2019-03 (Corrosion Monitoring - Uniflow Cyclones)

March
2019
www.chemengonline.com
03
Modern
CORROSION MONITORING • PROCESS SAFETY
Corrosion
Monitoring page 32
Process Safety Facts at Your Fingertips:

Hygienic Equipment
Recycling Plastics
Focus on Air-
Flow Monitoring Pollution Control
Uniflow Cyclones Calcium Carbide Production
VOL. 126 NO. 3 MARCH 2019
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March 2019 Volume 126 | no. 3
Cover Story
32 Part 1 Non-Destructive Testing: Managing Corrosion
Under Insulation Corrosion under insulation (CUI) creates a pervasive
and variable challenge to the integrity of insulated equipment, but non-
destructive inspection can help avoid undesirable CUI surprises
40 Part 2 Using Corrosion as a Process

Variable Monitoring and analyzing historical data can provide
insights not available from manual inspection and measurement
techniques
.In the News

7 Chementator
Process intensification for carbon capture could reduce costs;
Mechanical CO2 sequestration improves algae production; A
single process to handle hydraulic-fracturing produced water
and offgases; Gas analysis made easier for high-dust areas;
Accelerated electrons unlock sugars from cellulosic biomass;
and more
12 Business News 32
Sasol begins operating LLDPE unit at Lake Charles site; Arkema opens new
polyester-resin manufacturing facility in India; Chemours triples low-GWP
refrigerant production with startup of new plant; Eni and Sabic to collaborate
on new natural-gas conversion technology; and more
14 Newsfront Chemical Recycling Makes Waste

Plastic a Resource With an eye toward a circular economy,
technology developers are advancing a host of new approaches to chemical
40
recycling of post-use commodity plastics
20 Newsfront Flow Monitoring for Today’s Chemical
Processes New technologies provide diagnostics and calibration
verification to improve maintenance and process efficiency
14
.Technical and Practical
30 Facts at your Fingertips Hygienic Process
Equipment Fabrication This one-page reference provides
information on key quality-assurance procedures for the fabrication and
assembly of hygienic systems that will help prevent contamination and bacteria
growth during operation 20
31 Technology Profile Production of Calcium Carbide

from Limestone This column outlines the production of calcium
carbide from limestone and coke
46 Feature Report Part 1 Unified Operational

Environment Improves Process Safety A unified gateway
station and related components increase availability to improve operations
and safety
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2019 1

50 Feature Report Part 2 The Value of Safety
Instrumented Systems A safety instrumented system (SIS) is
important to ensure the safe operation of a plant. The SIS requires up-to-date
sensors — recent developments in vortex flowmeters are presented here
52 Solids Processing Design and Calculation Methods
for Uniflow Cyclones Uniflow cyclones can be effective solid-gas
separation equipment when space is limited. Presented here are design and
calculation methods for uniflow cyclones aimed at widening the industrial
usefulness of these devices
.Equipment and Services

24 Focus on Air Pollution Control
50
These ceramic filters have catalysts built in; New wet electrostatic precipitator
for control of fines; Flowmeters with CEMS and CERMS capabilities; Continuous
monitoring of pilot flames and flared gases; and more
27 New Products
These compressors are designed to reduce energy use; Simplify screen
changing for separator systems; Monitor CFATS compliance with this new
52
software module; A three-in-one biogas-measurement device; and more
64 Show Preview Powtech 2019

Powtech 2019 takes place April 9–11 in Nuremberg, Germany
68 Show Preview Interphex 2019

The 2019 Interphex tradeshow takes place April 2–4 in New York city
24 .Departments
5 Editor’s Page Game Changers
Implementing new technologies takes insight, as well as a willingness to take
a chance on a new approach. A number of those who are leading the way to
digitalization were recognized at the Connected Plant Conference
84 Economic Indicators
27
Advertisers
69 Hot Products
72 Europe Special Advertising Section
80 Classified
82 Subscription and Sales Representative Information
83 Ad Index
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Look for: Feature Reports on Overpressure Protection; and Rotating
Equipment; A Focus on Analyzers; A Facts at your Fingertips on
Drying; a You and Your Job article on Patent Rights; News Articles
on Quantum Dots; and Column Internals; New Products; and much more
Cover design: Rob Hudgins
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Editor s Page
EDITORS DANIELLE ZABORSKI
Game Changers
T
List Sales: Merit Direct, (914) 368-1090
DOROTHY LOZOWSKI
Editorial Director
dzaborski@meritdirect.com he technologies associated with the Industrial Internet of
dlozowski@chemengonline.com ART & DESIGN Things, and the benefits that can be attained from them, are
GERALD ONDREY (FRANKFURT) ROB HUDGINS topics that are frequently described in the pages of Chemical
Senior Editor Graphic Designer
gondrey@chemengonline.com rhudgins@accessintel.com Engineering. Finding and implementing the best new technol-
PRODUCTION
ogies for an application takes focus, insight and often the willingness
SCOTT JENKINS
Senior Editor
SOPHIE CHAN-WOOD
to take a chance on a new approach. Last month, at the Connected
sjenkins@chemengonline.com Production Manager Plant Conference (www.connectedplantconference.com), 11 individ-
schanwood@accessintel.com
MARY PAGE BAILEY uals and teams were recognized for their roles in moving the dial to-
Associate Editor INFORMATION
mbailey@chemengonline.com SERVICES
ward digitalization in the chemical process and energy industries. The
GROUP PUBLISHER CHARLES SANDS
“Game Changers,” listed below include innovators, problem solvers
Director of Digital Development and fast risers or champions in digitalization.
MATTHEW GRANT csands@accessintel.com
Vice President and Group Publisher, Jonathan Alexander, Albemarle Corporation — Alexander initiated
Energy & Engineering Group
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
and managed the transformation of two specialty chemical plants
AUDIENCE
SUZANNE A. SHELLEY
sshelley@chemengonline.com
within Albemarle by successfully implementing realtime analytics.
DEVELOPMENT He involved operators and supervisors in selecting which process
CHARLES BUTCHER (U.K.)
SARAH GARWOOD cbutcher@chemengonline.com variables to analyze and how to respond to analytics-based signals.
Audience Marketing Director
sgarwood@accessintel.com Amber Hayton, Royal Dutch Shell — Hayton has been leading de-
PAUL S. GRAD (AUSTRALIA)
pgrad@chemengonline.com velopment activities for digitalization of Shell’s learning portfolio. Ex-
JENNIFER McPHAIL
Marketing Manager TETSUO SATOH (JAPAN) pert knowledge is being captured and digitalized via a virtual-reality
jmcphail@accessintel.com tsatoh@chemengonline.com learning platform, which is being built for both local and cloud use to
GEORGE SEVERINE JOY LEPREE (NEW JERSEY) make it globally applicable.
Fulfillment Manager jlepree@chemengonline.com
gseverine@accessintel.com Nexceris Sensors Group — This group’s innovative sensor moni-
tors emissions from lithium-ion batteries that indicate when the bat-
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
tery is faulty. It can cut the current to the battery before it starts
JOHN CARSON JOHN HOLLMANN a fire, making it a very useful safety tool for energy storage — an
Jenike & Johanson, Inc. Validation Estimating LLC ever-growing application.
DAVID DICKEY HENRY KISTER Robinson Castillo, Florida Power & Light Co. — Castillo was a
MixTech, Inc. Fluor Corp.
pioneer in spearheading the use of wireless technology in the power
industry at a time when it was new and met with much skepticism.
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focus on mitigating cyber risks rather than finding them.
CIRCULATION REQUESTS:
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Fax: 847-564-9453
Fullfillment Manager; P.O. Box 3588, ing turning Plant Scherer, the largest coal-fired plant in the U.S., into
Northbrook, IL 60065-3588
email: chemeng@omeda.com
the connected plant of the future. His vision is based on two prin-
ciples: the need to prepare the workforce of tomorrow; and the need
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for a digitized plant and processes.
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ACCESS INTELLIGENCE, LLC help with capital planning and investment decisions.
DON PAZOUR JONATHAN RAY ProAxion, Inc. — This innovative startup developed a system that
Chief Executive Officer Vice President, Digital
simplifies the process of measuring, transmitting and analyzing vibra-
HEATHER FARLEY
Chief Operating Officer
MICHAEL KRAUS
Vice President,
tion and temperature data for remote monitoring of rotating machines.
Production, Digital Media & Design Michael Reid, Duke Energy — Reid oversees
JAMES OGLE technical programs for Duke Energy where data
Executive Vice President GERALD STASKO
& Chief Financial Officer Vice President/Corporate Controller analytics are being used for everything from routine
MACY L. FECTO to predictive maintenance.
Chief People Officer
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Chementator
Process intensification for carbon capture could Edited by:
Gerald Ondrey
reduce costs
I
n conventional solvent-based Gas inlet Carbon Clean Solutions ANG FUELING STATION
carbon-capture systems, Ingevity (North Charleston,
CO2-rich exhaust gas con- S.C.; www.ingevity.com)
tacts gravity-driven solvents has completed construction
of a fueling station for low-
in a vertical packed-bed column.
pressure adsorbed natural
A novel approach developed by gas (ANG) at its headquar-
Carbon Clean Solutions USA Inc. Gas outlet ters in North Charleston,
(CCSUS; Cumming, Ga.; www. S.C. The fueling station will
carboncleansolutions.com) em- Liquid supply natural gas to ANG
Rotation
ploys centrifugal force from rotat- inlet bi-fuel vehicles outfitted with
ing horizontal packed beds to ef- storage cylinders containing
fect the gas-to-liquid contact. The Gas outlet Ingevity’s Nuchar FuelSorb
Liquid activated carbon monoliths.
higher g-forces allowed by the ro- outlet
tation improve mass transfer and Bi-fuel vehicles have internal
combustion engines that can
enable smaller units to be used.
operate on either natural gas
Smaller units would lower capital costs more highly concentrated solvents than those or gasoline. ANG technology
compared to traditional carbon capture. The used in conventional carbon capture,” says is made possible by Ingev-
system has the potential to reduce the level- David Bahr, CCSUS technology manager, ity’s activated carbon, which
ized CO2-capture cost to the U.S. Dept. of and that can reduce the energy required for reduces the storage pres-
Energy (DOE) target of $30/ton or less. regeneration of the CO2. Although the over- sure of natural gas without
Under a $2.9-million cooperative agree- all energy savings are partially offset by the sacrificing the volume of gas
ment from the DOE’s National Energy Tech- rotational energy required in the packed-bed stored through an adsorption
nology Laboratory, GTI (Des Plaines, Ill.; cylinders, validation tests indicate up to 45% process. For more informa-
www.gti.energy) is the prime contractor energy savings compared to conventional tion, see Chem. Eng., August
2017, p. 10.
leading the effort with CCSUS to scale up monoethanolamine (MEA) units.
this process-intensification approach from GTI and CCSUS are now designing the
laboratory scale size to a larger, integrated larger-scale system, and anticipate com-
NITROGEN FIXATION
carbon-capture system capable of removing pleting construction by mid-2019. After A team from South China
University of Technology
1 ton/d CO2 from power-plant fluegas. laboratory testing at GTI headquarters, the
(Guangzhou, China; https//
The novel carbon-capture approach, known assembly will be moved to the National en.scut.edu.cn), led by pro-
as ROTA-CAP technology, is designed such Carbon Capture Center in Wilsonville, fessor Haihui Wang, has
that CCS’s intensified solvents are pumped Ala. for long-term testing. “While the cur- discovered that black phos-
into the center of the rotating cylinder, and the rent project is focused on capturing CO2 phorus — phosphorus in its
centrifugal force from the rotation pushes the from fluegas at coal- and natural-gas-fired lowest reactivity, nontoxic
liquid outward through the packed-bed gas- power plants, the rotating packed-bed in- form — is an excellent cata-
liquid contactor (diagram). The CO2-contain- tensification approach could be applied to lyst for the electro-reduction
ing fluegas flows from the exterior of the cylin- other industrial operations involving gas- of nitrogen to ammonia. The
der, against the flow of solvent. liquid contact,” notes GTI technology man- team found that the zigzag
“A key feature of ROTA-CAP is its use of ager Osman Akpolat. (Continues on p. 8)
Mechanical CO2 sequestration improves algae production
A
new, mechanical method results in a supersaturated CO2-wa- trials, the CO2 saturated in the media
for sequestration of car- ter environment where CO2 is more was consumed for algae production
bon dioxide into water was available to algae, resulting in a 95% in just 24 hours.
evaluated at the University increase in algae growth,” says Greg- According to Borsinger, the team
of Texas’ (Austin; www.utexas.edu) ory Borsinger, one of the inventors of from the University of Texas has ob-
Bioproducts and Bioenergy Analyti- the technology. served unprecedented increases in
cal Service Center and has revealed The new system employs a rotor- algae growth using this new technol-
a pathway to economically improve stator device that is operated under ogy when compared to other CO2-
algae growth for production of oils. conditions that are thought to in- delivery mechanisms. Additionally, the
“Existing sequestration technology duce cavitation, which results in the technology was applied to algae oil
generally uses some type of sparger supersaturation of gases into liquids. harvesting and demonstrated cell lys-
to dissolve CO2 in water and make it The highly saturated CO2 solution ing of over 80%. Currently, the technol-
available to algae. Much of the gas creates an environment of maxi- ogy has been demonstrated in the lab-
is not dissolved and escapes back mized photosynthetic productivity oratory, and the developers are actively
into the atmosphere. Our technology for algae production — in laboratory working toward commercialization.

arrangement in the phospho- A single process to handle hydraulic fracturing
rus layers, in contrast to other produced water and offgases
T
layered or flat materials, pro-
vides ideal sites for nitrogen
wo major concerns in Ship & Shore Environmental
adsorption and the electronic hydraulic fracturing op-

Mist eliminator
structure at the edges was erations are finding ef-
best suited for binding, acti- ficient ways to handle
vating and reducing nitrogen the massive amount of pro-
by a low-energy pathway. duced wastewater, and deal-
The team included the cata- ing with offgases from the well. Water supply
from pump
lyst nanosheets in a carbon- A new technology developed
fiber electrode for electrolysis. by Ship & Shore Environmen-
To provide a nitrogen supply, a
tal Inc. (Signal Hill, Calif.; www. Burner for
hydrochloride electrolyte solu- offgases and
tion was saturated with nitro-
shipandshore.com), in part- supplemental
nership with Hydrozonix LLC fuel
gen. On application of a volt-
(Conroe, Tex.; www.hydrozonix. Screw
age, the electrode readily and conveyor
selectively produced ammonia com), employs an enclosed flare
from nitrogen. Wang says the to destroy the well offgases and
Waste
layered black phosphorus harvests the resulting energy to solids Combustion
even outperformed most evaporate wastewater. Accord- air blower
nonmetallic and metal-based ing to Mike Pawlowski, senior
catalysts lately reported. technical sales manager at Ship & Shore En- cially useful for hydraulic fracturing sites
A drawback of black phos-
vironmental, this the first technology available that have difficulty in removing wastewater
phorus is that its performance
declines in the long term due
to the hydraulic fracturing market for onsite via trucks, or those that must use enclosed
to oxidation, so it will be nec- evaporation of produced water. The process flares to treat offgases, says Pawlowski. The
essary to find ways of prevent- — called Hydroflare — works by connecting Hydroflare enclosed flare is said to achieve a
ing degradation in the electro- the source of well offgases to an enclosed destruction efficiency for offgases of 99% or
lyte, says the team. flare burner. “The resultant heat from the flare higher. Pawlowski notes that water disposal
is passed to a tower or stack, which includes capacity is limited to the amount of offgas
BIO-BASED MEG spray nozzles to mist the produced water into present or by the availability of supplemen-
Braskem (São Paulo, Brazil; the high-temperature discharge of the burner tal fuel. The technology can be “dropped in”
www.braskem.co/br) and Hal- section,” explains Pawlowski. A conveyor is to existing sites, provided that ground sup-
dor Topsoe S/A (Lyngby, Den- also provided to discharge any solids present port and proper utilities are in place. The first
mark; www.topsoe.com) have in the liquid stream for solid-waste disposal. Hydroflare system was recently installed at a
reached mechanical comple- The Hydroflare technology will be espe- 1,000-bbl/d production site in Texas.
tion of the MOnoSAccharide
IndustrIal Cracker (Mosaik)
process step of their demon- New membranes resist biofouling using sunlight
M
stration plant that will produce
bio-based monoethylene gly- embranes in large-scale water- ence at WUSTL. To secure the photothermal
col (MEG) from sugars. Mo- treatment processes are often materials within the membrane’s structure,
saik is a method for cracking fouled by accumulation of bacte- the team from WUSTL started with a bacte-
sugars into an intermediary ria or their biofilms. Now, a team rial culture medium where cellulose nanofi-
product, which can be further of researchers from Washington University St. bers grow into a matrix. Next, as graphene
converted to MEG or other Louis (WUSTL; St. Louis, Mo.; www.wustl. oxide nanosheets are incorporated into the
biochemicals, such as methyl edu) have combined graphene oxide and medium, the bacteria build a nanocellulose
vinyl glycolate or glycolic acid, bacterial nanocellulose to design a highly ef- matrix with embedded graphene oxide. “You
using Topsoe’s patented pro-
ficient ultrafiltration membrane that resists end up with a composite membrane consist-
cesses and catalysts.
The demonstration plant,
biofouling. “Photothermal nanomaterials like ing of interlocked graphene oxide and nano-
located in Lyngby, Denmark, graphene oxide absorb light effectively, and cellulose, so particulate matter from the mem-
is an important step to up- the absorbed light is quickly converted into brane itself does not leach out into the water,”
scale the Mosaik process and heat. Thus, the membrane gets hot, killing adds Singamaneni.
begin production at an indus- microorganisms on its surface and minimizing According to Jun, combining the bacte-
trial scale, which is planned biofilm formation. This new membrane design ria-killing properties of photothermal ma-
to commence in 2023. The uses the natural energy of sunlight to resist terials with the mechanical and chemical
plant can produce more than biofouling on membranes,” explains Young- integrity of a nanocellulose network results
100 ton/yr of glycolaldehyde, Shin Jun, professor of Energy, Environmental in a membrane with a longer life and higher
which is converted into MEG
& Chemical Engineering at WUSTL. Previ- liquid flux than commercially available mem-
in the next process step.
ously reported nanomaterial-enabled membranes operating at the same pressure. The
DAIRY BIOREFINERY branes often suffer from short operational life- team believes that the new membranes will
times and poor physical and chemical stability be readily scalable, since the technology
Whey permeate (WP) and de-
that can result in nanomaterials leaching into depends on culturing bacterial nanocellu-
lactosed whey permeate (DLP)
water, adds Srikanth Singamaneni, professor lose, a process that is already conducted
(Continues on p. 10) of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Sci- at large scales.
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are major byproducts of dairy Gas analysis made easier for high-dust areas
A
processing and represent a
key challenge for the dairy in- collaboration
dustry due to a lack of reliabil- between Ser- Sample probe
ity in current disposal routes, vomex (Surrey,
and represent a sustainability U.K.; www.ser- Heated
bottleneck for the expansion vomex.com) and FLO2R sample
of milk production in Europe. (Hadsund, Denmark; path
In an effort to valorize such
www.flo2r.com) has re-
waste, a new E.U.-funded Analysis cell
project — dubbed AgriChem-
sulted in the industry’s
first laser-based gas- TDL analyzer
Whey — started last month.
AgriChemWhey is testing and analysis system for use
proving the techno-economic in high-dust environ- Air knife —
viability of converting agri- ments. Tunable diode perpendicular purge
culture and agri-food waste laser (TDL) technology
into sustainable lactic acid at provides a much more
a first-of-its-kind biorefinery. rapid response than
The industrial-scale biorefin- conventional extractive FLO2R
ery is to be located in the South
systems for gas analysis,
East region of Ireland, and will
have the capacity to valorize
but it historically has been infeasible for use cal gas-analysis needs — safety interlocking
over 25,000 metric tons per in applications where dust is present, since applications and emissions control.
year (100% dry matter) of ex- TDL systems rely on light visibility, and the Commercial trials of the new system were
cess WP and DLP. presence of dust can inhibit laser transmit- recently completed at the Aalborg Portland
Representing the first major tance, says Karsten Brink Floor, managing cement plant in Denmark, where Hybrid
industrial venture to convert director of FLO2R. The new Hybrid 600 sys- 600 technology was used to monitor car-
residues from food process- tem (diagram) incorporates optics that mini- bon monoxide levels on two kiln lines to en-
ing, the flagship plant in Ire- mize light loss in dusty conditions and also a sure that excessive CO volumes would not
land will scale-up a unique fer- built-in air knife that protects optic elements lead to explosive conditions, based on the
mentation processes of WP/
from process gases. plant’s safety interlocking limits. Key to en-
DLP-to-lactic acid (LA) by re-
ducing the fermentation time
Furthermore, dust-heavy applications typi- suring a safe installation, according to Floor,
to a 12-h process, optimizing cally require large ducts, and installation of was to determine the optimal measuring
the upstream processes of laser systems is usually limited to smaller duct point for CO, which, in this case, was as
DLP and WP and optimizing sizes, but Floor explains that the new Hy- close as possible to the CO’s origin in the
the downstream steps for brid 600 system uses a unique single-flange pre-heater system, where dust loads may
simplified LA purification at mounting configuration that enables its setup vary between 75 and 200 g/m3. Floor ex-
industrial scale. The process in ducts of any size, in applications with dust pects to roll out the technology into waste
was developed by Agrichem- loads as high as 200 g/m3. Floor envisions incinerators, power plants and clay-burning
(Continues on p. 11) that the Hybrid 600 system will fulfill two criti- kilns in the coming months.
A new, more comprehensive electronegativity scale
T
he electronegativity of atoms the 19th century, but most of these first time their electronegativity has
is one of the most well-known scales only cover parts of the periodic been calculated,” says Rahm.
parameters for explaining why table, typically omitting various heavy For example, compared to earlier
chemical reactions occur. or heaviest elements. The new scale scales, manganese and zinc have
Now, Martin Rahm, assistant profes- covers elements 1 to 96 — the most both been moved in the ranking,
sor of physical chemistry at Chalm- comprehensive to date. relative to elements closest to them
ers University of Technology (Go- “The new definition is the aver- in the periodic table. Fluorine is still
thenburg, Sweden; www.chalmers. age binding energy of the outer- the most electronegative element in
se), has redefined the concept with most and weakest-bound electrons the new scale, but it is 1.3 eV less
a new, more comprehensive scale. — commonly known as the valence electronegative than helium, which
His work, undertaken with colleagues electrons,” explains Rahm. “We de- helps to explain the non-existence of
Tao Zeng at Carleton University (Ot- rived these values by combining ex- helium fluorides.
tawa, Ont., Canada; www.carleton. perimental photoionization data with One challenge with electronegativity
ca) and Roald Hoffmann at Cornell quantum mechanical calculations. By as a concept is that it is sometimes
University (Ithaca, N.Y.; www.cornell. and large, most elements relate to unable to predict chemical reactivity or
edu), was published in a recent issue each other in the same way as in ear- the polarity of chemical bonds. A fur-
of J. Am. Chem. Soc. lier scales. But the new definition has ther advantage of the new definition is
Numerous electronegativity scales also led to some interesting changes how it fits into a wider framework that
have been developed since the con- where atoms have switched places in can help explain what happens when
cept was first proposed by Swed- the order of electronegativity. Addi- chemical reactions are not controlled
ish chemist Jöns Jacob Berzelius in tionally, for some elements, this is the by electronegativity, says Rahm.
Accelerated electrons unlock sugars from Whey coordinator Glanbia Ire-
cellulosic biomass land (Kilkenny; www.glanbia
O
ireland.com), in collaboration
btaining sugars from Xyleco with University College Dublin
cellulosic biomass and Trinity College Dublin.
cost-effectively is Hopper
difficult because the containing Electron accelerator assembly
SOLVENT FILTRATION
biomass
predominant biopolymers in Organic solvent nanofiltration
plant material evolved to pro- typically involves polymer-
tect these sugars. A process Biomass
based membranes that fea-
currently being scaled up for Electron beam ture tiny pores, but form dense
Conveyor
obtaining sugars from waste and amorphous networks.
Well-ordered microporous
agricultural biomass employs
materials, such as zeolites and
beams of accelerated elec- metal-organic frameworks
trons to fracture chains of (MOFs), perform significantly
cellulose and hemicellulose, better than these conventional
allowing dramatically improved enzymatic tical to the starting biomass. Because membranes in various separa-
hydrolysis in subsequent process steps. the biopolymers are broken down by the tion processes, but they are
Xyleco, Inc. (Wakefield, Mass.; www. electron beam, the third stage of the pro- not suitable for extensive use
xyleco.com) is building a commercial-scale cess — an enzymatic hydrolysis step with in liquid separation because
demonstration plant in Moses Lake, Wash. a proprietary mix of enzymes that yields of their poor structural and
to make several end products at 10 times sugars — is more efficient by a factor of chemical stability in liquids.
Now, researchers from King
the volume of its initial pilot plant. The pro- 10 compared to untreated biomass and
Abdullah University of Science
cess consists of three major steps. First, significantly more productive than biomass and Technology (KAUST; Thu-
waste agricultural biomass, such as corn treated with acids. The predominant sug- wai, Saudia Arabia; https://
cobs, corn stover, sugarcane bagasse and ars obtained are xylose and glucose, which kaust.edu.sa) have developed
others, are milled to a particular particle- can be fermented or otherwise chemically a synthetic approach that
size range, depending on the feedstock transformed into a range of products, in- produces well-ordered mi-
used. Next, the biomass is passed below a cluding ethanol, polylactic acid, succinic croporous materials that are
beam of accelerated electrons, which col- acid and others. stabilized by covalent keto–
lide with the atoms of the biomass, causing The key advantages of the process include enamine linkages.
electrons to be ejected from the plant mate- relatively low-cost process equipment (no The new membranes, de-
scribed in a recent issue of J.
rial (diagram). high temperatures or pressures are required),
Am. Chem. Soc., are said to
“The collisions, and subsequent ejection low water use and waste production, fast pro- outperform amorphous ana-
of electrons leave the material in an ionized cessing times for the electron pre-treatment logues and the best polymer-
state,” explains Craig Masterman, Xyleco’s (a few seconds), and generation of products based systems. The organic
chief technology officer. “This charged state that are well suited to downstream process- solvent permeability of the
is unstable, so the long chains that make up ing. Masterman points out, for example, that new membranes is almost
the polymer strands of the biomass fracture acid pre-treatment generally destroys most an order of magnitude higher
and break apart.” of the xylose contained in the biomass (about than that of the best-reported
The molecular weight of the polymers 40% of the total sugars) and produces toxic polymer membranes, says
is reduced in this way by 95% or more, compounds, such as hydroxymethylfurfural KAUST. The membranes are
said to be more stable than
Masterman says, although to the naked (HMF), which inhibit downstream processing,
MOFs and more cost-effective
eye, the processed material appears iden- including fermentation.
than inorganic membranes. ❑
Making formaldehyde from methane, without generating CO2
R
esearchers from South Korea quired for a reaction that changes the team utilized hydrothermal synthesis
have discovered a high- chemical structure of methane. Vana- followed by atomic layer deposition
performance catalyst for the dium oxide (V2O2) and molybdenum to prepare the catalyst based on the
selective oxidation of meth- oxide (MoO3) were known to be the novel SiO2@V2O5@Al2O3 core@shell
ane to formaldehyde. The study was best catalysts, but the conversion of nanostructures. The thickness of
conducted by staff from Ulsan Na- methane to formaldehyde is low (less Al2O3 shells over SiO2@V2O5 cores
tional Institute of Science and Tech- than 10%). can be tuned by controlling the num-
nology (Ulsan; www.unist.ac.kr), Ajou The catalyst developed by the ber of atomic layer deposition cycles.
University (Suwon; www.ajou.ac.kr) Korean team has a core-shell struc- With this catalyst the efficiency of
and Hanyang University (Seoul; www. ture consisting of vanadium oxide conversion of methane to formalde-
hanyang.ac.kr), and led by Ulsan’s nanoparticles surrounded by a thin hyde increased by more than 22%.
professor Kwang-jin Ahn. aluminum film. The shell protects the Ahn says the team plans to further de-
Methane is very stable and does not grain and keeps the catalyst stable velop the catalyst manufacturing tech-
react easily with other substances. and maintains stability and reactiv- nology and the catalytic action in order
Temperatures above 600°C are re- ity even at high temperatures. The to move to industrial application. n

