ChemicalEngineering - Chemical Engineering March 2023

March
2023
www.chemengonline.com
Distillation: Scale
Considerations page 23
Boiler Water Essentials

Wearable Technologies
Crystallization
Predictive Maintenance
Process Chemicals
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March 2023 Volume 130 | no. 3
Cover Story
23 Pilot-Scale Distillation Process Design
The inherent characteristics, requirements and special concerns of pilot- and
laboratory-scale distillation columns differ from those of commercial-
scale equipment. The scale-related differences of distillation
assemblies are presented here
.In the News

5 Chementator
Dewatering, drying and cleaning liquid waste in a single
process; Integrated capture and conversion of CO2 to
methanol; More sustainable curing technology for coil
coatings; A new high-throughput tool for developing
catalysts; A new way to improve valve resiliency against
flashing; Battery electrolyte binder allows easier recycling;
and more
10 Business News
Arlanxeo starts up new polybutadiene production line in Brazil;
Kuraray completes construction of new isoprenes plant in Thailand; 23
Linde to increase green-hydrogen production in California; Mitsui Chemicals
and Asahi Kasei combine nonwovens business; Plug Power and Johnson
Matthey form green-hydrogen alliance; and more
12 Newsfront Head-to-Toe Technology: Advances in

Wearables From headsets to fabric sensors, technologies that can be
worn on the body are providing many new benefits for plant workers
12
.Technical and Practical
21 Facts at your Fingertips Fractional Solvent-Free
Melt Crystallization This one-page reference provides
information on the operating principles and equipment for fractional
solvent-free melt crystallization 31
31 Feature Report Part 1 Boiler Water Essentials:

Water is Water (Not) When it comes to water used in boilers, it is
important to remove potentially problematic impurities. This offers a potentially
huge return on investment, even with the prevention of just one major upset,
let alone recurring failures
36
36 Feature Report Part 2 Precoat Filter Demineralizers
in Steam Loops By minimizing, or even eliminating, the need for
blowdowns in steam systems, precoat filter demineralizer systems can greatly
contribute to water conservation efforts
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 1

39 Engineering Practice Predictive Maintenance
Implementation Five common mistakes associated with
implementing predictive maintenance tools are discussed here, along with five
ways to avoid them
.Equipment and Services

16 Focus on Process Chemicals
This synthetic leather is durable and abrasion-resistant; A new antioxidant
and ultraviolet stabilizer; This architectural fabric takes advantage of natural
lighting; New coatings for HVAC applications; This compound makes
39 insulation coatings efficient; A new range of super-tough carbon-fiber
composites; and more
19 New Products
World’s first 5G smartphone for hazardous areas; These radar level
transmitters are Bluetooth-enabled; Five new laboratory sensors added to
this portfolio; A new weigh station for batching ingredients; Switch amplifiers
16 for intrinsically safe applications; and more
.Departments
4 Editor’s Page Driving change through funding
Recently passed federal funding programs are encouraging investments
in the U.S. for technological advancements, particularly in areas related to
decarbonization
19
44 Economic Indicators
Advertisers
42 Classified Ads
42 Subscription and Sales Representative Information
43 Ad Index
.Chemical Connections
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articles, Latest News, New Products, Webinars, Test
your Knowledge Quizzes, Bookshelf and more
Coming in April
Look for: Feature Reports on Solids Conveying; and Electrification; A Focus
on Pipes, Tubes and Fittings; A Facts at your Fingertips on Mixing; a
Newsfront on Process Sensors; New Products; and much more
Cover design: Tara Bekman

Cover images: Shutterstock
2 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2023

Editor s Page
EDITORS ART & DESIGN
Driving change through funding
T
DOROTHY LOZOWSKI TARA BEKMAN
Editorial Director Graphic Designer he U.S. Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), which was passed
tzaino@accessintel.com
dlozowski@chemengonline.com into law last August, directs federal funding to a variety of sec-
GERALD ONDREY (FRANKFURT) PRODUCTION tors in the forms of grants, loans and tax incentives for corpora-
Senior Editor
gondrey@chemengonline.com GEORGE SEVERINE tions, and to a lesser extent to consumers. Significant amounts
Production Manager
gseverine@accessintel.com of the funding are directed to manufacturing and innovations that ad-
SCOTT JENKINS
Senior Editor INFORMATION vance “clean energy” and decarbonization. The IRA is already having
sjenkins@chemengonline.com SERVICES a noticeable impact on driving technological developments, as can be
MARY PAGE BAILEY CHARLES SANDS seen in the number of project announcements that cite IRA funding.
Senior Associate Editor Director of Digital Development
mbailey@chemengonline.com csands@accessintel.com
GROUP PUBLISHER CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Energy
SUZANNE A. SHELLEY
Momentum for developing low-carbon energy is picking up, and
MATTHEW GRANT
Vice President and Group Publisher, sshelley@chemengonline.com many current developments cite federal funding as a strong support-
Energy & Engineering Group
mattg@powermag.com PAUL S. GRAD (AUSTRALIA) ing factor. Recent announcements include developing low-carbon
AUDIENCE
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hydrogen production, sustainable aviation fuels, batteries, fuel cells,
DEVELOPMENT TETSUO SATOH (JAPAN) carbon capture and more. Examples include: Linde (www.linde.com)
tsatoh@chemengonline.com
JENNIFER McPHAIL plans to invest $1.8 billion to supply clean hydrogen to OCI’s (www.
Senior Marketing Manager
jmcphail@accessintel.com
JOY LEPREE (NEW JERSEY)
jlepree@chemengonline.com
oci.nl) blue ammonia project in Texas; LG Chem (www.lgchem.com)
plans a $3-billion cathode plant in Tennessee; and Plug Power (www.
GEORGE SEVERINE
Fulfillment Manager plugpower.com) and Johnson Matthey (www.matthey.com) have
gseverine@accessintel.com partnered to advance the “green hydrogen” economy and plan to co-
DANIELLE ZABORSKI invest in what is expected to be the largest catalyst-coated mem-
List Sales: Merit Direct, (914) 368-1090
dzaborski@meritdirect.com
branes facility in the world. More information can be found on our
website (www.chemengonline.com).
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
JOHN CARSON
Jenike & Johanson, Inc.
JOHN HOLLMANN
Validation Estimating LLC
Construction materials
While much attention is on the energy transition, another area that is
DAVID DICKEY HENRY KISTER poised to benefit from federal funding is the advancement of lower-
MixTech, Inc. Fluor Corp.
carbon cement production. Cement processing is a major source of
HEADQUARTERS CO2 emissions and demand for cement is expected to increase, par-
40 Wall Street, 16th floor, New York, NY 10005, U.S.
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ticularly with the passing of the U.S. Infrastructure Investments and
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Zeilweg 44, D-60439 Frankfurt am Main, Germany ment production are ready for market expansion and that funding
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One development announced just last month was the capture of
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Chemical Engineering, 9211 Corporate Blvd.,
age in concrete. The demonstration project led by CarbonCure Tech-
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email: clientservices@accessintel.com
com), is said to be the first such achievement. Heirloom reportedly
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CONTENT LICENSING which CarbonCure’s reclaimed water technology was used to inject
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the captured CO2 into wastewater, which was then used to make con-
crete. The CO2 is said to be durably sequestered in the concrete as
ACCESS INTELLIGENCE, LLC calcium carbonate. The companies say that DAC technologies have
DON PAZOUR MICHAEL KRAUS recently received large investments from the IRA, as well as from the
Chief Executive Officer Vice President,
Production, Digital Media & Design Department of Energy’s DAC hub program (www.energy.gov).
HEATHER FARLEY To further encourage advancements in reducing greenhouse-gas
Chief Operating Officer TINA GARRITY
Vice President of Finance emissions associated with the production and use of construction
JOHN B. SUTTON materials, such as cement, the Environmental
Executive Vice President DANIEL J. MEYER
& Chief Financial Officer Vice President, Protection Agency (EPA; www.epa.gov) recently
MACY L. FECTO
Corporate Controller
announced new programs made possible by a
Chief People Officer $350-million investment from the IRA. The EPA
JENNIFER SCHWARTZ
is currently seeking public input on establishing
Division President, Energy & Engineering, these programs. Three public engagement webi-
Healthcare and Aerospace
nars will be held in March and April. More infor-
9211 Corporate Blvd., 4th Floor
JONATHAN RAY Rockville, MD 20850-3240 mation about the programs and webinars can be
Vice President, Digital www.accessintel.com
found on the EPA’s website. ■
Dorothy Lozowski, Editorial Director
Chementator
This coating boosts the efficiency of Edited by:
Gerald Ondrey
perovskite solar cells
P
erovskite materials have great lar, conjugated molecule — one end ODC TECHNOLOGY
potential as a lightweight and is charged to bind with the perovskite, Last month, Covestro AG (Leverku-
low-cost option for solar pan- while is the other is hydrophobic to pro- sen, Germany; www.covestro.com)
els, but in the past have not tect against moisture. To form the coat- started up a new world-scale facility
been seen as stable or durable enough ing, the ligand is dissolved in a solvent for the production of chlorine in Tarra-
for widespread use in large-scale solar- at a dilute concentration (typically less gona, Spain. It is the first world-scale
production plant for chlorine based
power installations. Now, a new coat- than 1 mg/mL). According to Dou, the
upon the oxygen-depolarized cath-
ing developed by a research team at cost to manufacture the ligand is very ode (ODC) technology invented by
Purdue University (West Lafayette, Ind.; low, and based on well-established Covestro and its partners. The new
www.purdue.edu), led by chemical en- methods. Furthermore, the perovskite plant ensures an efficient, sustain-
gineering professor Letian Dou, could surface only requires a very thin coat- able and independent supply of chlo-
overcome these challenges. “Perovskite ing — just 4–5 nm — meaning that the rine and caustic soda to methylene
can degrade quickly when exposed to coating would not add significant cost diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) produc-
moisture, heat or light, which limits its to solar panels. tion in Tarragona. MDI is a precursor
commercial application. Our organic Over a 2,000-h testing period at high for the manufacture of rigid polyure-
ligand coating can reduce perovskite heat, the coated panel maintained over thane foam used to insulate refrigera-
tion appliances and buildings. The
defects and passivate the surface, mak- 80% of its original power conversion
€200-million investment has created
ing the material much more stable. At efficiency. “This is much higher perfor- 50 new jobs on site.
the same time, the organic ligand can mance than the control device without The ODC technology was developed
act as a semiconductor to help conduct the ligand coating,” says Dou. Next, the by Covestro in collaboration with thys-
charge, which helps to improve electri- team is considering ligands with new senkrupp nucera (Dortmund, Ger-
cal performance,” explains Dou. functional moieties and multiple binding many; www.thyssenkrupp-nucera.
While much work has been done to sites to further enhance stability, and com), with the first demonstration
develop coatings to protect and pas- investigating ways to enhance solubil- plant started up in 2011 in Krefeld-
sivate perovskite, many of these op- ity and processability to improve cover- Uerdingen, Germany (Chem. Eng.,
tions focused on insulating materials age. They also have a contract with a May 2010, p. 11). Compared to the
currently predominant conventional
that actually decreased charge trans- major solar-power company to begin
port, adds Dou. The ligand is a bipo- testing the technology. (Continues on p. 8)
Perform dewatering, drying and cleaning of liquid waste

in a single process
A
recently commissioned, 150,000-ton/yr facil- four traditional systems in a wastewater-treatment plant
ity in Sumner, Wash. is the first wastewater- — dewatering, drying and sidestream nutrient removal
treatment plant to deploy a new liquid-waste for nitrogen and phosphorus — while ensuring that the
treatment technology. Owned by Generate energy source is electricity, making the process easily
Upcycle (San Francisco, Calif.; www.generatecapital. decarbonized,” adds Janicki.
com), and operated in partnership with Sedron Tech- The process combines mechanical vapor recompres-
nologies, LLC (Sedro-Woolley, Wash.; www.sedron. sion and distillation with thin-film and scraped-surface
com), the facility treats septage- and biosolids-laden drying on a series of hollow rotating disks (diagram).
slurry using Sedron’s Varcor technology to split the Slurry is poured over the outside of the disks, and solids
waste into clean water, a dry solid and a solution of low- collect on the disk while the vaporized portion is sent
boiling-point constituents, such as ammonia, explains for compression. The higher-temperature compressed
Stanley Janicki, chief revenue officer at Sedron Tech- vapor is passed back through the inside of the disks
nologies. “A Varcor system is unique, in that it replaces and condensed, providing the heat needed to continue
to vaporize the slurry product. Because of this con-
Sedron Technologies figuration, the system requires little heat input and
no treatment chemicals. Notably, the water pro-
duced from the Varcor system is clean enough to be
blended with the plant’s effluent water, which signifi-
cantly reduces the overall load on the plant.
Furthermore, the process yields both solid and
aqueous nitrogen fertilizers, which can be upcycled
as key agricultural inputs, explains Bill Caesar, presi-
dent of Generate Upcycle. “The ability to extract nitro-
gen allows the Sumner facility to reduce nutrient pol-
lution by diverting hundreds of thousands of pounds
of nitrogen from existing wastewater plants and pro-
ducing a fertilizer that displaces the production of fos-
sil fuel-derived fertilizers,” he adds.
Integrated capture and conversion of CO2 to methanol
P
rocesses that capture carbon dioxide from in- moting a route that methylates the amine site.
dustrial fluegas and simultaneously convert it With an integrated capture and conversion process,
into useful chemicals are desirable because the exothermic CO2-to-methanol conversion process
they offer an opportunity to produce CO2- partially offsets the energy that would normally be re-
derived chemicals more efficiently and economically quired in conventional carbon capture and utilization for
than conventional approaches, where costs are driven the regeneration of the capture solvent, the PNNL team
up by the energy-intensive regeneration of the capture explains. Further, “because the captured CO2 is con-
solvent. By integrating CO2 capture with conversion to verted directly in the capture-solvent medium, there is
methanol (flowsheet), scientists at Pacific Northwest also energy saved on the CO2 compression and trans-
National Laboratory (PNNL; Richland, Wash.; www. portation that would otherwise be required with gas-
pnnl.gov) have developed a process that could eventu- phase conversion, thus reducing additional energy inputs
ally reach cost parity with producing methanol derived and associated equipment costs,” PNNL says.
from fossil fuels, the PNNL team says. The PNNL research, reported in the journal Advanced
For the CO2 capture component, the team used Energy Materials, includes a technoeconomic analysis
2-EEMPA (N-(2-ethoxyethyl)-3-morpholinopropan- (TEA) of capturing CO2 from a natural-gas combined-
1-amine), an advanced, water-lean, amine-based cap- cycle power plant and converting it to methanol in the
ture solvent. To produce methanol, the CO2-containing condensed phase. The TEA suggests that the mini-
solvent is exposed to a catalyst that consists of platinum mum selling price for methanol can be significantly re-
metal atoms on a titanium-oxide support. The hetero- duced, and may reach price parity with conventional
geneous catalyst allows a reaction pathway that avoids methanol synthesis, if faster kinetics and higher selec-
methylation (and thus deactivation) of the capture sol- tivity can be achieved through catalyst and reactor de-
vent. Other catalysts used for methanol synthesis in the velopment. Current efforts are focused in those areas,
gas phase tend to deactivate the capture solvent by pro- the PNNL team says.
PNNL
A new way to improve valve resiliency against flashing
F
lashing occurs when the pressure of a fluid pass- trim parts, and enable the valve to withstand severe
ing through a valve is lower than the same sub- conditions. The EroSolve variant designed for globe
stance’s vapor pressure. This causes the fluid valves employs a seat basket that creates backpres-
to boil — otherwise known as “flashing.” “By re- sure to reduce downstream velocity and pressure drop
ducing flow capacity and eroding the valve itself, flash- to avoid damage to the valve body — without requiring
ing causes unplanned maintenance, reduced reliability any piping modifications.
and critical safety risks,” says Mike Semens-Flanagan, According to the company, this is the first dedicated
Global Engineering Director at IMI Critical Engineering and successfully demonstrated valve technology on the
(Birmingham, U.K.; www.imi-critical.com). The company market aimed at mitigating problems related to flashing.
has therefore developed a new valve enhancement tech- EroSolve Flashing has been demonstrated in a com-
nology called EroSolve Flashing, which aims to protect bined-cycle power plant that had experienced erosion
angle and globe valves against leakage and other is- in its heat-recovery steam generators (HSRGs). Follow-
sues caused by steam flashing. The EroSolve solution ing the installation of valves equipped with EroSolve
prevents low-travel operation and moves the fluid-path’s technology, there was no component damage reported
vena contracta downstream of the seating area of the after a year. In another demonstration, EroSolve valves
valve, effectively protecting it against any damage. It also were installed at a chemical plant in South Korea to re-
gradually reduces pressure through the introduction of place boiler blowdown valves whose trim had not been
special multi-path, right-angle-turned flow passages that specified for flashing conditions. The new valves are
prevent sudden acceleration of fluid velocity. expected to last 2 to 4 times longer than the previous
In angle valves, hardened trim material and an en- valves, resulting in a significantly lower cost of owner-
hanced seat-plug design move flashing away from vital ship, says the company.

