersion technologies. Achema 2022 from 22 till 26 August and im-
The company will present the inline powder prove your process! Free tickets and more
wetting and dispersing machine YSTRAL information available at:
Conti-TDS, the YSTRAL Jetstream Mixer, and www.ystral.com/achema22
Flow Measurement of H2, O2, and Gaseous H2O

Flexible Industrial Measurement Technology for a Changing World
O ver the past three decades, non-inva-
sive flow measurement with clamp-on
ultrasonic technology has evolved from
gas flowmeters. FLUXUS measures
natural gas even when it is liquid.
With FLUXUS Cryo, FLEXIM devel-
a true outsider technology to an outsider oped an ultrasonic system for the
measuring technology only in a techni- non-invasive flow measurement of
cal sense. FLEXIM’s ultrasonic FLUXUS LNG. FLEXIM also has the technolo-
flowmeters measure from the safe side: the gy to measure hydrogen. Therefore,
outside of the pipe. The practical advan- FLEXIM is not just hydrogen-ready,
tages are obvious: no wear and tear by the but experienced and well prepared
medium flowing inside the pipe, no risk of for the energy transition.
leakage, no pressure loss and, above all,
unlimited plant availability. Non-invasive steam flow
As the technology leader in the field of measurement
clamp-on ultrasonic measurement, FLEXIM Non-invasive flow measurement of
continuously pushes the boundaries and FLEXIM offers two complemen- 350 °C hot steam on a DN600 line
extends its range of applications. Almost tary non-invasive measuring solu-
twenty years ago, FLEXIM was successful tions for low-temperature as well as for conjunction with FLEXIM’s patented high-
in transferring clamp-on ultrasonic technol- high-temperature steam flow measurement. temperature transducer mounting device
ogy to the non-invasive flow measurement The FLUXUS ST-LT series allows for volume WaveInjector and the use of correlation flow
of gases. Since then, FLUXUS flowmeters and mass flow measurement of saturated measuring technology, FLUXUS ST HT ex-
have been used to measure almost any gas, and superheated steam at temperatures tends the application range of non-invasive
from compressed air in automotive factories up to 180 °C. FLUXUS ST-LT works accord- steam flow measurement up to 400 °C. With
and hydrochloric acid in chemical plants to ing to the ultrasonic transit-time difference the new and hazardous area certified porta-
pure oxygen in hospitals. As non-invasive principle. Due to its extraordinary mea- ble FLUXUS G608 ST-LT, FLEXIM offers a ver-
flow measurement is notably the method of surement dynamics and its high sensitiv- itable multi-tool: in addition to steam, the
choice when the flowing media is danger- ity even to low flows, FLUXUS ST does not measuring system can also measure liquids,
ous, the entire value chain of natural gas is require a reduction in pipe diameters in gases, compressed air and thermal energy.
a prominent application field for FLEXIM’s order to achieve a minimum flow velocity. In www.flexim.com

GF Piping Systems at ACHEMA 2022

Between August 22 and 26, the company will present
innovations for process automation, industrial water 4.0 and
solutions such as IR PVC-U welding.
C onserving precious resources is be-