Business News
LINEUP Plant Watch Kemira to increase production of
emulsion polymers at Alabama site
Sasol begins operating LLDPE
ARKEMA February 8, 2019 — Kemira Oyj (Helsinki,
unit at Lake Charles site
BASF February 13, 2019 — Sasol Ltd. (Johannesburg, Finland; www.kemira.com) has announced
South Africa; www.sasol.co.za) announced a two-year investment of around €60 million
CABOT to significantly increase production of high-
that its new linear low-density polyethylene
CELANESE (LLDPE) unit in Lake Charles, La. has achieved molecular-weight emulsion polymers at its
beneficial operations. The LLDPE unit, which manufacturing site in Mobile, Ala. Construction
CHEMOURS
uses Univation Technologies’ (Houston; is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of
CHEVRON www.univation.com) Unipol PE process 2019 with full commercial operation starting
to produce 470,000 metric tons per year in early 2021.
DAELIM
(m.t./yr) of LLDPE, is one of two LLDPE plants
DE NORA at the site. The second, a 420,000-m.t./yr plant Saudi Aramco, Total and Daelim sign MOU
ECOLAB using process technology from ExxonMobil to build new polyisobutylene plant
Corp. (Irving, Tex.; www.exxonmobil.com), February 1, 2019 — Saudi Aramco (Dhahran,
ENI is scheduled to come online later this year. Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com), Total
HOLLYFRONTIER S.A. (Paris, France; www.total.com) and Daelim
Arkema opens new polyester-resin (Seoul, South Korea; www.daelim.co.kr) signed
JOHNSON MATTHEY a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to
manufacturing facility in India
KEMIRA February 13, 2019 — Arkema (Colombes, France; build a new 80,000-m.t./yr polyisobutylene
www.arkema.com) inaugurated a new polyester- plant, which is expected to come onstream
PETROBRAS in 2024. The new petrochemicals facility, to
resin manufacturing facility in Navi Mumbai,
PRAXAIR Maharashtra, India. This $15-million investment be located in Saudi Arabia, will use feedstock
includes production capabilities for polyester from Saudi Aramco and Total’s joint Amiral
SABIC
powder resins marketed under the Reafree trade petrochemicals complex in Jubail.
SASOL name. Arkema also produces Reafree resins and
SAUDI ARAMCO runs powder-coating laboratories at its facilities Celanese to expand Clear Lake
in Sant Celoni, Spain and North Kansas City, Mo. acetic acid plant
SIBUR January 28, 2019 — Celanese Corp. (Dallas,
Chemours triples low-GWP refrigerant Tex.; www.celanese.com) announced that its
TOTAL
production with startup of new plant Clear Lake, Tex. acetic acid facility will be
VALMET February 12, 2019 — The Chemours Co. expanded from 1.3 million m.t./yr to around
(Wilmington, Del.; www.chemours.com) started 2.0 million m.t./yr by late 2021. This project
up a new Opteon YF (HFO-1234yf) low global- delivers rate flexibility and a platform that is
warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant production expandable by an additional 600,000 m.t./yr.
facility at its Corpus Christi manufacturing plant
in Ingleside, Tex. This $300-million facility will BASF opens first phase of new
enable Chemours to triple the global capacity antioxidants plant in Shanghai
of its hydrofluoroolefin (HFO) 1234yf-based January 25, 2019 — BASF SE (Ludwigshafen,
refrigerant products. Germany; www.basf.com) inaugurated a new
antioxidants manufacturing plant at its Caojing
Sibur to expand polybutadiene site in Shanghai, China. With a capacity of
rubber production capacity 42,000 m.t./yr, the plant will produce antioxidants
February 12, 2019 — Sibur (Moscow; www. and associated forms and blends for the
sibur.com) has launched an investment plastic-additives market.
project aimed at enhancing polybutadiene
rubber (Nd-BR) production at its Voronezh Mergers & Acquisitions
facility in Russia. A capacity ramp-up of Eni and Sabic to collaborate on new
13,000 m.t./yr will increase total capacity to natural-gas conversion technology
48,000 m.t./yr. Currently, the project is in the February 8, 2019 — Eni S.p.A. (Rome, Italy;
design stage, with completion slated for 2021. www.eni.com) and The Saudi Basic Industries
Corp. (Sabic; Riyadh; www.sabic.com) agreed
Praxair to double capacity at to jointly develop a technology for natural gas
Missouri air-separation plant conversion into syngas that can be further
February 11, 2019 — Praxair, Inc. (Danbury, transformed into high-value fuels and chemicals,
Conn.; www.praxair.com) will expand production such as methanol. The partnership will involve,
capacity at its Neosho, Mo. air-separation plant among other activities, the construction of an
in response to the growing demand in Missouri industrial demonstration plant that will be built
and neighboring parts of Arkansas, Oklahoma and operated inside one of Eni’s industrial sites.
Look for more and Kansas. The project is expected to be This process was initially developed by Eni
latest news on completed in 2020 and will double capacity and was subsequently coupled with Sabic’s
chemengonline.com at the Neosho facility. short-contact-time reactor technologies.
De Nora acquires MIOX business Cabot to divest its Specialty Fluids Kemira and Valmet partner on
from Johnson Matthey business for $135 million sludge and water treatment
February 7, 2019 — Industrie De Nora January 31, 2019 — Cabot Corp. January 23, 2019 — Kemira and
S.p.A. (De Nora; Milan, Italy; www.denora. (Boston, Mass.; www.cabot-corp. Valmet Oyj (Espoo, Finland; www.
com) has acquired the Albuquerque- com) has entered into a definitive valmet.com) have signed a partnership
based MIOX business from Johnson agreement to sell its Specialty Fluids agreement to collaborate on water-
Matthey plc (London, U.K.; www.matthey. business to Sinomine (Hong Kong) Rare and sludge-treatment applications.
com) for an undisclosed price. MIOX Metals Resources Co. in a transaction The agreement combines Kemira’s
specializes in proprietary mixed oxidants valued at $135 million. The transaction chemistry and process optimization
for onsite water purification, including is expected to close in the third quarter expertise with Valmet’s analyzer and
electrochemical, disinfection, oxidation of 2019 and is subject to customary measurement technologies. ■
and filtration processes. closing conditions. Mary Page Bailey
Ecolab to spin off Upstream

Energy business segments
February 7, 2019 — Ecolab Inc. (St.
Paul, Minn.; www.ecolab.com) plans to
spin off its Upstream Energy business
units as a standalone publicly traded
company. The Upstream Energy business
currently operates within Ecolab’s Energy
segment and consists of its oilfield
chemicals production business and the
WellChem drilling and well-completion Your Valve and
chemistry business. Ecolab plans to
retain the Downstream business, Instrumentation
which serves petroleum refineries and
petrochemical plants. The Upstream Partner
Energy business had 2018 sales of
approximately $2.4 billion.
GEMÜ Valves features
HollyFrontier completes
acquisition of Sonneborn diaphragm valves,
February 7, 2019 — HollyFrontier Corp.
(Dallas, Tex.; www.hollyfrontier.com) butterfly valves, angle
completed the previously announced
acquisition of Sonneborn U.S. Holdings seat and globe valves,
Inc. and Sonneborn Coöperatief U.A. lined metal valves,
for $655 million. Sonneborn is one of
the world’s largest dedicated suppliers flow measurement,
of white oils, petrolatums and waxes,
and operates manufacturing facilities and multiport
in North America and Europe.
block valves.
Chevron to acquire Pasadena
refining assets from Petrobras
February 1, 2019 — Chevron Corp.
(San Ramon, Calif.; www.chevron.com)
signed a share-purchase agreement
with Petrobras America Inc., a
U.S.-based subsidiary of Petróleo
Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras; Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil; www.petrobras.com.
br), to acquire all shares and equity
interests of Pasadena Refining System,
Inc. (PSRI), including the 110,000-bbl/d 3800 Camp Creek Parkway • Building 2600 • Suite 120
petroleum refinery in Pasadena, Tex., Atlanta, GA 30331 • 678-553-3400 • info@gemu.com
and PRSI Trading, LLC, for $350 million.
The acquisition will add to Chevron’s www.gemu.com
refining network, which currently
includes facilities in Pascagoula, Miss.,
El Segundo and Richmond, Calif. and
Salt Lake City, Utah. For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/73852-22
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
chemEng201811_gemu_isld.indd 1
WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM MARCH 2019 13PM
10/9/2018 5:24:35
Newsfront
Chemical Recycling Makes

Waste Plastic a Resource
With an eye toward a circular economy, technology developers are advancing a host of new
approaches to chemical recycling of post-use commodity plastics
P
IN BRIEF lastics are indispensable parts of al- The majority of plastic-recycling processes
PET UPCYCLING
most every sector of the economy, today are mechanical, where waste thermo-
with wide-ranging economic, envi- plastic material from end-use products are
MAKING MIXED STREAMS ronmental and convenience benefits melted and used as a component of another
WORK in their use stage. But increasingly, the sheer manufactured product. While improvements
PLASTICS FROM volume of plastics produced (estimated at continue to be made in this area (for ex-
PYROLYSIS OILS well over 300 million metric tons annually) ample, in spectral identification and sorting
presents environmental risks if the material is of plastic items), it is clear that mechanical
COORDINATED EFFORTS
IN PLASTICS RECYCLING
not captured, and represents a waste of re- recycling processes alone are not sufficient
sources if the material is disposed of in land- to handle the volume of plastic recycling that
fills. Currently, only a small fraction of com- is required to shift society toward a circular
modity plastics are recycled globally (some economy with regard to plastic.
estimates peg the number at 14%), while the “Making meaningful progress on the prob-
majority end up in landfills, incinerators or in lems we are facing related to plastic waste
the environment, particularly the ocean. will take a truly global effort — it needs to be
The past two years have seen an accel- ‘all hands on deck,’” says John Thayer, head
eration and expansion of efforts aimed at of polyethylene business at NOVA Chemicals
addressing the issues associated with waste (Calgary, Canada, www.novachem.com).
plastic. Stakeholders from several industries The limitations of existing recycling pro-
and from along the plastic value chain are cesses and the push toward circular econ-
involved in a host of plastic-waste initiatives omy ideals has driven development of chem-
(see box, p. 18). One aspect of the overall ical recycling processes — those in which
effort is to foster the idea that plastic waste polymers are taken back to their monomers.
can be a resource and that even single-use This class of processes need to be devel-
plastics have value after they are discarded. oped and deployed at scale to complement
Jeff Wooster, global sustainability director existing mechanical recycling efforts. “Plas-
with Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics tics are too valuable of a resource to end up
(Midland, Mich.; www.dow.com), says “We as litter or trash,” NOVA’s Thayer comments.
are operating in a resource-constrained “One hundred percent of plastics should be
world, so we need to keep driving toward reused, recycled or recovered and regener-
a circular economy. If plastics are landfilled, ated. We believe that chemical monomer re-
we lose their value. We put energy and recovery is the best long-term solution, where
sources into making those materials, and end-of-life plastics become feedstock that is
that is lost if we landfill the waste plastic. Re- chemically indistinguishable from fossil-fuel-
cycling and energy recovery can retain the sourced monomer.”
value of those materials for society.” Presented here are several advancements
in chemical recycling processes, in- ter monomers, so it depolymerizes
cluding several technologies that PET only, and leaves other plastics,
have recently been, or are soon to such as polypropylene (PP) and
be, scaled up. high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in-
tact, explains Nelson Switzer, Loop’s
PET upcycling chief growth officer. This means that
A sizeable amount of activity in the Loop’s technology can use low-
recycling field surrounds polyeth- value mixed streams of plastic and
ylene terephthalate (PET), a widely still yield virgin quality monomers.
used polyester that appears in many Because of this, the monomers can
packaging and clothing applica- be separated easily from the pro-
tions, among others. Among the cess to produce food-grade qual-
major commodity plastics, PET has ity Loop-branded PET. “Essentially,
the highest recycle rates (near 30%), Loop’s monomers become a drop-
although much of the PET waste in substitute for petroleum-derived
that is recycled goes into lower- monomers,” Switzer says.
value materials. Loop has established an industrial-
“Some effective recycling pro- scale pilot plant near Montreal, and
cesses exist for PET, but they re- is currently developing a full-scale
quire uniform streams of material, commercial plant through a 50/50
and generally result in products that joint venture with Indorama Ventures.
are not likely to be recycled them- Loop and Indorama are retrofitting an
FOR ALL
selves,” says Gihan Hewage, Lux existing Indorama plant with the Loop
Research Inc. (Boston, Mass.; www. technology to make Loop-branded
luxresearchinc.com) analyst and PET resin. The commercial plant is
co-author of a forthcoming report expected to be operational in 2020.
on waste products, entitled “Waste Loop also has an alliance with thys-
VALVES
Conversion Innovations to Enable a senkrupp Indusrial Solutions to inte-
Circular Economy.” “There are now grate the companies’ technologies.
a number of companies developing Switzer points out that there are
technology for PET waste that allows many advantages of Loop’s tech-
a more circular path for PET, and that nology compared to conventional
can result in products from recycled and mechanically recycled PET pro-
PET waste that are indistinguishable cesses: notably the vast number of Electric actuators for industrial
from petroleum-derived PET.” sources of PET and polyester fiber valve automation in all market
Among this group of companies is waste from up and down the PET
Loop Industries (Montreal, Canada; value chain that can be used to pro- segments
www.loopindustries.com). Loop has duce Loop-branded PET. “We can Reliable and long-term service.
developed a technology that uses a use no-value or low-value PET waste AUMA offers a comprehensive
catalytic process to convert low- or that no one else wants,” he says.
actuator portfolio.
no-value waste PET and polyester While the company won’t comment
fiber (plastic bottles and packaging, on costs, it says customers have ■ Customized solutions thanks to
carpet and polyester textile of any agreed to its pricing. the modular scheme
color, transparency or condition and Meanwhile, Carbios (Clermont- ■ Integration into all conventional
even ocean plastics that have been Limagne, France; www.carbios.fr)
degraded by the sun and salt) into is taking a biological approach to control systems
virgin-quality monoethylene glycol depolymerizing PET. The company ■ Variable speed for high precision
(MEG) and dimethyl terephthalate has developed a “biorecycling,” pro- control
(DMT) for the manufacture of virgin- cess, where waste PET bottles and ■ Wide ambient temperature range
grade Loop-branded PET resin and fibers are crushed and ground to
polyester fiber. powder, then placed in a bioreactor ■ High corrosion protection
In Loop’s process, waste PET, and heated to 65˚C at atmospheric ■ Service worldwide
which the company refers to as pressure. Specially bioengineered
“feedstock,” is introduced into a enzymes are added to de-polymer- Find out more on our
vessel at ambient temperature and ize, in less than 16 hours, the PET automation solutions
pressure along with Loop’s propri- into monomers, MEG and PTA (pu- www.auma-usa.com
etary and patented catalyst and a rified terephthalic acid). Carbios has
carrier agent. The catalyst selects developed a proprietary filtration
only the bonds between the polyes- and purification process to generate

BioCellection
and fed into a flow-through reactor,
where the microwaves, generated
by a standard magnetron, pen-
etrate the mixture to aid the reac-
tion and formation of MEG and PTA
products. The company has built a
demonstration-scale reactor and is
currently building a demonstration
plant in Italy that will process 1,000
ton/yr of PET feedstock. The dem-
onstration plant will be completed at
the end of 2019 or early 2020. The
company’s vision is to build plants
close to cities to reduce the need to
transport waste PET feedstock. It is
going to partner with a mechanical
recycler to handle the waste PET
that is not used.
In yet another approach, Ioniqa
Technologies (Eindhoven, the Neth-
erlands; www.ioniqa.com) is using
an iron-based ionic liquid in a pro-
FIGURE 1. Several companies are developing chemical recycling approaches to handle low-value mixed prietary technology that is able to
plastics. Among them is BioCellection, whose founders are shown here inspecting mixed plastic waste that convert any PET waste, including
could be a feedstock for its process to make chemical intermediates from such plastic
colored packaging, back into trans-
high-purity monomers that can be which has expertise in PET plants. parent virgin grade material. The
re-polymerized by PET producers Infinite recycling of PET is possible, technology has successfully passed
into high-quality PET with 100% re- Audebert comments. Carbios is its pilot stage and is now moving to-
cycled material. working on enzymes for breaking wards testing at an industrial scale.
The enzymes are extracted from down other polymers, and is also Ioniqa, a spin-off business from
naturally occurring bacteria that can involved with technology for embed- the Eindhoven University of Technol-
break down PET, explains Carbios ding specialized enzymes into sin- ogy, has formed a partnership with
engineer Benjamin Audebert. “The gle-use films of bio-based polylactic Unilever, and the largest global pro-
enzymes have been engineered and acid, so the plastic breaks down in ducer of PET resin, Indorama Ven-
optimized by our teams to be highly an ecofriendly manner just after use. tures, to develop the new technol-
selective for PET, so only the PET is In Switzerland, Gr3n Recycling ogy which converts PET waste back
digested. In this way, the process (Lugano, Switzerland; www.gr3n- into virgin-grade material for use in
can handle mixed-plastic streams,” recycling.com) is also taking aim at food packaging. Ioniqa’s Magnetic
he says. Because PET is broken PET, but instead of biological aids, Smart Process is based on its pro-
down selectively, other polymers are they are using microwave technol- prietary Magnetic Fluid Catalyst (an
alone and can be separated. “The ogy to assist the depolymerization iron-based ionic liquid). The platform
enzyme does the sorting for you,” reactions of PET plastic into its technology is also being used in
Audebert comments, “so you can constituent monomers. Gr3n’s pro- other applications beyond recycling.
use low-value mixed plastics materi- cess uses a saponification reaction In a process that was previously
als as feedstock.” with sodium hydroxide in water to reported in this magazine (Chem.
The enzyme’s active sites cleave break down the polymer. The key Eng., November 2016, p. 8 and Au-
the ester bonds of PET. Carbios innovation is the application of mi- gust 2018, p. 5), the BCD Group
generated detailed models of the crowaves to the reaction to speed it (Cincinnati, Ohio; www.bcdinterna-
enzyme and its interaction with the up. “The microwaves act like a cata- tional.com) developed a modified
polymer chains. The company will lyst,” says Mauricio Crippa, CEO of base-catalyzed decomposition pro-
launch construction of a demon- Gr3n. “The microwaves reduce the cess for removing dyes from PET
stration plant for this biorecycling reaction times from multiple hours fabrics, and separating cotton from
technology in June 2019. It will be down to several minutes. Although cotton-polyester blend textiles and
operational by the Q4 2020, Aude- the mechanistic details of how the fabrics is now being applied to bot-
bert says. Carbios will then license microwaves catalyze the reaction at tles made from PET.
its technology for a commercial- the molecular level are not clear, the
scale facility to be fully operational by process works on densified polyes- Making mixed streams work
2023. They are enlisting the help of ter fibers and on PET plastic. One of the most difficult problems
the German division of Technip FMC, The recycled waste is ground up in plastics recycling is multi-com-
Carbios
FIGURE 2. Carbios is developing an enzyme-based process to selectively de-polymerize PET from

streams of mixed plastic waste in an effort to obtain high-purity monomers for new PET
ponent plastic packaging films. result of the process are sorted re-
The use of these layered materials granulates (for example, PE and PA)
is widespread, and confers desir- with very high purity. The re-granu-
able functionality to the films in lates are suitable to use them again
use. Examples are PE/PA, PE/PP, in demanding applications, such as
PE/PET. But the layering makes flexible packaging, Riedl says, so
recycling the films after use prob- “we are offering an active contribu-
lematic. A recently commercialized tion to the circular economy and
technology from APK AG (Merse- help to achieve the growing recy-
burg, Germany; www.apk-ag.de) cling targets set by the industry and
is aimed directly at this problem. legislation.”
The company’s NewCycling tech- The APK solvents are removed
nology allows the recycling of from the plastic polymer to lev-
multi-layer flexible films in packag- els below 1,000 parts per million,
ing applications. Riedl says, and the pure stream
“In commonly used mechani- of polymer is then sent to an ex-
cal recycling processes, multi-layer truder, where it is pelletized for sale
films end-up in many cases in incin- to makers of plastic films for pack-
eration or are recycled to re-gran- aging. The solvents are recovered
ulates with a quality just suitable for re-use in the process. One initial
for low-value applications, such as application will be for non-food-
grass pavers or pallets,” says Flo- contact plastic pouches for laundry
rian Riedl, director of business de- detergent, Riedl notes.
velopment at APK. After developing the process at
APK developed NewCycling as pilot scale for the past three years,
a way to separate the polymers in APK has built its first commercial-
multilayer films so they can be used scale production line for making
in applications normally for virgin- plastic pellets from recycled mul-
grade polymers. In NewCycling, the tilayer films. The plant, located in
polymers are dissolved selectively Merseburg, Germany, began pro-
by specially designed polymer-spe- duction of pellets last month. The
cific solvents. One component of plant is capable of producing 8,000
the multi-layer film is dissolved while ton/yr of pellets from post-industrial
the other is left as a solid. Then the waste (off-specification film mate-
two components (solid of one spe- rial). APK is planning to build a sec-
cies and liquid of another) are sepa- ond commercial plant to produce For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/73852-09
rated using a rotating system. The plastics from post-consumer waste

One example of this is BASF SE’s
COORDINATED EFFORTS IN PLASTICS RECYCLING (Ludwigshafen, Germany; www.basf.
The following are short descriptions of some selected consortia, alliances and collaborations com) ChemCycling project. In late
that are aimed at various pieces of the plastics recycling movement.
Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW; www.endplasticwaste.org). Launched in January
2018, BASF announced the first pilot
2019, AEPW is an alliance of nearly 30 global member companies from across the plastics products made from oils derived from
and consumer goods value chain. The alliance has committed over $1.0 billion, with the goal the thermochemical decomposition
of investing $1.5 billion over the next five years to help end plastic waste in the environment. of recycled plastic waste for which
The Alliance will develop and bring to scale solutions that will minimize and manage plastic no recycling solutions currently exist.
waste and promote solutions for used plastics by helping to enable a circular economy, ac- Using oils from plastic waste gener-
cording to AEPW. Member companies include BASF, Braskem, Chevron Phillips Chemicals,
ated by partner Recenso, BASF put
Clariant, Covestro, LyondellBasell, NOVA Chemicals, Sasol, Total, Veolia and others.
Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF; www.materialsrecoveryforthefuture.com). MRFF the material into its steam cracker at
was formed by the non-profit arm of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) to foster the ad- Ludwigshafen to make ethylene and
dition of flexible plastic packaging to the recycling stream. MRFF is trying to install sorters that propylene. From these olefins, BASF
can separate flexible packaging from recycled streams, so that consumers can include flexible made plastic packaging for mozza-
packaging into their regular recycling bins. Members include the Dow Chemical Co., PepsiCo, rella cheese, for example.
SC Johnson, Nestle, the Association of Plastics Recyclers, Target Stores and others. Another similar arrangement was
CEFLEX (www.ceflex.eu) CEFLEX is the collaborative project of a European consortium of
companies representing the entire value chain of flexible packaging and continues the work
recently established by Plastic En-
of Project REFLEX and Project FIACE. ergy Ltd. (London, U.K.; www.plas-
Recycle Across America (RAA; www.recycleacrossamerica.org). RAA created the world's ticenergy.com), which has developed
first and only society-wide standardized labeling system for recycling bins to make it easier a process for making a raw mate-
for people to participate in recycling programs. The standardized labels are proven to help rial feedstock from mixed plastics
increase recycling levels and significantly decrease the costly garbage thrown in recycling known as Tacoil. Tacoil results from
bins, RAA says.
the recycling of low-quality, mixed
Project STOP (Stop Ocean Plastics; www.systemiq.earth) is a frontline initiative to prevent
ocean plastic leakage in Southeast Asia. Its partners include Borealis, SYSTEMIQ, the Gov-
plastic waste otherwise destined for
ernment of Norway, NOVA Chemicals, Borouge and Veolia and Nestlé. incineration or landfill. The upgraded
pyrolysis oil will yield a cracker feed-
stock with similar characteristics and
in the form of mixed films fractions of the catalyst. They are now de- quality as the fossil-based naphtha
from recycling sorting centers. signing a commercial pilot plant feedstock, the company says. The
In another approach aimed at re- that integrates all the components naphtha cracking process yields
cycling waste plastic that is not cur- of the process and aims to vali- the same monomers, such as eth-
rently recycled, BioCellection Inc. date the complete process, Freer ylene and propylene, that are used
(Menlo Park, Calif.; www.biocellec- says. In 2018, the company won to manufacture low-density polyeth-
tion.com) has developed a novel cat- a $100,000 award from UCLA and ylene (LDPE), high-density polyethyl-
alytic process that can break down the Anthony and Jeanne Pritzker ene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP).
PE into dicarboxylic acids, which Foundation for emerging environ- A partnership between Plastic En-
can then be used as intermediates mental projects. ergy and SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Ara-
to synthesize other chemicals. The bia; www.sabic.com) was recently
proprietary process is designed to Products from pyrolysis oil announced where SABIC is building
work on PE films that are generally One approach to addressing the a facility in Geleen, the Netherlands
not being recycled currently, explains problems associated with recycling to make plastics out of Tacoil. At
Erik Freer, BioCellection chief tech- mixed-stream plastics is to break the recent World Economic Forum
nology officer. down the plastics via thermochemi- in Davos, Switzerland, SABIC an-
The overall process designed by cal means, such as pyrolysis (thermal nounced that the line of certified
the company effectively recovers decomposition in the absence of ox- circular polymers made from Tacoil
and recycles the catalyst, using ygen), then separate them into frac- will be used by key SABIC custom-
mild temperatures and pressures to tions, similar to the refining of crude ers Unilever, Vinventions and Walki
keep costs low. “The raw-materials oil. The wax/oil mix from plastic can Group for packaging solutions for
costs for our process are much then be fed to steam crackers to be a variety of consumer packaging in
lower than existing processes for made into olefins for plastic produc- the food, beverage, personal- and
making dicarboxylic acids,” Freer tion. A number of companies are op- home-care markets. Those products
says, so it is a good way to create erating in this area, including Cynar will be introduced into the market
a high-value chemical intermediate (Ireland), Recycling Technologies Inc. this year. The plant in Geleen is an-
from waste plastic. (U.K.), Plastic Energy Ltd. (U.K.) and ticipated to enter commercial pro-
After a bench-scale demonstra- Recenso GmbH (Germany). The out- duction in 2021. n
tion, the company built a pre-pilot lets for this material are expanding as Scott Jenkins
unit that is an order of magnitude the companies are partnering with Editor's note: For more information about
larger than the bench-scale sys- others who can use the products plastics recycling supply chains and recyling
hurdles, see the online version of this article at www.
tem to validate the effectiveness from the pyrolyzed plastic. chemengonline.com.