More sustainable curing technology for coil coatings
C
oil coating is a continuous process for produc- ers has demonstrated that UV/EB curing has significant
ing prepainted sheets of metal (steel or alumi- potential to reduce the CO2 footprint of coil coating, due
num), which can then be fabricated into various to the fact that it requires much less paint and energy in
building and other materials. Because organic the curing process. “UV/EB curing allows us to use up to
coating materials are used, the process requires substan- 100% solid, solvent-free formulations that are more ef-
tial energy for the curing and drying steps, and can gen- ficient and provide up to twice the surface coverage per
erate significant emissions of volatile organic compounds kilogram of paint,” says Gavin Bown, CTO at Beckers.
(VOCs). To make the curing process more sustainable, Solid, solvent-free UV/EB paint formulations are more
efforts to find alternatives to traditional thermal-curing sustainable, because around half the volume of paint is
processes (diagram, left). The European Coil Coating needed and they significantly reduce VOCs. “Compared
Assn. (ECCA; Brussels, Belgium; prepaintedmetal.eu) with conventional gas-fired curing, the UV/EB cold-
considers ultraviolet (UV) and electron-beam (EB) curing curing process also uses much less energy, facilitates
technology to be the most significant game changer in the transition from natural gas to renewable electricity,
terms of decarbonization of the coil coating industry. avoids the use of expensive gas, and does not require
Now, Wilh. Beckers Holding GmbH (Berlin, Germany; water for cooling,” says Bown. Because the UV/EB cur-
www.beckers-group.com) has developed the first coming process is almost instantaneous, coating lines can
mercial paint formulations for dual UV and EB curing (dia- be shorter and run at higher speeds.
gram, right). Until now, the only available
industrial application of radiation curing
in coil coating has been EB irradiation
used for packaging material. Long-term
collaboration between Beckers and one
of its customers has led to the first ever
full-scale application of advanced, dual-
UV/EB-curing technology in coil coating
for the building industry.
At Beckers’ development laboratory in
Montbrison, France, a team of research- Beckers
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ENGINEERING Mar.indd 1 MARCH 2023 1/31/23 4:51 PM 7
chlor-alkali electrolysis, the new A new high-throughput tool for
process requires a lower volt-
age, which results in energy
developing catalysts
W
savings of up to 25% (for more
hen searching for catalysts systems: Ru–Rh–Pd–Ir–Pt and Co–Ni–
details, see Chem. Eng., Octo-
for the energy transition, ma- Mo–Pd–Pt. They also were able to find
ber 2018, p. 7). At the new plant
in Tarragona, this can avoid up
terials consisting of at least the optimal combinations of elements in
to 22,000 metric tons of CO2 five elements — so-called these HEAs for the three important elec-
emissions per year compared high-entropy alloys (HEAs) — are consid- trocatalytic reactions: the hydrogen evolu-
with existing processes — ered highly promising. But to find the right tion reaction (HER), the oxygen evolution
based on the energy mix at the combination of elements and composition reduction reaction (ORR) and the oxygen
start of construction planning in ratios needed for the best activity is diffi- evolution reaction (OER).
2018, Covestro says. cult, since there are theoretically millions of To create the microlibraries, the re-
possibilities. To help speed the discovery searchers used a process that combines
AUTONOMOUS SYNTHESIS of better electrocatalysts, a research team, co-sputtering with a shadow-masking
Last month, Alysophil ASA led by professor Alfred Ludwig, head of technique, which enabled all combina-
(Strasbourg, France; www. the Materials Discovery and Interfaces De- tions of the five elements to be fabricated
alysophil.com) said it has dem- partment (MDI) at Ruhr University Bochum onto a single carrier. Each individual ma-
onstrated the world’s first au- (Germany; www.rub.de), has succeeded terial mixture appears as a 100-µm dia.
tonomous chemical synthesis,
in producing microscale combinatorial li- spot on the carrier. To study these mate-
using a continuous-flow reac-
tor controlled by an artificial in-
braries of all possible combinations of five rial libraries, a technique known as scan-
telligence (AI) agent (algorithm) elements on a carrier in a single step. The ning electrochemical cell microscopy was
known as deep-reinforcement researchers also developed a method to used. This involves measuring the elec-
learning (DRL). This proof-of- analyze the electrocatalytic potential of trochemical properties of the material at
concept is a milestone of the each of the combinations in this microma- a specific point via a hanging nanodroplet
PIPAc (Production Intelligente terial library in high throughput. of an electrolyte.
de Principes Actifs) project, As described in a recent issue of Ad- The technique promises to help chem-
which aims to develop micro- vanced Materials, the researchers were ists quickly discover promising catalysts
factories for producing active able to create microlibraries for two HEA for further study.
pharmaceutical ingredients
(APIs). The project, which is
backed by investment firm Battery electrode binder allows easier recycling
R
Bpifrance with funding from the
French government, includes ecovering valuable metals, such ing sodium hydroxide, the sodium ion in-
partners NovAliX SAS (www. as cobalt and nickel, from used serts into the bond site, breaking the two
novalix.com), Bruker (www. lithium-ion batteries is emerg- polymers apart. The separated polymers
bruker.com) and De Dietrich ing as a key capability because dissolve into the liquid, freeing any elec-
Process Systems SAS (www. of anticipated high battery demand trode components embedded within.
dedietrich.com). and material shortages. Researchers at “A battery made with Quick-Release
The technology takes the ad- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Binder simply needs to be opened, placed
vantages of flow chemistry
(Berkeley, Calif.; www.lbl.gov) have de- in room-temperature alkaline water, and
one step further, by adapting
synthesis parameters, such as
veloped a technology for an electrode gently shaken,” says project leader Gao
temperature and flowrate, in binder material that facilitates the recov- Liu, a senior scientist in Berkeley Lab’s
real time using AI. Continuous ery of valuable metals from used bat- Energy Technologies Area. “The sepa-
monitoring using Fourier-trans- teries at low cost. Binders are glue-like rated elements are easily filtered out of
form infrared (FTIR) spectros- substances that hold the active materials the water and air-dried.”
copy and other sensors collects together within the electrode and main- The binder, which contains no PFAS
the data used by the AI agent. tain its architecture. compounds and can be used to make
The PIPAc consortium dem- To make new batteries, manufacturers both anodes and cathodes, is about one-
onstrated a single-step reac- process binders with solvents to create tenth the price of two of the most com-
tion of dioxolane synthesis at
a slurry containing all the electrode commonly used commercial binders. Past ex-
60°C, as well as adaptability
of the system when the tem-
ponents, which is then deposited in the periments demonstrated that the binder is
perature drops to 40°C. It aims desired shape and thickness on electrode highly stable at high and low voltages.
to deliver an industrial demon- sheets. The Berkeley Lab approach was The Quick-Release Binder originated
strator by 2024 and have a fully to “design for recycling” in the way the from research on lithium-sulfur batteries,
operating micro-plant by 2025. electrode is made. which are possible future alternatives to
Known as Quick-Release Binder, the traditional Li-ion batteries, and later ap-
SUSTAINABLE SILICA Berkeley Lab product is made from two plied to Li-ion batteries. The team is now
Solvay S.A. (Brussels, Belgium; commercially available polymers, poly- working with Steve Sloop, a battery recy-
www.solvay.com) is investing acrylic acid (PAA) and polyethylenimine cling developer and founder of OnTo Tech-
at its Livorno site, in Italy, to (PEI), that are joined together through a nologies (Budd Lake, N.J.; www.onto-
launch the company’s first unit bond between positively charged nitrogen technology.com) to build prototype Li-ion
of circular highly dispersible sil- atoms in PEI and negatively charged oxy- batteries with the Quick-Release binder to
ica (HDS), which is made with gen atoms in PAA. When the solid binder analyze its performance comprehensively
material is placed in alkaline water contain- and showcase its functionality.
(Continues on p. 9)
Sorption-enhanced methanation bio-based sodium silicate derived from rice-husk ash.
This new silicate process provides a circular solution,
T
as it gives a second life to rice husk in a local value
he production of substi- without further purification. The
chain. Coupled with renewable-energy integration at
tute (or synthetic) natural water is then removed from the the plant, it will allow Solvay to achieve a 50% reduc-
gas (SNG) by methana- zeolite by flushing the reactor with tion in CO2 per ton of silica. Production is expected to
tion of CO2 with hydrogen H2, and another batch can begin. start by the end of 2024.
is energy intensive and also re- “This process is more flex- Solvay will gradually replace its existing Zeosil port-
quires a purification step to re- ible and stable than previous folio with circular HDS, providing a circular solution for
move the byproduct water and processes, but it also has some tires, as well as addressing the needs of the home-
remaining reactants. To address potential for energy savings be- and personal-care, and the feed and food industries.
these issues, researchers at The cause we can run it at a lower Solvay also plans to build a new plant in North America
Swiss Federal Laboratories for pressure and do without hydro- over the coming years, and is investigating projects in
circular HDS in Asia and South America.
Materials Science and Technol- gen separation and recirculation,”
ogy (Empa; Dübendorf, Switzer- explains project leader Florian
land; www.empa.ch) have devel- Kiefer. “However, a precise as-
CARBON FIBER RECOVERY
oped a new, optimized reactor sessment of the energy efficiency Asahi Kasei (Tokyo; www.asahi-kasei.com), in col-
laboration with the National Institute of Technology,
concept for methanation. will only be possible once the
Kitakyushu College and Tokyo University of Science
The new concept uses a pro- demonstrator is in full operation,” (all Japan), has developed a new technology for recy-
cess called sorption-enhanced he says. An industrial-scale pro- cling carbon-fiber plastic compounds. The new tech-
methanation. H2 and CO2 are fed cess would require at least two nology — electrolyzed sulfuric acid solution — allows
to a fixed-bed reactor containing reactors alternating in parallel. carbon fibers to be extracted from carbon-fiber rein-
nickel-impregnated porous zeolite Kiefer and his team spent forced plastics or thermoplastics (CFRP or CFRTP).
pellets as catalyst. As the reac- around three years developing Unlike alternative recycling methods that chop up the
tion proceeds, byproduct water this reactor concept, in collabo- materials to give short-length carbon fibers that are
is continuously adsorbed by the ration with industrial partners, only suitable for low-performance materials, the new
zeolite, which shifts the reaction as part of project MEGA within process extracts carbon fibers seamlessly, resulting
in a continuous strand that can be reapplied in exactly
equilibrium toward the products. Empa’s “move” demonstrator for
the same manner, while retaining properties identical
At the outlet of the reactor, only the mobility of the future. A pat-
to the original substance. ❐
CH4 remains, which can be used ent has been filed. n
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Business News
Plant Watch The new unit, which will begin operation at the
Arlanxeo starts up new polybutadiene end of 2024, will almost double the current
LINEUP production line in Brazil capacity. With an investment of €26 million,
it will manufacture plastics used to produce
February 14, 2023 — Arlanxeo B.V. (Maastricht,
AGC rigid and flexible packaging for non-food use.
the Netherlands; www.arlanxeo.com) opened
ALPLA a new polybutadiene production line in Brazil. Specifically, it will process high- and low-density
The new production line supplements Arlanxeo’s polyethylene (HDPE and LDPE) with recycled
ARLANXEO plastic content. In addition to the new recycled-
existing production capacity in Brazil with
ASAHI KASEI an additional 65,000 metric tons per year plastic production line, Puertollano will start
(m.t./yr) of capacity. The new production line is up the first polyurethane-foam-recovery plant
EASTMAN
located in the Triunfo petrochemical complex in Spain this year.
ELKEM in Rio Grande do Sul.
Elkem to expand pitch
EVONIK
Indorama India commences production at production capacity in Brazil
INDORAMA third spandex production plant February 1, 2023 — Elkem ASA (Oslo, Norway;
JOHNSON MATTHEY February 14, 2023 — Indorama India Ltd. www.elkem.com) will invest around NOK
(Kolkata, India; www.inviya.com) commenced 200 million (around $20 million) to increase
KEMIRA commercial production of its third manufacturing its production capacity in Brazil for pitch, a
KURARAY facility for spandex (elastane) at Baddi in raw material for electrode paste to industrial
Himachal Pradesh. This plant adds 25 m.t./d smelters. The investment will increase the
LINDE production capacity by up to 40% beginning in
of spandex production capacity, bringing the
MERCK total production at the site to 65 m.t./d. 2024, and is expected to generate additional
annual sales in excess of NOK 300 million.
MITSUI CHEMICALS
Kuraray completes construction of new
PLUG POWER isoprenes plant in Thailand Evonik to expand production capacity of
February 9, 2023 — Kuraray Co. (Tokyo; www. methylmercapto-propionaldehyde
REPSOL
kuraray.com) has completed the construction February 1, 2023 — Evonik Industries
SAINT-GOBAIN of a new plant for isoprene products. The (Essen, Germany) has invested €25 million in
new facilities have been designed to produce developing and expanding its methylmercapto-
SUMITOMO CHEMICAL
13,000 m.t./yr of polyamide-9T, 16,000 propionaldehyde (MMP) production plant in
TORAY m.t./yr of hydrogenated styrenic-block copolymers Wesseling, Germany. MMP is integral in the
and 5,000 m.t./yr of 3-methyl-1.5-pentanediol. production of DL-methionine, which is used
The company invested around ¥40 billion ($310 in animal feed to improve the performance
million) in the project. of livestock farming. The conversion and
expansion of the plant in Wesseling has been
Merck breaks ground for specialty-gases made possible by the development of a new
and semiconductor-materials plant production process that eliminates the need
February 8, 2023 — Merck KGaA (Darmstadt, for storage of chemical intermediates, such
Germany; www.merckgroup.com) broke ground as acrolein, at the site.
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for a new production
facility for its Semiconductor Solutions business. Linde to increase green-hydrogen
The site will produce specialty gases and production in California
semiconductor materials for thin-film and January 31, 2023 — Linde plc (Guildford,
patterning solutions beginning in 2025. U.K.; www.linde.com) plans to increase its
green-hydrogen production capacity in Ontario,
Toray to expand production capacity for Calif. Linde will build, own and operate the
PPS resin in South Korea first of several planned 5-MW electrolyzers
February 6, 2023 — Toray Industries, Inc. (Tokyo; to increase hydrogen capacity. Expected to
www.toray.com) will increase its production start up in the second half of 2024, the new
capacity for polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin electrolyzer is one of several green-hydrogen
by 5,000 m.t./yr at a plant in Gunsan, South projects Linde is planning across the U.S.
Korea, by late 2024. With this expansion,
Toray’s combined PPS manufacturing capacity ALPLA opens new PET
will rise to 32,600 m.t./yr. recycling plant in Romania
January 31, 2023 — ALPLA Group (Hard,
Repsol to install new manufacturing Austria; www.alpla.com), together with its
line for recycled plastics joint-venture partners Ecohelp and UPT, has
February 2, 2023 — Repsol S.A. (Madrid, opened its first polyethylene terephthalate
Spain; www.repsol.com) will install a new (PET) recycling plant in Romania after an
Look for more recycled-plastics production line with a investment of around €7.5 million. The plant
latest news on manufacturing capacity of 25,000 m.t./yr at is now producing around 18,000 m.t./yr of
chemengonline.com its Puertollano Industrial Complex in Spain. recycled material from household waste.
Mergers & Acquisitions oxygen and gas. The new technology manufacturing facility in the world,
Mitsui Chemicals and Asahi Kasei is expected to be fully implemented which will likely begin production in
combine nonwovens businesses on the patterned-glass line by the 2025 and will be located in the U.S.
February 9, 2023 — Mitsui Chemicals, second half of 2024.
Inc. (www.mitsuichemicals.com) intends Sumitomo Chemical acquires
to carry out a joint incorporation-type Eastman acquires performance U.S.-based biostimulants firm
demerger with Asahi Kasei Corp. (both films company Ai-Red Technology January 31, 2023 — Sumitomo Chemical
Tokyo; www.asahi-kasei.com) for the February 2, 2023 — Eastman Chemical Co. (Tokyo, Japan; www.sumitomo-
two companies’ nonwovens businesses, Co. (Kingsport, Tenn.; www.eastman. chem.co.jp) is acquiring Tennessee-
forming a new integrated company. The com) has acquired Ai-Red Technology based biostimulant manufacturing
business integration agreement aims (Dalian) Co., a manufacturer and supplier firm FBSciences Holdings, Inc. FBS
to carry on the operations that both of paint-protection and window-film develops, manufactures and markets
companies run in Japan and Thailand technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. biostimulants and biopesticides made
for the production, development and from natural organic matter.
sale of nonwovens-related products. Plug Power and Johnson Matthey
form green-hydrogen alliance Kemira acquires process-
AGC and Saint-Gobain January 31, 2023 — Plug Power optimization startup SimAnalytics
collaborating on decarbonization Inc. (Latham, N.Y.; www.plugpower. January 26, 2023 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki,
February 8, 2023 — AGC Inc. (Tokyo; com) and Johnson Matthey plc (JM; Finland; www.kemira.com) acquired
www.agc.com) and Saint-Gobain Corp. London; www.matthey.com) formed the entirety of process-optimization
(Courbevoie, France; www.saint-gobain. a long-term strategic partnership to specialist SimAnalytics. With the
com) are collaborating on the design of accelerate the hydrogen economy. acquisition, Kemira strengthens its
a pilot flat-glass production line that is JM will become a strategic supplier of capability to provide data-driven
expected to significantly reduce direct membrane components, providing a predictive services and machine-
CO2 emissions. As part of this project, substantial portion of Plug’s demand learning solutions. The two companies
AGC’s patterned-glass production line for catalysts, membranes and catalyst- currently offer a commercialized digital
in Barevka, Czech Republic, will be coated membrane (CCM) technologies. service that helps paper and board
entirely refurbished to be 50% electrified Plug Power and JM will co-invest in mills run production more efficiently. ■
and 50% fired by a combination of what is expected to be the largest CCM Mary Page Bailey
For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-06 For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-05