coming increasingly important. On the
way to a more sustainable future, modern
In addition, the first industrial butterfly
valve with an environmental product dec-
laration will also be displayed. The plastic containment systems CONTAIN-IT Plus de-
technologies that enable better monitor- Butterfly Valve 565 was introduced in 2021 signed to prevent leakages. The plastic
ing, control, and transparency in the use of and has already set a high bar. Its pressure system is corrosion-free, UV- and weather-
resources are therefore also required in the and temperature boundaries are close to resistant, has good chemical resistance,
process and chemical industry. At ACHEMA those of conventional solutions, and due and a smooth internal surface. Its low
2022 in Frankfurt a.M., Germany, GF Piping its installation length it can easily replace weight allows easy handling. Further prod-
Systems will focus on intelligent automated metal alternatives. Corrosion resistance ucts on display will include IR PVC-U, the
piping systems for the safe and sustainable and less abrasion also lead to lower mainte- world’s first infrared-welded PVC-U piping
transport of chemicals, water, and other nance costs, giving it a big advantage within system, as well as ultrasonic non-destruc-
media. the market. Its modular design allows cus- tive testing for pipe connections and virtual
tomers to fit electric and pneumatic actua- reality training methods.
Process automation – for the tors, as well as a smart actuator that can be Jens Frisenborg, Head of Business Unit
sustainable use of resources controlled and monitored remotely. In addi- Industry & Utility, GF Piping Systems, sees
tion, a unique sensor solution for position ACHEMA 2022 as an important platform:
GF Piping Systems will present the Ball feedback can be connected. “We rely on plastic as a sustainable and at
Valve 543 Pro, which - equipped with a new the same time highly efficient material for
pneumatic actuator type PPA and the elec- Further solutions increasing our flow solutions, regardless of whether
tro-pneumatic positioner - is made entirely sustainability it involves transporting chemicals, gas, or
of plastic. As a result, it is maintenance- water. At the ACHEMA, we want to show
free and has a service life corresponding Handling hazardous media requires pro- how modern materials combined with inno-
to the entire piping system. The 3-way ball tecting the environment, employee health vative technologies create sustainable con-
valve covers a wide range of applications for and operational safety. In this context, nections for life.”
every need. GF Piping Systems will present its double www.gfps.com
Suitable materials for the

challenges of the Chemical
Process Industry
V DM Metals, based in Germany and
part of the Acerinox Group since 2020,
proves with its versatile product portfolio
As different as these materials are, the
former are the most widely used materials
in equipment for many applications subject-
hydrofluoric acid as well as sulfuric acid
coolers.
The range of application of VDM® Alloy
that it offers precise solutions for the chal- ed to the above mentioned conditions. VDM 2120 MoN is even more extensive due to its
lenges in the chemical process industry, by Alloy 699 XA exhibits very good resistance superior corrosion resistance. It can be used
offering own product developments such as to metal dusting, all these alloys are charac- in the chemical, petrochemical and pharma-
VDM® Alloy 31, VDM Alloy 31 Plus®, VDM® terized by very good workability, weldability ceutical industries as well as in energy pro-
Alloy 59, VDM® Alloy 2120 MoN and the lat- and availability in a wide range of product duction and environmental technologies.
est development VDM® Alloy 699 XA. forms. VDM® Alloy 699 XA, has a well-balanced
Construction materials for the chemical Regarding wet corrosion resistance, metal dusting resistance, excellent process-
process industry have to withstand differ- VDM Alloy 31 and VDM Alloy 31 Plus® per- ability and weldability and in addition to
ent requirements and need sufficient resis- fectly bridge the gap between normal stain- its resistance to metal dusting corrosion,
tance against a multitude of corrosive media. less steels and Nickel Alloys and in some the material is characterized by its good
Oxidizing and reducing conditions, local- applications are even superior to more ex- thermo-mechanical properties and micro-
ized corrosion in the form of pitting, crevice pensive alloys. structure stability. VDM® Alloy 699 XA was
corrosion and stress corrosion cracking are Typical applications of VDM® Alloy 59 designed for the special demands in the
some of the potential problems for low al- are plant components for organic chem- petrochemical industry in syngas processes
loyed materials. In the petrochemical indus- istry processes with media containing for the production of hydrogen, ammonia,
try, pressures and temperatures that lead chloride, scrubbers, heat exchangers, methanol and cooling of syngas during
for example to metal dusting are another flaps, ventilators and agitators for flue gas e-fuel production.
challenge in plant design and require special desulfurization (FGD) in fossil fuel power The alloys are available as bar, sheet,
properties of the used alloys. The specific plants and waste combustion plants, equip- plate, wire and powder for additive manu-
composition of the alloying elements of the ment and components for geothermal en- facturing. Matching filler metal for each
materials in each case ultimately leads to the ergy and acid gas applications, reactors for alloy completes the offer of VDM Metals.
required properties and resistances required. acetic acids and acetic anhydrides and for www.vdm-metals.com