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Newsfront
Flow Monitoring for Today’s

Chemical Processes
New technologies provide diagnostics and calibration verification to improve maintenance and
process efficiency
B
IN BRIEF ecause many processes in the SOR
PROPER METER chemical process industries (CPI)

SELECTION are controlled by flow, it is impor-
tant that the technology selected
HIGH-VALUE PRODUCTS
for flow monitoring and measurement is not
AND SAFETY
only suitable for the application, but also
WORKFORCE AND able to withstand harsh environments and
DIAGNOSTICS demanding conditions. Due to the high value
of the materials being processed, it’s also
imperative that the technology provides the
necessary level of accuracy and repeatabil-
ity. In addition, loss of knowledge and other
workforce challenges currently being expe-
rienced in industry necessitate that instru-
ments provide diagnostics and other helpful
features. FIGURE 1: The SOR T21 Thermal Differential Flow Switch can
be used for difficult applications, such as upset conditions
“So many processes in the chemical indus- that normally are running at a very low flowrate to a very
try rely upon flow to ensure the right amount high flowrate
of material comes in at the right time for a
chemical reaction to properly occur. Choos- you want to pay particular attention to the
ing the wrong instrument or one with poor installation practices, because you can pur-
accuracy in the application could amount chase the right technology but if you don’t
to failure of process or cause unacceptable ensure proper installation, you may receive
product loss, resulting in lost revenue,” says an inaccurate flowrate, no matter the accu-
Michael Bequette, vice president of engineer- racy of the selected meter.”
ing with SOR (Lenexa, Kan.; www.sorinc. In other words, different conditions may
com). “Therefore, the technology has to be impact the accuracy of the meter. For ex-
appropriate for the application. Further, flow ample, vibration will render ultrasonic or Co-
instrumentation that offers measurement veri- riolis meter measurements inaccurate, but if
fication and/or diagnostics is trending now the flowmeter is placed in a location where
because these features help increase accu- the piping doesn’t have much vibration or if
racy, reduce costs and simplify maintenance.” dampeners are attached to the pipe to pre-
vent vibration, the reading will be more accu-
Proper meter selection rate. “There are a lot of techniques that can
According to Bequette, selection of the right be employed when designing the system,
meter for the application, paying attention but processors have to be aware of how dif-
to installation practices and knowing your ferent operating conditions can impact dif-
specific process conditions and challenges ferent technologies and their accuracy and
are key to achieving the most accurate flow- proceed accordingly,” says Bequette.
monitoring system. “The first step is pair- It’s also important to know the specific
ing the right technology with the process,” challenges of the process environment and
he says. “If a magmeter is installed in a fluid how they may affect accuracy of the flow
that’s not conductive, the meter simply isn’t measurement. “There are quite a few chal-
going to work. The technology has to be ap- lenges in the chemical processing industry,
propriate for the application. Beyond that, including contamination buildup in the lines,
Schneider Electric Fluid Components International
FIGURE 2. Schneider Electric’s CFT51 Coriolis flow-

meter can handle two-phase flows, such as gas
and liquid, with accuracy in a chemical process
high temperatures, corrosive mate-

rials, material phase changes, bub-
bles and dynamic ranges,” explains
Bequette. “So it’s important to know FIGURE 3. FCI’s ST100 Series thermal mass flowmeters offer an embedded no-cost dry method and a
the specific challenges in your pro- true wet method in-situ calibration verification
cess and select the technology that all of a sudden, you have an upset or very high flow conditions.” Be-
can best address them.” condition and the flowrate is twenty quette notes that thermal dispersion
For example, he says dynamic times what you typically experience technology might be the right choice
ranges are common in many appli- and, depending on the technology for applications that experience dy-
cations. “You may be measuring a used, that flowmeter may not be namic ranges (Figure 1).
flowrate on a flare stack, but then, able to adequately detect very low In other processes, multi-phase
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Endress+Hauser A.W. Lake
ment and attrition and losing these
experienced people not only limits
the knowledge of the rest of the
plant, but it puts stress on the work-
ers who are left because they don’t
have the history to know how to
address the root cause of the prob-
lem,” says Mike Klein, vice president
of chemical industry marketing with
Emerson Automation Solutions (St.
FIGURE 4. Endress+Hauser’s Promass Q Coriolis
flowmeter features on-board diagnostics and Louis, Mo.; www.emerson.com).
Heartbeat Technology to ensure product and pro- “Another result is that fewer people
cess safety are working the plant, so the work-
flow may be an issue, says Wade load is higher for those who remain.
Mattar, flow marketing manager with For these reasons, it is imperative
Schneider Electric (formerly Foxboro; FIGURE 5. A.W. Lake’s FAC sensors are equipped that the devices provide trustwor-
with Bluetooth connectivity, allowing them to send
Foxboro, Mass.; www.schneider- diagnostic and other information to mobile devices thy, accurate and reliable data that
electric.us). “Often they may have liq- really allow the users to have a good
uid and gas mixed in a line — a chal- into containers or unloading tank decision-making process.”
lenging application — and this may trucks. On top of that, there may be To assist, providers of flow mea-
create bubbles in the flow, which fur- regulatory involvement in the mix and surement devices are working to
ther adds to the difficulty in achieving the equipment may be audited to en- provide instruments that offer helpful
an accurate measurement,” he says. sure it is accurate.” features, such calibration verification
“For these difficult conditions, it’s im- Safety, adds SOR’s Bequette, is and diagnostic capabilities.
portant to select a technology, such another area of concern for flow- “There is a lot of innovation at the
as a Coriolis meter, that can handle meter accuracy. “If the flowmeter is flowmeter level in making the meters
them with accuracy” (Figure 2). not accurate and there is a chemi- more reliable and accurate because
Mattar continues: “Processors cal coming in for a reaction, poor a measurement a user doesn’t trust
often don’t realize that one size does accuracy could result in an unstable is a useless measurement,” says
not fit all when it comes to flow mea- reaction,” he says. Cooling water is Schneider Electric’s Mattar. “So the
surement. That’s why there is a vari- another example. If enough cooling current trend includes providing on-
ety of flowmeter types; each one is water isn’t introduced due to an in- board verification of accuracy and
designed for a specific type of ap- accurate flowrate, runaway temper- health of the measurement.”
plication and to handle specific pro- atures, and the hazards associated For instance, in its Coriolis meters,
cess challenges. Selecting the right with those conditions, could result. Schneider Electric offers flowmeter
one for the application and environ- Unfortunately, at the same time verification technology that alerts
ment will help ensure a more accu- as the need for greater accuracy users if the instrument has varied
rate reading.” is increasing, industry is also going from its as-built performance. “Users
through a period of workforce chal- can check on a scheduled frequency
High-value products and safety lenges, including retirement, attrition from the instrument itself whether the
Accurate readings are a neces- and associated loss of knowledge, device is still working as designed,”
sity in today’s CPI. “Manufacturers which have led to fewer, less expe- explains Matter.
of flow equipment need to ensure rienced workers taking on more re- Before such capabilities, the only
that meters and instruments are ac- sponsibilities. How does this affect way to verify a flowmeter was to re-
curate, because chemical proces- flow monitoring accuracy? Accuracy move it from the process and send
sors are usually working with large of readings requires calibration verifi- it out to have the calibration verified.
quantities of valuable materials and cation, and this is a notoriously labor- Randall Brown, director of market-
they want to be able to accurately intensive and costly task, requiring ing with Fluid Components Interna-
control and monitor them to avoid scheduled maintenance. Further, drift tional (FCI; San Marcos, Calif.; www.
losses,” explains Adam Booth, prod- may occur prior to scheduled main- fluidcomponents.com) says verifica-
uct marketing manager — flow with tenance. When this happens, unless tion technology, such as FCI’s Veri-
Endress+Hauser (E+H; Greenwood, there are experienced operators or Cal, provides several benefits (Figure
Ind.; www.us.endress.com). maintenance technicians who real- 3). “Having a built-in, in-situ check
Schneider Electric’s Mattar agrees: ize something is “off,” there may be that can be performed on demand or
“Accuracy is king in the chemical costly product loss or quality issues, on a timed basis allows users to verify
industry where they are constantly or hazardous situations can occur. that the instrument is still as accurate
blending streams of different chemi- as when it was shipped from the fac-
cals in very precise percentages, Workforce and diagnostics tory,” he says. “The big benefit here
batching recipes for a high-quality “Industry is currently struggling with is that they don’t have to pull it out
final product or transferring product a loss of expertise due to retire- of the process, replace it with a spare
and send it back to the factory to have the calibration
verified. That procedure was very labor intensive, time
consuming and costly and resulted in downtime. And,
often users discovered that the device was still within Visit us!
calibration! So, there is an obvious time and cost savings POWTECH, Nuremberg, Germany
April 09 - 11, 2019
associated with in-situ verification capabilities.”
Hall 1, stand 1-627
Likewise, E+H has self-diagnostics, called Heartbeat,
built into its meters. “The devices are constantly moni-
toring their own health and have a verification aspect,”
says Booth. “A user can start a verification on demand
and the meter will check the sensor and check the as-
sociated electronics, and when the verification report is
complete, provide a PDF report showing what it tested
and whether the device passed or failed.”
Howard Siew, industry manager — chemical, with
E+H adds: “Heartbeat technology also enables users
to trend data so they will be able to recognize if there is
corrosion, erosion or build up and plan for maintenance
before there is an issue” (Figure 4).
“This level of intelligence, coupled with realtime and in-
process measurements, allows users to get more insight
out of the instruments and allows the instrument to be
viewed as a window into the process, giving users the
ability to plan out a maintenance schedule or determine
how often the device should be pulled out for cleaning to
minimize unplanned shutdowns,” continues Nathan He-
drick, national product manager — flow, with E+H.
Often, this intelligence is coupled with applications
SOME THINK
(apps) that are accessed via Bluetooth to provide in-
formation from remote locations, says Robert Childs,
strategic account manager with A.W. Lake (Oak Creek,
FILLING SYS-
Wis.; www.aw-lake.com). “With Bluetooth connectivity
and a mobile app, this type of diagnostic information
TEMS ARE
can be displayed in the palm of the users hand via their
phone or tablet. Set up of the instrument can also be
performed from the mobile device instead of on the face
NOT FLEXIBLE.
of the unit,” he says. “It can also be arranged so that re-
minders regarding calibration and maintenance sched-
WE THINK
ules can be sent through the app to the user” (Figure 5).
Emerson’s Klein agrees: “This is where you really start
to see the industrial internet of things (IIoT) and digita-
DIFFERENT.
lization come into play. The latest versions of electron-
ics provide more functionality because they are able to
send out more than just the primary variable and then
send it to a central management system that can iden-
tify the device’s health over time. And, if it’s tied into an
app, such as Emerson’s Insight, the platform can give At BEUMER Group, we always strive for the optimum. This
users ideas about the root cause of any problems.” is reflected by our innovative, compact high-precision form
This means, instead of an engineer having to look at fill seal system for chemical and petrochemical products:
variables and trend and graph them, the software in the BEUMER fillpac® FFS. It combines bag forming, precise product
app does the work for them and suggests that the issue filling and reliable sealing up to 2,600 bags per hour all in one
could be, for example, two-phase flow and then offers system. The robust design and low-vibration operation
suggestions on how to remedy the situation. minimise wear and tear and maintenance. This system
“Using devices that are rich in diagnostics not only integrates seamlessly into the overall BEUMER packaging
for the device, but also for the process, not only allows line concept.
processors to perform maintenance in a predictive way For more information:
versus preventive, but also helps alleviate the workplace www.beumergroup.com
challenges, such as less experienced workers, they are
currently experiencing,” says Klein. n For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/73852-06
Joy LePree
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM 23

Focus
Focus on Air Pollution Control

GEA These ceramic filters have treatment area. The resultant particle
catalysts built-in charging fields are two to three times
The BisCat filter system (photo) stronger than conventional precipi-
combines the three process stages tators and deliver higher particulate
of de-dusting, separation of acid charges, higher migration velocities
components and reduction of total and a smaller precipitator size for
hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen gas capacities from 1,000 through
(NOx) in one unit. The system uses 300,000 actual cubic feet per minute
high-temperature filters with ceramic (acfm), says the manufacturer. Unlike
elements that enable the removal of other precipitators that utilize sprays,
NOx, dioxins, mercury and volatile overflow weirs or packed marble
organic compounds (VOCs) through beds, the HEI WESP incorporates
an integrated catalyst matrix. BisCat the Ultimix Conditioning System for
ceramic catalyst filters are chemically gas saturation and collection-tube
inert and corrosion-resistant. Particle cleaning and the patented RotaBed
separation takes place with the aid Pre-Scrubber for acid removal and
of filter elements made of mineral particulate-loading reduction. Typical
fibers. These ceramic candles are applications include submicron par-
well proven and very flexible to use, ticulate-matter scrubbing, aerosols,
even with regard to modifications mists and smoke removal. — Bio-
of operating parameters, especially nomic Industries, Inc., Mahwah, N.J.
at high gas temperatures. No cool- www.bionomicind.com
ing of fluegases is required and no
thermal energy is wasted. Filter ele- Continuous monitoring of
ments are cleaned of separated dust pilot flames and flared gases
online during operation by means of The E2T Quasar 2 series of instru-
separate, compressed-air-jet pulses. ments (photo) is designed for continu-
The single or multi-sectional hous- ous-duty monitoring of pilot flame and
ings allow a maximum filter length flared gases from flares. The base sys-
of 6 m. This means that even large tem provides low-cost basic flare-pilot
gas-volume flows can be cleaned. monitoring capabilities. The advanced
By injecting lime-based reagents, in- model has an intensity milliampere
organic pollutants, such as HF, HCl (mA) output that allows for a setpoint
and SOx, can also be absorbed. mA level to be set in a user’s distrib-
Applications include the cement uted control system (DCS) for both
and glass industries, incinerators, the pilot and flaring status signals from
refineries and roasters. — GEA, the same unit. Additional add-on fea-
Düsseldorf, Germany tures are available for a configurable
Bionomic Industries www.gea.com product to meet a wide range of flare
types, monitoring requirements and
New wet electrostatic budget. Two models are available:
precipitator for control of fines Quasar 2 M8100-EXP and Quasar 2
In January, this company launched M8100-EXP Advanced. Scalable op-
its new HEI (high-energy ionizer) Wet tions are available with the advanced
Electrostatic Precipitator (WESP) version and include continuous 4–20
system (photo). Said to be a break- mA, peak hold and decay, and power
through in the advancement of state- supply with 85 to 265 V a.c. input. —
of-the-art fine-particulate-matter LumaSense Technologies, Inc., Santa
control, the HEI WESP System in- Clara, Calif.
corporates a unique discharge elec- www.lumasenseinc.com
trode technology that can be sized
to specific applications, and concen- Flowmeters with CEMS and
trates a high-intensity ionizing co- CERMS capabilities
rona in strategic areas within the col- Engineers responsible for reporting
lecting tubes instead of distributing it stack gas emissions data to fed-
LumaSense Technologies along the entire length of the tubes’ eral, state or local authorities will ap-
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number on p. 82, or use the website designation.
preciate the of calibration drift and sensor interfer- Leaks, requirements for quarterly
optional con- ence. The results of the CEMS tests SEM monitoring. Unlike flame ion-
tinuous emis- are presented as a simple pass or ization devices (FIDs), the SEM5000
sions moni- fail message on the LCD readout. — uses a patented laser technology, so
toring system Fluid Components International (FCI), there is no cross-gas effect or false
(CEMS) and San Marcos, Calif. readings due to the presence of
continuous www.fluidcomponents.com other gases or hydrocarbons as with
emissions FIDs. No flame is required, which is
rate monitor- A methane detector for a huge benefit for sampling in a po-
ing system monitoring landfill emissions tentially explosive environment. No
(CERMS) external gas bottle is required for
a p p l i c a - Fluid Components International operation, and the technology is ac-
tions pack- curate down to 0.7 parts per million
age available with the MT100 Series (ppm). — Q.E.D. Environmental Sys-
multipoint thermal mass flowmeters tems, Inc., Dexter, Mich.
(photo). When specified with the www.qedenv.com
optional CEMS and CERMS appli-
cations package, the MT100 Series A portable emissions monitor
flowmeters meet the requirements for compliance testing
of the U.S. Environmental Protec- The E8500
tion Agency’s (EPA) 40 CFR Part 60 Q.E.D Environmental Systems
PLUS emis-
and 40 CFR Part 75. This package The new Landtec SEM5000 meth- sions analyzer
provides a 24-h interval automated ane detector is suitable for land- (photo) is a
calibration drift test of low and high fill surface emissions monitoring complete, por-
span points, and interference sensor (SEM). The SEM5000 meets or ex- table tool for
check. The optional CEMS applica- ceeds U.S. Environmental Protection E PA - c o m p l i -
tions package includes both an auto- Agency (EPA) Method 21, Determi- ance level emis-
mated and on-demand self-checking nation of Volatile Organic Compound sions monitor- E Instruments International
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ing and testing. The E8500 PLUS is Wet scrubbers tailored to
ideal for regulatory and maintenance each plant’s application
use in boiler, burner, engine, turbine, Despite the recent relaxation of
furnace and other combustion appli- certain EPA standards, state and
cations. The unit features an internal local municipalities often set their
thermoelectric chiller with automatic own requirements that meet or
condensate removal and an optional exceed these federally regulated
sample-conditioning unit to minimize minimums. As the cost of non-
NOx loss from condensation. The de- compliance increases and certain
vice can be customized for up to nine regulations become more strin-
gas sensors, including electrochemi- gent, it can be a challenge to meet
cal sensors (for O2, CO, NO, NO2, emission requirements. This co
SO2 and H2S) and non-dispersive in- mpany designs and supplies wet
frared sensors (for CO2, hydrocarbons scrubbing technologies tailored to
and high CO levels). — E Instruments John Crane a plant’s needs and built to users’
International, LLC, Langhorne, Pa. exacting specifications. The line of
www.e-inst.com (photo) enables the company’s lat- jet venturis, high-energy units and
est gas-seal technology to be fitted packed towers are able to offer
Seals that significantly reduce into a larger percentage of older high removal efficiencies while
methane emissions equipment, bringing with it the ben- being optimized for minimal utility
This company recently launched efits of non-contacting design. Gas- consumption. Systems can be built
its latest gas-seal technology de- seal technology eliminates the need to handle a wide range of pollut-
signed to be retrofitted into centrifu- for oil lubrication associated with ants, including acid gases, SOx,
gal compressors with oil seals to contacting seals and the resulting NOx, ethylene oxide, VOCs and
significantly lower operating costs, need to address harmful emissions even odor control. — CR Clean Air
improve reliability and reduce meth- entrapped in the oil. — John Crane, Group, LLC, Parsippany, N.J.
ane emissions by up to 95%. The Chicago, Ill. www.crcleanair.com
Aura 120 Narrow Section gas seal www.johncrane.com Gerald Ondrey
Aseptic and High Containment

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New Products
These compressors are adaptable to fit a variety of different
designed to reduce energy use frame-deck configurations, and most
The new SM 7.5, SM 10, SM 15, makes and models of round separa-
and SFC 8 rotary-screw compres- tors can easily convert to this sys-
sors (photo) have been redesigned to tem. — Midwestern Industries, Inc.,
reduce energy consumption, extend Massillon, Ohio
service life and improve operational www.midwesternind.com Kaeser Compressors
performance. These models feature

the new Sigma 06 airend, which is A three-in-one
said to increase intake capacity when biogas-measurement device
combined with IE4 motors on the The MGP261 (photo) is said to be the
10- and 15-hp models to deliver up world’s first multigas measurement
to 10% more flow than previous ver- instrument for in-situ monitoring of
sions. The updated compressors also methane, carbon dioxide and humid-
include a dual-flow fan combined with ity, offering realtime gas composition
an external-facing cooler, resulting in data without sample extraction or
approach temperatures as low as treatment. This compact measure-
7°F. This improves the effectiveness ment instrument is Ex certified up to
of downstream dryers and filters in Zone 0, which enables inline instal-
removing contaminants that impact lation in explosive atmospheres. The
product quality and tool life. The MGP261 gives continuous readings
die-cast, sickle-shaped blade of the of methane, carbon dioxide and water
dual-flow fan reduces noise and cools vapor directly in process pipelines. It
both the drive motor and the interior is optimized for biogas production
of the machine for greater reliability. A processes, such as anaerobic diges- Midwestern Industries
built-in web server and communication of waste from agriculture, indus-
tion ports enable remote monitoring. tries and municipalities, as well as the
The SFC 8 model features a separate utilization of landfill gas. The MGP261
drive cabinet with dedicated cooling is based on this company’s patented
to protect the frequency converter Carbocap technology for infrared
and maintain optimal operating tem- gas measurement. — Vaisala Oyj,
peratures. To reduce floor space and Helsinki, Finland
installation time, these models are www.vaisala.com
also available with integrated dry-
ers. — Kaeser Compressors, Inc., Monitor CFATS compliance with
Fredericksburg, Va. this new software module
www.us.kaeser.com This company’s Compliance Manager
software module aids chemical pro-
Simplify screen changing cessors in assuring that their sites are
for separator systems compliant with the U.S. Department of
The Electro-Lift system (photo) as- Homeland Security’s Chemical Facil-
sists in expediting change times for ity Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS).
separator screens, eliminating the This module is said to be the first Vaisala
need for two people to remove each commercial relational-database soft-

frame. Electro-Lift is mounted inde- ware application designed specifically
pendently to the frame so there is to track CFATS compliance solutions
no need for it to be locked out when and security measures. The module is
working. This also enables easier ac- flexible, scalable and secure, and pro-
cess to the separator unit’s interior for vides consistent data management in
inspection and cleaning. Engineered real time, allowing users to manage all
with a 120-V sealed, gear-driven sys- of their security protocols in one place.
tem, the system is simply plugged In addition, the Compliance Manager
into an electrical outlet and only re- CFATS module allows organizations
quires a single switch for operation. to submit and track forms and reports
Unlike traditional hydraulic or pneu- related to various requirements, and
matic changing systems, the frames it also identifies and organizes the
will not fall if the power goes out dur- 18 CFATS Risk-Based Performance
ing screen changes, according to the Standards with a company’s compli-
company. Electro-Lift systems are ance activities. As site security plans