Newsfront
Head to Toe Technology:
Advances in Wearables
From headsets to gloves to fabric sensors, technologies that can be worn on the body are providing
many new benefits for plant workers
A
University of Nottingham
pace with innovations in all and dexterity of human hands and
“smart” technologies, wear- arms, the EyeGlove’s finger-mounted
able devices for industrial cameras can be easily controlled and
personnel are rapidly evolving posed,” explains Dragos Axinte, direc-
to incorporate enhanced connectivity, tor of the Rolls-Royce UTC. “Further-
bioresponsive behavior, augmented more,” says Axinte, “three high-power
reality and more. LED lights complement the cameras,
making the EyeGlove adaptable for
Expanding what we see use in dark environments.” FIGURE 2. Difficult-to-inspect spaces, such as
In chemical plants, engineers and op- “By wearing the EyeGlove system, pipelines and turbine internals, can benefit from
erators often must perform inspection operators’ hands can be freed to hold the EyeGlove’s versatility
and measurement tasks in cramped, and manipulate repair tools, such as personal protective equipment (PPE).
dark or dangerous locations. Now, spanners, files and rasps, or other in- The Visor-EX 01 smart glasses (Figure
a new device developed by a team spection tools, such as ultrasonic or 3), developed by ECOM Instruments
of researchers from the Rolls-Royce eddy-current probes. This enables GmbH, a Pepperl+Fuchs brand (As-
University Technology Center (UTC) operators to accomplish more tasks samstadt, Germany; www.ecom-ex.
in Manufacturing and On-Wing Tech- at the same time,” adds Xin Dong, com), were designed with wearability
nology at the University of Nottingham associate professor at the University in mind by minimizing the amount of
(www.nottingham.ac.uk/utc), in coop- of Nottingham. The research team, weight that must be balanced directly
eration with Rolls-Royce plc (Derby, led by Axinte, has demonstrated pro- on the head. “By outsourcing much of
U.K.; www.rolls-royce.com), aims to totype EyeGlove systems in several the components for computing and
make these activities safer and more confined scenarios, such as turbine energy supply to our Smart-Ex 02
effective by enabling users to “see” engines and pipelines (Figure 2), and smartphone and a pocket unit on the
with their hands. The EyeGlove sys- tested measurement accuracy in dif- body, the Visor-Ex 01 glasses weigh
tem (Figure 1) comprises several tiny ferent lighting conditions. just 180 g — unrivalled in industrial
cameras mounted on the fingertips of “In addition to confined environ- smart glasses,” says Sebastian Kaul,
a glove, along with a connected head- ments, large-scale open areas are product portfolio manager at ECOM
set that can directly display inspection widely encountered in chemical plants, Instruments. With the connected
and measurement results. such as large vessels and high distilla- smartphone, users can seamlessly
“Conventional inspection tools, such tion units. Inspection in these spaces switch between tasks during activi-
as borescopes and endoscopes, usu- requires operators to climb above ties that require additional informa-
ally have long passive sections, which the ground, and it is difficult to bring tion or continuous communication. A
are difficult to control in complex en- a large and cumbersome inspection voice-command function also leaves
vironments. Thanks to the flexibility system. The EyeGlove system can hands free and adds freedom of
be used to assist operators to easily movement, notes Kaul. “The intrinsi-
University of Nottingham inspect these spaces because of its cally safe Visor-Ex 01 smart glasses
flexibility and light weight,” adds Erhui are the first device of their kind to be
Sun, a research associate who origi- certified according to ATEX and IECEx
nally developed the system. standards,” he adds. During the de-
Headsets and smart glasses can velopment phase, the glasses un-
also provide “hands-free” access to derwent an extensive endurance test
process and equipment data be- on an offshore oil platform. “With the
yond what the eye can see when in help of cameras and image process-
the field, but it is crucial that these ing, QR codes from devices and ma-
FIGURE 1. The EyeGlove system involves tiny cam- devices are not too bulky or uncom- chines could be read to gain access
eras that are mounted on the fingertips of gloves,
enabling inspection and measurement in confined,
fortable to wear. Rather, they should fit to sensor data, such as pump pres-
dark spaces seamlessly with an engineer’s typical sure. Our smart glasses improved the
ECOM Instrument
NavVis VLX,” says Bridges. Hen- sonnel health and safety, the devices
kel AG (Düsseldorf, Germany; www. can detect falls, and include a “panic
henkel.com) used NavVis’ tech- button” that sends a notification in the
nologies to create a complete digital event of a serious incident.
copy of a manufacturing facility in
Serbia, which engineers could re- The industrial metaverse
motely “visit” for inspection, optimi- A category of wearable devices that
zation and training activities. This vir- has been quickly gaining ground in
tual plant was made possible by the industrial applications is headsets
FIGURE 3. In addition to its intended functionality, use of wearable and wheel-mounted that support virtual reality (VR) or
any wearable device should also be designed for mapping systems. augmented reality (AR) technology
the wearer’s comfort Monitoring worker safety and platforms. Such headsets are just
documentation of incidents not only health is one of the key drivers be- one facet in the burgeoning indus-
quantitatively, but also qualitatively.” hind advancements in wearable de- trial “metaverse” — a term essentially
vices. The Safety Watch real-time encompassing the collaborative and
Geolocation and mapping location-monitoring solution (RTLS) connected, persistent virtual environ-
A new frontier for wearable technolo- from Honeywell Process Solu- ment enabled by 3D digital twins.
gies is in mapping, location and scan- tions (HPS; Phoenix, Ariz.; process. “People are getting somewhat hard-
ning applications. The NavVis VLX honeywell.com) aims to help mitigate wired that when we use the word
wearable mobile mapping system operational and safety risks by using ‘metaverse,’ that means we wear a
(Figure 4) developed by NavVis GmbH radio-frequency identification (RFID) headset,” says Simon Bennett, global
(Munich, Germany; www.navvis.com) to monitor employee assigned loca- head of innovation and incubation at
is said to enable up to 10 times faster tion and fatigue, and identify when Aveva (Cambridge, U.K.; www.aveva.
data capture than terrestrial laser an employee enters a restricted com). “But that's not how we perceive
scanners, even in complex outdoor area. Beyond employee health, the it at all. We think that we should be
environments like chemical plants and Smart Watch’s geolocation capabili- able to enter the metaverse on our
petroleum refineries. “This makes it ties provide benefits for security and laptop, phone or tablet as well, be-
possible for projects to capture larger emergency response, says Veronica cause the value of the metaverse is
areas at earlier project phases,” ex- Turner, industrial safety solutions about connecting people and data.”
plains Nate Bridges, senior account leader for Latin America at HPS. “The Chemical processing facilities can
executive at NavVis. The NavVis VLX old method of emergency muster- benefit greatly from the virtual nature
captures data in three dimensions ing is that employees needed to ap- of the industrial metaverse because
using two multi-layer light-detection proach a mustering area, and they of the massive volumes of data that
and ranging (LiDAR) sensors and a typically would have to swipe their are constantly being collected, as well
proprietary simultaneous localization badge to get accounted. With this as the hazardous and sensitive nature
and mapping (SLAM) algorithm to de- solution, they just need to approach of the products and processes that
velop point clouds (Figure 5). Whereas the area and then a receiver will get are encountered. “Every single item
other scanning tools require signifi- the signal from their specific device within a chemical processing environ-
cant training for users, the NavVis VLX and count them,” she notes. Accord- ment is a live machine or process that
system has built-in features to help ing to Honeywell, Smart Watch use needs to be tracked, and we should
mitigate human errors during data can reduce mustering time by up to be able to interact with the data feeds
capture, and is compatible with in- 80% when compared to more manual coming from it,” adds Bennett. “The
dustry-standard tools, adds Bridges. processes. This functionality is espe- metaverse provides an opportunity for
“The versatility offered by a wearable cially useful during major events, such specialists to meet together in a 3D
laser scanner like NavVis VLX allows as turnarounds, when there could be space, but not a 3D space like a con-
the user to capture more complete hundreds of additional contractors ference room. The 3D space is their
datasets in some of the most com- on site who must be accounted for. actual asset.”
plex environments while obtaining For security, the platform can imple- In Aveva’s industrial metaverse con-
highly accurate point-cloud data and ment “virtual walls” within a plant site cept, people are able to enter a 3D
panoramic imagery, all without having to minimize the number of people en- model of a running chemical plant
as many personnel on site.” tering hazardous areas, or to ensure NavVis
The NavVis VLX has been used in that there is no unauthorized entry to
plants during conceptual planning, sensitive locations. “The platform can
model verification, maintenance and quickly create geo-fencing that can
turnarounds. “Turnaround manage- immediately start giving alerts based
ment groups are utilizing NavVis VLX on company protocols. There is a lot
technology to digitalize their turn- of flexibility — you can block an area
around planning, and inspections di- for a few hours during maintenance
visions are managing their inspection work, or you can permanently block
points using 3D data captured with certain areas,” notes Turner. For per- FIGURE 4. This wearable system makes scanning
and mapping facilities much more streamlined

NavVis dents benefitted from complementing loose-fitting garments and gait in foot-
their traditional education with virtual wear, says Andrew. The sensors also
“visits” to simulated industrial envi- feature a special coating to protect
ronments. According to Bennett, the against humidity, meaning that fabrics
study found that students who had can be easily laundered.
the more experiential aspect of using In another example of functional
the headsets scored around 60 to materials for wearables, scientists are
70% better than students who did using the de novo computational pro-
not use headsets. “When you actu- tein-design approach to develop new
FIGURE 5. The comprehensive datasets enabled by ally experience something, versus just biosensors that can detect hazards
the point clouds that the NavVis system develops reading about it, it’s much more solid and toxins. According to Fiorenzo
can be applied into full digital twins in your memory for recalling later. So, Omenetto, dean for research and pro-
there is definite evidence that using fessor of engineering at Tufts Univer-
headsets with full VR, specifically in sity (Medford, Mass.; www.tufts.edu),
the context of industrial chemists, has the sensors represent a confluence of
real value for them when they enter biomaterials (in this case a regener-
the workforce.” ated silk fibroin) and de novo protein
constructs that can be reassembled
Advanced functional materials into several wearable end formats
Aveva Progress in materials research and while maintaining the protein’s func-
development is helping to expand the tionality. For this work, the team was
applicability of wearable technologies able to fabricate the bioresponsive
and overcome some of the challenges materials into a printable ink, wherein
in designing functional wearables for the protein constituent could be de-
industrial use. signed to respond to particular mol-
Dynamic pressure changes are a ecules of interest with high selectivity
major hurdle in developing wearable and specificity. The biosensor is pro-
FIGURE 6. The industrial metaverse concept envi- sensors. As the wearer goes about grammed to glow when it detects its
sions a VR-enabled, collaborative environment their everyday tasks, the pressure on target molecule, and the intensity of
where workers can access live, digital versions of any device they are wearing is fre- light emission can be used to gauge
their assets
quently changing, which can inter- the concentration. In addition to inks,
and interact with the assets (Figure 6). rupt the flow of data from the sensor. the materials platform can be adapted
“It’s really different and a much more Now, a new method of vapor-printing into films, sponges, filters and more.
natural collaboration between people enables pressure-sensing fabrics with The biosensors are also more durable
when you’re in the 3D space. Neither integrated piezoionic materials, which than many existing methods for de-
of us have left our chair, but we are redistribute ions throughout the sen- tecting pathogens or chemicals in the
manifesting in a version of the actual sor, effectively turning any mechanical environment, since they require no bi-
operating asset,” says Bennett. Safety motion into an electrical signal that can ological components that can quickly
considerations are obviously a huge be monitored. Developed at the Uni- degrade or electronic components
factor when considering virtual collab- versity of Massachusetts Amherst’s that are difficult to integrate into wear-
oration, because no travel or special (www.umass.edu) Wearable Electron- able devices.
site certifications will be required to ac- ics Laboratory, this is said to be the “We fabricated a set of functional
cess an asset. “I don’t need any safety first fabric-based sensor that allows demonstrator devices, including bio-
certificates to fly my avatar to the top real-time monitoring. “Fabric pres- responsive PPE, such as masks and
of a flare stack when I’m in the meta- sure sensors are useful in industrial laboratory gloves,” says Omenetto. A
verse because there’s no physical risk PPE to indicate if a pressure thresh- key benefit for this materials platform
to me. There are definitely some op- old has been exceeded. For example, is its versatility. In addition to the PPE
portunities to bring more expertise into the destructive pressure from exceed- demonstrations, the team has devel-
high-risk environments more quickly,” ing a recommended grip strength oped a bioresponsive drone proto-
he adds. while moving or operating inventory type for air-quality monitoring. Such
However, a major hurdle for imple- or equipment in industrial settings,” demonstrations, says Omenetto, are
mentation of the industrial metaverse explains Trisha L. Andrew, director of meant to illustrate the expanded utility
is overcoming preconceived notions the Wearable Electronics Laboratory. and ease of fabrication for these sens-
about VR headsets. Bennett believes According to work published in Ad- ing interfaces, even when targeting
that headsets will become more ubiq- vanced Materials Technologies, this hard-to-detect variables. The Institute
uitous among the younger workforce, also represents the first fabric-based for Protein Design at the University of
citing a study that Aveva carried out sensor that enables personalized real- Washington (Seattle; www.ipd.uw.edu)
with the University of Milan (www. time analysis of grip strength. Applica- engineered the proteins that the Tufts
unimi.it) looking at how chemical en- tions of the pressure sensors include team incorporated into the devices. ■
gineering and industrial-chemistry stu- capturing physiological signals in Mary Page Bailey
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CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2023
Focus
Focus on Process Chemicals
This synthetic leather is durable makes it possible to achieve a longer
and abrasion resistant service lifetime for polyolefins and
A prototype of the newly developed engineering plastics exposed to out-
SilSense material for car seat cov- door weathering. The product was
ers (photo) was exhibited at the Auto developed to be suitable for polyole-
Expo Components trade show (New fins intended for use in contact with
Delhi, India; January 12–15). SilSense food. — Songwon Industrial Co.,
material is a non-animal synthetic Ltd., Ulsan, South Korea
leather that has low volatile organic www.songwon.com
compound (VOC) content, because
it is produced through a solvent-free This architectural fabric takes
Lubrizol Engineered Polymers process that is cleaner than other advantage of natural lighting
products currently used in the market Last October, this company and Sea-
for vegan synthetic leather. The new man Corp. (www.seamancorp.com)
material has a leather-feel soft touch launched a new Shelter-Rite High
and comfort, and it can be provided Light Transmission architectural fab-
in different textures and colors. The ric (photo) using transparent Tedlar
greatest benefit is its high durability PVF film. This new architectural fabric
and performance, said to be better is suitable for structures that require
than genuine leather and much bet- natural light, such as sports arenas,
ter than polyvinylchloride (PVC), the event venues and greenhouses.
company says. SilSense also has Transparent UV-blocking Tedlar film is
a strong resistance to abrasion and a high-performance material that pro-
tear, combined with an excellent heat vides decades of durable protection.
and ultraviolet (UV) resistance. — Lu- With excellent weatherability and dirt-
brizol Engineered Polymers, Cleve- shedding properties, Tedlar preserves
land, Ohio the life and aesthetics of architectural
DuPont
www.lubrizol.com fabric structures even in extremely
harsh environments. It provides a
A new antioxidant and high level of protection against UV
ultraviolet stabilizer light, moisture, rain and pollution. —
This company manufactures a com- DuPont, Wilmington, Del.
prehensive range of antioxidants www.dupont.com
and UV stabilizers in a full range of
physical product forms. It recently New coatings for
expanded its portfolio with two new HVAC applications
products: Songnox 9228 antioxidant Polydure coatings contain a propri-
and Songsorb 1164 UV absorber, etary resin technology specifically
which are suitable for packaging, ag- tailored to the needs of the heat-
riculture, building and construction, ing, ventilation and air-conditioning
as well as home and personal care (HVAC) segment, including commer-
applications. Due to its excellent hy- cial, industrial and residential appli-
drolytic stability, Songnox 9228 an- cations. The proven coating system
tioxidant overcomes the challenges provides a trouble-free application
traditional high-performance phos- combined with a consistent, smooth
phites/phosphonites face by allowing film. It contains excellent forming
more severe polyolefin processing, properties and provides batch con-
especially at high temperatures. In sistency, along with a broad range of
addition to this, it also delivers ex- color, gloss and texture options. The
cellent color protection for Cr-type Polydure portfolio includes focus-
high-density polyethylene (HDPE), formulated primers as part of the
polypropylene (PP) and engineer- coating system, allowing the topcoat
ing resins. The latest addition to the to perform at an optimal level. The
company’s range of UV absorbers is primers utilize formulation models for
a triazine, Songsorb 1164 protects best-in-class performance, includ-
plastics against UV light degradation. ing UV stability, corrosion resistance,
Compared to conventional benzotri- delamination and intercoat adhesion.
azole UV absorbers, Songsorb 1164 In addition, they contain Dual Action
BRAND CONNECT
S P O N S O RE D CO N T E N T
EKATO Crystallizers for batch and

continuous processes
C
rystallization as a basic process engineering operation to smaller set-ups, this equipment allows not only variation of
is of paramount importance in the process industry. It pressure and temperature and their rates, but also variation of
is used for the production and purification of solids in container geometry, stirrer geometry and speed and thus an
numerous chemical, pharmaceutical and food industry extended investigation of the target variables product purity, yield
processes. The use of mixing technology adapted to the process is or crystal size distribution.
the key to achieving the desired product properties. In addition, already on this small scale various inline probes
Crystallization of a solution can be initiated by changing like FBRM or Infrared Spectrometry can be used as powerful tools
temperature or solute concentration. This can generally be to clarify the significant process parameters which in later project
triggered by cooling or evaporating the solvent, but also by adding phases will become decisive for a successful scale-up of the process
an antisolvent or adding a new component as in precipitation or solution.
reaction crystallization. The process
variants as well as the apparatus- Mixing requirements
based process solutions are strongly Solids are formed during
dependent on the properties crystallization, which must be
of the material system and are considered when designing
correspondingly diverse. agitators. The basic mixing task
For successful crystallization, the of suspending is therefore of great
most suitable process and thus the importance as a critical success
method for exceeding the solubility, factor for every crystallization
i.e. generating a supersaturation process. Furthermore, a good
must be determined. A helpful homogeneity in the entire filling
tool for process selection is the volume is required to ensure, for
solubility curve, which shows the example, uniform growth conditions
concentration of the dissolved solid for the crystals in the entire liquid
over the temperature. Depending 3-liter-scale test stand in R&D Center volume. Depending on the type of
on the influence of temperature on crystallization mechanism, heat
the solute concentration, cooling or transfer and renewal of the liquid
evaporation is chosen for crystallization, or a combination of both surface are also relevant.
by applying a vacuum. In addition to these tasks, which are easy to describe in terms of
Crystallization can be initiated by shear, by foreign substances mixing technology, there are other effects such as crust formation
such as impurities, but also by the vessel wall or internals, or by the or deposits. These can usually be influenced by the agitator design
introduction of seed crystals. If the degree of supersaturation is too in combination with the mode of crystallization as well.
high, nucleation clearly dominates crystal growth, and the process
becomes uncontrollable. This effect can lead to a broad particle EKATO solutions for crystallization processes
size distribution with an excessive fines content at the same time. EKATO can support customers already during the development
Depending on the material system, further significant phase. This starts with basic laboratory investigations on basic
parameters such as nucleation and crystal growth kinetics, parameters, selecting the mode of crystallization and finding the
maximum local energy input or the option of seeding the right strategy for a robust process. Taking this as a basis, EKATO is
crystallization need to be elucidated, which are usually determined in the position to deliver a complete solution starting from a first
by experiments on a geometrically similar test scale. estimation until detail engineering, manufacturing and operation.
Thus, an important aspect of process control is supersaturation EKATO has excellent experience in designing not only the agitators,
control. By setting the operating point in the metastable region but also can assist with expertise in vessel design and process
close to the solubility curve, crystal growth is promoted over know-how. Furthermore, we can support with CFD simulations
primary nucleation. and trials in our laboratory or on site.
The determination of solubility and metastable range is
an elementary investigation in the process development of a For more insights in EKATO R&D capabilities:
crystallization process. These values can be determined in the https://youtu.be/p1ZCk9UyGO8
laboratory by repeated heating and cooling at different substance
concentrations. More Information under:
The picture shows a test stand on a 3-liter scale. Compared https://www.ekato.com/solutions/processes/crystallization/