Steel belt units EKATO – Your Partner to bring

for ceramic Advanced Plastics Recycling to
tapes Commercial
Plastic pollution – nowadays having a
C eramic tapes play a key role in certain
advanced ceramics and as separators
in fuel cells and components in solar cells.
tremendous public awareness – has
Governmental incentives to develop green raised the demand for new and efficient
technologies are moving society from fos- recycling processes
sil fuels to hydrogen energy. Additionally,
the growing demand for MLCC (Multi-Layer
Chip Capacitors) for 5G communication, IOT
(Internet of things) and electrification in the
C hemical plastic recycling, also called
advanced recycling, refers to several
different technologies that convert used
process in-
dustry – in
most differ-
automotive industry highlight the impor- plastics into their original building blocks, ent processes
tance of ceramics more than ever. feedstocks for new plastics or other valu- all around
able products. The aim is always to split the the agitated EKATO Pilot facilities allow
IPCO designs and manufactures polymer chains into shorter hydrocarbons, reactor – is safe and robust scale-
complete lines for the production which is achieved with the help of either the basis for a up to production size
of Ceramic Tapes heat, catalysts, solvents, water or UV-light. successful de-
velopment together with the corresponding
Tape casting units are mainly based on EKATO’s process plants section partner who owns the process.
steel belt technology. The production line is specialized to help grow these EKATO’s process plants department is in
begins with a slot die or a casting box that new processes to commercial the position to realize plastics recycling proj-
applies an accurate controlled layer of a ects with extreme short time-to-market. As
slurry directly onto a polished steel belt or Besides customized assistance to solve process design, engineering, complete pilot
a carrier foil. From there it passes through problems and optimize processing solutions plants or even commercial modular skid-
different dryer zones, which are configured EKATO is in the position to perform labora- mounted units can be provided out of one
based on the slurry characteristics. The tory and pilot plant investigations. A main hand, EKATO is the one stop shop solution
dryer utilizes a combination of conventional challenge in the development of any chemi- for partners who intend to rapidly bring their
tangential flow, impingement or IPCO’s pat- cal plastics recycling process is the scale- environmental-friendly plastics recycling pro-
ented Venturi drying technology to quickly up. Here EKATO’s long-term experience in cess to commercial scale. www.ekato.com
evaporate the aqueous or organic solvent.
The result is a drying efficiency that leaves
the final material almost completely free of Electric actuators for Industrial
tension both laterally and longitudinally.
The high precision drying concept im-
proves the overall casting process, enabling
Ethernet
the production of ceramic tapes to excep- AUMA actuators support
tionally narrow tolerances without any risk Profinet, EtherNet/IP and
of skin formation. It also increases yield by
eliminating costly faults and imperfections
Modbus TCP
in the final material.
IPCO Venturi dryer

P rofinet, EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP –
Industrial Ethernet protocols are in-
creasingly gaining ground for field device
IPCO’s on-going investments in R&D, integration in the chemical process indus- AUMA electric actuators support the
coupled with our proven experience and tries. Offering outstanding connectivity, com- Industrial Ethernet standards Profinet,
expertise in film processing technologies bined with simple and robust transmission EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP, making
has resulted in the successful develop- technologies, these protocols are key en- the multiple benefits of Industrial
ment of an innovative Venturi drying zone. ablers for enhanced data integration, intelli- Ethernet utilisable at field level.
When integrated properly, the Venturi dry- gent analytics and IIoT applications.
ing technology significantly improves the AUMA electric actuators support these be further used for analysis, process visuali-
efficiency of the drying process (higher standards and can be easily integrated in sation, or simulation, facilitating condition-
throughput per m2) and decreases energy Profinet, EtherNet/IP and Modbus TCP environ- based predictive maintenance and efficient
consumption. ments, enabling plant managers to fully benefit asset management.
www.ipco.co from the enormous potential to optimize pro- Providing utmost flexibility, the actuators
cesses and maximize plant availability. can be integrated into line, star and loop
With bandwidths up to 100 Mbit/s, topologies, using different transmission
AUMA actuators provide reliable and rapid media such as copper cables, optical fibres
exchange of both cyclic process data and and wireless technologies. AUMA provides
acyclic diagnostic data from the actuators. standardised device descriptions as GSDML
The wide range of diagnostic data that is or EDS files and Field Device Integration
automatically logged by the actuators is im- Packages, thus facilitating device integra-
mediately available at network level and can tion. www.auma.com