Kelvion Holding or alternative security-program data livers an accurate, reliable, repre-
are entered, the software offers con- sentative and repeatable sample. As
tinuous, one-step documentation and with stationary samplers, the AQUA
tracking of required annual audit infor- samplers support the extraction of
mation. — Telgian Management Tech- samples from either non-pressurized
nologies, LLC, a subsidiary of Telgian or pressurized effluent-pipe sources.
Holdings, Inc., Phoenix, Ariz. — Electro-Chemical Devices (ECD),
www.telgian.com Anaheim, Calif.
www.ecdi.com
This new heat exchanger makes
use of exhaust gases This mixer is designed for hot
The new Exhaust Gas Heat Exchanger melts and viscous dispersions
(EGHE; photo) transfers heat produced The Model CDA-800 multi-shaft mixer
by exhaust gases from combustion (photo) has a special triple-shaft de-
engines to a liquid. When heated up, sign specifically suited for hot melts
this liquid can be used in cogenera- and viscous dispersions. The CDA-
tion plants, combined heat and power 800 has a mixing capacity of 500–800
plants, heating systems, biogas plants gal and is designed for full-vacuum
and furnaces. Its compact design operation (29.5 in. Hg). The mixer is
makes the EGHE well suited for pro- suitable for high-temperature opera-
cesses where space is limited. Made tion up to 600˚F and includes an insu-
from high-alloyed stainless steel, the lated 50-psig stainless-steel dimpled
EGHE can handle temperatures up to jacket covering the side and bottom
Electro-Chemical Devices
550°C. Its sturdy design withstands of the dished-bottom mixing can.
high continuous stress caused by vibra- The removable mix vessel sits 24 in.
tion and pressure pulsation. The EGHE above the floor for convenient dis-
is equipped with a compact finned- charge. Speed, time, temperature
heat-exchanger module, which is eas- and vacuum level are displayed on
ily replaceable and service-friendly. a 10-in. touchscreen and controlled
Compact fin-tube bundles, which are via a programmable logic controller
completely made out of stainless steel, (PLC). — Charles Ross & Son Co.,
are insensitive to soiling and easy to Hauppauge, N.Y.
clean with high pressure and clean- www.mixers.com
ing agents. — Kelvion Holding GmbH,
Bochum, Germany Use this mobile app to optimize
www.kelvion.com penetration-seal selection
This company has launched a new
Charles Ross & Son These versatile wastewater mobile application (app) to aid en-
samplers are portable gineers in the proper selection and
The AQUA Series of portable waste- installation of pipe-penetration seals
water samplers (photo) consists of (pen-seals). Pen-seals can achieve a
three models designed to meet a cost-effective mechanical seal when
wide range of sampling requirements. piping must pass through walls, floors,
The very small AQUA-Compact, the tanks, pipeline castings or vaults. The
passively-cooled AQUA-Coolbox and Pen-Seal Calculator (photo) is de-
the multi-bottle AQUA-Multix provide signed to assist in selecting the correct
plant technicians with comprehensive number of links and the correct size
sampling flexibility. The AQUA-Com- of links for pipe penetrations passing
pact is useful when samples need to through walls or floors. To achieve a
be pulled and transported between 100% water- or gas-tight seal, users
sites or for temporary compliance can enter the pipe outer diameter
purposes. The insulated AQUA-Cool- and the penetration inner diameter
box ensures samples are stored at a to provide the required size and link
cool temperature for proper laboratory combination. The Pen-Seal Calculator
analysis. The AQUA-Multix features app is available for Android and Apple
a quick “lift-off” design for bottle ex- devices. — Proco Products, Inc.,
change. AQUA Series samplers are Stockton, Calif.
equipped with an advanced air-pump www.procoproducts.com ■
Proco Products vacuum sampling system, which de- Mary Page Bailey
We understand how you are challenged every day
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Facts At Your Fingertips
Hygienic Process Equipment Fabrication
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins
I
n hygienic process operations, TABLE 1. EXAMPLE HYGIENIC FABRICATION QUALITY AUDIT
proper system construction and Activity / inspection and test required Responsible
fabrication has the greatest influ- department
ence on end-product quality and the Verify that all tubing, piping, fittings and valves are capped, except when being used Quality control (QC)
in fabrication
success of process validation. Even Storage area is clean and free of contaminants Engineering / QC
well-designed hygienic systems can Pipe and fittings are segregated by material type, size, surface finish and so on Receiving/Eng./ QC
be compromised by leaching, poor Stainless-steel, aluminum and high-alloy piping is covered and off the ground Rec./Eng./ QC
internal finishes and mishandled ma- Material and parts are staged and stored with protection in assigned area Rec./Eng./ QC
terial sourcing and other fabrication Verify forklift forks, hooks and straps are protected against cross-contamination QC
issues. All can lead to contamination Verify fabricators, welders, welding operators or inspection personnel are wearing QC
clean, white cotton, lint-free or latex gloves when around interior product surfaces or
and bacterial growth in the system. unwelded joints on impact piping
This one-page reference provides Verify gas certifications received and displayed on stainless dewar cylinders QC
information on key quality-assurance Weld sample board made and kept in fabrication area Eng./QC
procedures for the fabrication and as- Verify lint-free wipes are of desired brand Eng./QC
sembly of hygienic systems that will Verify marking pens are “white low-chloride marker” for use on stainless steel Eng./QC
help prevent contamination and bac- Verify that tables used in fabrication are protected agaist cross-contamination Eng./QC
teria growth during operation. Verify that high-purity argon (99.999%) is available for shielding and purge, and is Eng./QC
stored in stainless-steel dewars with test report attached from supplier
Contamination can come from un- Verify argon hoses for welding equipment and purging are plastic (not rubber) Eng./QC
likely sources, such as process me- Verify tools are color coded for hygenic stainless steel use only QC
dia reacting with rubber over time, Verify material and parts are being cleaned with denatured alcohol and lint-free wipes QC
causing carbon to be extracted from Verify project work area is clean and orderly. Ensure that tools are put away and fabri- SF/ QC
rubber parts. Pipes can have im- cation area is cleaned at the end of each day
proper finishes or poor welds, creat- Verify that post-weld shielding and purge gas is greater than 30 seconds QC
ing safe harbors for bacteria to grow. Source: EPIC Quality Assurance team
Following proper procedures can ganized way to identify parts at the ing are areas that would be covered
minimize potential issues. facility. Also, a procedure is needed by hygienic quality assurance audit:
to verify the mill test report (MTR) re- Weld documentation. This includes
Setup considerations view, logging and tracking. What are the welder’s name, when the weld
The following are considerations for the conditions under which parts are was performed, and what materials
each stage of the hygienic process stored and who is responsible? were used. Also included is which
build, from sourcing to assembly. Fabrication and assembly. A pro- weld procedure was performed and
Parts and materials purchasing. cedure should be in place to approve whether it was the proper procedure.
From raw metal suppliers to shop parts and materials for use, as well as Other questions include: how much
welders, materials must be handled to ensure that parts are fabricated, oxygen was used during the welding?
properly, and procedures should cre- welded and tested correctly. A third- Who inspected the weld and when?
ate individual responsibilities for veri- party Level-2 certified welding inspec- Assembly documentation. This in-
fying proper handling at every step. tor (CWI) should inspecting welds in cludes, for example, the type of gas-
Important information includes the the process equipment. kets used, documentation showing
source of the metal materials and where they were used and the date in-
what requirements those materi- Fabrication quality audit stalled, as well as an audit of all joints,
als need to meet. Determine what Conducting a fabrication quality audit verifying that the correct gaskets are
documentation (for example, proof can help ensure that necessary qual- present and correctly installed.
of chemical composition) is needed ity assurance activities are completed Proper fabrication validation. As
from each supplier and conduct a re- according to the correct procedures. an example, hygienic systems are
view of the orders to verify that they An example audit list, showing activi- designed to eliminate dead legs
meet the requirements for materials ties, inspections and tests, is present- during fabrication. Questions that
of construction. ed in Table 1. Proper storage methods should be asked include the follow-
Material handling. During sourc- are included for verification. Also, the ing: is everything on the assembled
ing of process components, it is standards (not shown here) against system properly sloped? Were pock-
important to know how equipment which the activities should be verified ets created during fabrication? Did all
parts and materials are handled and are listed next to each item with a per- piping get processed to the correct
shipped from the supplier. For ex- sonal sign-off to verify proper proce- internal finish? Which requirement
ample, what do parts touch during dures have been followed throughout. are you verifying against? n
shipping and how are they handled Validation sheets matching each pro-
during receiving? Once the parts cedure ensures the process was fol- Editor’s note: Content for this column was provided by Jeff
Koenigs, principal project manager and professional engineer,
arrive, there should also be an or- lowed and documented. The follow- EPIC Process Systems (www.epicmodularprocess.com)

Technology Profile
Calcium Carbide Production from Limestone
By Intratec Solutions
C
alcium carbide is the most Calcination, Calcination,
electrothermic electrothermic Limestone,
Limestone, coke anthrocite
industrially relevant carbide reduction reduction
because of its important
Calcium carbide
role as the basis of the
acetylene industry. In locations where
Calcination, Calcination, Limestone,
there is a shortage of petroleum, cal- Limestone,
lignite electrothermic electrothermic charcoal
reduction reduction
cium carbide is used as the starting
material for the production of acety- n Raw material n Process n Main product n Byproducts
lene, which, in turn, can be used as a FIGURE 2. Several production pathways exist for calcium carbide, depending on the carbon source
building block for a range of organic
chemicals, such as vinyl acetate, ac- reaching the high-temperature reac- from limestone) with a carbon mate-
etaldehyde and acetic acid. tion zone, where molten CaO reacts rial. There are several different routes
with coke and generates molten cal- to manufacturing, related to the dif-
The process cium carbide. The reaction zone is a ferent sources of carbon (Figure 2).
The following describes a process packed bed of coke, where empty
for calcium carbide production from space is filled with molten calcium Economic performance
limestone and coke (Figure 1). carbide and gaseous byproduct The total operating cost (raw materi-
Feed preparation. Initially, coke is carbon monoxide. The CO gas from als, utilities, fixed costs and depre-
dried with hot air in a tray dryer to the electric furnace is fed to a water ciation costs) estimated to produce
reduce moisture in the coke. After scrubber for removal of any residual calcium carbide was about $1,000
drying, the coke is transferred to particles. The gas is then temporar- per ton of calcium carbide in the first
the electric furnace. Limestone is ily stored in a gas holder before it is quarter of 2015. The analysis was
crushed in a jaw crusher into a uni- fed through a blower to the dryer based on a plant constructed in the
form particle-size range. Some gross and the lime kiln upstream, where it U.S. with the capacity to produce
impurities originating from the lime- is used as fuel. 80,000 metric tons per year of cal-
stone are separated in a screener. The molten calcium carbide prod- cium carbide.
Lime kiln. The crushed limestone uct is removed from the furnace by This column is based on “Calcium
is calcined in a vertical-shaft lime means of continuous tapping, and Carbide Production from Limestone
kiln. The calcium carbonate pres- it falls into a water-cooled cylinder, – Cost Analysis,” a report published
ent in the limestone is decomposed where the products solidifies. by Intratec. It can be found at: www.
into calcium oxide (CaO, or lime) Finishing. The solid calcium carbide intratec.us/analysis/calcium-car-
and carbon dioxide, which is used is transferred to the carbide crusher, bide-production-cost. n
to preheat the limestone feed. The where it is sieved and crushed until it Edited by Scott Jenkins
resulting CaO is passed through a reaches the desired particle size for
screener for the removal of gross im- the final product. The crushed prod- Editor’s note: The content for this column is supplied
purities. Then the CaO is conveyed, uct is screened to remove impurities by Intratec Solutions LLC (Houston; www.intratec.us) and
along with dry coke, to an electric and then conveyed to silos that feed edited by Chemical Engineering. The analyses and models
presented are prepared on the basis of publicly available
furnace, which contains electrodes the packing section. and non-confidential information. The content represents
through which high current passes the opinions of Intratec only. More information about the
methodology for preparing analysis can be found, along with
to provide heat. Other production pathways terms of use, at www.intratec.us/che.
Electric furnace. The lime-coke Calcium carbide production consists
mixture flows down the furnace until of the reaction of CaO (obtained
Coke 2
1. Limestone crusher
Limestone
2. Dryer
3. Lime kiln
4. Electric furnace
1 5. CO scrubber
6. Gas holder
3 7. Calcium carbide crusher
5 8. Product silo
6
9. Steam boiler
10. Cooling tower
ST 9
CW Cooling water
4 CW 10 ST Steam
7 8 Calcium
carbide
FIGURE 1. The process diagram shown here outlines a process for the production of calcium carbide from limestone

Cover Story
Part 1
Non-Destructive Testing:
Managing Corrosion
Under Insulation
Corrosion under insulation (CUI) creates a pervasive and versatile challenge to the integrity of
insulated equipment, but non-destructive inspection can help to avoid undesirable CUI surprises
Ana Benz,
Fadi Basma
and Michael
Townsend
IRISNDT
IN BRIEF
RISK-BASED INSPECTION
GENERAL NDE
SELECTION
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
C
orrosion under insulation (CUI) FIGURE 1. This horizontal, coated 0.375-in.-thick pipe leaked
has been occurring ever since due to CUI after only four years of service
industry started insulating equip-
ment. However, most of the CUI One’s predisposition could be to consider
reported until the 1970s developed in stain- CUI as a problem that is isolated only to sites
less steel due to stress-corrosion cracking. in close proximity to a marine environment,
At that time, with limited insulation, carbon- but this is not always the case. CUI can hap-
steel equipment did not develop significant pen in dry industrial sites as far away from
CUI [1]. Since then, with higher energy the sea as the Canadian prairies (Figure 1).
costs, carbon-steel piping, tanks and ves- Once equipment is insulated, the proximity
sels have been more intensively insulated to cooling towers, leaking heat tracing, rain,
to save on energy costs, and as a result, mist from melting snow that saturates insula-
they have begun to develop CUI. tion and other leaks or steam can have an
CUI is a common problem for petroleum impact on CUI.
refineries, petrochemical facilities, power CUI can remain undetected until a leak
plants and chemical and fertilizer plants. develops or until the insulation and clad-
FIGURE 2. This pipe
with a corrosion-
monitoring location
(CML) showed minimal
losses near the CML
(left). Approximately
2.5 ft below the CML
(below), the NPS 2 pipe
had experienced losses Visit us in nuremberg, Germany
from 0.055 to 0.154 in.
Computed radiography
april 9-11, 2019 / Hall 2, Booth 2-346
inspection (right) con-
firmed the presence
and severity of this
corrosion
1/1,000 of an inch. The techniques
and strategies now used are sum-
marized throughout this article, and
ProcESS
several images are provided to il-
lustrate CUI in piping and tanks and PlantS For
the detection methods applied in
industry today.
Risk-based inspection
Prior to performing NDE, a facil-
ity needing CUI inspections must
have a thorough understanding of
its CUI history. This helps to select
the circuits or equipment on which
the inspections should concentrate.
ding or jacketing are removed or Inspection for CUI should be consid-
damaged, making CUI exceedingly ered for insulated pressure vessels
challenging to find (Figure 2). Earlier and piping in intermittent service
reports stated that one single non- or when operating temperatures
destructive examination (NDE) could fall within the known and accepted
not be used to identify CUI [2]. This ranges for CUI occurrence for the
remains the case today as engineers material in use. The facility’s staff
combine several NDE techniques to must determine probability and con-
perform CUI assessments. In such sequence of failure in order to es-
assessments, corrosion rates are tablish the magnitude and scope of
usually presented in mils per year inspection that will be required. The
(mpy), where one mil is equal to facility must also determine which
Inspection
by insulation
removal?
No RTR? Yes Perform
RTR
CUI present? Yes Pipe OD
<8? Hydrogenation
Yes
No
No
Solids blending / drying
No End inspection
Pharma, food, cosmetics
CR? Yes Perform CR Yes End inspection
Fine chemicals
No
Your fast lane to
Yes
PEC or
Perform advanced mixing technology:
Yes PEC or CUI Present? Yes Pipe OD
EMAT? <8?
EMAT
Phone: +1 201 825 4684
Ext.: 205
No No End inspection
No usa@ekato.com
www.ekato.com
Remove Perform VT/ End inspection
insulation UTT
FIGURE 3. This project flowchart illustrates considerations for ferrous piping NDE selection, including
realtime radiography (RTR), computed radiography (CR), pulsed eddy-current method (PEC), electromag-
netic acoustic testing (EMAT), ultrasonic thickness testing (UTT) and visual testing (VT)

2018.06 ChemEng_ProcessPlants Powtech.indd 1 06.02.2019 08:45:33
Cover Story
pounds that can form acids (5–10 mpy)
• Inland locations exposed to a moderate
amount of precipitation or humidity, which
are considered moderately corrosive envi-
ronments (around 1–3 mpy)
• Dry rural environments, which usually have
very low corrosion rates (less than 1 mpy)
• Designs that trap water or mois-
ture in crevices that are more prone
to attack
• Operating temperatures up to around
250ºF (121ºC) experience increased cor-
rosion rates. Above 250ºF, surfaces are
usually too dry for corrosion to occur ex-
cept under insulation (see Section 4.3.3 of
API 571)
With all this information, walkdowns can
commence. Site and NDE personnel will
benefit from meticulously planning around
the access points and techniques to be
FIGURE 4. Realtime radiogra- codes or practices will be used to determine used line by line and component by com-
phy (RTR) is performed on pip- and define that scope. These could include, ponent. Choosing how many locations per
ing to show the degree of CUI
damage that has occurred but are not limited to, the following stan- line should have spot NDE is important.
dards developed by the National Association Using modern digital technologies, the
of Corrosion Engineers International (NACE; walkdown information, the static equip-
Houston; www.nace.org) and the American ment information and drawings can all be
Petroleum Institute (API; Washington, D.C.; pre-loaded for NDE personnel to develop
www.api.org): reports with acceptance and rejection
1. NACE SP0198 [3] details the variables to comments as soon as the NDE is com-
consider. A key variable is the potential pleted in the field in real time.
source of water ingress, including: rainfall;
drift from cooling towers; condensate fall- General NDE selection
ing from cold service equipment; steam To minimize, if not eliminate, insulation re-
discharge; process liquids spillage; spray moval, realtime radiography (RTR) is a com-
from fire sprinklers; deluge systems and monly used pre-screening examination. After
washdowns; leaking heat tracing; ground- the RTR results, digital or computed radio-
water; and condensation on cold surfaces graphic (CR) testing is commonly performed
after vapor-barrier damage
2. API 571 Section 4.3.2.3 [4] lists the follow-
ing critical factors:
• The physical location (industrial, marine or
rural); moisture (humidity), particularly de-
signs that trap moisture or when present
in a cooling tower mist; temperature; and
the presence of salts, sulfur compounds
FIGURE 5. RTR Images show
and soil
minimal OD corrosion (left) • Marine environments, which can be very
and significant OD corrosion corrosive (20 mpy), as are industrial envi-
(right) ronments that contain acids or sulfur com-
FIGURE 6. Computed radiography (CR) imagery is the

preferred method for visualizing CUI damage to smaller-
diameter pipes

Cover Story
on lines of NPS 8 and smaller. Nominal FIGURE 7. Digital detector array (DDA)
radiography images are a quick way to
Pipe Size (NPS) is a North American set obtain inspection data
of standard sizes for pipes used for high
or low pressures and temperatures.
“Nominal” refers to pipe in non-specific
terms and identifies the diameter of the
hole with a non-dimensional number,
loosely based on the inner diameter
(ID) of the pipe in inches. The flowchart
in Figure 3 illustrates a common NDE
selection process for examining piping
for CUI [5].
Realtime radiography (RTR). Realtime
radiography (RTR) is also called fluoros-
copy [6]. Inspection personnel view the
silhouette of the pipe or vessel outer di-
ameter (OD) on a monitor as the location
is inspected (Figure 4). Corrosion prod- the largest diameter of the equipment
ucts form buildups on top of the OD. and insulation that can be inspected.
Due to size limitations, this technique is This has changed with time and will
used more often on piping rather than likely continue to do so.
vessels. The technique is defined by its Profile radiography with film; with
radiation source and image intensifier or computed radiography (CR); and
detector. It does not require film. RTR with digital detector array (DDA) ra-
results in images such as those shown diography. Profile radiography (also
in
3452Figure 5. Thead_Layout
BioN 7x4.875 maximum opening10:16
1 12/12/18 of AM
referred
Page 1 to as a shadow shot), as its
the arms on the equipment determines name implies, refers to a profile view
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Cover Story
• Multiple insulated components of various
diameters and with some thickness varia-
tions can be viewed in one radiograph
CR requires imaging cassettes to be
placed in a laser reader, where they are
scanned to obtain a digital image. DDA im-
ages develop directly on the detector and
need not be processed in a reader. They are
obtained in significantly less time than CR
(seconds versus minutes). They also require
less radiation than is needed for radiography
with traditional film and for CR. On the other
hand, durability of the cassettes and other
factors are more favorable for CR than for
DDA (Figure 7).
Pulsed eddy-current (PEC) method. For
CUI examinations, PEC (Figure 8) is often
used in piping with NPS 8 or greater. This
method is also used when inspecting ves-
sels for CUI, because this allows for a de-
crease in insulation removal. A PEC probe
scans the insulated equipment and identi-
fies general (averaged) losses, but isolated
FIGURE 8. A tank with heavy of the wall thickness. Profile radiogra- pits can be difficult to detect. The detec-
deposits is shown on the phy has been used to measure wall thick- tion sensitivity of this electromagnetic in-
top image. The lower image
shows a pulsed eddy-current ness values since the 1950s [7]. Today, it spection technology depends on the
inspection that was performed typically follows RTR for piping of NPS 8 footprint of the probe, liftoff or insulation
without removing the depos- and smaller. thickness and on the steel thickness [2].
its. The inspection identified
that the areas beneath ladder
With the advent of CR and DDA, profile As with other electromagnetic techniques,
rungs experienced the radiography is the technology of choice for edges (for example, nozzles, flanges or
greatest losses inspecting smaller-diameter piping (Figure the end of a structure) pose a challenge
6). Though occasionally, film radiography for inspection.
is used in CUI studies, CR and DDA have Guided wave testing (GWT). GWT, an ul-
largely displaced traditional profile radiogra- trasonic inspection method (Figures 9 and
phy with film. With these techniques: 10), can be used to screen for potential CUI
• The piping is typically exposed to gamma damage in piping. The inspection is per-
rays from an Iridium-192, Selenium-75 formed with minimal insulation removal, and
or Cobalt-60 gamma source. This point it has been used in piping with asbestos
is common with traditional radiography insulation. A special tool (transducer ring)
with film is clamped around the pipe that transmits
• The remaining thickness can be assessed guided waves in both directions along the
along pipe edges pipe. Reflected signals from defects and
• Shorter exposures are needed to obtain pipe features, such as welds, are received
images than for traditional radiography by the transducer ring and sent to the main
with film unit. The tested sections must be carefully
• Digital radiographs and images can be selected, since the length inspected in one
stored and shared quickly scan is limited by the number of elbows, fit-
FIGURE 9. A guided-wave tings or welded shoes. Losses due to cor-
testing (GWT) transducer ring rosion must be greater than 4 to 10% of the
is placed on insulated piping
to screen for potential CUI pipe cross-section to be detectable [2].
damage Ultrasonic thickness measurement. In
CUI studies, direct ultrasonic thickness
measurements can be made on pressure
equipment with diameters larger than NPS
1 where the insulation has been removed
or in locations with insulation plugs. Since
removing insulation is expensive, these in-
spections are not performed routinely during
CUI pre-screening.
Cover Story
Thermal or infrared imaging examination. FIGURE 10. Here, GWT was
used to identify CUI pits
Using this technique, one aims to identify
where the insulation is wet as opposed to
dry. Based on thermal or infrared imaging,
a heat picture of the surface is obtained.
This technique detects areas where the in-
sulation has been breached; it is not used
during surveys where remaining thickness
values are needed. Once the insulation is
dry, the suspect area is not flagged.
Neutron backscatter examination. This
technique uses a radioactive source to
identify wet insulation. It does not assess re-
maining thickness and has specific applica-
tions, such as screening for locations where Rope access services. This innovative
stress-corrosion cracking can develop. technology is a backbone for today’s CUI
Once the insulation is dry, the suspect area is programs. Specialized harnesses and ropes
not flagged. are used to reach difficult-to-access areas
Other NDE techniques. NDE technologies safely and with minimum process disrup-
are evolving rapidly and those less com- tions. An inspection project comprising more
monly used have not been described in than 1,400 piping circuits [4] was completed
this article. Updates on applications of the using rope access, aerial work platforms and
technologies are often available from the existing scaffolding. Rope access was used
American Society for Nondestructive Test- for NDE and to refurbish damaged insulation
ing (Columbus, Ohio; www.asnt.org), NACE and piping (Figure 11). Without rope access,
International, API and in journals such the cost and time needed to complete the
as Inspectioneering. project would have been prohibitive.
10
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Cover Story
full of surprises, but the NDE guidelines
described here should help engineers to
better tackle the always-changing CUI en-
vironment at their facilities. ■
Edited by Mary Page Bailey
References
1. Delahunt, J.F., Corrosion Under Thermal Insulation and Fireproofing,
an Overview, Paper No. 03022, NACE Corrosion Conference, 2003.
2. Fitzgerald, B.J., Lazar, P., Kay, R.M., Winnik, S., Strategies to Prevent
Corrosion Under Insulation in Petrochemical Industry Piping, Paper
03029, NACE Corrosion Conference, 2003.
3. NACE SP0198, Control of Corrosion Under Thermal Insulation and
Fireproofing Materials — A Systems Approach, 2017.
4. API 571 Section 4.3, Damage Mechanisms Affecting Fixed Equip-
ment in the Refining Industry, 2nd Ed., April 2011.
5. Nichols, M.O., Townsend, M., Partnering to Zero in on Corrosion Under
Insulation with NDE and In-Touch Software, RMC-18-Paper #RMC-
18-240, 2018 AFPM Reliability & Maintenance Conference.
6. API Recommended Practice (RP) 583, Corrosion Under Insulation and
Fireproofing, 1st Ed., May 2014.
7. Hecht, A., Bauer, R., On-Line Radiographic Wall Thickness-Measure-
ment of Insulated Piping in the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry,
ECNDT Conference Paper, May 1998.
Authors
Ana Benz is the chief engineer at IRISNDT
(5311 86th Street, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
T6E 5T8; Phone: 780-577-4481; Email: ana.
FIGURE 11. Rope access is a Digital technologies benz@irisndt.com). She has worked for 21
modern method for inspecting Today’s digital information is a back- years as a corrosion, failure and inspection
and refurbishing insulation in specialist. Her expertise includes inspections
difficult-to-access areas bone for CUI projects. Digital information and organizing plant inspection projects using
is available to all key personnel in these advanced inspection technologies. Benz has
projects — the equipment owner, the in- worked extensively for the chemical process
industries, in petrochemical plants, fertilizer
spection crew and management personnel plants and nickel refineries around the world, as well as oil-and-gas
— while the projects progress. The find- production sites. She holds a degree in materials engineering from
ings and reports provide the most reveal- the University Simon Bolivar in Venezuela and also holds an M.S. in
materials engineering from the University of British Columbia. She
ing images of equipment damage that have has several Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) NDT certifi-
been available to date. The prompt com- cates, as well API 510 certifications and Level 3 certification from
munication allows for technical and cost- the CWB Group. Benz was a member of the NACE Edmonton Execu-
tive chapter for 15 years, and before that, participated in various
control discrepancies to be addressed and capacities for the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian
managed promptly. Welding Institute.
Digitalization and other modern advances Fadi Basma is the senior operations director
in NDE allow engineers to look into the in- of IRISNDT (4649 S. Sam Houston Parkway E.,
Houston, TX 77048; Phone: 713-209-2701;
tegrity of insulated equipment with minimal Email: fbasma@irisndt.com). He is known for
insulation removal. Rope access allows us advocating the use of innovation and technol-
not only to inspect, but also to refurbish in- ogy in the NDE industry. He holds a Level 3
certification from the American Society for
sulated equipment within affordable times Nondestructive Testing. Basma received his
and budgets. Digital technologies for NDE M.B.A. from Lebanese American University in
and for reporting, such as intrinsically safe 2006 and his M.S. in electrical and computer
engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 2008.
tablets, allow prompt communications that Mike Townsend is currently operations direc-
were not possible a decade ago. Never- tor overseeing specialty projects at IRISNDT
theless, multiple NDE techniques are still (5101 Taravella Road, Marrero, LA 70072;
Phone: 504-328-0070; Email: michael.
needed to assess CUI. As well, detailed townsend@irisndt.com). Previously, Townsend
planning prior to inspection allows for ef- inspected F/A-18 aircraft for four years as part
fective and efficient CUI inspection projects of the United States Marine Corps. After re-
turning to the civilian sector, he transitioned
Inspecting for CUI is necessary, since into the industrial inspection field starting with
moisture finds its way into insulation via remote-access technologies. He has been in
many mechanisms, leading to sometimes the inspection field for over 14 years working for chemical plants,
refineries, bridges, towers, stacks, nuclear facilities and more. The
severe damage, as illustrated in the pho- inspections have encompassed basic non-destructive examinations,
tos shown in this article. There is certainly structural bridge inspection, API inspection, automated ultrasonic
more than meets the eye when consider- testing (AUT) and advanced UT inspections, as well as a wide array
of maintenance functions predominantly via rope access. He has
ing the challenges of CUI. CUI damage is been with IRISNDT for over three years.