Crosslinking (DAX) technology for composites are based on selected
improved performance over other polyamide matrix materials — PA66,
options. Polydure coatings protect PA6, PA11, PA12, PA6.10, PA6.12
against abrasion and corrosion, and PA4.10 — addressing different
and are durable for many years, the mechanical, thermal and physical
company says. — AkzoNobel N.V., requirements. — Xenia Materials Srl,
Amsterdam, the Netherlands Mussolente (Vicenza), Italy
www.akzonobel.com www.xeniamaterials.com
Evonik Industries
This compound makes A low-temperature prepreg for

insulation coatings efficient fast tooling
TEGO Therm (photo) is a new line LTM 350 (photo) is a next-generation
of tailor-made feedstocks that sub- carbon-fiber-epoxy, prepreg-tooling
stantially improve the performance material designed to deliver signifi-
of thermal insulation coatings (TICs). cant time and cost savings for the in-
The new product range includes dustrial, aerospace, automotive and
two microporous silica-based gran- race car markets. The carbon-fiber
ules, TEGO Therm HPG 4000 and epoxy tooling material offers an in-
TEGO Therm HPG 6806, as well dustry leading, fast, low-temperature
as a heat-resistant, silicone-based cure cycle (3 h at 60°C) and can also
binder, TEGO Therm L 300.The three be cured at temperatures as low as
new products from this company’s 45°C with an extended post-cure.
Coating Additives business line are Tools built from LTM 350 can be con-
characterized by excellent insulation tinuously cycled at temperatures up
properties and heat resistance, even to 150°C, delivering highly accurate
Xenia Materials at temperatures of up to 250°C. In- composite parts. As a low-tempera-
sulation coatings based on TEGO ture prepreg with user-friendly tack,
Therm products substantially reduce drape and handling, LTM 350 was
energy loss, and they also aid occu- designed to enable the shortest pos-
pational health and safety, because sible lay-up times while providing
they can significantly reduce the tem- the highest-quality surface finish. —
perature of hot surfaces (safe touch). Solvay S.A., Brussels, Belgium
Insulation coatings also provide pro- www.solvay.com
tection against moisture penetration
and therefore corrosion under insula- Industry’s first food-grade
tion (CUI). This significantly increases hydraulic fluid
the service lives of coated items. One Bio-Food Grade Hydraulic Fluids
target application for this new gen- (photo) is said to be industry’s only
eration of feedstocks is the techni- environmentally friendly food-grade
cal insulation of pipelines, tanks or hydraulic fluids. With oxidation perfor-
various other components in indus- mance comparable to full synthetics,
trial plants. — Evonik Industries AG, this is one of the safest hydraulic flu-
Solvay Essen, Germany ids for the environment and the only
www.evonik.com one that is food-grade, the company
says. Bio-Food Grade Hydraulic Flu-
A new range of supertough ids are multi-functional, biosynthetic
carbon-fiber composites lubricants that contain ingredients
Xecarb ST (photo) is a new family of that are classified Generally Re-
supertough carbon-fiber compos- garded as Safe (GRAS), making them
ites custom-engineered to close a ideal for applications with incidental
performance gap in the market and food contact in and around food-pro-
provide superior impact-strength per- cessing equipment areas. They may
formance. Xecarb ST builds on the be used on food-processing equip-
proven mechanical strengths of this ment as a protective anti-rust film, as
company’s Xecarb range, but shows a release agent on gaskets or seals
significantly higher notched impact of tank closures, and as a lubricant
resistance, low-temperature ductil- for machine parts and equipment in
ity and tensile elongation at break. locations in which there is a poten-
With slightly lower density, the new tial exposure of the lubricated part to
carbon-fiber-composite technology food. — Renewable Lubricants, Inc.,
offers these unmatched advantages Hartville, Ohio
together with further lightweighting www.renewablelube.com n
Renewable Lubricants
possibilities. Xecarb ST thermoplastic Gerald Ondrey

New Products
World’s first 5G smartphone Five new laboratory sensors
for hazardous areas added to this portfolio
The IS540.1 (photo) is said to be the There are five new laboratory sensors
world’s first 5G smartphone for ATEX (photo) that are compatible with this
and IECEx zone 1/21. The intrinsically company’s Liquiline CML18 hand-
safe mobile device, which was also held laboratory analysis device. The
developed for use in 5G campus net- Memosens CPL53E (digital pH sen-
works, offers extensive deployment sor), CPL57E (digital pH sensor for
scenarios ranging from predictive low-conductivity water), CPL59E (pH
maintenance, augmented reality (AR) sensor built for harsh conditions),
applications, control and cooperation COL37E (optical oxygen sensor) and
of production robots and production CLL47E (four-electrode digital con-
lines, management of automated ductivity sensor) liquid analytical sen-
guided vehicles (AGVs), autonomous sors now join the CPL51E to provide i.safe Mobile
transport robots, remote monitoring reliable measurement, easy operation
and support to PTT video calls in the and enhanced good laboratory prac-
system area to prevent plant failures. tice (GLP). The new sensors support
The high-performance Qualcomm data and quality management in the
QCM6490 chipset, a large 6-in. dis- verification processes of online mea-
play, 48-MP main camera, and stan- surements, provide immediate and
dards such as Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 tamper-proof calibration history trace-
and NFC complete the Android 12 ability, with easy data transfer using
smartphone’s extensive feature pack- Bluetooth technology. Using the bayo-
age. — i.safe Mobile GmbH, Lauda- net connector, the handheld CML18
Koenigshofen, Germany and Memosens sensors are plug-and-
www.isafe-mobile.com play devices, with support for easily
switching output parameters — such
These radar level transmitters as pH, dissolved oxygen and conduc-
are Bluetooth enabled tivity — at the measuring point. Users
The Rosemount 3408 level transmit- can begin making measurements
Emerson
ter (photo) is a non-contacting radar without initial calibration since instru-
device designed to optimize ease-of- ments are pre-calibrated at the factory.
use, leading to increased safety and — Endress+Hauser, Greenwood, Ind.
enhanced plant performance. While www.us.endress.com
the benefits of radar level measure-
ment are widely acknowledged, the A new weigh station
company says radars are still some- for batching ingredients
times perceived as being complex to This company’s new batch-weighing
commission, operate and maintain. system (photo) is designed for ac-
Addressing this concern, the device curate batching direct to blenders or
provides a range of functions that mixers. The station features a P100
reduce complexity throughout its life- batch-weigh receiver combined with Endress+Hauser
cycle, including a highly intuitive inter- a KT20 loss-in-weight twin-screw
face, Bluetooth wireless technology feeder, mounted on a collection hop-
remote capabilities, predictive alerts, per. The batch-weigh receiver com-
in-situ verification, data historian and bines a vacuum receiver with a reliable
an upgradeable design. The user in- weighing system for batching of major
terface provides clear pictorial instruc- ingredients. The resulting combination
tions, allowing operators to be easily allows ingredients to be conveyed and
guided through installation, commis- weighed so that accurate batching of
sioning, proof-testing, operation and ingredients can take place on either
maintenance. This increased ease-of- a cumulative or sequential basis. The
use gives process and manufactur- KT20 loss-in-weight twin-screw feeder
ing organizations the confidence to can accurately add smaller amounts
replace time-consuming manual proof high-value minor ingredients to
cedures, thereby helping to increase the batch. Batch-weigh receivers are
safety and maximize productivity. — available in sizes from 30 to 1,000 L.
Emerson, St. Louis, Mo. — Coperion K-Tron, Salina, Kan. Coperion K-Tron
www.emerson.com www.coperion.com

Switch amplifiers for intrinsically indoor and outdoor environments. It
safe applications features three color options (green,
The new KFU8-SR-EX* (photo) is a yellow and red) for status indication,
universal powered switch amplifier that operator guidance and other func-
can be used in intrinsically safe appli- tions. The K100 Pro Indicator model
cations and functional safety installa- has a diffused lens that appears white
tions up to safety integrity level (SIL) 2. when inactive, thereby preventing false
The new KFU8 device can be supplied indication. It features 14 color options
with 19 to 30 V d.c. or 90 to 253 V a.c. that can be used for status and indica-
With this functionality, a single device tion. Both beacon models can include
can be used with various supply volt- an optional audible alarm and have an
Pepperl+Fuchs ages. As a result, fewer components IP66 environmental rating. — Hans
need to be kept in stock and in the Turck GmbH & Co. KG, Mülheim an
field technician’s toolbox. The switch der Ruhr, Germany
amplifiers transmit discrete signals www.turck.com
from NAMUR sensors or mechanical
contacts in the hazardous area to the This field-configurable flowmeter
safe area. A proximity sensor or switch has no pipe-run requirements
controls the load on the control side via The new Series PI (photo) is a variable-
a changeover relay contact. All mod- area flowmeter that utilizes a spring-
ules feature line fault detection. In the loaded piston. The fluid flow in the
event of a fault, the relays de-energize application causes this piston to move
and the fault is indicated by LEDs. — along the axis of a precision-tapered
Pepperl+Fuchs, Inc., Twinsburg, Ohio shaft, creating a variable orifice in di-
Kason www.pepperl-fuchs.com rect proportion to the flowrate. The
piston is mechanically linked to a read-
This centrifugal sifter addresses out pointer and actuates switches or
labor-shortage costs a transmitter. Straight pipe runs are
The Centri-Sifter M1 (photo) is a cen- not required before or after the meter,
trifugal sifter specially designed to help allowing for installation in areas with
address the high costs associated with minimal space. The three-wire ver-
maintenance and recruiting, training sion of the Series PI is equipped with a
and retaining skilled labor. The Centri- solid-state relay that can be configured
Sifter M1 sifts, scalps, de-agglomer- in the field for alarm output. — Dwyer
ates and dewaters granular materials Instruments, LLC, Michigan City, Ind.
ranging from dry bulk solids to solids- www.dwyer-inst.com
laden slurries. Centri-Sifter M1 is said
Hans Turck to be the only centrifugal sifter on the This humidity sensor is
market engineered for one-person op- designed for industrial drying
eration and maintenance, which can The HYT 939P temperature and hu-
help reduce the high cost of skilled midity sensor (photo) is equipped with
labor. The Centri-Sifter M1 features a a PTFE filter, which makes it well-suited
capacity of up to 15,000 lb/h of dry for industrial drying applications. The
material and up to 50 lb/h of wet. — sensor’s compact housing allows for
Kason Corp., Millburn, N.J. easy positioning within the monitored
www.kason.com process, while the filter minimizes the
influence of particulate matter and
Programmable, multicolor volatile organic compounds on the
LED indicators humidity sensor. The sensor is based
This company is expanding its portfolio on a capacitive-polymer measurement
Dwyer Instruments of light-emitting diode (LED) lights with principle with a fast response time,
the robust LED indicators of the K100 low drift and hysteresis. The sensor
series (photo). The 100-mm beacons remains stable in a high-humidity envi-
— developed by partner company ronment and can sustain condensation
Banner Engineering — are available in conditions. It comes fully calibrated
two configurations. The Pro Daylight and temperature-compensated. — In-
Visible beacon model offers 12 audi- novative Sensor Technology IST AG,
ble options and has a clear lens that Ebnat-Kappel, Switzerland
avoids false indications, even in sun- www.ist-ag.com ■
light. It offers bright indication in both Mary Page Bailey and Gerald Ondrey
Innovative Sensor Technology
Facts At Your Fingertips
Fractional Solvent-Free Melt Crystallization
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins
F
ractional crystallization is a remaining liq-
stage-wise separation technique uid (draining).
that relies upon the liquid-solid The sweating
phase change and enables the puri- phase then
fication of multi-component mixtures, enhances the
as long as none of the constituents purification
can act as a solvent to the others. process and
Thanks to the level of selectivity that end-prod-
can be achieved in solid-liquid equilib- uct quality
rium, it is ultimately possible to reach through par-
high purities for the selected compo- tial melting of
nents. This one-page reference pro- the impurities
vides basic information on fractional entrapped
solvent-free melt crystallization. within or be-
tween crys-
Principle of separation tals. Finally, FIGURE 1. Fractional crystallization can be used to purify multi-component mixtures
and can achieve high purities
The crystallization process relies on the remain-
the partial freezing of the initial liquid ing crystallized material (final purified high viscosities and high or low melt-
mixture by gradually decreasing its product), can be melted to remove it ing points. Isopulegol, phosphoric
temperature. The frozen solid phase from the column and continue with acid, wax and paraffins, anthracene/
exhibits a different chemical compo- downstream activities. carbazole and satellite-grade hydra-
sition to the remaining residual liquid. zine are chemicals that benefit from
This phenomenon is the basic physi- Equipment static crystallization processes.
cal principle behind the fractional melt Three different technologies and their Suspension crystallizer. In suspen-
crystallization process. respective equipment can be used for sion crystallization, crystals are gen-
Crystals are allowed to grow on a fractional melt crystallization: erated on a cooling surface wall and
cooling surface, which separates the Falling-film crystallizer. In falling-film then scraped off, so they continue to
feedstock from the coolant medium, crystallization, the crystals grow from grow in size within a stirred vessel, in
as polycrystalline layers. The heat re- an agitated melt (falling-film product) suspension (slurry). The solid-liquid
leased by the solidification process is inside tubes that are cooled by a co- separation of the slurry can be per-
withdrawn through the crystalline lay- current cooling medium flow, which formed either by using a wash col-
er or from the bulk. The driving force runs on the other side of the tubes. In umn or a centrifuge. More complex to
results from the net effect of tem- this case, crystals grow on the inside operate than the technologies men-
perature and concentration gradients of the tube from the falling film of melt. tioned previously, suspension crystal-
across both solid and liquid phases. Reproducible (and high) transfer rates lization has a key advantage of high
In a hypothetical case where crys- are achieved on both side of the tube. separation efficiency. In effect, prod-
tallization continued indefinitely, pu- The resulting shear at the crystal- ucts with purities of 99.5% and above
rified products could theoretically liquid interface transports impurities can be achieved in a single crystalliza-
be recovered in 100% pure forms. rapidly into the bulk of the melt. tion stage, from feedstocks with con-
In practice, trade-offs required at This technology is robust and easy centrations of 75–90%. This can drive
industrial scale make it impossible to operate. In addition, it can handle considerable energy savings. Para-
to operate under these ideal con- high throughputs while achieving ex- xylene and halogenated aromatics
ditions. Nevertheless, a number of tremely high purities. More precisely, are purified using this technology,
strategies, such as partial melting of a typical feed has concentrations be- which can also concentrate aqueous
the solid fraction (sweating), address tween 90 and 99%, and end products feedstocks, such as food and drink
these challenges and help reach ex- can reach 99.99% purity or greater. concentrates, or wastewater.
tremely high purity levels. Glacial acrylic acid, optical-grade bi- Combining these technologies can
sphenol A and battery-grade ethylene enhance their respective features.
Process steps carbonate are purified to their highest For example, combining falling-film
In a fractional crystallization process grade using this technology. with suspension and static crystalli-
(Figure 1), the main steps are crys- Static crystallizer. In static crystallization is common. n
tallization, draining, sweating and to- zation, crystals are grown from a stag- Editor’s note: The content for this column was authored by Sulzer
tal melting. During the crystallization nant melt. Versatility and robustness Chemtech (www.sulzer.com).
step, high-purity crystals are formed are intrinsic to this technology, which
on the cooling surface, while the im- can purify the most challenging prod-
purities are mostly concentrated in the ucts, including those characterized by Sponsored by

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Cover Story
Pilot-Scale Distillation
Process Design
The inherent characteristics, requirements and special concerns of pilot- and laboratory-
scale distillation columns differ from those of commercial-scale equipment. The scale-related
differences of distillation assemblies are presented here
D
Glenn Graham
istillation processes at any scale a major influence on its design, construc- and Raymond
share many of the same theoreti- tion and operation. Pilot- and laboratory- Rooks
cal and practical concepts and scale distillation columns have inherent AVN Corp.
concerns. For example, pressure aspects, requirements and concerns that
has a similar effect on operating tempera- differ from commercial-scale columns. This
ture and component vapor-liquid equilib- article highlights the specific concerns im-
rium. And a specific number of theoretical posed on the purpose, design and opera-
stages, feed location, feed temperature, tion of small-scale distillation equipment,
reflux ratio, and distillate-to-feed ratio will and discusses how these concerns mani- IN BRIEF
result in a similar component separation fest themselves in the actual equipment CHALLENGES OF SCALE
for a given feed composition, column head that is typically used. It also offers unique HIGH-VACUUM
pressure and differential pressure. ideas that have been presented for small- OPERATION
Further, at any scale, vapor and liquid scale equipment. Although this paper is
contacting is generally accomplished by focused on the scale-related differences HEAT CONTROL
trays, random packing or structured pack- of distillation columns, many of these con- REFLUX CONTROL
ing. Reboilers are usually based on kettle, cepts apply to other unit operations.
thermosyphon, or pump-around designs DISTILLATE AND
that employ steam, hot oil or electric ele- Challenges of scale SIDESTREAM PRODUCT
ments for their heat source to generate The following list summarizes the main con- TAKEOFF
vapor. Updraft or downdraft-style condens- cepts that affect the design of small-scale REBOILERS
ers are required to condense all or part of distillation equipment:
the overhead vapor stream. Vacuum or • Certain engineering concepts require a CONCLUDING REMARKS
pressure-control systems are required different emphasis or must be implemented
to operate a distillation column below or in a different manner
above atmospheric pressure. Input sen- • Equipment design, type and availability is
sors, pumps and control values are re- different than for commercial-scale
quired on most distillation columns. • The main purpose of small-scale systems
However, the scale of the equipment has is usually to collect data, but sample gen-
eration is sometimes important
• Facilities in which the distillation equip-
ment is housed must have wide-ranging
capabilities to be able to accommodate
physical dimension (especially height) re-
quirements, and personal exposure, flam-
mability and reactivity concerns
• The life of the small-scale distillation
equipment setup is usually short-term
• Ease of modifying equipment or operation
is important
Surface-to-volume ratio is a key engi-
neering concept for certain aspects of
small-scale equipment, and is more of a
concern than for large-scale equipment.
AVN Corp. This concern applies to heat loss, column-
FIGURE 1. A double-bulb receiver, such as the one shown in wall effects related to mass transfer and
the diagram, receives distillate in a small-scale setup vacuum leaks.