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Advertisers Index
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adlinks.chemengonline.com/82584-05 Classified Index August 2022
Flexim.................................. CV 2
adlinks.chemengonline.com/82584-01 New & Used Equipment..........................................................70
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Georg Fischer.........................25
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Flender....................................37 Phone number Reader Service # Phone number Reader Service #
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Economic Indicators
2020 2021 2022
Download the CEPCI two weeks sooner at www.chemengonline.com/pci
950
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT COST INDEX (CEPCI) 900
(1957–59 = 100) May ’22 Apr. ’22 May ’21 Annual Index: 850
Prelim. Final Final
2014 = 576.1
CE Index_______________________________________________ 831.7 816.3 686.7 800
Equipment _____________________________________________ 1,057.1 1,037.1 848.5 2015 = 556.8
Heat exchangers & tanks __________________________________ 902.4 876.0 726.6
Process machinery ______________________________________ 1,074.9 1,063.9 862.9 2016 = 541.7 750
Pipe, valves & fittings _____________________________________ 1,496.7 1,472.8 1,160.6 2017 = 567.5
Process instruments _____________________________________ 575.5 573.5 507.5 700
Pumps & compressors ____________________________________ 1,255.1 1,248.9 1,115.6 2018 = 603.1
Electrical equipment _____________________________________ 757.3 751.8 601.0 2019 = 607.5 650
Structural supports & misc. ________________________________ 1,176.8 1,144.7 915.0
Construction labor ________________________________________ 354.6 348.3 341.7 2020 = 596.2
Buildings ______________________________________________ 847.2 827.0 739.2 2021 = 708.0 600
Engineering & supervision __________________________________ 311.5 311.8 310.4
Starting in April 2007, several data series for labor and compressors were converted to accommodate series IDs discontinued by 550
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Starting in March 2018, the data series for chemical industry special machinery was
replaced because the series was discontinued by BLS (see Chem. Eng., April 2018, p. 76–77.)
500
J F M A M J J A S O N D
CURRENT BUSINESS INDICATORS LATEST PREVIOUS YEAR AGO

CPI output index (2017 = 100)_____________________________________________________ May '22 = 101.7 Apr. '22 = 101.3 Mar. '22 = 101.0 May. '21 = 97.5
CPI value of output, $ billions _____________________________________________________ Apr. '22 = 2,082.8 Mar. '22 = 2,088.1 Feb. '22 = 2,004.7 Apr. '21 = 1,706.0
CPI operating rate, % ___________________________________________________________ May '22 = 80.8 Apr. '22 = 80.5 Mar. '22 = 80.3 May. '21 = 77.7
Producer prices, industrial chemicals (1982 = 100) _____________________________________ May '22 = 367.8 Apr. '22 = 358.5 Mar. '22 = 354.2 May. '21 = 310.7
Industrial Production in Manufacturing (2017 =100)* ____________________________________ May '22 = 103.1 Apr. '22 = 103.2 Mar. '22 = 102.4 May. '21 = 98.4
Hourly earnings index, chemical & allied products (1992 = 100) _____________________________ May '22 = 199.6 Apr. '22 = 196.7 Mar. '22 = 195.9 May. '21 = 196.4
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100)_______________________________ May '22 = 91.8 Apr. '22 = 93.8 Mar. '22 = 93.5 May. '21 = 93.8
CPI OUTPUT INDEX (2017

(2000 = 100)† CPI OUTPUT VALUE ($ BILLIONS) CPI OPERATING RATE (%)
110 2300 85
105
2000 80
100
1900
95 75
1800
90
70
1700
85
65
80 1600
75 1500 60
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.
†For the current month’s CPI output index values, the base year was changed from 2012 to 2017
Current business indicators provided by Global Insight, Inc., Lexington, Mass.
CURRENT TRENDS
T he preliminary value for the CE Plant

Cost Index (CEPCI; top) for May
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2022 (most recent available) is once
again higher than the previous month’s
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JASON BULLOCK TERRY DAVIS PETRA TRAUTES while, the Current Business Indicators
jbullock@chemengonline.com tdavis@chemengonline.com ptrautes@accessintel.com (middle) show increases in the CPI out-
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27206 put index and the CPI operating rate for
May 2021, and a small decrease in the
CPI value of output for April 2021.

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