Rethink Process Safety – Rethink Gas Analytics
What happened when one of Asia‘s largest producers of acrylonitrile butadiene resin ex-
perienced an increased safety risk at their flares?
When condensation and butadiene popcorn polymers blocked the pipes at their paramagnetic
oxygen analyzer‘s sampling system, LG Yonxing needed to Rethink Process Safety.
They turned to METTLER TOLEDO for gas analyzers that ensured safety better than their extrac-
tive paramagnetic systems.
Read how they did it:

Improved Flare Safety in Butadiene Production
www.mt.com/Pro-Flare-Safety

Cover Story
Part 2
Using Corrosion as a
Process Variable
Monitoring and analyzing historical corrosion data can provide insights not available from
manual inspection and measurement techniques
Jake Davies
Emerson Automation
Solutions
IN BRIEF
A VERY COMPLEX
CHARACTERISTIC
MEASURING AND
MONITORING METAL
LOSS
THE VARIABILITY OF
METAL LOSS
A CASE IN POINT
REAL-WORLD LESSONS
LEARNED
S
ome petroleum refiners looking FIGURE 1. Unique corrosion issues can arise when petroleum
for ways to improve profitability refiners swap feedstocks
have lately turned to buying op-
portunity crudes from secondary ner over time until the pressure causes it
sources. These crudes, while priced less to break open — hot hydrocarbons that
than more premium feedstocks, often con- are perhaps higher than the auto-ignition
tain various contaminants, including solids temperature can escape and mix with air,
and corrosive compounds. Such contami- resulting in a potentially serious safety and
nants can damage processing equipment environmental incident.
by corroding and eroding it from the in- This is an extreme case, but not with-
side out (Figure 1). In the worst case, a out precedent in the global petroleum re-
pipe wall may become progressively thin- fining industry. Opportunity crudes pres-
Cover Story
ent unique challenges and they often
have vastly different characteristics than
the crudes many petroleum refineries
are designed to handle. The feedstock
may be more or less corrosive than the
last batch, or corrosive in a different
way, meaning that the corrosion risk to
the inside of the process equipment is
varying continuously.
For plant operators, corrosiveness has to
be viewed as another process variable — it
has to be measured and managed. How-
ever, in the past, there was little instrumen-
tation available to characterize it and mea-
sure the impact that the corrosiveness of the
process fluids has on process equipment.
Fortunately, this situation is improving with
the advent of more advanced corrosion-
monitoring technologies, including
wireless systems.
A very complex characteristic

The interaction of chemicals and met- but for this discussion, and to most op- FIGURE 2. Non-intrusive wire-
als has been studied extensively, and the erators in the real world, the question is less sensors monitor pipe wall
thickness in real time and
mechanisms of metal loss and weakening straightforward: Is this process fluid eating send data to the plant auto-
are very complex. Countless articles and away at my plant’s pipe walls, and if so, at mation system via a wireless
books have been written on the topic, what rate? mesh network

Cover Story
11 is adjusted to remain below the thresh-
old. Obviously, this requires a great deal
of knowledge about the characteristics
10.5
of the crude and its interaction with the
alloys, and it assumes the process will
10 still work effectively at the adjusted pa-
UT measurement, mm
rameters. Typically, the integrity operating

window is set using theoretical concepts,
9.5
which do not necessarily reflect reality.
• Material upgrades are a very effective ap-
9 proach. Replacing carbon-steel pipe with
an appropriate stainless grade can ex-
tend its life, but it is very costly and can-
8.5
not be done easily while a unit is running.
If the next turnaround is not for another
8 several years, a different approach will
Time
be necessary.
FIGURE 3. Ultrasonic-thick- The answer depends on the nature of the • Corrosion inhibitors can be quite helpful,
ness (UT) measurement data corrosive components of the process fluid, but again, these have to be matched with
can be collected and histor-
ized for analysis, just like any the operating parameters, such as flowrate the characteristics of the process fluid and
other process variable or temperature, and the metallurgy of the the metallurgy to be effective. The addi-
pipe and vessel walls. Obviously, the metal- tive designed for the crude or process flu-
lurgy is fixed for all practical purposes, but in id being handled currently might not work
most facilities, it is not consistent across dif- with what is slated for next week. It also
ferent areas and process units. There can be adds cost, potentially offsetting the reason
a variety of alloys used in different areas that for running the opportunity crude in the
have been installed at different times, and first place.
in varying states of health, with respect to • Inspections make sense, and can warn
pipe thickness. of impending problems if carried out
Plant operators can work at forestalling correctly. However, they can be difficult
the effects of corrosion in a variety of ways, to perform, since the operator must ac-
including the following: cess specific points. Checking an elbow
• Employing a corrosion allowance that where there is no catwalk near the top of
recognizes the inevitability of metal loss a tower that is clad in insulation is not an
and compensates by simply using thicker easy task. Moreover, manual inspections
pipe sections in strategic areas. using a handheld ultrasonic measuring
• Establishing safe operating windows to device do not have very high repeatability
slow the deterioration process. For ex- — remaining within ±1 mm is doing well in
FIGURE 4. When wall-thick- ample, operators may have concluded most facilities. Furthermore, the need to
ness measurements are made that metal loss with a specific grade of access each location every time a mea-
manually, there are often too
few data points to provide crude oil increases significantly beyond surement is desired means that, in prac-
useful statistical analysis a specific temperature, so the process tice, measurements are only taken every
few years, which is not frequent enough
UT
12 to detect major corrosion events in
many cases.
11.5 There is one strategy that can help
make all of these activities more effective,
11
and it begins with treating corrosion as a
0.5 mm/yr
process variable.
UT measurement, mm
10.5
10 Measuring and monitoring metal loss

Process units in a petroleum refinery typi-
9.5
cally have hundreds and even thousands of
9 process instruments measuring tempera-
ture, flow, pressure, level and other attri-
8.5 butes. Operators can watch the readings
in real time, and these readings are usually
8
1-4-2012 14-8-2013 27-12-2014 10-5-2016 22-9-2017 recorded in a historian system, so it is pos-
Time
sible to see what a specific value was at a
specific time in the past. This is valuable information in
trying to figure out the causes of upsets and improving
overall efficiency. Corrosion, quantified as actual metal
loss measured in mils (one mil is equal to 1/1,000
of an inch) or micrometers (µm), can be treated the
same way.
Wireless wall-thickness measurement sensors (Fig-
ure 2) can be installed throughout a unit on pipe and
vessel walls to monitor metal thickness continuously.
Data from these sensors can be transmitted over a
wireless network to automation systems and process
historians. Engineers can use these data to make de-
cisions in real time, and the data can also be historized
(Figure 3), just like data from a temperature or pres-
sure transmitter or sensor, and retrieved for analysis.
The ability to watch metal loss over time

can provide even deeper insight into the
process, and assist with other corrosion-
mitigation strategies
Emission control &

energy recovery
Just as a pressure transmitter can warn when the
equipment has exceeded a safe value, a thickness Process integrated solutions
monitor can trigger an alarm when wall thickness has for industrial gas cleaning
reached a safety threshold. This is an important func-
tion, but the ability to watch metal loss over time can
provide even deeper insight into the process, and as- GEA is a main supplier of tailor-made
sist with other corrosion-mitigation strategies. solutions for emission reduction, for
the recovery of valuable substances,
The variability of metal loss recycling of heat and for conserving
With years of data collected using continuous wall- resources. GEA is the partner to
thickness monitoring in many facilities, one point has contact when it comes to:
emerged time and again: metal loss is not a linear
• dust removal
process. Experience has shown how it is common to
see 80% of the metal loss during 20% of the time, or • desulfurization (DeSOx)
even 90% in 10% of the time. This accelerated metal • absorption of gaseous pollutants
loss happens when the corrosive elements really dig • NOx reduction
into the metal due to the presence of particularly ag- • flue gas cleaning
gressive corrosive elements that are unaffected by the • gas cooling
inhibitors in use.
• energy recovery
Metal loss is not a fast process, so observing it re-
quires time and precision. Permanently mounted wire-
less ultrasonic-thickness sensors can achieve a repeat- For more information
ability of 10 µm, which is the equivalent of 0.000394 in., gea.com/contact
so it is possible to detect very small changes over time.
It is also possible to identify the variability in the rate of
loss, a major improvement as compared to infrequent
periodic inspections.
A hypothetical example. A well-trained inspector has
taken two readings, one year apart, at exactly the same
place with a handheld ultrasonic thickness-measuring
device. Assuming that the device has a higher degree

Cover Story
monitor will far more likely show a jagged
Wireless sensor curve (Figure 5), where there are periods of
12
rapid loss interspersed with times of very
11.5 little change.
0.3 mm/yr Corrosion happens at highly variable
11 rates because there are so many vari-
1.1 mm/yr able factors at play. Some of the factors
UT measurement, mm
10.5
are controlled — for example, the injection
10 rate of a corrosion inhibitor or the operat-
ing temperature of a reactor — and others
9.5 are not, such as the specific corrosion pro-
0.1 mm/yr 1.0 mm/yr files that are brought into the process by
9
the feedstock.
8.5 Trying to diagnose and solve the problem
0.0 mm/yr when there are very few data points is effec-
8 tively impossible. Intrusive corrosion probes
1-4-2012 14-8-2013 27-12-2014 10-5-2016 22-9-2017 4-2-2019
Time capable of giving an indication of the cor-
rosiveness of the fluid and test coupons
FIGURE 5. When wall-thick- of accuracy than is likely possible in real life, have their value, but they do not, on their
ness data points are provided
continuously, it becomes clear
the readings show a 1-mm reduction of wall own, deliver the most important measure-
that metal loss is not a thickness over that time period, indicating ment: actual metal loss, or lack thereof, in
linear process fairly aggressive corrosion. The conclusion real time.
based on two data points will suggest a
more-or-less straight-line change (Figure A case in point
4) over the year. Looking at the same mea- The corrosion picture for a petroleum refin-
surement point logged with a continuous ery is hugely complex, and some facilities
Photo illustration ©Shutterstock
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8.49 40
8.48
35
8.47
30
8.46
UT measurement, mm
25
8.45
Wireless
sensor
8.44 20
Process
parameter
CALL US
8.43
15 +1 248 450-2000
8.42
10
8.41
5
8.4
8.39 0
21-11-2017 1-12-2017 11-12-2017 21-12-2017 31-12-2017 10-1-2018 20-1-2018
Time
FIGURE 6. Process monitoring revealed the connection between a specific process condition and highly
aggressive metal loss, allowing for rapid corrective action
may run as many as 50 different Real-world lessons learned

crude sources and grades through- Continuous metal-thickness corro-
out a year. But using data from sion monitoring, whether deployed
wall-thickness monitors to identify sparsely to understand the overall
potential cause-and-effect rela- corrosion picture, or in higher den-
tionships between other process sities to understand the exact cor-
variables and periods of aggres- rosion nuances of a specific area of
sive metal loss can help to maxi- the plant, supports the corrosion-
mize production capabilities and mitigation strategies mentioned
Welcome to the
Visioneering Group
reduce losses. In some situations, earlier. Data from the wireless sen-
the loss results from an especially sors analyzed over time can deter-
corrosive crude, but there are also mine the parameters of safe integ-
situations where process changes rity operating windows and indicate
or upsets have unleashed an espe- the effectiveness of corrosion in- Clean Air Technologies for the
cially destructive period (Figure 6). hibitors. All of these elements work Chemical Industry:
These can be spotted by analyzing together to measure and mitigate Dürr offers the latest clean air
the continuous thickness data, and this complex problem, regardless technologies for the removal of
these findings are examined by de- of the crude feedstock characteris- volatile organic compounds
termining what else was happening tics. Ultimately, knowing the current
(VOCs), hazardous air pollutants
during that time. Did a process vari- integrity of the plant, and how it is
(HAPs), odors, particulates, and
able change? Was the wrong corro- coping with the ever-changing cor-
sion inhibitor used, or were no inhib- rosion burden, means that the fa- acid gases. Benefit from our
itors used when they should have cility can be driven to its maximum many years of experience in the
been? Are there any other factors operating capability. ■ chemical industry to design your
to examine? Edited by Mary Page Bailey tailor-made solution.
The analysis shown in Figure 6
was used for review with a chemical Author
company providing corrosion inhib- Jake Davies is the marketing
itors to a petroleum refinery, and in director for Rosemount corrosion
monitoring systems at Emerson
this case, it was found that the for- Automation Solutions, formerly
mulation in use the previous week known as Permasense Ltd. (Al-
did not work as well with the partic- exandra House, Newton Rd.
RH10 9TT, Crawley, U.K.; +44
ular crude running that day at the fa- 7884 317014; jake.davies@ www.durr.com
cility. Using corrosion measurement emerson.com). He has been in- www.durr-megtec.com
volved in the development, de-
data, it was possible to fine-tune ployment and support of non-intrusive wireless corro-
the selection process to improve sion and erosion monitoring systems since 2008.
formulations, matching additives Davies holds a doctorate from Imperial College Lon-
don, a Masters of Engineering from Oxford University
with conditions. and an M.B.A. from The Open University. For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/73852-14

Feature Report
Part 1
Unified Operational
Environment Improves
Process Safety
A unified gateway station and related components increase availability to improve operations
and safety
I
Wataru n information technol- Control system
HIS
Yokogawa
Nakagawa ogy (IT) security circles, HIS/ENG HIS

and Eugene the most important ac- Transmit an alarm
Spiropoulos ronym is CIA: confiden- Access data held in the
UGS by tag name
Yokogawa Electric Corp. tiality, integrity, availability. Function block
Vnet/IP
Data item
In industrial control secu-
UGS
rity, the corresponding ac-
IN BRIEF ronym is AIC: availability, FCS
UGS
I/O driver Acquire data and update data
items in a specified period
UNIFIED OPERATIONS, Open network Immediately sent

integrity, confidentiality. when updated
CRITICAL REDUNDANCY Availability and uptime are Data source
External controller External
UNIFIED ALARM critical for process plants (FCN/FCJ, OPC, PLC, etc.) controller
MONITORING and facilities, and are also FIGURE 1. This diagram shows the typical position of a unified gateway station (UGS)
a key determinant of safety in a control system along with its internal configuration
OPERATING AT SCALE
because plants that have
CONCLUDING REMARKS poor availability are unsafe. High-availability operating stations and software.
plants minimize the unplanned shutdowns When control systems, operation and
that can cause serious safety incidents, so monitoring systems (including alarm moni-
both cybersecurity and process safety are toring and safety control systems) are dispa-
dedicated to maximizing availability. rate and use different screens, programming
In process plants, and in upstream oil-and- systems and functions, the result is an often
gas applications, such as offshore platforms an inefficient set of systems that decrease
or subsea wells, there is often a hybrid con- the safety of the entire installation.
trol system, consisting of a distributed con- There has been a need to establish a uni-
trol system (DCS), multiple programmable fied operation and monitoring environment
logic controllers (PLCs) and a supervisory that permits the operator to operate and
control and data acquisition (SCADA) sys- monitor the controllers on the same screen,
tem with remote controllers. despite the differences between types and
Because of this, there has been a need for a brands of controllers.
unified operation and monitoring environment
to ensure safety, security and high availability. Unified operations, critical redundancy
Unifying these control systems is not always In response to this need, the concept of a uni-
as easy as it may appear, with many plants fied gateway station (UGS) has been created
and platforms having more than one type of for process plants and facilities needing to inte-
control system — such as a DCS and sev- grate many subsystems into a unified system.
eral PLCs. Sometimes a wide variety of con- This concept is supported by multiple vendors,
trollers from different vendors are used, and, with each configuring their systems in a differ-
depending on their own specific applications, ent manner, but in all cases, the required func-
they are operated and monitored via their own tionality and desired operation is similar.
Yokogawa can be provided by using two occurs, it automatically fails over to
HIS ENG redundant PCs, which can han- the standby PC. Importantly, this
dle a variety of interfaces and a switchover takes less than a second,
large number of subsystems. which means the connected Vnet/
This improves upon the avail- IP stations and subsystem control-
ability of the system because lers are not affected. This is so, even
L2SW L2SW For Vnet/IP many of the controller subsys- when the system is performing se-
tems depend on the operation quential control of multiple tasks, as
UGS2 dual-redundant of a single general-purpose PC. in a batching system. This minimizes
configuration L2SW A high-availability configuration the probability of data loss and en-
For ethernet
also prevents data loss and sures there is no interruption in con-
communications downtime by contributing to trol. Thus, high availability has been
UGS2 UGS2
Dual-redundant long-term stable operation. preserved, and safety-critical func-
control network
Therefore, a UGS should be tions have not been affected.
designed to be a high-availabil- As important as high availability is
HUB HUB
ity connectivity solution (Figure to maintaining plant safety, having a
2). A typical dual-redundant unified operating environment is just
package will consist of two as important. As many after-incident
PCs configured as a logical unit reports have shown, operators mov-
Subsystem controllers to achieve a gateway function ing from one operator interface to an-
FIGURE 2. A dual-redundant network configuration pro- for the subsystems. These two other tend to make mistakes, which
vides the high availability and reliable connectivity required
for a unified gateway station (UGS) units share an identical Vnet/ can have serious consequences.
IP address (domain and station With the UGS concept, the same
A UGS is installed between the numbers), providing other stations station, for example the DCS opera-
DCS and all the external controllers. with transparent access to the UGS tor interface, can be used to com-
It performs continuous bi-directional tag data without considering which municate with and monitor all the
communications frame conversion one of the redundant PCs is active, controllers and subsystems in the
for process data and alarms to the and which one is on standby. For re- control network, regardless of ven-
DCS regardless of type or vendor dundancy, both units are connected dor. The UGS provides an I/O driver
of controller (Figure 1). Using a UGS using a dual-redundant control net- that solves the differences among
provides additional SCADA expand- work. Only the active station down- protocols of the external controllers
ability to the DCS without reducing loads the engineering data, but it by supporting internal DCS com-
the functionality of the DCS itself. synchronizes the standby unit using munications protocols, IEC61850,
Because the UGS provides the the dual-redundant control network OPC-DA, Ethernet/IP, Modbus RTU,
main interface to all of the control (Figure 3). Modbus TCP IP and other interfaces.
systems, its uptime is critical. This If failure of the operating side PC When redundant communication is
/ 21
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The operator uses the operation and monitoring The UGS provides operation and monitoring on the trollers is done by monitoring alarms
environment specific to each external controller. same screens for all controllers.
generated in the function blocks.
Operation and monitoring window The function blocks of the UGS
Operator
HIS Operator convert alarms generated in external
controllers, and can also detect and
HMI
generate alarms. The data item face-
HIS
plate, and the annunciator faceplate,
CAMS for HIS
Vnet/IP Introducing UGS message monitor enable alarm monitoring of external
Vnet/IP
controllers that do not have alarm
SCADA functions. For all alarms, the same
FCS
UGS
standard settings are used, providing
FCS
consistency among systems. Having
Open network a unified alarm-monitoring system for
Open network
all controllers and all function blocks
External controller produces a significant increase in
(FCN/FCJ, OPC, PLC, etc.) External controller
(FCN/FCJ, OPC, PLC, etc.)
process safety.
Yokogawa
Operating at scale
FIGURE 3. On the left diagram, different operator interfaces are used to monitor different systems. On the
right, a unified gateway station (UGS) provides monitoring on the same screens for all the controllers in a
To handle the large data volumes in
plant or facility (HMI = human-machine interface; HIS = human interface station; FCS = field control station) an entire plant or facility, the UGS
should be capable of accommodat-
needed to any controller, it can also trends to be handled as native DCS ing a large number of tags, typically
be supported, either directly, or by a tags on the operator station (Figure 4). up to 100,000 with 450,000 data
third-party library from an OPC ven- items, and should be able to con-
dor. The UGS continually monitors Unified alarm monitoring nect to hundreds of external con-
the status of communications with The UGS translates the function trollers. At that size, a UGS can ac-
external controllers, alerting opera- blocks in each controller into native quire 6,400 data items per second
tors to any issues. DCS function blocks, and vice versa. from external controllers and send
The UGS controls and monitors In a DCS, function blocks are often 640 data items per second to them,
subsystem communication data by used for alarm monitoring, in the and the operator stations can read
treating it the same as the DCS face- same way as for data operation and 6,400 data items per second from
plate blocks. It also allows graphics and monitoring. Monitoring external con- and write 640 data items per sec-
ond to the UGS itself.
Yokogawa HIS ENG
A unified set of engineering func-
tions should be part of the UGS,
including import functions. With this
capability, engineering information
Vnet/IP defined for the UGS can be main-
tained as part of a project, the same
FCS as for all the other DCS engineering
information. A smart import func-
UGS2 tion of the DCS, an OPC Browse
command, a CSV import command
for general data files in the comma
Ethernet
separated values format, and other
options should be available to im-
port data. After importing data, tags
OPC server should be automatically generated.
Subsystem communication network The next step should be the down-
loading of configuration information
to the operator station and the UGS.
Subsystem communication network
This two-step process allows the
operator station to access the exter-
Subsystem controllers nal controllers.
Especially important for oil-and-
gas applications is the capability to
Subsystem controllers
apply online partial changes. This is
also true for sequential operations
FIGURE 4. The unified gateway station (UGS) in this system architecture diagram acts as a gateway be-
tween the DCS and the subsystem controllers in process plants. The UGS should
therefore be designed to allow online modifications to
the screen graphics. Online addition, modification and
deletion of external controllers and tags should also
be supported. Finally, online switching among import
modes, such as smart import, OPC browse command LE ADERS IN CLE AN AIR TECHNOLOGY
and CSV import, should be supported.
When the configuration of an external controller is
modified, or devices connected to the controller are
replaced, the connection between the UGS and the When it has to work.
controller should be able to be switched on or off by
the controller monitor block of the UGS. This prevents
a modification or replacement from accidentally affect-
The first time...
ing the DCS.
Concluding remarks
every time.
A UGS increases and improves upon the functionality From Arsenic to Zirconium Tetrachloride…
of a standard DCS system by integrating stand-alone
we scrub gasses others won’t touch!
PLCs and SCADA systems into a unified operational
interface, which is particularly important for installa- INDUSTRIES TANK FARM POLLUTANTS
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Edited by Gerald Ondrey PT PI PT PI

2 2 1
MIST ELIM.
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LIQUID EFFLUENT
Authors WASH WATER

(FROM BLEED PUMP)
Wataru Nakagawa is a system product promotion manager 3" 3/4" MAG

NEUTRALIZATOIN TANK
at Yokogawa Electric Corp. (2-9-32 Nakacho, Musashino-shi, FAL FT FE
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+81-422-55-6271; Email: wataru.nakagawa@jp.yokogawa.
ORP
DPT 50 GAL. CAPACITY
1 TE TIT
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com; Website www.yokogawa.com/HAtech). He has also 1st JET
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worked as a system product manager at Yokogawa Corpora- 36" GAS INLET METERING PUMP (OPERATING)
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AI
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ager at Yokogawa Corporation of America (12530PIWest Airport PT

8 4"
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Blvd., Sugar Land, TX 77478; Phone: +1-281-340-3800; Fax: OR
(973) 947-8787
AI
+1-281-340-3838; Email: eugene.spiropoulos@yokagawa. PT PI

CallPT us: PI
4
AI
OR
com). He has experience as a global sales consultant for solu- MIST ELIM. Email us:1 info@crcleanair.com
2 2 1 3
TE TI
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tions, as well as in process engineering and high-fidelity process 3/4"
WASH WATER
simulation in Europe and the Middle East. Eugene holds a post- Address: Six Campus
TE
2
TI
2 Drive
TIC
2
Parsippany, NJ 07054
CAUSTIC FILL PT
4"
graduate degree in chemical engineering from The City Univer- MANWAY 3" 3/4" AI
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Feature Report
The Value of Safety