AVN Corp.
Bubbler
N2
Vac Pump
Heated Bath Ice Trap

Heat Tape
AVN Corp.
FIGURE 3. The apparatus to sample high-melting-point materials under vacuum is shown here
FIGURE 2. This small-scale system uses a distil- umns, since the sealing-surface- that are the correct size and can ac-
late-collection design similar to a commercial- to-column-volume ratio is larger, commodate the pressure, tempera-
scale unit so there are more opportunities for ture and chemical compatibility re-
Heat loss. Heat loss is a critical con- leaks. Excessive leaks can prevent quirement for both glass and metal.
cern for distillation columns. For col- the desired operating pressure from The purpose of small-scale dis-
umns above ambient temperature, being achieved, causing light com- tillation columns is usually for the
wall condensation occurs; for col- ponents to be swept from the con- collection of simulation-validation
umns below ambient temperature, denser to the vacuum system, and, or scaleup data. Additional instru-
wall boiling occurs. Wall condensa- in severe cases at high vacuum, sig- mentation is often required, such
tion and wall boiling are important nificantly increase the vapor flowrate. as an enhanced number of column
because they change the liquid-to- Some instrumentation and control thermocouples, for control or to
vapor ratio of the flows within the devices used for small-scale distil- observe the column temperature
column, and because they have an lation columns are similar to those profile. More sample points may be
effect similar to changing the reflux used for commercial-scale units, required, and sampling frequency is
ratio (although heat loss causes a such as pressure, differential pres- normally higher than for a commer-
continuous variation in the flows and sure and liquid-level instruments. cial operation. Often, it is important
ratios throughout the column). This However, flowmeters, valves and to use glass distillation columns so
effect causes the liquid-to-vapor pumps must be able to work with that tray activity, process fluid color,
ratio to be different than expected, low flowrates at a wide range of pro- foaming issues or fouling problems
based on the apparent reflux ratio cess conditions. It is often difficult to can be observed.
(measured by the reflux-to-distillate accurately measure and control low The following sections will provide
ratio at the top of the column) and flowrates, and the small-diameter details about equipment and tools
results in a separation that is differ- tubing and orifices required can lead that are used to address many of the
ent than intended. In addition, for to plugging problems. concerns discussed above.
packed columns, there could be sig- Packing and trays have minimum
nificantly different flows across the column diameters that will allow High-vacuum operation
column radius. them to generate representative For distillation under vacuum, dif-
Column-wall effects. Column-wall data that can be used for simula- ferences between small- and large-
effects are more significant in small- tion validation or scaleup. For ran- scale distillation units include meth-
scale columns than commercial- dom packing, the rule-of-thumb is ods of sample collection.
scale units due to the enhanced that the column diameter should Distillate and sidestream recov-
surface-to-volume ratio. This phe- be at least eight times the packing- ery. The traditional means of col-
nomenon can increase the amount piece diameter. In some cases, this lecting distillate from a small-scale
of surface area for mass transfer ratio can be smaller. For example,
in a packed column, can provide with Pro-Pak packing, this ratio is
a path for liquid channeling, which about six. Structured packing has
decreases the liquid available for va- similar constraints based on the
por-liquid interaction, and can lead packing crimp size. For Oldershaw-
to axial dispersion. These effects style trays, the minimum diameter is
can cause the resulting separations about 19 mm. Below this diameter,
to be different than expected based the hole pattern on the tray deck be-
on the inherent characteristics of comes non-representative, and the
a given packing. This is especially small diameter of the downcomer
important because the goal of the causes problems with vapor-liquid
smaller equipment is often to model disengagement. Also, the liquid flow
a larger column. suffers from surface tension effects.
FIGURE 4. The photo shows a glass feed section
Vacuum leaks. Vacuum leaks are For small seals and joints, the with vacuum jacket and silvering. (Courtesy of
a larger problem in small-scale col- choices are often limited to those Surplus Components, Granite Falls, Minn.)

AVN Corp. Outer AVN Corp. flash in the pump inlet line. This con-
Insulation
Layer cern becomes even more important
if the column is under vacuum.
If the column is operated in batch
or semi-batch mode, a continuous
tails-removal system is not required.
However, there may be the desire
to collect periodic reboiler samples.
One way to accomplish this is with
Heat a receiver that is connected to a
tape
vacuum pump. If the melting point
is above ambient temperature, then
heat tape or heat jackets will likely be
required. Figure 3 shows an example
Insulation of a vacuum-sampling system for a
intermediate
layer reboiler in which the contents have
thermocouple Column Inner an elevated melting point.
insulation
layer In a later section, other sampling
FIGURE 5. The diagram shows an unjacketed distil- topics are discussed, including sam-
FIGURE 6. The batch distillation column in the
lation column with insulation and heat tape. (Copy- photo is surrounded by a homemade Plexiglass
pling from column packing or trays,
right R. Nunley, Matric. Used with permission) enclosure with heat guns and the collection of low-flowrate
condensate streams.
distillation column is using a glass strument, to maintain a flowrate that
double-bulb receiver (Figure 1). Dur- is equal to the condensate rate. The Heat control
ing normal operation, a vacuum pump also pumps from vacuum to Heat loss or gain in a distillation col-
pump maintains the column and atmospheric pressure. This system umn is a major concern, since it af-
both bulbs of the receiver at the allows for automated operation and fects both the liquid-to-vapor ratio
same pressure. Condensate flows avoids upsetting the column pres- and the flowrates. Therefore, it im-
continuously and by gravity into the sure. However, it requires additional pacts the separation and column
upper bulb, then down to the lower equipment, and there may be pump- capacity. This issue requires more at-
bulb. When the lower bulb has be- priming issues. tention for small-scale distillation col-
come sufficiently filled, it will be iso- These two methods can also umns than for commercial columns
lated by valves so that condensate be used for the collection of side- due to the much higher surface-to-
continues to flow into the upper bulb. streams. However, care must be volume ratio of small-scale columns.
The vacuum on the lower bulb will be taken with regard to the vent system. Vacuum jacket and silver. For glass
released, which allows its contents The pressure at the sidestream will columns, a common type of insula-
to be drained. The lower bulb is then be higher than at the top of the col- tion is vacuum jacketing and silver-
re-evacuated to the same pressure umn due to the pressure drop in the ing (Figure 4). The use of a vacuum
as the column and the upper bulb trays or packing, so the sidestream jacket reduces heat loss from con-
and the valve between the bulbs is liquid-takeoff point on the column duction and convection, while silver-
opened to allow condensate to once must be vented to the column at ing reduces heat loss by radiation.
again flow from the upper to the that location. A nitrogen blowback Narrow windows located in the front
lower bulb. system may also be required to and back of column sections allow
This system for distillate collection avoid the escape of vapors from the for visual inspection of tray activity.
works well for many small-scale vac- column. This involves feeding nitro- Since the temperature of the distil-
uum-distillate columns. The equip- gen into the instrument line at a sulation column wall will normally be
ment requirements are minimal, perficial velocity that is sufficient to higher than the outer wall of the
and it is easy and fast to assemble. prevent the flow of condensable va-
However, it is prone to column pres- pors from entering this line from the
sure “bumping” if the lower bulb re- column in order to prevent measure-
evacuation is not done properly, and ment errors.
this design does not allow for unat- Sample collection from the kettle.
tended operation. Small-diameter continuous distillation
As an alternative, for some small- columns will normally require a pump
scale distillation columns, a system to remove the tails stream from the
for distillate collection is utilized that reboiler, which is often a round-bot-
is typical of that used for commer- tomed flask with a heating mantle.
cial scale (Figure 2). Condensate Ideally, the height to which the liquid
flows into a surge vessel, which has must be lifted is minimized and the
a liquid-level instrument that controls line diameter is large enough so that
FIGURE 7. This photo shows a commercially avail-
a pump. The pump flowrate is ad- pressure drop is negligible, since the able heated encloser for larger systems. (Courtesy
justed, based on the liquid-level in- liquid is at its bubble point and may of Benko Products, Sheffield Village, Ohio)

Distillation
AVN Corp.
Condensate Tapered joint is not recommended
column(s) collection cup (connects to to validate simulation
ccondenser)
Vacuum jacket models using vacuum-
Rising vapor tube
Cup drain tube jacketed columns when
Thermowell port the temperature is
Swinger hinge
Distillate above 120°C, and the
Swinger product line
column has more than
Eletromagnet Rising vapor tube four joints, not counting
contact location Tapered joint
Penetrations the connection to the
Reflux tube (connects to
tray or packing condenser. In this case,
Distillate tube section) one should consider the
AVN Corp. solution discussed in the
FIGURE 8. Vacuum vessels, like the one FIGURE 9. This liquid dividing head reflux splitter is equipped with a swinging next section.
in the diagram, can be used for low- bucket to collect distillate Heat tape and insu-
temperature distillation columns lation. Metal columns
jacket, glass bellows are incorpo- tial injury, these sections must be normally do not have jackets. Glass
rated into the column wall to allow wrapped in plastic mesh or coated columns can be purchased with-
the inside tube to expand relative to with transparent plastic. More com- out jackets to reduce the cost or
the outside tube. Bellows can ac- monly, the glass bellows can develop to allow the columns to be burned
commodate reasonably high tem- cracks, allowing the vacuum, and its out, as discussed earlier. Otherwise,
perature, but can crack if the column insulation capability, to be lost. If a the amount of heat loss that would
temperatures become excessive. vacuum-jacketed column section occur from a vacuum-jacketed col-
Tapered ground-glass joints are feels hot during normal operation, umn would be unacceptable due
common on glass column sections this indicates that the vacuum may to the high temperature and large
and the vacuum jacket is often ex- have been compromised. number of joints usually present with
tended to include the tapered joint. For some chemical systems, sol- a tall column. In these cases, the
However, this design shows much ids may build up in the trays. If not for use of heat tape and insulation is a
heat loss at the joint, which is the the silver coating, the column sec- technique that allows a small-scale
main source of heat loss in column tions can often be heated in ovens distillate column to operate at near-
sections. Another concern about ta- used for glass annealing to burn out adiabatic conditions [1].
pered joints is that they can become the solids. However, this will destroy This technique can be used for un-
frozen, making it difficult to free the the silvering and require that it be re- jacketed glass and metal columns.
column sections from each other; applied by the supplier. It involves wrapping each column
Teflon sleeves are often used to help One possible alternative is to have section with two layers of insulation
prevent this. Vacuum grease is also a non-silvered jacket that can be and wrapping heat tape between
commonly used, although this can evacuated with a vacuum pump. the insulation layers. A thermocou-
contaminate the process if too much This allows the column section to be ple should be inserted near one of
is used. This is a common mistake, heated to a high temperature in an the heat tapes and another ther-
and practice is required on applying oven to burn out polymer, where tra- mocouple should be located within
it correctly. The socketed nature of ditional silvering would be destroyed the column to measure the process
these joints presents some potential and thermal stresses on a thin-wall temperature. If the process tempera-
disadvantages: column modifica- vacuum jacket may lead to break- ture is not available, a thermocouple
tions usually require disassembling age. To minimize radiant heat losses, can be placed on the outer wall of
the column; vacuum leaks are some- reflective nickel foil can be wrapped AVN Corp.
times hard to fix; and column align- around the jacket. Traditionally, glass Vent line
ment is more difficult. vacuum jackets are made with bel-
Vacuum jacketing allows for rapid lows that allow for the expansion of Reflux and
assembly of laboratory-scale distil- the hot inner process tube relative Updraft distillate
lation columns. However, care must to the cold jacket. If bellows are not ccondenser vent line
be taken in their assembly, mounting installed in the jacket for the non-sil-
and use. These sections are relatively vered alternative, the maximum oper-
delicate and are prone to breakage. ating temperature for the column sec-
3-way Valve Condensate
They must be carefully mounted so tion will be limited to 150°C or less.
splash plate
that uniform pressure is applied by Vacuum-jacketing works well for
the supporting column clamps, and columns that will not need to get
a sufficient number of clamps must too hot or have too many joints, as Distributor Distillate
surge
be used to minimize downward force well as those columns for which the Reflux vesel
on any of the column sections. main purpose is to produce prod- Column seal
loop Distillate pump
Vacuum-jacketed glass sections uct, usually for sample quantities.
have the potential to implode, result- A significant amount of heat loss
FIGURE 10. The reflux splitter shown here has a
ing in glass shards being projected can occur from the joints in hot col- three-way valve to divert the distillate
in every direction. To prevent poten- umns. A rough guideline is that it
Recover high purity
with less energy.
With our multiple-effect distillation technology
AVN Corp. & remarkable thermodynamic efficency.
FIGURE 11. Calibrated metering pumps can be used in reflux splitters to Be it specialty & fine chemicals, solvents,
control the reflux ratio white biotech or green energies applications,
GEA supplies plants of any size for the
separation of compound mixtures by
distillation/rectification.
AVN Corp.
FIGURE 12. The diagram shows how to remove vapor from a sidestream
with a control valve
Vent
Vapor in Find out more

https:// go.gea.com/2zq
Coolant
jacket
Graduated
Lower
receiver
AVN Corp.
FIGURE 13. A condenser-receiver, like the one shown here, can be used for
low-flowrate condensate
the column. During operation, the heat input from the

heat tapes is adjusted so that the two thermocouples
read the same temperature, indicating that there is no
heat flow into or out of the column. Figure 5 shows a
conceptual diagram of this technique.
For columns with significant temperature profiles,
multiple zones are required. Each zone will represent
one or more heat-tape sections, and each of these sec-
tions will operate at a different temperature. The goal is
that the temperature of each heat-tape zone is equal
to the average process temperature within that zone.
AVN Corp. ambient temperature, glass vacuum- with distillation columns operating at
jacketed column sections may now very high temperature or with com-
be acceptable, whereas they may pounds with high melting points, in
have experienced too much heat which heat taping or tracing may not
loss at the original room temperature. be practical. In this situation, preven-
One of the main advantages of tion of heat loss by radiation may
using a heated enclosure is for also be required.
chemical systems with high melting
points. However, it is usually difficult Reflux control
to heat tape or trace all the process Several approaches are available for
lines in a way that avoid all cold controlling the reflux ratio in smaller-
spots. Also, during column startup, scale distillation units, as discussed
the vapors initially rising in the col- in this section.
umn are exposed to cold surfaces, Liquid dividing head. The typical
which can cause freezing to occur way to control the reflux ratio for
within the column. small laboratory columns is by using
Figure 6 shows a “homemade” a liquid dividing head. Numerous
Plexiglass enclosure for a 1-in. di- designs for this device exist, and the
ameter glass distillation column, main principle of operation is that
FIGURE 14. The round-bottomed flask is used as a heated by two heat guns, with the all of the condensate is directed to
reboiler, with a heating mantle
capability to operate at tempera- the reflux return or to the distillate-
AVN Corp. tures up to 60°C. Figure 7 shows producing line for a specific period
an example of a larger, commercially of time (usually in the range of 2 to
available enclosure. 3 seconds for the minimum time
If the column is manually operated period). Therefore, the reflux ratio
in a heated enclosure, the upper is determined by the ratio of time,
temperature limit is determined by rather than by the ratio of flowrates,
human limitations. Also, any instru- as for a commercial column.
ments within the enclosure must be Figure 9 shows a liquid dividing
able to operate at elevated tempera- head with a swinging bucket. This
tures. Feed tanks and receivers may device would be located between
need to be located near the column, the top of the column and an updraft
so this needs to be accounted for condenser. The condensate drains
regarding the size of the enclosure. into the swinging bucket, whose
Vacuum vessel. For distillation movement is controlled by an electro-
columns operating below ambient magnet connected to a timer. When
temperature, a vacuum vessel can the electromagnet is turned on, the
be used (Figure 8). For this system, swinging bucket is pulled into the dis-
the distillation column and associ- tillate position, in which the conden-
ated piping and instrumentation are sate is directed to the distillate line.
FIGURE 15. This thermosyphon reboiler has three located inside of a vessel that can When the electromagnet is off (reflux
arms wrapped in heat tape be evacuated by use of a vacuum position), the condensate is allowed
Any given point in a column section pump. This eliminates heat gain by to drain to the top of the column.
may not be exactly adiabatic, but the convection and conduction, and ra- These devices are relatively sim-
average of the heat loss and gain for diation effects are normally negligible ple, with the only moving part being
that zone will be near zero. at these conditions. If that is not suf- the swinging bucket. No pumps or
In addition to the extra effort to ficient, it is also possible to line the flowmeters are required, which is
wrap the column sections with heat vessel with multi-layer insulation. very beneficial at the low flowrates
tape and insulation, the process con- This is the approach used in some
trol system for this type of a setup is small cryogenic nitrogen plants. AVN Corp.
more complex due to the need for The main difficulties with this sys-
thermocouples and heat-tape con- tem have to do with the assembly
trollers, as well as the required con- and mounting of the column within
figuration of the control system and the enclosure, sealing of the piping
the connection of the control system and instrument line penetrations,
to the heat tapes. the necessity of complete automa-
Heated enclosure. Another means tion of the column, and sealing of
of minimizing heat loss is to operate the vessel shell. In Figure 8, all the
the distillation column inside a heated penetrations are below the vessel
enclosure. By reducing the tempera- flange, so it can be removed to work
ture difference between the process on the equipment. FIGURE 16. In a kettle reboiler with a heating coil,
within the column and the external This approach can also be used hot oil or steam flows through the coil