Part 2
Instrumented Systems
A safety instrumented system (SIS) is important to ensure the safe operation of a plant. The SIS
requires up-to-date sensors — recent developments in vortex flowmeters are presented here
Mike Klein safety of its people Emerson
Emerson
T
and the environment.
here are four key areas of Of the many stan-
concern for chemical pro- dards that govern the
ducers that are always top design and imple-
of mind in daily operations. mentation of safety
These are, in no specific order, en- systems, the most
suring safety, optimizing production notable and com-
efficiencies, minimizing emissions monly applied one is
and improving reliability. In many IEC 61511, estab-
ways, these concerns are intercon- lished by the Interna-
nected and are governed by many of tional Electrotechnical
the same standards. Commission (Geneva, FIGURE 1. The quad vortex sensor has four independent transmitters
To meet the stringent standards Switzerland; www. and sensors, a configuration that is recommended for SIL 3 applications
that govern this industry, safety instru- iec.ch), which applies to the chemi- The results from those calcula-
mented systems (SIS) are one of the cal process industries (CPI), includ- tions, and using the standards set
solutions that make the difference, ing the chemical, petroleum refining, in IEC 61511, will determine sensor
precisely because they not only im- petrochemical, pharmaceutical, pulp choices. In addition, a history of use
pact worker safety, but also environ- and paper, and power sectors. and failure rate of previously used
mental and safety issues around the sensors within the user’s own facility
plant. Not only do these risks impact Sensors are the key enabler will be a factor in selection.
workers and the environment, they The primary enabling component of These are only a few ways a chem-
also impact the financial health of a a quality safety system is the field ical producer can determine the type
company. Any time something hap- instrument, or sensor. Top-quality of sensors they invest in. What is
pens that violates codes, standards sensors are key to helping engineers clear, however, is that chemical pro-
and regulations, it can have a signifi- design and maintain the established ducers will look very carefully at all
cant impact on the balance sheet. protocols that help a chemical plant options when selecting sensors for
Though engineers can create sys- meet regulatory requirements. These a comprehensive SIS system to en-
tems that monitor and manage the sensors are typically the first devices sure the best possible system based
safety and operations of a plant to be exposed to the unsafe condi- on the SIL requirements and the ef-
down to the smallest detail, it doesn’t tion that will ultimately trip the safety fective operations of the plant.
always mean that is what’s called shutdown process. The challenge is
for. If a shutdown is triggered over a to have sensors that work together to The vortex meter option
deviation from standard that would accurately assess the process to de- In the past, vortex meters have gained
ordinarily be within acceptable toler- tect an unsafe condition, but that do the reputation as being unreliable and a
ances, it can mean extra costs, a re- not report a false reading that might poor choice for chemical applications.
calibration or repair of critical equip- lead to an unnecessary shutdown. This was mainly due to early technol-
ment that might have been impacted Aspects of the design process engi- ogy and application challenges, which
by the shutdown. neers need to consider when develop- included low-flow cutoffs that didn’t
A safety system is separate from ing an effective loop design are, that it measure down to zero flowrate, ex-
a control system and is focused on must meet the risk-reduction require- treme vibration applications that might
the prevention of accidents with the ment levels and establish the correct not have been suitable due to the
understanding that it will shut down probability of failure. Once those vari- potential for inaccurate flowrate mea-
the plant should an accident occur. ables and parameters are known, an surements, and some designs that
A safety system is the final layer of engineer can calculate the safety in- were prone to plugging.
protection a plant has to ensure the tegrity level (SIL) requirements. In recent years, many suppliers of
VORTEX METERS there were a large number of po-
Vortex flowmeters work on the vortex shedding principle as it was observed and noted by tential leak points. Challenges like
Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian-American physicist. He first described the effect he ob- these bring added headaches and
served when a non-streamlined piece of material — often called a bluff body — is placed in a increased complexity to installations,
fast-flowing stream. The liquid, or steam, will separate from the object on its two downstream along with unexpected failures and
sides; when detached, it will curl back on itself, forming vortices, also called eddies or whirl-
the potential for false trips.
pools. You can see this principle in action if you put a rock in a fast-moving stream, for example.
On the side of the bluff body where the vortex is formed, the fluid velocity will be higher and the The SIS quad vortex solution pro-
pressure lower. As the vortex moves downstream, it gets stronger and bigger, eventually detach- vided this user with a more efficient
ing or shedding itself. A vortex is then formed on the other side of the bluff body. The alternating solution. Some of the benefits they
vortices are spaced at equal distances. The frequency of vortices shedding is what is measured. realized after implementing the quad
A vortex meter has no moving parts, which makes it highly suitable for corrosive materials. vortex included the following:
The meter has external sensors that sense the vortex shedding indirectly through the force
• The elimination of impulse lines
exerted on the shedder bar — the bluff body — that is inside the meter.
Vortex meter sensors are modular, inexpensive and easy to replace. They can operate
and complex heat tracing, thereby
under a wide range of temperatures — from cryogenic liquids to superheated steam. reducing capital expenditures and
install time of associated additions
New developments • No potential for plugging or leak-
New configuration designs are making implementation of SIL-rated vortex sensors easier and ing due to the all-cast, all-welded
safer for use in extreme or aggressive applications governed by stringent safety requirements. design that cuts down on operat-
Today, there is the dual vortex option and the newer quad vortex option (Figure 1). Both
ing expenditures
have strong capabilities and fit a variety of systems and applications.
The dual vortex is a safe and simple drop-in solution for SIL 3 applications. The dual has • Online removable sensors to keep
two independent transmitters and flow sensors, providing a 1:1 or 1:2 voting configurations, the process up and running, there-
which determines the number of error readings before the system triggers a shutdown. by maximizing availability
The quad vortex has four independent transmitters and sensors with two separate shed- • The simple bolt-in installation re-
der bars acting as bluff bodies to create the vortices needed to accurately measure the duces installation time and reduc-
flow. This configuration is recommended for SIL 3 applications where 2:3 voting is needed. es potential leak points to only two
The benefits of a quad vortex over a dual vortex are that a quad gives the ability to put
many sensors and transmitters in a single spool piece that makes installations easier. Less
space is required for flow conditioning within the pipe, giving the chemical producer more Putting it all together
flexibility in how and where to apply it within the safety system. With vortex meters now a proven
The 2:3 voting offers a significant benefit in that it prevents a single reading that is off from technology for chemical producers
tripping the system into a shutdown. With the 2:3 voting, it will take at least two skewed read- capable of measuring the flow of
ings to trigger a system shutdown, thereby preventing false trips, which can become costly. extreme materials over a very wide
In each instance though, it’s important for engineers to determine which option will best
range of temperatures, they can now
meet the requirements they must work within when designing the plant safety system. ❑
be seriously considered when creat-
vortex flowmeters have overcome remove dissolved oxygen from stor- ing a safety instrumented system.
these issues, thereby boosting the age feed tanks, which is an impor- Regulations governing the environ-
capabilities of the meters and mak- tant step in the process that ensures ment and worker safety have grown
ing SIS-rated vortex sensors a good fewer process upsets. The producer more stringent over the past few
fit in most chemical applications (see had installed a safety instrumented decades. Having the right tools and
sidebar on this page). However, it is system for the protection of their plant instruments to meet — and even ex-
important to make sure the device personnel, aiming to eliminate the risk ceed — those regulations has ben-
selected has a third-party certifica- of two-phase flow from high-pressure efits beyond the obvious of meeting
tion of its SIL capability. The exida hydrotreating reactors through the those regulations. It means more effi-
company (Sellersville, Pa.; www. feed drum back to the feed stripper. cient and reliable operations, greater
exida.com), for example, is an indus- When first engineering this safety worker safety, fewer shutdowns and
try leader in providing SIL certifica- instrumented system, two out of less unexpected expenses con-
tion for devices. three voting (2:3) was selected to re- nected with unplanned shutdowns.
Manufacturers of vortex meters duce the chance of a spurious trip Having a strong and well-designed
strive to ensure their meters and and to simplify online critical alarm safety system in place just makes
sensors meet the SIL certification testing. The differential pressure good sense. n
and are tagged as such, including flowmeter solution they initially opted Edited by Gerald Ondrey
shipping devices with a certificate for consisted of multiple pairs of im-
stating the usability in SIL applica- pulse lines off a single orifice plate. Author
tions. These are important consider- Those impulse lines had a number of Mike Klein is vice president of
ations to a chemical processor when challenges; chief among them was Global Chemical Industry Market-
ing for Emerson’s Flow Solutions
designing a robust SIS system. that they were very difficult to zero at business ( 6005 Rogerdale Road,
no flow. In addition, they were also Houston, TX 77072; Email: mike.
An application example prone to plugging and, especially klein@emerson.com). He has
worked at Emerson for 18 years
A chemical producer in the northern in the winter months, freezing. The and in the industry for 25 years.
part of the U.S. had an application in lines had to be heat traced due to Klein received a B.S. degree in
quantitative analysis and methods
a unit that utilized a feed stripper to the cold winters, and added to that, from Penn State University.

Solids Processing
Design and Calculation Methods for
Uniflow Cyclones
Uniflow cyclones can be effective solid-gas separation equipment when space is
limited. Presented here are design and calculation methods for uniflow cyclones
aimed at widening the industrial usefulness of these devices
Ulrich Muschelknautz flow cyclones, inlcuding separation
Gas
MK Engineering outlet efficiency and pressure drop. The
C
performance data are aimed at wid-
yclone separators are, in Gas/solids ening the industrial use for uniflow
addition to fabric filters, inlet cyclones, an accurate, reliable and
electrostatic precipitators inexpensive separation method.
and scrubbers, the most
commonly applied separators for Centrifugal Design criteria for cyclones
removing solid particles from gases. force acting In recent years, comprehensive ex-
on particles
They are used either to keep the experimental and theoretical studies of
haust air of a plant clean or to ob- uniflow cyclones have strongly im-
tain powdery product from process proved understanding of this equip-
gases. Compared to the other types ment type and has led to approved
of separators mentioned, cyclone design criteria and calculation meth-
separators have several major ad- ods, similar to those already avail-
vantages. Their relatively simple and able for standard cyclones. Applying
robust construction and operation those proven calculation models for
result in comparatively low invest- both cyclone types, which are both
ment and operating costs in many Solids based on the same physical con-
cases. Also, they can be used in pro- outlet cepts, indicates agreement with ex-
cesses requiring high temperatures periments on the following points:
FIGURE 1. Standard cyclone separators use cen-
(up to 1,200°C), high pressures (over trifugal force to remove solids from swirling gases • Uniflow cyclones can be more ef-
100 bars) and high solids loads (for ficient than standard cyclones if
example, 30 kg solids per kg gas). investigations have been limited to the space is limited to close to the
Finally, they allow the reuse of the specific applications of uniflow cy- volume needed for the uniflow cy-
separated particles. clones, such as a short-contact-time clone to achieve optimum perfor-
A competitive alternative to the reactor for high-solids-loading gases mance, and the available pressure
standard cyclone for gas-solids [1]. This article provides informa- drop is low. In other words, uniflow
separation is the uniflow cyclone. tion on fast design and calculation cyclones can achieve a higher
Like a pipe, a uniflow cyclone has methods for the performance of uni- separation efficiency per volume if
gas and particles passing through it A C
in only one direction. Clean gas and
separated particles leave the device
at the same end. The vortex flow is
generated either by swirl vane in-
serts or by a tangential inlet at the
entrance. Compared to standard
cyclones, uniflow cyclones are much
more compact, which makes them
B
particularly interesting for applica-
tions with limited space. They also
allow a simple and cost-effective
implementation in piping systems.
Although the principle of uniflow
cyclones has been known for a long
time, few studies on design and FIGURE 2. Types of inlets for cyclone separators:
calculation methods for this type of a) tangential slot inlet, b) spiral inlet, c) axial inlet
cyclone have been published. These with swirl vane inserts (side view and top view)

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A B C D A B
Gas outlet
Swirl vane inserts Gas outlet
Solids outlet
FIGURE 4. Images of dust strands and dust mats

in a cyclone with a diameter of Dc = 800 mm, vor-
tex finder diameter DVF = 285 mm with different
Solids outlet loadings of washing powder (d50 = 500 µm): a) µe
= 0,1, b) µe = 1 , c) µe = 10 (see Ref. 9)
FIGURE 3. Diagram (a) shows a standard cyclone with tangential inlet, and diagrams (b), (c) and (d) show
uniflow cyclones with axial inlets. A horizontal orientation is shown in (b), vertical downward in (c) and transported to the solids outlet. The
vertical upward orientation in (d) cleaned gas exits the separation
the available pressure drop is low. ergy consumption. Goals of the cy- chamber, after reversal of direction,
• If volume and pressure drop are clone design are generally to achieve concentrically to the cyclone axis
not restricted, standard cyclones the maximum possible separation located at the gas outlet tube, also
are more efficient than uniflow efficiency with the lowest possible called the vortex finder.
cyclones, but require significantly pressure drop for a given task. In The swirl is generated by introduc-
more volume. The efficiencies of addition, cyclone operation seeks ing the particle-laden gas stream
both cyclone types approach each to minimize erosion of cyclone walls into the cyclone with a tangential
other with decreasing gas volume by abrasive particles and prevent component. This is realized either by
flow and with increasing pressure deposits on the cyclone walls in the a tangential slot, a spiral inlet or by
drop, particle size and particle case of adhesive particles, especially an axial inlet with swirl vanes inclined
density of the feed. in areas of the cyclone with low flow to the vertical axis of the cyclone
velocity or flow detachment. And all (Figure 2).
Cyclone operation of these design parameters ideally
Cyclone separators have been in in- should be achieved with a limited Calculation models
dustrial use for over 100 years and construction volume. For the computation of the perfor-
still are the subject of intensive re- In a cyclone separator, the gas to mance data of standard cyclones,
search and development (see Ref. 2 be purified from particles is set into there are proven analytical models
and 3, for example). A detailed de- a vortex flow with high vorticity (Fig- with high accuracy, which in practice,
scription of physical fundamentals, ure 1). Due to the density difference are often advantageous over numeri-
designs, planning and commission- between the particles and the gas, cal simulations with long computa-
ing, operation and maintenance of the particles sediment, under the action times. One of those models is
cyclone separators is given in Ref. 4. tion of centrifugal force, outward in based on an equlibrium orbit concept
The two essential performance the radial direction against the cy- according to Ref. 5 and is described
parameters of a cyclone are its sep- clone wall, where they move with the in Ref. 2–3 and 5–13. This model has
aration efficiency and its pressure downwards rotating gas flow (only been applied successfully in a broad
drop. The latter determines its en- at high loads due to gravity) and are range of industrial applications (see
100 100
90 90
80 80
70
Fractional efficiency, %
Fractional efficiency, %
70
60 60
50 50
40 40
30 30
20 20
Measure
10 10
Calculation
0 0
0.1 1 10 100 0.1 1 10 100
Particle size, µm Particle size, µm
FIGURE 5. The graph shows measured [11] and calculated (according to Ref. FIGURE 6. This graph shows the measured fractional efficiency of a uniflow
12) fractional efficiency curves of a standard cyclone for natural gas purifica- cyclone for collecting limestone particles (mass mean diameter d50 = 20 µm
tion from solid particles. Cyclone diameter is 220 mm (8.7 in.), cyclone length and d10 = 3 µm). The cyclone diameter is 192 mm (7.6 in.), the cyclone length
(pure cylindrical shape) is 1,200 mm (47.2 in.), gas volume flow is 300 m3/h, (pure cylindrical shape) is 1,500 mm (59.1 in.), the gas volume flow is 1,000
solids loading (lb solids / lb gas) is 0.00056, and separation efficiency is 94.3% m3/h, solids loading: 0.0016 lb solids / lb gas, separation efficiency is 87.5%,
pressure drop: 3,250 Pa (0.47 psi) (see Ref. 20)
Ringchamber Swirl vane inserts Gas outlet
Wall separation e Vortex separation i separation RC for swirl generation
LC
DC
DCore DVF
DC DVF
Collection in
 the bunker b
PO Pe Pi Pm
PInlet Pe Pi

FIGURE 7. In a uniflow cyclone, the separation process has several
components, as shown here FIGURE 8. This diagram shows the pressure drop in a uniflow cyclone
for example, Ref. 14 and 15). Calculation method for standard aration chamber immediately after
Similarly, industrial practice would cyclones. In standard cyclones, the entry of the flow into the cyclone.
benefit from a reliable analytical cal- separation efficiency depends cru- Thus, in the cyclone inlet region,
culation model for uniflow cyclones. cially on the solids loading of the flow a first separation stage takes place
Previous analytical approaches to at the cyclone inlet. Solids loading is (also called wall separation). All
calculate the separation efficiency defined as the ratio of dust mass particles carried by the vortex flow
of uniflow cyclones are mostly flow to gas mass flow, as shown in then undergo the second separa-
based on the idea of a sedimenta- Equation (1). tion stage: the separation in the
tion process that takes place under inner vortex of the cyclone. Figure 4
• •
the effect of centrifugal force. This µe = M s / Mg (1) shows the wall separation very im-
concept insufficiently takes into ac- pressively in a standard cyclone with
count the drag force on the particles The swirling flow can — similar to the a diameter of 800 mm. With increas-
of the gas flowing inward toward the gas flow in pneumatic transport — ing solids loading at the cyclone inlet,
gas outlet. Since this drag force has carry only a very limited dust load, an increasing portion of the incoming
a decisive influence on the cyclone the so-called limited loading. If the solids is deposited immediately after
separation efficiency, the models do inlet loading (µe) exceeds the limited entry to the cyclone wall.
not correctly reflect fundamental cor- loading (µlim), the surplus particles Figure 5 illustrates the influence of
relations, such as the dependence of are deposited on the wall of the sep- the solids loading on the course of
the separation capacity on the vor-
A B
tex-finder diameter or the cyclone 100 100
Separation efficiency
length. In addition, the re-entrain- 90

Semicoarse dust, d50=50.5µm
90
Semicoarse dust, d50=50.5µm
80 80
ment of already separated particles
 (%)
 (%)
70 70
from the cyclone wall into the clean Standard cyclones Standard cyclones
60 60
gas and the influence of the solids 50
Uniflow cyclones
50
Uniflow cyclones
loading on the performance data are 10 100 1000 10000 10 100 1000 10000
not taken into account. 100 100
Against this background, a new 90 90

Fine dust, d50=17.5 µm
analytical model was developed for 80 Fine dust, d50=17.5 µm 80
, %
, %
the calculation of the separation ef- 70 70

Standard cyclones Standard cyclones
ficiency and pressure drop of uniflow 60
Uniflow cyclones 60 Uniflow cyclones
cyclones for practical design work. 50
10 100 1,000 10,000
50
10 100 1,000 10,000
This model uses the same physi- 1,000 1,000
cal concepts as the equlibrium orbit
Cyclone diameter Dc,
Standard cyclones Standard cyclones

800 Uniflow cyclones 800
model cited above. This approach 600 600
Uniflow cyclones
makes sense because the principle
mm
mm
400 400
of particle separation in both types of 200 200
cyclones is the same: particle sepa- 0 0
ration occurs through outward cen- 10 100 1,000 10,000 10 100 1,000 10,000
3,000 3000
trifugal forces generated by the swirl Standard cyclones Standard cyclones
Cyclone length, mm
Cyclone length, mm
2,500 2500
flow, reduced by the inward drag 2,000
Uniflow cyclones
2000
Uniflow cyclones
forces of the gas flowing to the gas 1,500 1500
outlet. The novel model has been 1,000 1000
validated with extensive experimen- 500 500
tal data [16–22]. 0 0
10 100 1,000 10,000 10 100 1,000 10,000
Gas flow volume flow Q, m3/h Gas flow volume flow Q, m3/h
TABLE 1. RRSB PARTICLE SIZE
DISTRIBUTIONS OF THE CONSIDERED FIGURE 9. These graphs compare single standard cyclones and single uniflow cyclones (a) and four par-
DUSTS allel uniflow cyclones (b) for purifying different gas volume flows (24 m3/h, 266 m3/h, 1,000 m3/h, 2,400
Dust dmin dmax d50,3 n m3/h and 6,640 m3/h. All cyclones have the same pressure drop of about 4,000 Pa, and are geometrically
similar, thus having the same inlet and outlet velocities. The main dimensions are shown in the two lower
Semicoarse dust 0.5 300 50.5 0.9
figures. Separation efficiencies are calculated for semicoarse dust with d50,3 = 50.5 µm (at the top) and
Fine dust 0.2 200 17.5 0.95 for fine dust with d50,3 = 17.5 µm (at the middle) (For more details, see Ref. 25)

100 FIGURE 10. Presented here is an exemplary com-
in the cyclone barrel and in the inner
90 parison of single standard cyclones with single

80 uniflow cyclones for purifying different gas volume vortex below the gas outlet tube with
Semicoarse dust, d50 = 50.5µm flows (24 m3/h, 266 m3/h, 1,000 m3/h, 2,400 m3/h a second, inner separation efficiency,
,%
70
Standard cyclones and 6,640 m3/h). All cyclones have the same pres- i. Total separation efficiency of the
60
Uniflow cyclones sure drop of about 1,000 Pa and are geometrically
50
similar, thus having the same inlet and outlet cyclone is described in Equation (2).
10 100 1,000 10,000
velocities. The main dimensions are shown in
100
the two lower figures. Separation efficiencies are (2)
90 calculated for semicoarse dust with d50,3 = 50.5

µm (top) and for fine dust with d50,3 = 17.5 µm
80
Uniflow cyclone calculation
, %
70 Fine dust, d50=17.5 µm (middle) (For more details, see Ref. 25)
Standard cyclones
Analogous to the model for stan-
60
Uniflow cyclones entry. The burying of fine particles in- dard cyclones, it is assumed that
50
10 100 1,000 10,000 creases with increasing solids load- both separation processes also
1,000 ing at the entrance. For no burying to occur in uniflow cyclones (Figure 7).
800 Standard cyclones take place, this would be indicated The first separation takes place in-
Uniflow cyclones
600 by a steadily decreasing course of side the swirl vane inserts for swirl
mm
400 the fractional separation efficiency. generation and subsequently in the

200 Similar behavior is also observed separation chamber due to exceed-
0 in uniflow cyclones (Figure 6). Im- ing the limited load ratio, µlim, of the
10 100 1,000 10,000 mediately after entering the device, uniflow cyclone. If the load ratio at
3,000
Standard cyclones particles can form more or less the inlet µe exceeds the limited load
Cyclone length, mm
2,500
2,000
Uniflow cyclones pronounced strands at the cyclone ratio, µlim , the excess mass fraction
1,500 wall, depending mainly on the cur- will be removed immediately after
1,000 vature of the inlet vanes, the solids the gas jet enters the cyclone, and
500 concentration and the mean particle only a small fraction that is restricted
0 size of the solids feed. In this case, by µlim will undergo the centrifugal
10 100 1,000 10,000 the fractional efficiency curve passes separation process in the inner vor-
Gas flow volume flow Q, m3/h
a minimum similar to what has been tex of the cyclones.
the fractional efficiency curve, mea- observed in standard cyclones. In a deviation from standard cy-
sured and calculated for a standard The model for standard cyclones, clones, uniflow cyclones have a third
cyclone. For the case shown in Fig- as described in the references, as- separation process that has to be
ure 5, the curve no longer drops to sumes a limited loading capacity of taken into account. In contrast to
zero, but passes a minimum and the gas stream splitting the separa- standard cyclones, the solids dis-
increases as the particle size de- tion process into two steps. At any charge in uniflow cyclones is located
creases. That is, finer particles are solids loading, µe, in excess of this close to the gas exit. Furthermore,
increasingly precipitated. This can critical loading, µlim, the solids are a considerable part of the gas flow
be explained by a burying of fine immediately separated from the gas passes through the ring chamber
particles below the solids strand on at the inlet to the cyclone. The solids between the cyclone wall and the
the wall deposited immediately after remaining in the gas are separated vortex finder pipe before exiting
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through the gas outlet pipe. Due to ing of 0.01, the wall separation can
these characteristics, particles car- become the dominant separation
ried into the ring chamber can be mechanism, depending mainly on
re-entrained back into the gas out- the cyclone size, the tangential ve-
let. The re-entrainment rate depends locity at the inlet and on the size dis-
on the cyclone geometry and on the tribution and density of the particles.
operation data. The efficiency of the Analogous to the calculation
gas-particle separation within the model for reverse-flow cyclones, the
ring chamber is denoted by RC. pressure drop of uniflow cyclones is
Finally, the collection efficiency calculated as the difference of the
of the bunker has to be taken into total pressures between a position in
account, as in standard cyclones. front of the cyclone inlet o and a posi-
FIGURE 11. This is a 3-D drawing of swirl-vane
Thus, the total separation efficiency, tion m far beyond the opening of the inserts for pressure drop reduction in a cyclone
as well as the fractional separation gas outlet where the swirl strength of
efficiency of the cyclone, are func- the vortex flow in the gas outlet has surement position m. At low loadings
tions of those four single separation decreased to approximately zero (below about 0.01), the third pres-
efficiencies (Figure 7). due to wall friction (Figure 8). As in sure-loss component, ∆pi, accounts
The method for calculating the standard reverse-flow cyclones, the for the major part of the total pres-
separation in the inner vortex has total pressure drop is divided into sure drop. The exact value depends
been described in detail elsewhere three parts: the pressure drop in the on the geometry and operating data
[23, 24]. For low loadings (µ close inlet, ∆pinlet; the pressure drop in the of the cyclone. At high loads (greater
to 0.001), this separation mecha- separation chamber, ∆pe, between than 1), ∆pi is still roughly 50% of the
nism is dominant and its efficiency the mean entrance radius and the total pressure drop.
is expected to be close to the total position i at the vortex finder radius The pressure drop calculation
separation efficiency. With increasing rVF; and the pressure drop, ∆pi, in method is based on the same gas
solids loadings, the wall separation the gas outlet tube, including the velocity field that is used to calculate
becomes more and more important inlet pressure drop at the tube inlet the separation efficiency. Therefore,
and already below a solids load- between the position i and the mea- both calculation quantities are closely
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let gas velocity. The pressure drop is
determined as the difference in static
pressures between the inlet duct and
the outlet duct. All cyclone configura-
tions have been calculated for two
dusts with different particle-size dis-
tributions (Table 1) and a particle den-
sity of 2,700 kg/m3.
Uniflow cyclones for solving this
problem have diameters between 30
mm (24 m3/h) and 500 mm (6,640
FIGURE 12. The photos show swirl-vane inserts m3/h), whereas standard cyclones
installed in standard cyclones for pressure need diameters between 54 mm (24
recovery. The left image is a vortex finder with m3/h) and 900 mm (6,640 m3/h),
swirl-vane inserts (dia. = 2,300 mm (90.6 in.) in (Figure 9). The total lengths (includ-
a recirculating cyclone at a power plant, operated
at 900°C [15]. The right image is of manufactured ing the length of the swirl generator)
swirl-vane inserts (dia. = 650 mm (25.6 in.) to be vary between 110 mm and 1,830
installed in decoking gas cyclones applied in a mm for uniflow cyclones, and be-
steamcracker, operated at 450°C (842°F) tween 150 mm and 2,580 mm for
linked within this calculation model. described above allow comparisons standard cyclones.
In addition, the model allows the between cyclone types in a system- Thus, in the present case, uniflow
calculation of the pressure loss of a atic way. With respect to industrial cyclones are about 40% smaller in di-
uniflow cyclone for any positions of applicability, a key question is what ameter and about 30% shorter than
the measuring point for the pressure amount of particles both cyclone standard cyclones for purifying the
in the gas outlet line, for example, at types can remove from specified same gas-solid flows at a given pres-
positions only a few inner diameters gas-solids flows. To address this sure drop, under typical conditions.
behind the gas outlet tube opening question, properly designed uniflow Note that an increase in the length
(that is, at a point where the gas flow cyclones and standard cyclones for of a uniflow cyclone beyond a value
still has a high vorticity). This is par- purifying four different gas volume of Lc/Dc ~ 3 (Figure 8) does not im-
ticularly useful for comparing calcula- flows between 24 and 6,640 m3/h prove its separation efficiency [22].
tion results with experimental data, as (air at 20°C, 1.013 bars) carrying 2 g/ This constitutes an essential dif-
it is often measured within short dis- m3 dust are compared. All uniflow cy- ference compared to standard cy-
tances to the gas outlet tube open- clones are geometrically similar and clones, where the separation ef-
ing. For details of the pressure drop operate at the same static pressure ficiency increases with increasing
calculation, see Ref 24. drop of 4,000 Pa. The same applies separator height, since the cut-off
to the four standard cyclones. In this size decreases with increasing height
Comparing cyclone types example comparison, all considered below the vortex finder (as long as
The calculation models for standard cyclones are installed in a piping this height does not exceed a critical
cyclones and for uniflow cyclones system with the same inlet and out- value where the inner vortex starts to
Providing versatility.
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Swirl vane inserts Swirl vane inserts
for swirl generation for pressure recovery
LC
DC DVF
PO Pe Pi Pm
PInlet Pe Pi