liquid dividing head, the reflux ratio the vapor and liquid for the side-
is controlled by a timer, which, in this stream make line. Otherwise, either
case, is connected to the three-way vapor will blow out the sidestream
valve. Either an updraft condenser, make line or the sidestream liquid will
as shown in the figure, or a down- be prevented from flowing.
draft condenser, can be used. It is As an alternative, a special column
important to balance the pressure section can be used that collects liq-
on each side of the three-way valve uid in an annular cup. The cup must
so that the condensate flows at the be connected to a pump that can
same rate in both the reflux and dis- then continually remove sidestream
AVN Corp. tillate positions. product from the column.
FIGURE 17. A forced-circulation reboiler, like the Reflux pumps. For a system similar One advantage to using a liquid
one shown here, has the best heat transfer, but is to what would be implemented in a dividing head to collect a liquid side-
the most complex commercial-scale column, it is also stream is that it provides an indica-
characteristic of laboratory and small possible to use calibrated metering tion of the liquid flowrate below the
pilot columns. Highly accurate re- pumps, shown schematically in Fig- sidestream takeoff point, since the
flux ratios, down to a value of about ure 11, or a pump with control valves reflux timer controls the ratio of the
0.5, can be achieved if the swinging and flowmeters to control the reflux reflux and sidestream flowrates.
bucket moves quickly and is con- ratio. A surge vessel with a liquid- Vapor sidestream. Figure 12 is a
trolled by a precise timer. level instrument is also required. This schematic diagram for an apparatus
It is important that the magnet be is usually used to control the distillate to remove a vapor sidestream from
mounted next to the liquid dividing rate. The reflux rate would be con- a small-scale distillation column. The
head so that the swinging bucket trolled at a fixed flowrate. column section that allows vapor to
is pulled straight out and not to one This system allows for a wide flow out of the column can be a re-
side of the other, which can bind range of reflux ratios and works well purposed feed section or a relatively
the hinge or slow the movement. with automated distillation columns. simple glass piece made for this pur-
For reflux ratios of 1.0 and greater, The possibility of a pressure bump, pose. The vapor is maintained above
the off-time (distillate) should be described earlier, is greatly reduced the dew point by heat tapes prior to
set at 2–3 seconds. Less than this with this system. However, it is more flowing through a control valve. The
amount of time introduces error from expensive and requires additional ef- discharge from the valve flows into a
the switching time. More than this fort to set up. downdraft condenser, and the con-
amount of time allows the top tray, Fixed reflux ratio. In some cases, densate drops into a surge vessel. A
or top of the packing, to begin to the operating temperature of the liquid-level instrument then controls
dry out. Reflux ratios below 0.5 will column may be very high, making a pump connected to the bottom
also tend to dry out the top of the it expensive and difficult to use the of the surge vessel. The surge ves-
column. In addition, this requires an equipment discussed previously. sel must operate at a lower pressure
electromagnet that will not overheat In addition, the pressure may be than the column to provide pressure
when energized for most of a reflux high, complicating the situation even drop across the valve.
cycle. To resolve this problem, it is more. If the reflux ratio can be fixed An alternative design is to use
possible to purchase reverse liquid at a specific value, one possible so- a flooded condenser that doubles
dividing heads, in which the distillate lution is to design a liquid distributor as a surge vessel. If the pump rate
position corresponds to the electro- in which the condensate is split at a is slow, the vapor will flow into the
magnet being de-energized. Some constant ratio, into the reflux and dis- condenser, and the condensate will
electromagnets have been built with tillate. This requires no moving parts gradually fill the condenser, cover the
cooling capability. or seals, and would be relatively in- cooling surface, and slow or stop the
Another concern is polymerizable expensive. The main concern would condensation and vapor flow. When
chemicals. Vapor can condense, be verifying that the distributor splits the pump rate is increased, the liquid
uninhibited, on the swinging bucket the flow as expected, usually with level will decrease and expose more
hinge, polymerize, then cause the water tests, similar to what is used in surface for condensation.
hinge to seize. In general, it is good large-scale distillation columns. Low-flowrate vent condenser. For
practice to check on a regular basis some laboratory columns, the main
that the swinging bucket is operat- Product takeoff condenser may be a partial con-
ing properly. Removing sidestream products is denser, in which case the vent stream
Three-way valve. For metal col- often an important aspect of smaller- contains a small amount of condens-
umns or larger glass columns, liquid scale distillation columns. Several able material. Figure 13 shows an
dividing heads are less practical, and considerations are discussed here. apparatus that can be used to con-
are difficult to obtain. An alternative Liquid sidestream. The liquid divid- dense and collect this material from
technique, which operates according heads described above can also the vent stream, and accurately de-
ing to the same principle as the liquid be used for liquid sidestreams. The termine the flowrate, even if the rate
dividing head, is based on a three- concepts are the same as for the is as low as 4–5 mL/h.
way valve that can be actuated by collection of distillate, except that the The device consists of a jacketed
a solenoid (Figure 10). As with the pressure must be balanced between vessel for coolant. A large-diameter

dip-tube extends halfway down the ure 15 shows an example of a ther- of the other reboiler styles discussed
vessel. This ensures that the vapors mosiphon reboiler with three arms. earlier. The reboiler can be designed
entering from the top of the vessel These reboilers have reduced resi- to minimize liquid holdup in the ves-
contacts the cooling surface but dence times and avoid hot spots on sel. These systems work well in high-
leaves adequate volume in the bot- the heating surface. However, the vacuum applications and can be
tom for the condensate. liquid level must be maintained within used for batch distillation columns.
For operation at atmospheric a relatively narrow range, which re- Since a pump, heat exchanger
pressure, the condenser-collection quires more attention during opera- and interconnecting piping are re-
vessel can be simply drained. If the tion. Also, they are not appropriate quired, the process chemicals must
column is operated under vacuum, a for batch distillations, due to the low be compatible with the materials
lower receiver, which can be evacu- holdup, and they do not work well of construction. The pump and its
ated by a vacuum pump, is con- for high-vacuum operation because seals must be suitable for the re-
nected to the bottom of the upper of static liquid pressure on the boil- boiler operating conditions. A hot-oil
vessel, as shown in Figure 13. ing point along the heating arms. system or steam must be available.
Kettle reboiler with heating coil. The equipment cost and setup time
Reboilers This style reboiler is a further en- are higher than for the other types of
The following describe different hancement with regard to heating reboilers discussed.
types of reboilers for small-scale dis- surface area. The design is relatively
tillation units. simple and usually has a metal coil Concluding remarks
Round-bottomed flask with heat- located toward the bottom of the As compared with commercial distil-
ing mantle. The round-bottomed kettle, shown schematically in Figure lation columns, the design and op-
flask is the typical reboiler used for 16, through which hot oil (or steam) eration of laboratory- and pilot-scale
laboratory-scale 1-in.- and 2-in.- flows. An electric immersion heater columns are greatly influenced by
diameter columns. Figure 14 shows could also be used. Often, this style their purpose, the effect of scale on
an example. They are simple, easy reboiler will have an agitator. engineering principles, the availabil-
to install and work well for batch The heat transfer for the coils is ity of equipment, and the short-term
distillation columns, but can also be very good, with a low temperature nature of projects. n
used for continuous columns with difference between the coil and pro- Edited by Scott Jenkins
the addition of a port for liquid take- cess. The temperature of the hot
off (for tails). oil at the coil inlet is set at a spe- Reference
However, the low surface-to-vol- cific value, which then becomes the 1. Nunley, R., Managing Heat Loss in Pilot Plant Operations
ume ratio prevents the use of glass maximum for the heating coil, so de- to Simulate Full Scale Operation, paper presented at the
AIChE National Spring Meeting, San Antonio, March, 2017.
round-bottomed flask reboilers for composition is minimized. This type
most larger columns due to the lack of reboiler also works well for batch
of sufficient heat-transfer surface distillation if the heating coils are low Authors
area. In addition, the reboiler resi- enough in the kettle. Glenn Graham is a corporate fel-
dence time may be too long, espe- However, a hot-oil system with low at AVN Corp. (which recently
acquired Matric). (Email: glenn.
cially for larger flasks, and promote cooling capability is required (unless graham@AVNcorp.com; Phone:
decomposition of materials for some electric immersion heaters are used). 304-552-6554). Graham is re-
chemical systems. The process chemicals must be sponsible for providing technical
For high heat input, the tempera- compatible with the metal coil. And guidance and support for labora-
tory- and pilot-scale research and
ture difference across the flask heat- the coil must be sealed well where it development projects, including
ing surface can become too high passes through the headplate. ASPEN computer simulations, the
for the integrity of the glass. Boiling Forced-circulation reboiler. In design and operation of laboratory- and pilot-scale equip-
ment, and experimental data analyses. He specializes in
chips are routinely used, due to lack terms of heat transfer and operat- distillation and related technologies. He joined AVN in
of agitation, which work reasonably ing conditions, probably the ultimate 2013. Prior to joining AVN, Graham worked for Union Car-
well, but bumping is possible, espe- system is the forced-circulation bide and Dow Chemical in their R&D separations groups,
also specializing in distillation and related technologies.
cially under high vacuum. However, reboiler (Figure 17). However, it is Graham holds B.S.Ch.E and M.S.Ch.E degrees from
an agitator can be added if an ap- also the most complex. It consists Montana State University.
propriate joint is created to offset of a vessel for vapor-liquid disen- Raymond Rooks is a principal
the column connection, although gagement, a circulation pump and engineer at AVN Corp. (formerly
this adds additional opportunity for heat exchanger. Typically, the liquid Matric). (Email: raymond.rooks@
AVNcorp.com; Phone: 304-720-
vacuum leaks and agitators tend to is pumped at a relatively high rate 1037). Rooks has more than 20
be expensive. through the heat exchanger and is years’ experience in the chemical
Thermosiphon. For continuous restricted from vaporizing until enter- industry. He has held positions at
SimSci (Simulation Sciences),
columns, the thermosiphon reboiler ing the top of the vessel. This mini- Union Carbide/Dow, and Praxair/
provides an improved surface-to- mizes the formation of deposits on Linde. He has broad experience in
volume ratio. It has no moving parts the heat-transfer surface. process development, including process modeling,
but relies on natural convection. The heat exchanger size can be ar- simulation, experimental design, and experimental/lab-
oratory simulation, especially in process
They typically have two or three bitrarily selected to suit the heat-duty separations.·Rooks holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineer-
arms that are wrapped in heat tape, requirements, and can, therefore, ing from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
or possibly jacketed for hot oil. Fig- provide higher heat inputs than any and a· B. S.Ch.E. from the University of Oklahoma.

Feature Report Part 1
Boiler Water Essentials:

Water Is Water (Not)
When it comes to water used in boilers, it is important to remove potentially
problematic impurities. This offers a potentially huge return on investment, even with
the prevention of just one major upset, let alone recurring failures
S
everal decades ago, a popular TV training offers a potentially huge return on Brad Buecker,
commercial showed a cantanker- investment, even with the prevention of just Buecker & Associates,
ous man driving down a two-lane one major upset, let alone recurring failures. LLC
road. The vehicle’s tailpipe was Wendy
spewing smoke and nearly blinding the It starts with makeup McKinnon,
drivers behind. One of his passengers As a basis for discussion, we will use Figure ChemTreat, Inc.
suggested he consider changing his brand 1, which shows a representative diagram of
of motor oil, to which the man growled, an industrial steam-generating system.
“Motor oil is motor oil.” The announcer
went on to say that “Motor oil definitely
In power-generation boilers, the high tem-
peratures and pressures require high-purity
IN BRIEF
is not motor oil,” followed by a pitch for a makeup water, with contaminants limited IT STARTS WITH MAKEUP
particular product. to low part-per-billion (ppb) concentrations. INFLUENCE OF
Unfortunately, suggesting that poor water However, lower-pressure industrial drum CONDENSATE
quality may cause problems in plant boilers units can tolerate some impurities, as the IMPURITIES
can yield a similar response from plant per- milder temperatures reduce the potential for
BOILER-WATER
sonnel: “water is water.” Nothing could be scaling and corrosion. The American Soci-
TREATMENT
further from the truth. ety of Mechanical Engineers (ASME; www.
This article provides straightforward ar- asme.org) recently updated its long-stand- A FINAL NOTE
guments against the “water is water” phi- ing industrial boiler-water-chemistry guide-
losophy that appears much too often at lines [1]. Table 1 of this article is an extract
industrial plants. Increased emphasis on from Table 1 of these guidelines for water-
improved water-system operation and staff tube drum boilers with superheaters, and is
ChemTreat
FIGURE 1. Common schematic of an industrial steam generating system. The blowdown heat exchanger and feedwater
heater are auxiliary items that may or may not be present

representative of the steam genera- CO32– + heat  CO2 + OH– (4) trial boilers, including co-generation
tor type shown in Figure 1. We will units. This power plant’s generat-
refer to these data several times in Carbon dioxide flashes off with ing fleet included a relatively small,
the following discussion. steam and can increase the acidity low-pressure (1,250 psig) unit with a
Even in low-pressure steam gen- of the heat exchanger condensate condensing steam turbine. The con-
erators, impurity ingress control is and condensate-return piping when denser was on once-through cool-
important. Observe the low limits for the CO2 redissolves. ing from an artificial lake. After a pre-
feedwater hardness. For decades, planned maintenance outage, plant
a popular method of makeup-water CO2 + H2O  H2CO3  chemists discovered the feedwater
hardness removal has been sodium H+ + HCO3– (5) total dissolved solids (TDS) concen-
softening by ion exchange. How- tration had increased from normally
ever, the authors and colleagues Although the pH generated by low parts-per-billion levels to values
have seen numerous instances of Reaction (5) has a relatively mild approaching 1 part per million (ppm).
hardness excursions caused by lower limit, the acidity is more than The laboratory staff traced the leak
inadequate softener operation and enough to cause significant carbon- back to the condenser and requested
maintenance. Even more alarming steel corrosion in condensate-re- an immediate unit shutdown to find
are cases where operators were turn systems (Figure 4). and repair the leak. Plant manage-
directed to bypass the system and Even with a properly operating ment refused because the utility was
feed raw water directly to the boilers softener and decarbonator, many selling power (another example of
when the softener malfunctioned. other dissolved ions pass directly to the “water is water” mindset). This
The typical result of hardness excur- the steam generators. These include condition continued for three weeks.
sions is shown in Figure 2. chloride, sulfate and silica. While Plant chemists worked diligently
Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is the lower-pressure boilers can tolerate to maintain boiler water chemistry
most common scale, but other de- some dissolved solids, adherence as close to normal as possible, but
posits are possible, including calcium to the conductivity guidelines shown within two to three months, boiler
sulfate and magnesium and calcium in Table 1 often requires frequent or tubes began failing with regularity.
silicates. All deposits are strong ther- steady blowdown, which wastes Eventually, the entire boiler had to be
mal insulators and can cause tube water and energy. Furthermore, re-tubed at a cost many times higher
overheating and failure (Figure 3). conditions may arise where the ions than the company made from the
Calcium carbonate forms from the induce direct corrosion. Some of power sales. Metallurgical analyses
inverse solubility with temperature of these mechanisms are explored in revealed underdeposit corrosion that
dissolved calcium and bicarbonate the next section. led to hydrogen damage throughout
alkalinity (HCO3–). A makeup-treatment method being the boiler (Figure 5).
adopted at some facilities is reverse The equation below represents a
Ca2+ + 2HCO3– + heat  osmosis (RO) installation or retrofit. well-known reaction that can occur
CaCO3 + CO2 + H2O (1) RO lowers the concentration of vir- under boiler-tube deposits.
tually all dissolved ions. Reliable RO
As added protection against this design and operation requires de- MgCl2 + 2H2O + heat 
scaling mechanism, some plant tailed feedwater analyses. A typical Mg(OH)2 + 2HCl (6)
makeup systems include an ion- design includes upstream particulate
exchange dealkalizer or split-stream filters, or perhaps even micro- or ul- One product of this reaction is hy-
dealkalizer or downstream forced- trafiltration, to minimize mechanical drochloric acid (HCl). HCl can defi-
draft decarbonator. With acid feed fouling of RO membranes [2]. nitely cause corrosion on its own,
ahead of the decarbonator, most
alkalinity converts to carbon dioxide, Condensate impurities
which then vents from the unit. For many boilers like the type shown
in Figure 1, as well as other units,
H+ + HCO3–  CO2 + H2O (2) ASME feedwater guidelines are
very important. Apart from makeup,
It is not unheard of to simultane- feedwater conditions are often sig-
ously see poor performance from nificantly influenced by condensate
both the softener and the decar- return chemistry. Because of the
bonator, which greatly increases enormous variety of materials pro- ChemTreat
the potential for CaCO3 scale for- duced at industrial plants, many FIGURE 2. This layered boiler-tube scale is caused
mation in the boilers. compounds may potentially enter by multiple hardness incursions
Another benefit of makeup dealka- the condensate return from heat
lization is that alkalinity, upon reach- exchanger leaks or other sources.
ing the boiler, is in large measure Unfortunately, as with makeup-wa-
converted to CO2 via the following ter-system operation, condensate-
reactions: return chemistry is frequently ne-
glected until a major upset occurs. ChemTreat
2HCO3– + heat  A classic example comes from
CO32– + CO2 + H2O (3) the power industry, but can easily FIGURE 3. A boiler tube that has bulged and blis-
apply to many heavy-duty indus- tered by overheating