Systems.
FIGURE 13. The uniflow cyclone shown here has swirl-vane inserts in the gas outlet for pressure recovery Handling.
bend to the cyclone wall and to suck by this measure, the separation ef- Containment.
off particles into the gas exit). ficiency of the uniflow cyclone is
Figure 9 shows the separation lifted up and comes very close to
efficiencies calculated for those cy- the values obtained by the standard
clones for semicoarse dust with a cyclone in the case of separating
mean particle size of 50.5 µm (at the semicoarse dust. Furthermore, the Besuchen Sie uns –
top) and for fine dust with a mean volume of the uniflow cyclone is still
particle size of 15.5 µm (at the mid- much more compact than that of the wir freuen uns auf Sie!
dle). The particle-size distributions of
both dusts are given in Table 1.
standard cyclone and the cyclone
length has even been reduced (due
Halle 1 / 1-349
The results indicate that for a to the smaller cyclone cells).
specified particle feed, the difference Besides the separation efficiency,
between the standard cyclone and the pressure drop is the other key
uniflow cyclone separation efficien- parameter characterizing the per-
cies decreases with decreasing gas formance of a cyclone. It can be re-
volume flow and correspondingly duced by geometrical modifications
with decreasing cyclone size. Fur- that slow down the gas velocities at
thermore, the difference between the gas inlet or at the gas outlet, or
the separation efficiencies of both both, usually at the expense of its
cyclone types becomes smaller with separation efficiency.
increasing particles size. Both effects To give an example, Figure 10
can be traced back to the fact that shows the separation efficiencies of
the cut-off size of a uniflow cyclone standard cyclones and uniflow cy-
in its present design, according to clones for the above considered gas
Figure 3, is slightly larger than that of flows between 24 and 6,640 m3/h
a comparable standard cyclone. with diameters and lengths as used
A corresponding conclusion can in the above study (Figure 9), but
be drawn regarding the particle den- with reduced circumferential veloci-
sity, which follows from the model ties, which strongly reduce the pres-
approach described above. For sure drop to 1,000 Pa. By comparing
higher particle densities than the one with Figure 9, it can be seen that the
specified above, the gap between pressure drop reduction distinctly af-
both separation efficiency curves fects the separation efficiencies for
(standard cyclone and uniflow cy- fine particles, whereas semicoarse
clone) shown in Figure 9 will de- particles can be removed with almost
crease, and vice versa. the same efficiency as that of the cy-
In order to achieve a separation ef- clones with high pressure drop. This
ficiency close to that of a standard applies to standard cyclones as well
cyclone, and also for larger gas vol- as to uniflow cyclones.
ume flows, a multicyclone arrange- A well proven method in industry
ment consisting of several parallel to reduce the pressure drop of stan-
cyclones is preferable [25]. Figure dard cyclones without affecting the
9b shows the separation efficiency separation efficiency is to install swirl
of an arrangement of four parallel vane inserts into the vortex finder,
uniflow cyclones, each having half as shown in Figures 11 and 12. This
the diameter of the uniflow cyclones device transforms rotational energy
considered in Figure 9a. In addition, into pressure [11]. Without that mea-
some space has been left between sure, the rotational energy will be lost
the cyclone cells. The comparison due to dissipation in the gas outlet
of Figures 9a and 9b indicates that pipe. Up to 60% of the total cyclone

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pressure drop can be regained by To compare both cyclone types, a × 10–5 Pa s.
swirl vane inserts, depending on the typical industrial multiclone applica- With respect to the particle feed,
cyclone geometry and on the option has been considered and inves- only fine powders are taken into con-
eration data. Similar results can be tigated in a systematic way. Various sideration in order to make a mean-
obtained by applying swirl vane in- dedusting problems have been in- ingful comparison. Note that the dif-
serts in the vortex finder of uniflow vestigated, specified by the gas-sol- ference between both cyclone types
cyclones. For example, in a uniflow ids feed, the available volume for the becomes most clear when consid-
cyclone with a diameter of 300 mm cyclone and its pressure drop. ering the collection of fine particles.
(11.8 in.), a pressure-drop reduction In all considered cases, the gas With increasing particle size of the
by 43% could be achieved at a gas feed per cyclone cell is 466 m3/h feed, the efficiencies of both cyclone
volume flow of 1,000 m3/h, and by (15,457 ft3/h) air at ambient condi- types increase and converge (Fig-
40% at 2,500 m3/h [18]. tions with a gas density of g = 1.2 ures 9 and 10). Four fine powders
kg/m3 and a gas viscosity of g = 2 are considered characterized by
Cyclones in limited space
Often, space avaliable for dedusting
a gas flow within an industrial plant is
limited. If saving space is a high prior-
ity, or if there is a limited space avail-
able for purifying a given gas volume
Compressed Air That Means Business
flow, the question arises whether
under the space restrictions, a uni-
flow cyclone system may be prefer-
able over its standard cyclone coun-
terpart. This question is addressed
by applying the above-mentioned
calculation programs for standard cy- Improve uptime
clones and for uniflow cyclones.
Reduce waste
To provide a fair comparison be-
tween both cyclone types, the most Cut energy costs
compact representative of a stan-
dard cyclone is considered. This is Simplify maintenance
a cyclone with an axial inlet (Figure
2c), also called a swirl tube (Figure
14a). This cyclone type is preferably
applied as a multicyclone series (that
is, a system of many parallel cyclone
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two different particle densities, s = A Pure gas B
1,490 kg/m3 and s = 2,700 kg/m3, Gas Crude gas
Crude gas
and two particle-size distributions Inlet outlet Inlet
Q3(d), which are assumed to be de-
scribable as Rosin-Rammler-Sper-
ling-Bennett (RRSB) functions. The
two sets of RRSB parameters are:
1. dmin = 0.2 µm, dmax = 200 Solids
Solids
µm, d’ = 25.5 µm, n = 0.95, Solids outlet
d50 = 17.5 µm
Gas
2. dmin = 0.1 µm, dmax = 30 µm, outlet
d’ = 19 µm, n = 0.8, d50 = Pure gas
Solids
12.2 µm. outlet
In all considered cases the particle
concentration is S0 = 2 g/m3. FIGURE 14. Swirl tube (standard cyclone with axial inlet) (a) and uniflow cyclone (b), applicable espe-
cially in multicyclones [26]
The volume occupied by a cyclone
is mainly determined by its diameter separating the given gas-solids feed tors in fluid catalytic cracking (FCC)
and by its length. A uniflow cyclone and if the available pressure drop is processes [28, 29].
generally requires about the same or low, in accordance with experiments Compared to swirl tubes, the
even a shorter length (typically 2–3 as is shown in Ref. 26. For example, higher efficiency per volume of uni-
cyclone diameters) to achieve opti- for a pressure drop of 500 Pa, the flow cyclones at low pressure drop is
mum performance than a swirl tube efficiencies can differ by up to 10%. especially advantageous in multicy-
[22]. Thus, only the cyclone diameter If the volume and pressure drop are clone applications with low pressure
is varied to observe the influence of freely available, swirl tubes reach drop (for example purifying suction
the available volume. The swirl tube higher separation rates than uniflow air in combustion engines [27]).
diameter Dc,ST is varied between cyclones, with the separation efficien-
Dc,ST/Dc,UC = 1.0 and Dc,ST/Dc,UC cies of both cyclone types converg- Concluding remarks
= 1.3, while keeping the uniflow cy- ing as the gas-volume flow, and con- Comparing standard cyclones with
clone diameter constant at Dc,UC = sequently, the cyclone size decreases uniflow cyclones by applying well
124 mm. The pressure drop is var- and the pressure drop, the particle proven calculation models for both
ied between 500 Pa (0.073 psi) and size or the particle density increase. cyclone types indicates higher ef-
2,000 Pa (0.290 psi). The results described here are ficiencies, but also higher volume
The results show that, under the transferable to multicyclone systems. required for properly designed stan-
operating conditions considered, In many cases multicyclones use dard cyclones. However, if available
a uniflow cyclone achieves a sig- swirl tube cells. Analogously, multi- volume is restricted to about the
nificantly higher separation efficiency cyclones can be made from uniflow volume needed by a uniflow cyclone
than a swirl tube if the available vol- cyclone cells. Often thse devices are for its optimum performance, and
ume is restricted to about the volume used in space-limited applications; if the pressure drop is low, a uni-
needed by the uniflow cyclone for for example, as third-stage separa- flow cyclone can be more efficient,

in agreement with experiments. In VII-Conference, Niagara Falls, Canada, 2002.
other words, uniflow cyclones can 17. Würtl, R. Experimental investigation of uniflow cyclone
performance. Diploma Thesis, MCI Management Center
achieve higher efficiencies per vol- Innsbruck, Austria, 2007.
ume than standard cyclones if the 18. Foidl, F. Entwicklung von Leitapparaten zur Druckver-
available pressure drop is low. Fur- lustminimierung in Gleich-stromzyklonen. Diploma Thesis,
thermore, independent of any restric- MCI Management Center Innsbruck, Austria, 2008.
tion regarding volume and pressure 19. Leitner, A. Einfluß der Staubart auf den Trenngrad eines
drop, the performance data of both Gleichstromzyklons. Diploma Thesis, MCI Management
Center Innsbruck, Austria, 2009.
cyclone types approach each other
20. Reinalter, M. Minimierung des Partikelwiedereintrages in
with decreasing gas-volume flow and den Reingasstrom von Gleichstromzyklonen. Master The-
increasing pressure drop, as well as sis, MCI Management Center Innsbruck, Austria, 2010.
particle size and particle density of 21. Pattis, P. Entwicklung eines Gleichstromzyklons mit
the solids feed. Those results transfer gezielter Strähnenführung. Master Thesis, MCI Manage-
ment Center Innsbruck, Austria, 2010.
to multicyclones systems consisting
of many parallel cyclone cells. n 22. Muschelknautz, U., Pattis, P., Reinalter, M., Kraxner, M.
Design criteria of uniflow cyclones for the separation of
Edited by Scott Jenkins solid particles from gases. 10th International Conference
on Circulating Fluidized Beds and Fluidization Technology
References – CFB-10, 2011.
1. Gauthier, T.A., Briens, C.I., Bergougnou, M.A., Galtier, P., 23. Muschelknautz, U. Analytical approach for calculating
Uniflow cyclone efficiency study. Powder Technol., 1990, the separation efficiency of uniflow cyclones. Chem. Eng.
p. 217–229. Technol. 35, 2012, No. 12, p. 2,099–2,106.
2. Knowlton, T. M., Cyclone separators. In: Wen-Ching Yang 24. Muschelknautz, U. Analytical approach for calculating
(ed). “Handbook of Fluidization and Fluid-Particle Sys- the performance data of uniflow cyclones. Proceedings
tems.” Marcel-Dekker-Verlag, 2003. oft he 22nd International Conference on Fluidized Bed
Conversion, Turku, Finland, p. 929–934, 2015.
3. Hoffmann, A.C. and Stein, L.E., “Gas Cyclones and Swirl
Tubes,” Springer-Verlag, 2nd ed., 2007. 25. Muschelknautz, U. Performance comparison of uniflow
cyclones and standard cyclones. Proceedings of the 12th
4. Kox, V., Lehmann, C., Muschelknautz, U., Ripperger, S. International Conference of Fluidized Bed Technology,
VDI-Richtlinie: VDI 3676 Abgasreinigung – Massenkraft- Krakau, Poland, 2017.
abscheider (2018), p. 1–39.
26. Muschelknautz, U. Design criteria of multi cyclones in a
5. Barth, W., Berechnung und Auslegung von Zyklonab- limited space. 8th World Congress on Particle Technology,
scheidern aufgrund neuerer Untersuchungen. Brennstoff- Orlando, Fla., 2018.
Wärme- Kraft, Bd. 8, Nr. 1, 1956, S. 1–9.
27. Greif, V. Multizyklon-Blöcke zur Staubabscheidung vor
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VACUUM
lonen. Chem. Ing. Techn. 39, Nr. 9/10, p. 531–538, rungen. VDI-Berichte 1511, p. 215–226. Düsseldorf:
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scheidern für Gase. Chem. Ing. Techn. 44, Nr. 1/2, 1972. R., Knowlton, T.M. Applicability of a Uniflow Cyclone as
8. Muschelknautz E., Trefz M. Secondary flow and short a Third Stage Separator in the FCC-Process. AIChE –
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Symposium Separation of Particles from Gases, Nürn-
American Institute of Chemical Engineers – Annual Meet-
ing, Minneapolis, Minn., USA, 2011. FOR CHEMICAL
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29. Krishnamurthy, S., Koves, W. Apparatuses and methods
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242, 1991. Ulrich Muschelknautz is manag- Safest solution for highest vacuum
10. Trefz M. Die verschiedenen Abscheidevorgänge im ing director of MK Engineering
Particle Removal Technology requirements in chemical industry –
höher und hoch beladenen Gaszyklon unter besonderer working pressure from 100 - <0,001 hPa
Berücksichtigung der Sekundärströmung. VDI- Fortschr.- (Heinrich-Fuchs-Str. 101, 69126
Ber., VDI- Verlag, Düsseldorf, Reihe 3, Nr. 295, 1992. Heidelberg, Germany; Phone:
+0049-711-7262880; Email: ASM 340
11. Greif, V. Reduzierung des Druckverlustes von Zyklonab- um@mkengineering.de), an engi- Optimize your cost of ownership
scheidern durch Rückgewinnung der Drallenergie und neering office specialized in the
Erweiterung der Grenzbeladungstheorie auf kleine und with a dedicated leak detector to
process design of high-efficiency
kleinste Staubbeladungen. VDI-Fortschr.-Ber., VDI-Verlag, reduce the required suction speed
cyclones, scrubbers and pneu-
Düsseldorf, Reihe 3, Nr. 470, 1996. matic conveying systems. MK Engineering was founded
12. Muschelknautz, E., Greif, V. Cyclones and other gas- in 1983 by Edgar Muschelknautz, an international ex- PrismaPro
solids separators, in “Circulating Fluidized Beds” (Eds: J. pert in cyclone technology. Ulrich Muschelknautz has Process control with our mass
R. Grace, A. A. Avidan, T. M. Knowlton), Blackie Acad. & over 25 years experience in the design of industrial spectrometer solutions: modular
Profess., London, p. 181–213. 1997. particle removal units. He has worked on projects in design, powerful software, low
many industrial sectors, including power generation, detection limit
13. Muschelknautz, U. Zyklone zum Abscheiden fester
petroleum refining, petrochemicals, chemicals, phar-
Partikel aus Gasen. VDI-Wärmeatlas, 12th ed., Springer,
maceuticals, food, recycling and others. Ulrich Mus-
Berlin, Chapter 91-1, p. 1–20. 2018. Are you looking for a
chelknautz was a professor of mechanical process en-
14. Muschelknautz, U., Muschelknautz, E. Abscheideleis- gineering and fluid dynamics at the University for perfect vacuum solution?
tung von Rückführzyklonen in Wirbelschichtfeuerungen. Applied Sciences MCI (Innsbruck, Austria) from 2005– Please contact us:
VGB KraftwerksTechnik 4/99. 2014, where he built a research group for particle re-
15. Ipsen C., Roschek, D., Muschelknautz, U. Optimierung moval technology. He has authored more than 60 scien- Pfeiffer Vacuum, Inc. · USA
des Zyklonabscheiders einer zirkulierenden Wirbelschich- tific articles on particle removal technology. He holds a
Diploma degree in physics from the University of Bonn T 800-248-8254 · F 603-578-6550
tfeuerung – Theoretischer Hintergrund und Betriebser-
fahrungen. VGB PowerTech Journal 4/2014, S. 75–79. (Germany), a doctoral degree in physics from the Uni- contact@pfeiffer-vacuum.com
versity of Stuttgart (Germany), and was a postdoctoral www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com
16. Muschelknautz, U. Separation of coarse particles: New researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Sci-
separator with low pressure drop. Proceedings of CFB- entifique (CNRS), in Grenoble, France. For details visit adlinks.chemengonline.com/73852-34

19.01.28_ChemicalEngineering_Nr3_Chemical_Industry_57,15x254mm_EN.in
06.02.19 13:35
Show Preview
P
owtech 2019 (www. of powders to assess and rank flow-
powtech.de) takes place from ability. The company also offers in-
April 9–11 at the Exhibition line, realtime flow-measurement ca-
Center in Nuremberg, Ger- pabilities via an exclusive partnership
many, where innovations and new with Lenterra Inc., a manufacturer of
approaches for the processing indus- optical flow-sensor technology. Hall
tries take center stage in six exhibition 4, Stand 547 — Freeman Technology
halls. Powder and bulk solids experts Ltd., Gloucestershire, U.K.
from around the world will be on hand www.powderflow.com
to see the technology and solutions
offered by exhibitors. Exhibitors will This technique significantly cuts
showcase their latest developments costs for tank calibration
Freeman Technology for mechanical processes, such as RapidCal Tank Scale Calibration
size reduction, agglomeration, sepa- (photo) replaces time-consuming and
ration, screening, mixing, storage and cumbersome test-weight, flowmeter
conveying. The equipment and ma- or material-substitution methods. In-
chinery on display are fundamental to stead, a downward force is applied
the production processes of numer- with hydraulic equipment that mim-
ous industries, including today’s meg- ics tank-scale loading during normal
atrends, such as energy storage and operation. By doing the calibration
additive manufacturing (3-D printing). this way, piping- and understructure-
Two forums and an interactive influences are accounted for, and this
knowledge zone provide expert infor- provides higher calibration accuracy.
mation for the food, pharmaceuticals The RapidCal reference system has
and chemicals, glass and ceramics, an accuracy of 0.1%. Reference load
non-metallic minerals and recycling cells provide traceability to applicable
segments. Here, and in the course standards. RapidCal also avoids the
of professional-level dialogue at the tedious tank emptying and cleaning
Mettler-Toledo tradefair stands, visitors will get reli- for material substitution, which in turn
able answers to the challenges they eliminates contamination risk and dis-
face. Partec, the international con- posal costs. The effective downtime
gress for particle technology, will also of a facility is limited to a few hours
run parallel to Powtech 2019 under per calibration. There is no need for
the theme “Particles for a better life.” expensive deionized water, which has
The following are some of the new either to be disposed or stored after
products being exhibited at the show. completion of the calibration. Hall 1,
Stand 214 — Mettler-Toledo GmbH,
Instruments for characterizing Gießen, Germany
powder materials www.mt.com
Now part of the Micromeritics Instru-
ment Corp., this company will be A sifter that can be inspected in
showcasing its material character- place, and is easy to maintain
ization solutions designed to opti- The engineers at this company have
Dinnissen Process Technology mize process performance, increase developed a new sifter with improved
productivity and improve quality in a inspection methods to prevent cross-
diverse range of sectors. The compa- contamination. The Wingdoor sifter
ny’s portfolio (photo) includes the FT4 (photo) is a combination of innovative
Powder Rheometer, a unique and power and the sieving process. The
comprehensive powder tester, which major advantage of this machine is that
employs patented dynamic meth- the doors can now open over the en-
odologies, automated shear cells (in tire length of the machine. Therefore,
accordance with ASTM D7891) and the sieve does not need to be driven
a series of bulk property tests to out for inspection, so that cross-con-
quantify powder behavior in terms of tamination is prevented. The replace-
flow and processability. This is comment of the sieve mesh is said to be
plemented by the Uniaxial Powder very efficient, because the sieve basket
Tester, which provides accurate and can still be slid out of the machine. In
repeatable measurements of the uni- addition, the Wingdoor sifter can reach
axial unconfined yield strength (uUYS) capacities of up to 30 metric tons per
hour, depending on the product. Hall 4, the drum wall and toss them into the Conveying and processing
Stand 371 — Dinnissen Process Tech- free-mixing compartment from the equipment for solids
nology, Sevenum, the Netherlands product bed. Due to the continuous
www.dinnissen.nl mixing of the entire product, intensive
blending is thus achieved. Transport
A continuous mixer that of the product is ensured by the spe-
has many features cial shape and arrangement of the
mixing elements. Excellent homoge-
neity and consistent reproducibility of
the final product are achieved during
short mixing or retention times of only
Gebr. Lödige Maschinenbau
25–60 s. The smallest model has a Dynamic Air
drum capacity of 5 L and a through- This company will be exhibiting an

The continuous Ploughshare mixer put capacity of 0.25 m3/h, depend- operating pneumatic conveying sys-
KM (photo) is suitable for processing ing on retention time and filling level. tem, as well as the Bella twin-shaft
powdery, fibrous or granular solids, as The largest machine built to date has mixer and vibratory equipment. The
well as liquids and pastes. Granula- a drum capacity of 57,000 L, and has company manufactures a complete
tion processes can also be carried out been in operation at an Indian steel- line of dense- and dilute-phase, vac-
with the continuous mixer. The mixer works since 2015. There, it mixes uum- and pressure-pneumatic con-
is based on a patented, mechani- and granulates the sintering material veying systems, process equipment
cally generated, turbulent fluidized- needed in the blast furnace for pig- and vibratory equipment for handling
bed process. During this process, iron production, and can handle more a wide variety of dry bulk-granular
the Ploughshare shovels rotate close than 1,350 metric tons of raw sinter- materials. A fully operational dense-
to the wall in a horizontal, cylindrical ing mixture per hour. Hall 1, Stand phase pneumatic-conveying system
drum. Their peripheral speed and 517 — Gebr. Lödige Maschinenbau will be on display, along with the
geometric shape are rated such that GmbH, Paderborn, Germany Bella XN double-shafted mixer in 304
they take the mixing components off www.loedige.de stainless-steel food-grade design.
Call the Experts

for all your solids processing
Solids Mixing Applications:

Ribbon & Cone Blenders APIs ∙ Ag-Chemicals
Fluidizing Mixers
Biologics ∙ Catalysts
Sigma Blade Mixers
(also for high-viscosity mixing) Ceramics ∙ Chemicals
Size Reduction
Food Ingredients
Herbicides ∙ Minerals
Wet & Dry Size Reduction
Steel & Ceramic Lined Mills Nutraceuticals ∙ Pesticides
Jars & Jar Rolling Mills Pharmaceuticals ∙ Pigments
Vacuum Drying Polymers ∙ Powdered Metals
Dryers & Complete Systems Proteins ∙ Resins ∙ Vitamins
Quality &
Innovation Since 1911
www.pauloabbe.com 855-789-9827 sales@pauloabbe.com


This mixer provides a high-quality struction ma- considerably. At the stand, the com-
blend in an extremely short mixing terials, includ- pany will be exhibiting a heavy-duty
time, says the manufacturer. Also on ing stainless inflatable seated butterfly valve oper-
display will be the company’s line of steel, ductile ating next to a typical resilient-seated
vibratory equipment, including the iron and alumi- valve to demonstrate how quickly
Stedi-Flo vibratory pan feeder and num. Standard a resilient-seated valve can wear, in
the GYRO EX bin activating feeder finishes include comparison to the air-operated valve.
and discharger (photo, p. 65), which urethane coat- Hall 2, Stand 326 — Posi-flate, Milton
produces a controlled gyratory mo- ing, nylon pow- Keynes, U.K.
tion to positively withdraw granular der coating, www.posiflate.com
materials from bins, storage silos and epoxy coating,
hoppers at any desired feedrate for highly polished A spray-drying plant for
a consistent and reliable discharge. stainless-steel bio-based products
Hall 2, Stand 319 — Dynamic Air discs and bod-
Ltd., Milton Keynes, U.K. ies, plus almost
www.dynamicair.com any custom Posi-flate
paint type and color. Various finishes
See inflatable-seated butterfly are also available, from custom coat-
valves in operation ings to highly polished surfaces. The
This company manufactures a com- inflatable-seat design provides a bet-
plete line of inflatable-seated butter- ter seal by utilizing air pressure to ex-
fly valves (photo) for handling a wide pand the seat against the disc, pro-
variety of dry bulk-granular solids, viding more sealing area and an even
GEA
liquids and gases. Standard sizes are pressure distribution against the disc
from 2 to 30 in. (5 to 750 mm), and fit every time. The seat automatically This company recently supplied a
both ANSI and metric flanges. They compensates for wear when it inflates turnkey plant for the spray drying of
are offered in a wide variety of con- against the disc, extending valve life lignosulfonate in Norway (photo). The
T +49 2961 7405-0

T +1 704 716 7022
Your Specialist for

PRESSURE RELIEF
SOLUTIONS
© REMBE® | All rights reserved
and
EXPLOSION
SAFETY
Consulting. Engineering.
Products. Service.
Gallbergweg 21 | 59929 Brilon, Germany

F +49 2961 50714 | info@rembe.de | www.rembe.de
Inc.
3809 Beam Road Suite K Charlotte, NC 28217, USA
F +1 704 716 7025 | info@rembe.us | www.rembe.us

solution also includes a new silo for feeding stored pow-
der materials into the plant’s packaging system and a
large wet scrubber for de-dusting. At this plant, 25 ton/h Automatic
of lignosulfonates is directly fed into a rotary atomizer and batch
spray dried. The final product is separated in two groups
of consecutive cyclones. The second newly developed preparation
cyclones CEE (Cyclone Extra Efficiency) offer a higher
separation efficiency, which increases the yield and re-
duces emissions. In real-world tests, the CEE powder
separation efficiency was verified as being considerably
higher than the efficiency of standard cyclones. Part of
AZO Solutions
the spray drying plant is the large wet scrubber for de-
dusting. The Venturi scrubber uses water to clean the
Automated
exhaust gases from the spray dryer before they are re-
leased into the environment. The scrubbing water is cir- Batching
culated and fed continuously to a falling-film evaporator
for concentration and recovery of valuable substances. • efficient
The condensate is returned to the spray dryer as process
water, and thus increases the total product yield while the • accurate
concentrate is discharged. The evaporator is designed
for 2 h/ton of scrubbing water and energetically opti-
• traceable
mized by heating through mechanical vapor recompres-
sion. Hall 3, Stand 231 — GEA, Düsseldorf, Germany
www.gea.com
Fine and powerful comminution with

maximum flexibility
The high-speed Universal Fritsch
Cutting Mill Pulverisette

19 comminutes up to 60
L/h of soft to medium-
hard sample materials
and fibrous materials at
a torque of up to 30 Nm
with reliable, reproducible
results. The variable rota-
tional speed adjustment,
in increments of 100 be-
tween 300 and 3,000
rpm, enables fine tun-
ing of the comminution
process for each sample
within a very wide range
of applications. A low-
speed version has a variable rotational speed adjust-
ment between 50 and 700 rpm and a torque of up to 67
Nm. The combination of low cutting rate and extreme
cutting forces enables a very powerful comminution of
hard, tough-elastic samples and small sample quanti-
ties. At the same time, it is suitable for all cases where
thermal damage, the loss of highly volatile substances,
or an excessively high fine share need to be avoided,
says the company. The cutting mills can be combined
with a cyclone separator (photo) for sample recovery,
www.azo.com
and an optional exhaust system. The cyclone separator
is completely made of stainless steel 304. Hall 2, Stand
227 — Fritsch GmbH, Idar-Oberstein, Germany
www.fritsch.de n
Gerald Ondrey

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I
nterphex 2019 will take place April tional configuration options in terms of
2–4 at the Jacob Javits Convention vessel capacity and automation. Stain-
Center in New York City. Focused less-steel vessels are offered for high-
on biotechnology and pharmaceuti- pressure applications. The vessel has
cal manufacturing, Interphex will fea- a heated jacket for efficient drying and
ture a large exhibit hall and a technical a removable filtration basket for simpli-
conference with session tracks cov- fied product collection. The GFD can
ering flexible manufacturing, process be integrated into fume hoods while
optimization, risk management and maintaining process visibility, batch
more. For the first time, Interphex will homogeneity and reduced product
collaborate with Integrated Project Ser- exposure. The GFD Lab PLUS model
vices, LLC (IPS; Blue Bell, Pa.; www. includes a digital display and touch-
ipsdb.com), a provider of engineering, screen to show realtime values and
procurement and construction man- graphs, as well as recipe inputs and
agement (EPCM) services, to debut sequencing. The GFD is compatible for
Innophex, a new event dedicated to microsphere separation or purification.
innovation and technology commer- The agitated Nutsche-filter dryer tech-
Frewitt USA
cialization. Co-located with Interphex, nology and distinctive agitator design
Innophex will bring its own exhibitors enable effective cake agitation in many
and technical content to showcase a applications, including production of
variety of emerging technologies for dyes and paints, wastewater treatment
gene therapy and cell processing, and pharmaceutical production. Booth
including robotics, 3-D printing, aug- 2322 — Powder Systems Ltd. (PSL),
mented reality and other Internet of Liverpool, U.K.
Things (IoT) technologies. The follow- www.powdersystems.com
ing is a small selection of the products
and services that will be showcased at Turnkey solutions for complex
Interphex 2019. production environments
The MultiUse line of automated pro-
This modular milling system has cessing machines are highly flexible
nano-scale capabilities and fully automated to handle very spe-
The FreDrive-Lab is a modular milling cialized or valuable products in differ-
system for research, formulation and ent delivery formats. The filler machine
analytical laboratories in the pharma- from the MultiUse product line is suit-
ceutical, cosmetic, fine chemical and able for laboratory applications, as well
food industries. This patented system as small- to medium-batch operations,
integrates six different milling processes and can be quickly converted for pro-
into one system, enabling the user to cessing different product formats and
PSL
produce a wide variety of particle sizes container types, says the manufacturer.
ranging down to a lower particle-size The company also offers a variety of
distribution spectrum of D90 < 10 µm. turnkey services for complex produc-
The latest addition to the FreDrive-Lab tion systems (photo), including filling
product family, the NanoWitt high-per- and closing technologies, isolation and
formance bead mill (photo), expands freeze drying. This includes digitalized
the range’s capabilities for particle-size planning, from the integrated factory
reduction, enabling wet nano-milling acceptance test (iFAT), site manage-
down to 50 nm. Booth 2865 — Frewitt ment and the site acceptance test (SAT)
USA Inc., Hillsborough, N.J. and comprehensive services utilizing
www.frewitt.com engineering technologies, such as flow
visualization. Also on display will be the
Lab-scale filtration new CS freeze dryer, which is tailored
and drying in one step to products that are new to the mar-
Optima Pharma
The GFD range of laboratory filter dry- ket and are initially produced in small
ers (photo) combines filtration, solids and medium quantities. The space-
isolation, cake washing and vacuum saving CS freeze dryer is optimized for
drying into a single step. The GFD installation in existing buildings. Booth
range has recently been expanded with 3013 — Optima Pharma GmbH,
two new models: the GFD Lab and Schwäbisch Hall, Germany
GFD Lab PLUS, which provide addi- www.optima-packaging.com
Versatile Diverter Valve for Pneumatic
Conveying Applications
The precision machined PT45 diverter valve is designed to pro-
vide line switching for either dilute or dense phase conveying.
As a two-way valve the PT45 can operate as a 1 to 2 way di-
verting valve or a 2 to 1 way converging valve in a pneumatic
conveying system for powdered or granular materials.
The PT45 features a tunnel that rotates 45˚ port to port, which
provides easy positioning of the tunnel to the diverter ports or
the straight-through ports. A hard anodized aluminum housing
provides excellent wear resistance.
Schenck Process
www.schenckprocess.com/us
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IMPACT PLUS is a product administered by the

NACE International Institute.