TABLE 1. INDUSTRIAL BOILER WATER CHEMISTRY GUIDELINES* capabilities with no
DRUM OPERATING psig 0-300 301-450 451-600 601-750 751-900 901- 1001-1500 1501-2000 trained water chem-
PRESSURE 1000 ists on staff, but a
FEEDWATER condensate return
data review pro-
D.O. (mg/L) as mea-
sured before oxygen <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 <0.007 vided by the plant’s
scavenger addition water treatment
Total iron (mg/L as Fe) ≤0.10 ≤0.05 ≤0.03 ≤0.025 ≤0.02 ≤0.02 ≤0.01 ≤0.01
vendor showed
total organic car-
Total copper (mg/L bon (TOC) concen-
≤0.05 ≤0.025 ≤0.02 ≤0.02 ≤0.015 ≤0.01 ≤0.01 ≤0.01
as Cu)
trations as high as
Total hardness (mg/L 200 ppm. Compare
<0.5 ≤0.3 ≤0.2 ≤0.2 ≤0.1 ≤0.05 ≤0.01 ≤0.01
as CaCO3)
this to the recom-
pH @ 25°C 8.810.5 8.8-10.5 8.8-10.5 8.8-10.0 8.8-10.0 8.8-9.6 8.8-9.6 8.8-9.6 mended upper
limit of 0.5 ppm, as
Nonvolatile TOC
(including oily matter)
<1 <1 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.2 <0.2 <0.2 shown in Table 1.
The excessive or-
(mg/L as C)
ganic contamination
BOILER WATER in the boilers gener-
Silica (mg/L as SiO2) ≤84 ≤72 ≤40 ≤30 ≤17 ≤5.9 ≤1.7 ≤0.6 ated the foam that
Hydroxide alkalinity carried over to the
Book has a special note for these parameters <10 <2 <2 superheaters.
(mg/L as CaCO3)
Max total alkalinity
Beyond a “water
<210 <180 <150 <120 Book has special note is water” philoso-
(mg/L as CaCO3)
Max suggested specific
phy, some plant
conductance
≤1,600 ≤1,400 ≤1,150 ≤920 ≤230 ≤190 ≤150 ≤80 managers are reluc-
tant to install con-
(µS/cm @ 25°C) to
comply with steam densate polishers
purity limits because of cost and
SATURATED STEAM PURITY TARGET
the extra personnel
needed to oper-
TDS (maximum, mg/L) <0.3 <0.3 <0.3 <0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
ate the equipment.
Sodium (estimated
<100 <100 <100 <100 <30 <30 <30 <30 However, such an
from TDS, µg/L as Na) investment can pay
SUPERHEATED STEAM PURITY TARGET large dividends by
Sodium (µg/L as Na) <20 ppb (consult turbine supplier or qualified consultant for appropriate values) minimizing or pre-
Note: This is an extract from Table 1 of Ref. 1
venting boiler tube
failures and cor-
responding equip-
but the compound can also concen- rosion, sometimes by the carbonic ment shutdowns. Ion-exchange
trate under deposits where the reac- acid attack as outlined earlier, but polishing is a potential treatment
tion of the acid with iron generates also by oxygen attack. This is a clear option for condensate that contains
atomic hydrogen that penetrates into example of how one form of corro- inorganic ions, such as hardness,
the metal wall and reacts with car- sion has potential manifestations for chloride, sulfate and similar elements
bon atoms in the steel to generate other corrosion mechanisms. and compounds. Temperature is an
methane (CH4): The following example illustrates
the effect of organic impurities on ChemTreat
4H + Fe3C  3Fe + CH4 (7) steam chemistry. Author Buecker

once evaluated a fouling issue at an
Gaseous methane formation organic-chemicals plant that pro-
causes cracking, greatly weakening duced a primary product and four
the steel’s strength. Hydrogen dam- derivatives thereof. Steam was gen-
age is very troublesome because it erated by several 550-psig package
cannot be easily detected. The phe- boilers in which solids deposition in
nomenon continues to plague many the superheaters (and associated
steam generators around the globe. tube overheating) required tube
While underdeposit corrosion bundle replacements every 1.5 to
(UDC) can occur underneath a vari- 2 years. An extracted superheater-
ety of precipitates, porous iron oxide bundle inspection revealed internal
deposits usually have the greatest deposits up to 1/4 in. in depth. The FIGURE 4. Shown here is carbonic acid corrosion
influence. This explains the low iron inspection team also discovered of a carbon steel condensate return line. Besides
limits shown in Table 1. Iron particu- foam issuing from every boiler sat- direct attack, carbonic acid and other corrosion
lates are generated by condensate urated-steam sample line. The plant mechanisms release iron oxide particulate mat-
ter that can settle in boiler tubes to reduce heat
return and feedwater system cor- had minimal analytical chemistry transfer and initiate underdeposit corrosion (UDC)

important factor in TABLE 2. COMMON ALKALIZING AMINE
treatment selec-
tion for these sys-
tems. Activated-
carbon filtration
ChemTreat may be effective
for organics re-
FIGURE 5. Shown here is a sudden failure of a moval. Several
boiler tube from hydrogen damage. Notice the
thick-lipped fracture, which indicates failure with are possible for
little metal loss particulate con-
trol, including di-
rect filtration. The aforementioned boiler-makeup alka- proper program selection, as it is for any other conden-
linity reduction can reduce CO2 transfer to steam and sate polishing or treatment choice. Filming amines that
the potential for condensate carbonic-acid corrosion. directly protect metal surfaces have also been success-
Alternatively, carbon-steel corrosion is minimized by op- fully applied in some applications, but space limitations
erating within a mildly basic pH range. Alkalizing amine prevent a discussion at this time.
feed for condensate and feedwater pH conditioning is Also note the low feedwater dissolved oxygen (D.O.)
common. These are small-chain organic molecules with guidelines in Table 1. Depending on the application, D.O.
an ammonia group attached to, or embedded within the control can be a thorny issue. For power-generating
compound (Table 2). units with high-purity makeup and feedwater, research
Selecting the best product or product blend is some- has shown that a small amount (5–30 ppb) of dissolved
times difficult, as each compound has a different basic- oxygen at the economizer inlet is necessary to minimize
ity and distribution ratio (the tendency for the product flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC). FAC has been an ex-
to depart with steam or remain dissolved in the boiler tremely concerning issue since the first observed FAC
water). It is desirable to have comprehensive pH con- failure killed four power plant personnel in 1986 [3].
trol throughout the network, but a single compound However, in industrial units with lower purity makeup
may not be sufficient to achieve broad results. Recently and condensate return, D.O. must be maintained at
commercialized blended amine products can provide near-zero concentrations to minimize iron and copper
wide-ranging coverage. A thorough analysis of system corrosion. A key piece of equipment is a mechanical
design, metallurgy, current chemistry, operating tem- deaerator, which, when functioning properly, will reduce
peratures, and other parameters is a prerequisite for D.O. to approximately 7 ppb. Additional oxygen reduc-
tion is achieved with reducing agent/oxygen scavenger
Call the Experts

feed. Over time, deaerator trays and spray nozzles can
become misaligned or damaged, which may be over-
looked by plant personnel. On-line dissolved oxygen
for all your solids processing monitoring is just one part of a comprehensive sampling
and analysis program [4].
Solids Mixing Applications:

Boiler-water treatment
The boiler has the harshest conditions within a steam-
Ribbon & Cone Blenders APIs ∙ Ag-Chemicals generating system, and chemistry excursions can eas-
Fluidizing Mixers ily lead to rapid corrosion or other problems. In power
Biologics ∙ Catalysts
Sigma Blade Mixers boilers, which typically receive consistent high-purity
(also for high-viscosity mixing) Ceramics ∙ Chemicals
makeup, the primary issue is pH control to minimize
carbon-steel corrosion. Table 1 outlines the typical mildly
Size Reduction
Food Ingredients
Herbicides ∙ Minerals basic ranges that are optimal for many boilers.
Wet & Dry Size Reduction
Tri-sodium phosphate (Na3PO4) is still commonly
Steel & Ceramic Lined Mills Nutraceuticals ∙ Pesticides
employed for pH control in both industrial and many
Jars & Jar Rolling Mills Pharmaceuticals ∙ Pigments power boilers.
Vacuum Drying Polymers ∙ Powdered Metals

Na3PO4 + H2O  Na2HPO4 + NaOH (8)
Dryers & Complete Systems Proteins ∙ Resins ∙ Vitamins
Knowledge beyond this basic concept can be lack-

ing at plants without trained water chemists. A prime
example is in systems where hardness and silica may
periodically or regularly enter the boiler via contami-
nated condensate. Without proper chemistry control,
these constituents can form very tenacious calcium and
magnesium silicate scales that are extremely difficult to
Quality &
Innovation Since 1911
remove. In large measure, it was this chemistry that in-
fluenced the development of phosphate treatment with
accompanying hydroxide alkalinity. Phosphate and hy-
droxide alkalinity react directly with calcium to produce
www.pauloabbe.com 855-789-9827 sales@pauloabbe.com calcium hydroxyapatite:
4. Buecker, B., Monitoring of Water and Steam Chemistry
10Ca2+ + 6PO43– + 2OH–  increases. The best procedure in for Steam Generators, Chem. Eng., September 2019. pp.
3Ca3(PO4)2.Ca(OH)2 (9) such cases is to kill the boiler fires, 33–42.
increase blowdown, drain the boiler
Magnesium and silica react with when safe, and eventually refill it with Acknowledgment
hydroxide alkalinity to form the non- fresh, treated water. Before restart, Special thanks to Richard Tribble of ChemTreat for supplying
adherent sludge serpentine: it is imperative to find and correct the photos in this article.
the contamination source. How-
3Mg2+ + 2SiO3– + 2OH–  ever, these procedures may curtail Authors
3MgO.2SiO2.2H2O (10) plant production, which can cause Brad Buecker is president of
management angst. A “knee-jerk” Buecker & Associates (Lawrence,
Kan.; beakertoo@aol.com), spe-
These two compounds exist as alternative is to keep the boiler in cializing in technical writing and
soft sludges that are much easier operation and inject caustic to raise consulting. He most recently
to remove than the hard scale that the pH. Unfortunately, the rapid pH served as senior technical publi-
would otherwise form. The materi- elevation induces precipitation of the cist with ChemTreat, Inc. He has
over four decades of experience in
als typically settle in the mud drum recently-generated iron corrosion or affiliated with the power indus-
or lower headers and are removed products, which settle on the boiler try, much of it in steam generation
by blowdown. Careful analyses tubes and add many more locations chemistry, water treatment, air quality control, and re-
sults engineering positions with City Water, Light &
and system chemistry evaluation for future underdeposit corrosion. Power (Springfield, Illinois) and Kansas City Power &
are necessary to design and oper- Light Company’s (now Evergy) La Cygne, Kansas sta-
ate the chemical feed systems to A final note tion. He also spent two years as acting water/wastewa-
ter supervisor at a chemical plant, and eleven years with
maintain proper conditions. Various All systems are different, and, as two engineering firms, Burns & McDonnell and Kiewit.
synthetic polymers have been de- with all other technologies, due dili- Buecker has a B.S. in chemistry from Iowa State Univer-
veloped to assist with hardness and gence is necessary to determine the sity with additional course work in fluid mechanics, en-
iron oxide deposition control. These feasibility of utilizing these methods. ergy and materials balances, and advanced inorganic
chemistry. He has authored or co-authored over 250
compounds cannot be introduced Always consult your equipment articles for various technical trade magazines, and has
arbitrarily to boilers, but must be manuals and guides. Also, reputable written three books on power plant chemistry and air
selected and dosed based on rig- chemical vendors can offer the prod- pollution control. He is a member of the ACS, AIChE,
AIST, ASME, NACE (now AMPP), and the Electric Utility
orous chemistry evaluations. Some ucts to achieve your goals. n (and Co-Generation) Chemistry Workshop planning
polymers are better at sequestering Edited by Gerald Ondrey committee.
hardness ions, while others are more
effective in controlling particulates. References Wendy McKinnon is vice presi-
No “one size fits all” exists. 1. “Consensus on Operating Practices for the Control of dent, Applied Technologies for
How plant personnel handle boiler Feedwater and Boiler Water Chemistry in Industrial and ChemTreat, Inc. (Glen Allen, Vir-
Institutional Boilers,” The American Society of Mechanical ginia 23060; Phone: 804-935-
chemistry upsets may generate ad- Engineers, 2 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016, 2021. 2000; Fax: 804-965-0154;
ditional problems if incorrect pro- 2. Buecker, B., and K. Perryman, High-purity water treat- Email: wendym@chemtreat.com).
cedures are followed. For instance, ment: Using membranes to protect membranes, Water She has been with ChemTreat for
20 years. Prior to becoming vice
the reaction shown in Equation (6) Technology, May/June 2022.
president, she was in a technical
illustrates that some chemistry ex- 3. Guidelines for Control of Flow-Accelerated Corrosion in consultant role specializing in
cursions can lower boiler pH sig- Fossil and Combined Cycle Power Plants, EPRI Techni- water and wastewater clarification, reverse osmosis and
cal Report 3002011569, the Electric Power Research deionization. She has a B.S. in chemistry from the Uni-
nificantly and quickly. As pH drops Institute, Palo Alto, California, 2017. versity of Mary Washington.
below 8.0, steel corrosion rapidly
2 1
ew fo r ZONE 1/
N
ISM_MA0192_230203
IS-SW1.1
Your expert for mobile communication devices

and solutions in explosion hazardous and industrial areas. WWW.ISAFE-MOBILE.COM

Feature Report Part 2
Precoat Filter Demineralizers

in Steam Loops
By minimizing, or even eliminating, the need for blowdowns in steam systems, precoat
filter demineralizer systems can greatly contribute to water-conservation efforts
S
John Yen team is essential in any chemical steam, or by deposition of soluble material,
Marmon Industrial process plant, primarily for gen- such as silica and copper, on the turbine
Water LLC erating heat and power. Power blades. Other damage caused by contami-
generation (the largest consumer nation can include tube pitting, tube rupture
of industrial water) and water-dependent and drum pitting (Figure 1). Contamination of
IN BRIEF thermal plants generate more than 81% boiler feedwater and condensate occur from
CONDENSATE of the world’s electricity using steam to ro- four principal sources, as follows:
CONTAMINATION tate an electric generator. The steam can Makeup-water system leakage. Dis-
be generated in various ways, which include: solved and colloidal solids that pass through
THE HIGH COST OF
BLOWDOWNS
by coal-fired boilers; waste heat from gas- or the makeup water system can often
oil-fired turbine generators; and by direct or cause contamination.
RECOVER CONDENSATE secondary generation in a nuclear reactor. Condenser leakage. Mainly dissolved, in-
WATER CONSERVATION Because demand for electricity also drives cluding some suspended, solids can leak from
demand for water, in a time when water as the condenser. The amount of such solids is
ENHANCED STARTUP
a resource is becoming less predictable dependent on the condenser design, level of
AND EFFICIENCY
and more stressed, power outages caused maintenance and the quality of cooling water
by water shortages are becoming a realis- present on the tubeside. In the case of seawa-
tic threat. To help themselves out of this ter-cooled systems, the smallest leak can be-
quandary, power plants, and other industrial come a significant problem for high-pressure
plants that generate steam, stand to benefit boiler systems.
from investment in technologies that con- Metallic corrosion. Metal-oxide-based sus-
serve and make the greatest use of water. pended solids are created within the boiler
steam cycle as byproducts of corrosion.
Condensate contamination These metal oxides are usually forms of iron
The condensate water that results from oxide, but oxides of copper, chromium and
steam-turbine operation is one area where nickel can also contribute.
water conservation can be realized. For both Startup contaminants. Silica is a notorious
boilers and heat-recovery steam generators contaminant due to its frequent presence
(HRSGs), condensed water collects in the during initial boiler startup, typically as residue
system and can be reused. However, this from the system manufacture and assembly.
fact is complicated by
the fact that, over time,
the condensate in the
steam loop becomes
increasingly contami-
nated, which will cause
damage to plant com-
ponents. This includes
boilers, steam gen-
erators, reactors and
turbines. Untreated
condensate can dam-
age the steam turbine
by erosion through the
impingement of abra- Marmon Industrial Water
sive particulate matter
transported with the FIGURE 1. Contaminated condensate can lead to several types of costly damage
Marmon Industrial Water
raise 1 lb of water
by 1ºF, and while Specialists in
the temperature of
condensate typi-
cally hovers around
Evaporation
200ºF, makeup
water usually en- Technology
ters the system at
55ºF. The cost of
fuel required to raise
the temperature of
water by 145ºF is
significant. Further-
more, there are sig-
FIGURE 2. A precoat demineralizer system can help to remove contami-
nants from condensate streams, making water reuse more economical nificant wastewater-
treatment costs
associated with
dumping the dirty
condensate, as de-
tailed in Table 1.
Recover condensate
One technology that
offers a viable solu-
tion for minimizing
blowdowns is a pre-
coat filter demineral-
izer (Figure 2). This
Marmon Industrial Water is a condensate pol-
isher that removes
FIGURE 3. A precoat demineralizer system combines filtration elements contaminants from
and ion-exchange resins within a specially designed process vessel
condensate while
The high cost of blowdowns preserving the heat, allowing it to re-
The traditional method of removing turn to the process clean and warm.
contaminants is a blowdown, which Precoat filter demineralizers com- Thin film evaporators
involves essentially purging all the bine two distinct technologies: ion-
water from the condensate loop at exchange and filtration in one vessel Short path evaporators
once and replacing it with fresh water. or application. They remove con-
Static evaporators for
For large plants, this can amount to taminants that are present in the
tens of thousands of gallons of water steam condensate cycle by remov- special requirements
per blowdown. This loss of water has ing suspended solids using filtration
Entire evaporation plants
numerous associated costs, not just and reducing ionized impurities to
due to the cost of fresh replacement the parts-per-billion (ppb) range, and
water, which is rising steeply across in some cases, to parts-per-trillion SMS evaporation pitch:
all regions, but also the costly steps (ppt) levels. Precoat filter demineral-
required to make it ready to convert izer systems are essentially vessels
into steam. These steps can include with similar filter septa to those used
pre-treatments, such as clarifying, in pre-filters or condensate filters,
filtration, softening, dealkalyzing, re- but are specially designed to act as
verse osmosis and deionization, and a support for a precoat material. Fig-
chemical treatment, such as neutral- ure 3 illustrates the different parts of
izing amines. In addition, the largest a precoat demineralizer vessel. Pre-
cost comes from the energy to heat mixed resins available in various cat-
the water. It takes 1 Btu of heat to ion and anion ratios, with or without
TABLE 1. ESTIMATED COST OF BLOWDOWNS PER 1,000 GAL
Buss-SMS-Canzler GmbH
Fresh water Makeup water Chemical treat- Energy Wastewater Total cost,
Kaiserstr. 13 – 15 | 35510 Butzbach | Germany
treatment ment (neutralizing to heat treatment of per 1,000 gal
amines) purged water Tel. +49 6033 85 0 | info@sms-vt.com
$0.30–0.50 $0.34–0.50 $0.15 $5–10 $2–4 $7.80–15.15 sms-vt.com


lation, there are stout eco- this happens, the condensate in the
nomic advantages to install- system can become contaminated
ing this kind of condensate very quickly due to the stagnation of
polisher. A large cost ben- the water inside metal pipes, com-
efit is that precoat filter de- bined with the introduction of air into
mineralization helps protect the system.
assets. Less contaminated When the condensate is highly con-
water will result in less taminated, a blowdown is required
damage to system com- before the system can be restarted,
Marmon
Industrial
ponents, extending the life significantly delaying the achievement
Water and performance of those of full generating capacity. During this
components and reducing startup delay, it can cost the opera-
FIGURE 4. The filter elements are coated with resins to remove
ionic contaminants and suspended solids, including iron, copper
maintenance requirements. tor between $25 and $35 per MWh
and silica. Once the resin is exhausted, the elements can be Plants that do not install a — a substantial outlay each time the
cleaned and re-coated condensate polisher may plant cycles. Further, chemistry fluc-
fiber material, are coated on the out- save money in the short- tuations make it impossible to de-
side of the filter septa in a thin layer. term, but pay more in the future for termine how long it will take for the
These finely ground resins remove equipment damage, boiler cleaning plant to reach full power each time
ionic contaminants while also ef- and replacement fees. Though many it starts, complicating budgeting for
fectively removing most suspended natural-gas combined-cycle (NGCC) auxiliary power purchase. Systems
solids. Upon exhaustion (ion break- plants are still relatively new, corrosion that use a precoat filter demineral-
through) or high pressure drop (sol- has already become nearly ubiquitous izer can avoid this blowdown, result-
ids loading), the unit is backwashed, in steam boilers and heat-recovery ing in a process that can return the
sending the exhausted precoat and boilers in those plants without high- turbine to service much more quickly
contaminants out to drain. Subse- quality condensate-polisher systems. and less expensively. Additionally, the
quently, a new precoat is applied and Furthermore, the air-cooled con- elimination and control of harmful im-
the process is repeated. denser (ACC) design paradigm con- purities, both dissolved and insoluble,
Precoat filter demineralizers re- tributes substantial corrosion-product can improve thermal efficiency (by up
move iron, copper, silica, acti- contamination to cycle water. Data to 1%) and can increase overall plant
vated corrosion products and salts, from the Electric Power Research In- efficiency (by approximately 1–3%).
whether soluble or suspended. Sys- stitute (EPRI; Palo Alto, Calif.; www.
tems of this type have been in op- epri.com) indicate that four of the top Water scarcity will continue
eration since the early 1960s, but five causes of HRSG tube failure have While the cost of fresh water is among
have experienced advancements in been tied to steam-cycle chemistry the smaller pieces of the total cost of
precoating techniques, as well as related to flow-accelerated corrosion, makeup water, this is not likely to re-
improvements in a high-energy air- corrosion fatigue, under-deposit cor- main so. The average price of water
scour backwash for enhanced septa rosion and pitting. increased by 60% in the 30 largest
cleaning, reducing waste volumes Returning more high-quality con- U.S. cities between 2010 and 2019,
by over 60% in certain applications. densate back to the boiler sys- according to data compiled by Bar-
Figure 4 illustrates the progressive tem can improve feedwater qual- clays, while California water futures
coating and cleaning process of the ity, increasing the number of boiler have regularly jumped as much as
filter elements. cycles of concentration, faster 300% in recent years. The growing
startup times and extending the time water crisis is requiring all industries
Water conservation between blowdowns. to rethink their water use, especially
Using precoat filter demineralization For some plants, when it is time to those in essential service sectors that
provides a string of benefits, starting replace their 40- to 50-year-old boil- depend so heavily on water. ■
with water conservation. By avoiding ers, they are finding that manufac- Edited by Mary Page Bailey
blowdowns, plants can save millions turers have more stringent conden-
of gallons of water per year, as well sate-quality requirements in order to Author
as the costs associated with treating protect the equipment from contami- John Yen is the director of strate-
both blowdown water and makeup nation damage. In these scenarios, gic marketing and innovation at
Marmon Industrial Water LLC (30
water, including the related labor plant engineers are turning to con- Technology Drive Suite 2F, Warren,
costs. There are also growing regula- densate polishers to help them main- NJ 07059; Phone: 908-516-1400;
tory compliance implications, espe- tain the water quality specified by the Email: info.graver@marmonwater.
com). With over 30 years of experi-
cially in water-stressed areas. Some modern equipment. ence in the water industry, Yen
plants are already facing increased drives innovation and revenue
growth for the industry through
pressure to reduce water waste, and Enhanced startup and efficiency capital equipment, aftermarket parts and service solu-
every other plant should be prepar- For various maintenance and re- tions. He previously held roles at BASF and Siemens
ing now for this eventuality. pair reasons, a turbine occasion- Water (now Evoqua). He has a B.S.Ch.E. from Rutgers
University and an M.S. degree in management science
But even in the absence of regu- ally has to be taken offline. When from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Engineering Practice
Predictive Maintenance Implementation
Five common mistakes associated with implementing predictive maintenance tools
are discussed here, along with five ways to avoid them
Bryan Christiansen
Maintenance costs
Limble CMMS
P
are one of the
redictive maintenance (PM) most significant
implementation can be a expenses for most
daunting task. There are businesses. For-
many factors to consider tunately, predic-
and many ways that things can go tive maintenance
wrong. Therefore, it is essential to has been proven
be aware of the most common mis- to reduce these
takes to avoid them. costs by identify-
Predictive maintenance can turn ing and repairing
into a nightmare without the proper equipment failures
Shutterstock
implementation, leading to high before they cause
costs and decreased productivity. a breakdown.
FIGURE 1. With the right approach, predictive maintenance can significantly
This article discusses the five most Increased pro- benefit a business
common mistakes made during duction. Every
predictive maintenance implemen- company wants to increase produc- Common mistakes & solutions
tation and gives advice on how to tion. After all, more products mean Every organization wants to get the
avoid them. more money. However, it's not always most out of its predictive mainte-
Most of the mistakes and solu- easy, especially if they’re working nance implementation, but often,
tions covered here slip under the with a process that's not humming things can go wrong. Therefore, it is
radar because they are not always along nicely. Predictive maintenance essential to undertake the best pre-
glaringly obvious. However, they can can help increase production by find- dictive maintenance techniques and
significantly impact the overall suc- ing and fixing minor issues before be aware of the most common mis-
cess of your PM implementation. they turn into big problems. takes to avoid them. The following
Decreased downtime. The main are the five most common mistakes
Benefits of PM implementation benefit of predictive maintenance is and their solutions.
With the right approach, predictive the decreased downtime it brings 1. Making everything a predictive
maintenance can significantly ben- about. With accurate predictions, task. Predictive maintenance may
efit a business. PM tools, such as companies can schedule their main- thrive in a chemical factory since
a computerized maintenance-man- tenance activities to minimize the time chemical plants appear to be the
agement system (CMMS; Figure 1) that the equipment is unavailable. perfect setting for it. High degrees
have been beneficial in a wide range This can mean shutting down of automation and instrumentation
of sectors within the chemical pro- equipment for preventive mainte- and meticulous maintenance record-
cess industries (CPI) and elsewhere, nance during low demand, such as keeping provide abundant data for
including manufacturing, transpor- weekends or nights. This shortens machine-learning algorithms.
tation, power generation, health- downtime and helps avoid the incon- Furthermore, most plants seek
care, construction and oil and gas. venience and cost of having equip- consistent operating conditions,
The following are some of the ad- ment unavailable during peak times. making it easier to detect trends and
vantages and benefits achieved with Improved safety and product qual- patterns. There's the overall equip-
PM implementation. ity. Predictive maintenance can help ment effectiveness (OEE) factor. Im-
Increased equipment efficiency. improve safety by reducing the likeli- proved reliability can directly and sig-
The first and most apparent ben- hood of equipment failures that could nificantly impact a company's OEE.
efit of predictive maintenance is lead to injuries. In addition, because However, it is essential not to
that it can help you keep equip- predictive maintenance can help make everything a predictive task —
ment running at peak efficiency. By identify potential quality issues be- not every condition or problem lends
monitoring machines and catching fore they cause customer problems, itself to being predicted. For exam-
problems early, plants can avoid it can also improve product quality. ple, some problems are so intermit-
the downtime and inefficiency that For example, if a piece of equip- tent that their symptoms may not be
comes with waiting for a break to ment shows signs of wear, it can be apparent until it’s too late to do any-
happen before fixing it. repaired or replaced before it breaks thing about them. The data may be
Reduced maintenance costs. down or causes an accident. too noisy to glean any insight from

other cases. personnel in their respective fields. fine-tune the program and prevent
Solutions. Before implementing a Such a team should be able to work issues down the line.
predictive-maintenance strategy, together to develop and implement Analyzing data can be daunting,
chemical plant owners should care- the program. especially if there isn’t a data sci-
fully evaluate what can and can’t be If there isn’t the right personnel entist on staff. And even if there is,
predicted. They should only tackle in-house, the chemical plant man- they might not have the time to con-
those tasks that will provide signifi- ager may be tempted to cut costs stantly monitor the program’s data
cant value and avoid trying to make by training existing staff members. for trends.
the impossible possible. However, this can often lead to inad- This is why hiring the right and
By doing this, they can create a equate training. The worst part about adequately trained personnel is em-
best-in-class predictive-maintenance inadequately trained staff is that they phasized in point number three. If
program that will optimize the chemi- can do more harm than good. the right team is in place, they will be
cal plants’ equipment and overall Solutions. To avoid hiring the wrong able to take on the task of analyzing
equipment efficiency (OEE). and inadequately trained staff, the data and integrating it into a predic-
2. Erroneous equipment selection management can do the following: tive-maintenance program. Without
and failure to update the system. • Hire personnel with the right skillset proper data analysis and integration,
Predictive maintenance can take • Ensure that team is adequately a predictive-maintenance program
chemical plant operations to the next trained will be nothing more than a shot in
level. However, the plant must have Hiring the right personnel. There are the dark.
a sound maintenance-management a few things to keep in mind when Solutions. To ensure adequate data
system (MMS) in place to be effective. hiring predictive-maintenance per- analysis and integration, chemical
An MMS is a crucial factor in sonnel. The first is that they should plant managers can consider the
achieving an efficient predictive have experience in their respective following:
maintenance program. It enables field. This experience can come from • Use data-visualization tools to
the collection and analysis of data working with similar machinery or better understand the data and to
so that CPI plant owners can identify predictive maintenance software. spot trends
trends. It also allows for the execu- Second, they should be able to • Automate data analysis as much as
tion of planned maintenance tasks work together as a team. Predic- possible, using tools like machine
instead of relying on unplanned cor- tive maintenance is often a complex learning and artificial intelligence
rective maintenance. process requiring several different • Delegate data analysis tasks to
However, an MMS is only effective experts’ input. Third, they should be team members skilled in data
if it is up to date. Outdated data can able to communicate effectively — analysis and have the time to do
lead to erroneous equipment selec- this means understanding and ex- it properly
tions and prevent the plant from get- plaining complex concepts so that While there is more to data analy-
ting the full benefits of a predictive others can understand. sis than what we've listed here, these
maintenance program. Fourth, they should be able to tips will get managers started on the
It is also important to note that not train others. As mentioned earlier, right track. Additionally, it’s impor-
every piece of equipment in a CPI one of the main tasks of predictive- tant to remember that data analysis
plant needs to be monitored by pre- maintenance personnel is to train is an ongoing process — the more
dictive maintenance. The equipment staff members on using the software data analysts have, the better their
selected for monitoring should be and equipment. insights will be.
based on the plant’s specific needs Ensuring adequate training. To en- 5. Lack of consistency in predic-
and the types of failures that are sure that staff is adequately trained, tive maintenance implementation.
most likely to occur. A good starting management has to do the following: Consistency is an integral part of any
point is to identify the critical assets • Set clear training goals maintenance program, and predic-
in the plant and focus on those first. • Make sure that the training is tive maintenance is no exception. To
Solutions. To get the most out of interactive get the most accurate results from
a predictive-maintenance program, • Use simulations where possible a predictive maintenance program,
chemical plant owners must ensure • Make sure that the training is rel- data must be collected consistently
that their MMS is up to date and ac- evant to the job and accurately.
curate. They should also carefully One of the best ways to ensure This means having a plan in place
select the equipment that will be that staff is adequately trained is to for collecting data, appointing who
monitored and focus on their critical set clear training goals. For example, will be responsible for managing it,
assets first. a goal for staff members could be and what processes will be put in
3. Employing the wrong personnel the ability to operate the predictive- place to ensure that data are col-
and inadequate training. Employ- maintenance software by the end of lected accurately. Without a consis-
ing the wrong personnel is another the training session. tent approach to data collection, a
common mistake. This can happen if 4. Not analyzing and integrating predictive maintenance program will
the required skill sets do not exist in- collected data. It isn’t efficient to be less accurate and less effective.
house or predictive maintenance is just set and forget a predictive-main- Solutions. Here are a few tips on
used to cut training costs. The best tenance program — data analysis is how to maintain consistency in a
predictive maintenance programs a crucial part of it. After all, the in- predictive maintenance program:
use a combination of highly skilled sights gleaned from data will help • Establish a straightforward pro-
cess for data collection and make
sure all stakeholders are aware of it
• Train all personnel involved in data
collection on how to collect data
accurately
• Use standardized forms and tem-
plates for data collection whenever
possible
• Conduct regular audits of data col-
lection procedures to ensure they
are being followed correctly
• Put in place a system for monitor- Generating connections and commerce
ing and tracking data collection
progress to identify any areas of to power the industry forward
improvement
Chemical plant managers can en-
sure that a predictive maintenance
program is as accurate and effective DISTRIBUTED
as possible by following these tips.
CONFERENCE
Final remarks
Predictive maintenance can fail
because of reasons like over-pre-
dicting possible outcomes, lack of
adequately trained personnel, incon-
sistency of predictive maintenance
implementation, and not using col-
lected data.
It is a powerful tool to help orga- August 14-17, 2023
nizations improve productivity and
avoid mistakes, and while it comes Westin Savannah Harbor
with its fair share of challenges, or-
ganizations can overcome them with Golf Resort & Spa
the right strategies.
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Savannah, GA
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making improvements accordingly.
By following the tips and solutions generators meet to collaborate with
explained in the article, businesses energy leaders across multiple
can ensure a successful predictive
maintenance implementation in their verticals and initiate the vision for
organization. Do not let common mis-
the future of power generation.
takes stand in the way of success. n
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
Author HOST UTILITY SPONSOR

Bryan Christiansen is the
founder and CEO of Limble CMMS
(3290 W Mayflower Ave., Lehi, UT
84043; Phone: 801-851-1218;
Website: www.limblecmms.com).
He studied at Utah Valley Univer-
sity. Limble is a modern, easy-to- PRESENTED BY
use mobile CMMS software that
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ers organize, automate and streamline their mainte-
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Advertisers Index
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Chemstations............................7 adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-05 973-256-3000
Kappes, Cassiday &

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www.connectedplantconference.com adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-06
Curtis-Wright........................... 15 MathWorks......................... CV 4
1-877-537-9120 adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-14
Classified Index March 2023
EKATO......................................17 New & Used Equipment..........................................................42

adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-08 Software...................................................................................42
Advertiser Page number Advertiser Page number

Phone number Reader Service # Phone number Reader Service #
Engineering Software..............42 Ross Mixers.............................42

Experience POWER 2023....... 41 (301-919-9670 1-800-243-ROSS
www.experience-power.com adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-243 adlinks.chemengonline.com/84645-240
Pope Scientific.........................42 Vesconite Bearings..................42

See bottom of opposite page 262-268-9300 +27 11 616 1111
for advertising
sales representatives'
contact information Process Engineering................42 Xchanger................................. 42
(952) 933-2559
FOR ADDITIONAL NEWS AS IT DEVELOPS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM

March 2023; VOL. 130; NO. 3
Chemical Engineering copyright © 2023 (ISSN 0009-2460) is published monthly by Access Intelligence, LLC, 9211 Corporate Blvd., 4th Floor, Rockville, MD 20850. Chemical Engineering Executive, Editorial and Publication Office: 40 Wall Street,
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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) Dec. ’22 Nov. ’22 Dec. ’21 Annual Index: 850
Prelim. Final Final
2014 = 576.1
CE Index_______________________________________________ 808.7 814.6 776.3 800
Equipment _____________________________________________ 1024.9 1033.2 977.9 2015 = 556.8
Heat exchangers & tanks __________________________________ 851.4 861.7 830.2
Process machinery ______________________________________ 1035.5 1041.1 975.8 2016 = 541.7 750
Pipe, valves & fittings _____________________________________ 1444.7 1461.7 1414.8 2017 = 567.5
Process instruments _____________________________________ 556.2 555.6 564.4 700
Pumps & compressors ____________________________________ 1323.1 1323.1 1179.3 2018 = 603.1
Electrical equipment _____________________________________ 794.6 785.7 678.0 2019 = 607.5 650
Structural supports & misc. ________________________________ 1137.2 1153.7 1059.4
Construction labor ________________________________________ 358.7 359.1 347.6 2020 = 596.2
Buildings ______________________________________________ 795.2 802.4 808.3 2021 = 708.8 600
Engineering & supervision __________________________________ 311.9 311.8 310.8
Starting in April 2007, several data series for labor and compressors were converted to accommodate series IDs discontinued by the 550
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)_____________________________________________________ Dec. '22 = 98.5 Nov. '22 = 99.7 Oct. '22 = 101.2 Dec. '21 = 100.4
CPI value of output, $ billions _____________________________________________________ Nov. '22 = 2,141.7 Oct. '22 = 2,190.2 Sept.'22 = 2,187.2 Nov. '21 = 1,936.5
CPI operating rate, % ___________________________________________________________ Dec. '22 = 79.3 Nov. '22 = 80.3 Oct. '22 = 81.6 Dec. '21 = 81.6
Producer prices, industrial chemicals (1982 = 100) _____________________________________ Dec. '22 = 330.4 Nov. '22 = 341.9 Oct. '22 = 343.9 Dec. '21 = 335.6
Industrial Production in Manufacturing (2017 =100)* ____________________________________ Dec. '22 = 99.8 Nov. '22 = 101.1 Oct. '22 = 102.2 Dec. '21 = 100.3
Hourly earnings index, chemical & allied products (1992 = 100) _____________________________ Dec. '22 = 204.4 Nov. '22 = 205.3 Oct. '22 = 204.0 Dec. '21 = 194.4
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100)_______________________________ Dec. '22 = 90.2 Nov. '22 = 91.8 Oct. '22 = 93.0 Dec. '21 = 95.9
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 De-
cember 2022 (most recent available)
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ENGINEERING value. The current decrease is the sixth
ESSENTIALS FOR THE CPI PROFESSIONAL
consecutive monthly decline, following
a long string of increases between No-
Learn about the industry’s critical vember 2020 and June 2022. The De-
cember 2022 preliminary values show
topics by viewing the latest decreases in the Equipment, Buildings
On Demand webinars. and Construction Labor subindices,
while the Engineering & Supervision
For a list of FREE subindex saw a slight uptick. The cur-
rent CEPCI value now sits at 4.2%
webinars, visit higher than the corresponding value
chemengonline.com/webcasts from December 2021. Meanwhile, the
Current Business Indicators (middle)
show a small decrease in the CPI out-
put index for December 2022.
44 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING5/24/16
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March

Boiler Water Essentials

March 2023 Volume 130 | no. 3

.In the News

12 Newsfront Head-to-Toe Technology: Advances in

31 Feature Report Part 1 Boiler Water Essentials:

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2023 1

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Cover design: Tara Bekman

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