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ChargePoint Technology
Smart valve monitoring for These flow sensors provide many
hazardous locations measurement parameters
This company has achieved hazard- FLOWave sensors (photos) are op-
ous-area certification (Class 1 Zone 0 erated using the patented surface
and Class II/III Zone 21) from the Cana- acoustic wave (SAW) technology. With
dian Standards Association (CSA) for SAW-enabled flowmeters, there are no
its Verifi smart-monitoring hub (photo). installed fittings or constrictions, which
The Verifi system monitors usage of also means that there are no empty
this company’s split butterfly valves spaces in the measuring tube. In ad-
(SBVs), which provide containment dition, there is no contact between the
during manufacturing processes and sensor elements and the medium,
are designed to increase sterility as- making the process appropriate for hy-
surance for ingredient and small-com- gienic applications. Incorporating vari-
ponent transfers in aseptic processing. ous measurement parameters into one
Verifi continuously records valve use sensor reduces the number of contam-
and provides data to proactively man- ination-prone screw connections in the
age and maintain containment solu- plant. In addition to flow measurement,
tions, which helps to improve operator these sensors provide integrated gas-
safety and risk management. The Verifi bubble detection, which ensures fast
system already holds atmosphere ex- response in the event of process faults.
plosive (ATEX) and International Elec- A density factor enables the quick
trotechnical Commission (IEC) explo- identification of fluid changeovers, and
sive (Ex) certifications, allowing the use viscosity compensation facilitates pre-
of Verifi in hazardous environments in cision with high-viscosity fluids. Booth
Europe. Booth 3033 — ChargePoint 3553 — Bürkert Fluid Control Systems,
Technology Inc., Forked River, N.J. Ingelfingen, Germany
Bürkert www.thechargepoint.com www.burkert.com
INTERPHEX
2019
APRIL 2–4
JAVITS CENTER | NYC
EXPERIENCE SCIENCE THROUGH

COMMERCIALIZATION
ALL OF THE SOLUTIONS YOU NEED TO COST
EFFECTIVELY DEVELOP & MANUFACTURE PRODUCT
USE CODE 20OFF WHEN YOU REGISTER FOR YOUR TECHNICAL CONFERENCE &
EXHIBIT HALL PASS AT: WWW.INTERPHEX.COM/REGISTER

Filling and closing machines This modular feeder design NJM Packaging
for ready-to-use vials enables fast process adaptation

The Dara NFL/2-RDL aseptic filling and The new K3-PH line of loss-in-weight
closing machine for ready-to-use vials screw feeders (photo) is designed for
(photo) handles nests of pre-sterilized continuous processing applications in
vials and avoids the crimping required the pharmaceutical industry. The new
with traditional aluminum closures. feeder features a modular concept with
This fully servo-driven system stream- a drastically reduced overall footprint
lines packaging operations to minimize thanks to a new, smaller platform scale
equipment footprint and changeover that incorporates the patented Smart
time. The Dara NFL/2-RDL can be Force Transducer (SFT) weighing tech-
used from scaleup through small-batch nology. The modular quick-change
commercial manufacturing. Utilizing design allows the easy exchange
ready-to-use vials simplifies small-scale of feeder types and sizes, as well as
production by eliminating the need for a hoppers or agitators using the same
washer and depyrogenation tunnel, ac- scale and drive for fast adaptation to
cording to the manufacturer. NFL/2-RDL new processes and formulations while
systems are designed to seal vials with also ensuring easy cleaning and main-
ARaymondlife’s patented RayDyLyo tenance. The new device is suitable
caps, which are pre-assembled plas- for multi-feeder clustering in a variety
tic closures featuring a rubber stopper of continuous processes, including
within the cap to minimize the “pop-off” direct compression, continuous ex-
effect and eliminate the risk of stoppers trusion, wet and dry granulation and
adhering to freeze-dryer plates. RayDy- continuous coating, as well as tradi-
Lyo closures come in 13- and 20-mm tional batch processes. Booth 2558 —
sizes. Booth 2353 — NJM Packaging, Coperion K-Tron, Sewell, N.J.
Lebanon, N.H. www.coperion.com/pharma ■
www.njmpackaging.com Mary Page Bailey Coperion K-Tron
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Visit QuestIntegrity.com to learn more.
CHALLENGE CONVENTION
Europe 2019 Special Advertising Section
Inside
AUMA.....................................74
Beumer Group........................73
Bronkhorst High Tech B.V..........76
Buss-SMS-Canzler..................74
Dec Group..............................76
Dinnissen...............................74
Ekato......................................77
Endress+Hauser.....................73
Famat.....................................79
Frewitt ...................................76
GEA Group.............................75
i.Safe Mobile..........................77
IPCO.......................................72
Mettler Toledo........................75
Pepperl+Fuchs.......................79
Pfeiffer Vacuum......................77
Phoenix Contact.....................78
PSL (Powder Systems Ltd)........76
Siemens.................................78
IPCO: turnkey pastillation and packaging unit for Tar Pitch

T he IPCO Rotoform process produces
granules of highly uniform shape, stabil-
ity and quality. As a free-flowing, virtually
and cooling is transferred via the steel belt to
cooling water sprayed underneath. This water
is collected in tanks and returned to the water
dust-free product with high bulk density recooling system; at no stage does it come
and excellent packing qualities, Rotoform into contact with the product.
pastilles are the ideal form for packaging, At the end of the cooling line, the solid
storage, feeding and dosing and further pastilles are removed from the belt and
processing in end applications such as: transported to a hopper for bagging/
• Electrodes weighing.
• Tire and cable industry
• Printing inks Full turnkey capability including up- and
• Roofing & construction downstream equipment
• Solid fuel Our expertise goes far beyond the A turnkey plant includes the following
• Steel manufacturing Rotoform granulator and steel belt cooler scope of supply:
• Special graphites that are at the heart of this process; we can • Feed pump
engineer, supply, erect and commission the • Heatable filter
How the Rotoform system works entire system, starting from feed of the mol- • Oil heating unit
A pump delivers the molten product from ten material, through the granulation process • Product piping
a vessel to the Rotoform system via heated to weighing, bagging, palletizing of the bulk • Rotoform unit
piping. The Rotoform itself consists of a product (20/50 kg or big bags) and storage. • Steel belt cooler
heated cylindrical stator – which is supplied One Rotoform unit can solidify up to (1500mm x 40m)
with liquid product – and a perforated rotat- 4.000 kg of tar pitch per hour. The pastille • Product conveying
ing shell that turns concentrically around the size is typically 5 to 8mm diameter with a • Automatic Big Bag unit
stator. Drops of the product are deposited height of 1.5 to 4mm. (500kg to 1.500 kg/h)
across the whole operating width of a contin- The market requirements are a water- • Control system
uously running stainless steel belt. free product, hygienic working condition With a high degree of automation, a
The circumferential speed of the Rotoform due to low dust generation, free-flowing plant of up to three RF units including down-
is synchronized with the speed of the belt: pastilles for easy handling, storage and me- stream bagging system can be operated by
drops are therefore deposited without defor- tering, and low energy costs due to large a single person.
mation. Heat released during solidification heat exchange surface of steel belt. www.ipco.com

Always the right gripper at hand: The BEUMER

robotpac series
BEUMER Group robotpac The fork gripper was designed for palle- palletises and
B EUMER Group's portfolio includes the

BEUMER robotpac for palletising dif-
ferent bagged items or unit loads such as
tising bagged goods and cardboard boxes.
It picks up the packaged item from a take-
away roller conveyor and secures it using a
depalletises
a wide variety
of packaged
cartons, boxes, canisters, trays and barrels: holding-down device during transport. The goods with
a space-saving, fully automatic articulated double fork gripper was also designed for specially
robot that solves complex palletising and palletising bagged goods and cardboard designed
de-palletising challenges reliably and effi- boxes. It can pick up two units from the gripping
ciently. The user receives gripping systems double take-away roller conveyor. Once systems.
suitable for all types of packaged goods, the first unit is placed on the pallet, the
which can be easily exchanged. Together BEUMER robotpac lifts the fork up again that pushes the cardboard box horizontally
with customers BEUMER Group has devel- and drives to the second target. against the fixed plate.
oped an extensive know-how when it comes The finger gripper has been developed The suction gripper can generally handle
to control technology and the development for bagged goods. It takes the bags from any item with a fitting surface. Bagged goods
of grippers. BEUMER Group offers different hoist equipment on the take-away roller con- belong to the most frequently palletised
grippers for different tasks. veyor and carries it to the target position. products. The head of the suction gripper
Here, the fingers open while the slide plates moves over the product and is then lowered
remain in a closed position. This ensures that until it seals tightly with the product surface.
the bag is guided along the sides during the The vacuum pump starts and creates a vacu-
stacking process. The double finger gripper um in the suction head. The bag is picked up
is a high-performance tool developed and and transported to the target position.
designed for maximum palletising capacity. In addition to these gripping systems,
The parallel gripper is a special tool for there is a large number of specialty grippers
palletising cardboard boxes and other di- and combination tools. New in the program
mensionally stable containers with parallel is the safe gripping of barrels. The BEUMER
side walls. The essential components are a Group offers various gripping systems for
New in the program is the fixed plate that functions as a limit stop and this purpose.
safe gripping of barrels. a pneumatically activated clamping device www.beumergroup.com
Heartbeat Technology increases safety

With integrated Heartbeat Technology, measurement instruments monitor themselves while
the process is running. The smart analysis of sensor data makes predictive maintenance
and process optimization possible.
T he Heartbeat Technology monitors – so
to speak – the instrument’s heartbeat. To
do this, Endress+Hauser relies on sensor
instrument’s SIL parameters and simplifies
SIL proof testing. That means the interval
for complex full inspections can be extend-
cess influences that have an impact on the
measurement performance of the sensors.
It’s possible to monitor trends such as drift
signals for various diagnostic, verification ed until the planned system revision. detection in liquid analysis and temperature
and monitoring functions. For SIL-compliant Thanks to the internal self-diagnostic measurement applications. With continu-
facilities in particular, this concept trans- sensor technology, the instruments continuous radar-based level measurements, at a
lates into measurable progress with respect ally carry out self-diagnostics in the back- glance it can be clear whether build-up or
to process safety, system availability and ef- ground and provide explicit status reports condensation has accumulated on the in-
ficiency. Heartbeat Technology improves the with clear instructions regarding what to strument nozzle, or if foam has formed on
do. The system reliably detects dangerous the surface of the medium. And with the
instrument faults and reduces the prob- Heartbeat Sensor Integrity (HBSI) diagnos-
ability of the safety system experiencing tics parameter, Coriolis mass flow measure-
an outage. For SIL-based proof tests, the ment devices can determine if corrosion,
instrument functionality, from the sensor cavitation, deposits or air bubbles are pres-
to the output signal, can be verified and ent in the pipe.
the test result documented, at the push The HBSI value monitors the entire dy-
of a button on the instrument. The depth namic vibration behavior of the measure-
of testing that the combination of the ment pipe, can be analyzed independent
Heartbeat Technology diagnostics and veri- of the process conditions and provides an
fication functions provides is such that the unequivocal statement on the status of the
recalibration interval can be extended so sensor. With the HBSI parameter, a corner-
Heartbeat technology, which is that the required SIL parameters for the en- stone of one of the most concrete IIoT ap-
integrated into the newest generation tire safety system can be adhered to. plications has been laid, namely predictive
of flow, level, temperature and analysis With the help of instrument-specific maintenance.
instruments from Endress+Hauser. trend parameters, the technology can ex-
plicitly, and in a timely fashion, track pro- www.endress.com

Cloud solution Thin Film Dryer

increases plant Short residence time and low
availability product hold-up
The new AUMA Cloud I n drying processes residence time to dry a

product to required moisture content and ac-
enables condition-based ceptable maximum product temperature are
important process parameters for achieving the
predictive maintenance specified product quality.
The required residence times in dryers are
frequently overrated and the maximum allow-
able product temperatures are assessed too
low. In many cases shorter residence times en-
able higher product temperatures.
Short residence times are the strength of thin-film dryers Buss-SMS-Canzler says. Thin-
film dryers, equal horizontally or vertically arranged comprise of a heated shell and the
rotor inside. Due to fast rotation the product fed exist on rotor´s circumference only. The re-
maining space is empty. High heat transfer rates are reducing the required heating surface.
Many chemical products can be successfully dried at elevated temperatures when the ex-
posure time to higher temperature is short. Continuous vacuum drying can be altered to a
process at atmospheric pressure; batch process can be converted to continuous processes.
The hold-up inside a thin-film dryer is negligible compared to many other contact dryers.
E lectric actuator manufacturer AUMA has

expanded its digital services portfolio: The
new AUMA Cloud provides a free and secure
Process safety increases and product quality becomes more homogenous. Start-up and shut-
down is a matter of minutes since the dryer is virtually instantly empty after stopping feed.
A simplified process at a minimised hold-up, homogenous product quality and increased
solution for cost-effective asset management process safety are the main features of advanced thin-film drying of Buss-SMS-Canzler.
and condition-based predictive maintenance, Applications of thin-film technology are chemical processes, food production, pharmaceuti-
promoting high plant availability. cal intermediates and waste removal including sewage sludge drying.
The AUMA Cloud is an easy-to-use in- To proof the feasibility and specific performance for your product our laboratory is at your
teractive platform to collect and assess de- disposal. Your product is treated on a real thin-film dryer at actual process conditions. Just a
tailed device information on all the AUMA sample of a few kg is sufficient.
www.sms-vt.com
actuators in a plant. It allows plant opera-
tors to detect excessive loads or other prob-
lems at an early stage and take remedial
action in time. Unique automatic drum-emptier for
AUMA actuators provide crucial valve
automation at many different points in a
process plant. Equipped with comprehen-
toxic/explosive powdery products
sive data logging facilities they automatical-
ly store a wide variety of operating data, for
example number of motor starts, tempera-
W ith personal protection and a safer workplace in mind, Dinnissen engineered the au-
tomatic emptying of 200 dm³ drums containing toxic/explosive powdery products.
Thankfully, the employees no longer have to wear gas masks when emptying these drums.
tures, vibration, torques, warning signals,
and faults. World’s first Emptying the drum
Using the AUMA Cloud, plant owners and In early 2018, the world’s first automatic The still filled drum is transported to
operators can now take full advantage of this drum-emptier was a fact. The process starts the third cabin where a gripper rotates and
information to assess the loads the actuators by feeding the closed drums into the first empties it. Any clumps of powder are bro-
and their related valves have experienced cabin. Here, the lid is automatically removed ken down by a specially developed cutter.
over their lifetimes. The AUMA Cloud analy- and the drum is transported to the second
ses the data and presents the results clearly, cabin. In the meantime, the lid is cleaned Cleaning the drum
including crucial parameters such as actua- with a neutral liquid in a separate cabin. The empty drum is returned to the start-
tor uptime. Operators get a quick overview of ing position. Here the gripper automatically
the condition of their actuators and valves. Inliner: second part lifts and rotates it to the cleaning position
Maintenance can be planned on the basis of If the drum has a separate 'inliner' it will where it is rinsed out with a large volume of
actual operating conditions instead of fixed be removed through a special hatch in a pro- liquid, blown dry with compressed air and
intervals, helping to reduce maintenance cess that also cleans out the powder residue. returned to the roller conveyor.
downtime and cost.
If more detailed analysis is required, it is Additional safety
quick and easy to send actuator data from the Automatic doors can isolate each cabin. If re-
AUMA Cloud to AUMA Service. This facilitates quired, the operator can inject nitrogen into any
remote diagnostics while reducing costs for of the cabins that contain a potentially explosive
on-site service and speeding up repairs. product, eliminating the chance of an explosion.
As a web application the AUMA Cloud The installation is also equipped with a built-in
works with any common browser. It is free air dryer, including filters that prevent vapour
of charge. from spreading through the installation.
www.auma.com www.dinnissen.nl

GEA delivers turnkey spray drying plant to Borregaard

for the production of bio-based products
T he production of value-added prod-
ucts from renewable raw materials is
Borregaard's strategy. GEA is supporting its
Spray drying of sustainable white biotech
product
At this plant the 25 t/h of lignosulfo-
customer with the supply of a turnkey plant nates is directly fed into a rotary atom-
for spray drying of lignosulfonate in the dou- izer and spray dried. The final product is
ble-digit million range. The solution also in- separated in two groups of consecutively
cludes a new silo for feeding stored powder cyclones. The second newly developed cy-
materials into the plant's packaging system clones CEE (Cyclone Extra Efficiency) offers
and a large wet scrubber for dedusting. The a higher separation efficiency, which in-
entire process solution will be installed at the creases the yield and reduces emission. In
Norwegian site in Sarpsborg and commission- real life tests, the CEE powder separation
ing is scheduled for the middle of 2019. efficiency was verified as being consider-
According to Ståle Schie-Veslum, Senior ably higher than the efficiency of standard Assembly of spray drying facility
Purchaser at Borregaard, the new invest- cyclones. at Borregaard (Photo: GEA)
ment will allow further specialization of
lignin production and thus greater flexibil- Emission Control and reuse of internal the spray dryer as process water and thus
ity and added value in the chemical mar- wastewater increases the total product yield while the
ket. "Our plant in Sarpsborg has an annual Part of the spray drying plant is the concentrate is discharged. The evaporator
capacity of 160,000 tons of lignin, an in- large wet scrubber for dedusting. The is designed for 2 h/t of scrubbing water and
creasing proportion of which are special Venturi scrubber uses water to clean the energetically optimized by heating through
products. We will optimize our production exhaust gases from the spray dryer before mechanical vapor recompression.
with the new GEA equipment," he explains. they are released into the environment. GEA is represented with a booth at
"The new infrastructure and energy facili- The scrubbing water is circulated and fed POWTECH 2019 from April 9 to 11 at the
ties will reduce energy costs and offer sig- continuously to a falling film evaporator Nuremberg trade fair. Visit us in hall 3, booth
nificant environmental and safety benefits," for concentration and recovery of valuable 3-231.
says Ståle Schie-Veslum. substances. The condensate is returned to www.gea.com
Choosing Your Next Gas Analyzer

Mettler Toledo launches new 10-step guide
S electing an analyzer for off gas, moisture

or other specific applications can be a
challenging task. In February 2019, Mettler
racy, or reduce overall
operating and mainte-
nance costs.
Toledo released a new 10-step guide to sup- The new guide
port decision makers in this process. from Mettler Toledo
Gas analyzers are typically a long-term provides information
capital investment that play a critical role for helping you to se-
in the safety or efficiency of your plant. lect the right analyzer
Oxygen gas analyzers need a fast response technology for each
time to prevent explosive conditions from application point in
forming. Moisture gas analyzers help to pre- your process. It helps
vent corrosion of critical plant equipment. walk you through a
Unique gas analyzers such as methane, am- technology assess-
monia, carbon monoxide or hydrogen sul- ment, including ensur-
fide can help optimize your operation. ing that you analyze
With technology rapidly changing, and up-to three different
the typical analyzer lasting 10+ years, reas- technologies (such
sessing technology each time you need to as paramagnetic, TDL and zirconium oxide) Mettler Toledo, "This guide is about mak-
replace an analyzer can yield significant re- and how to assess the total project cost ing it easier for you to get the right ana-
turns in plant safety and output, and bears with each potential vendor. lyzer for your application. Maybe you will
long-lasting consequences. Once possible analyzers have been iden- choose a probe-type TDL, or maybe you
According to 3rd party research from tified, this guide provides a systematic ap- will choose another technology. What was
a major chemical industry publication, proach for comparing these technologies, important for us in writing this is that you
nearly 90% of process engineers said that submitting your proposal internally, and re- have a clear approach to reach the solution
they would consider changing gas ana- ducing the pain and uncertainty of changing that best works for you."
lyzer technology if they can be convinced it technologies. www.mt.com/Gas-Guide
helps improve speed of response and accu- According to Jean-Nic Adami from

Free Online Calculator Simplify your connection

for 1800 Fluids New Docking System for Big Bags and Bags
B ronkhorst High-
Tech B.V., The
D ec presents a new docking
system for emptying and
filling big bags and bags under
Netherland, has ex- high containment < 1 μg / m3 .
panded its database Noteworthy advantages of the
of gas and liquid new system include the ability
properties with 1000 to provide containment without
fluids to over 1800 auxiliary utilities, the simplified
fluids. This compre- operation, i.e. significant time
hensive database, savings compared to conven-
called FLUIDAT®, tional systems and an effortless
is used by the FLUIDAT - Online Database cleaning process. The system
company for con- for Chemical Properties provides a perfect seal with sol-
figuration and vent-resistant components that
extremely accurate calibration of its extensive portfolio of flow me- securely seal bags as well with
ters and controllers, and for calculating pressure differences, valve creases. In addition, opera-
seats, etc.. The most complete, most accurate database in its kind tors benefit from low operating
is also available as a free, online calculation tool for Bronkhorst costs and the system's high reliability.
customers who, for example, want to determine conversion factors Dec specializes in Big Bag emptying and filling stations that are
when they want to use their flow meter for a gas (or gas mixture) designed according to customer criteria in terms of size and contain-
other than that for which the instrument is calibrated. This online ment needs. Depending on the product flow they can be equipped
calculation tool, Fluidat on the Net (www.fluidat.com), is also very with fluidizing funnels and lump breakers, as well as massage units.
valuable for physicists who need to calculate fluid properties or Charging bags and drums, including further conveying to the next
need to consult the vapour pressure curve. process step, can be achieved automatically and under high contain-
ment by means of the PTS Powder Transfer System.
www.bronkhorst.com Powtech 2019 : Halle 1, Stand 1-316
www.dec-group.net
The Special Relationship The last Innovation of Frewitt

A ward winning manu-
facturer PSL (Powder
is going around the World
Systems Ltd) has expand-
ed their expertise in pro-
cess development with
F rewitt, the world
leader in powder
size reduction tech-
the innovative testing fa- nologies, presents
cility, C.O.P.E. (Center of FreDrive-Lab, a mod-
Process Excellence). C.O.P.E. Technical Director, Craig ular system, which
Celebrating 30 years Patrizio demonstrates the GFD is revolutionizing
in business, PSL design Lab Filter Dryer at ACHEMA 2018. milling solutions
and engineer solutions for R&D, formula-
from laboratory equipment up to containment technology designed tion, and analyti-
to keep the operator safe from highly toxic chemicals. cal laboratories in
The UK based company with offices in France, Singapore, Australia the pharmaceuti-
and the US has supplied global brands such as Pfizer, GSK, BMS, Roche, cal, cosmetic, fine
Bayer, 3M, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lonza and DSM. chemical and food
PSL and C.O.P.E. combine laboratory expertise and engineering ex- industries. This pat-
cellence to provide solutions for applications such as batteries, dyes and ented innovation was
paint, silicon, waste water treatment and pharmaceutical production. developed specifically in
C.O.P.E. based in Philadelphia, USA, helps clients optimize pro- collaboration with R&D
cesses through specialist consultation, trials and testing of process teams of selected customers, world leaders in their own sectors, in
formulations. The facility focuses on development and scale-up, order to meet and surpass today’s industry challenges. The FreDrive-
with key areas being microsphere processing, API development, fil- Lab integrates 6 different milling processes in one system, enabling
tration trials, milling trials, powder property testing, qualification the user to produce a wide variety of particle sizes ranging down to
batches and consultation services. a lower particle size distribution spectrum of D90 (< 10 µm). The 6th
Visitors to Interphex in April will be able to see how both servic- and latest addition to our FreDrive-Lab, the NanoWitt high perfor-
es can provide solutions to process requirements from laboratory mance bead mill, brings another dimension to particle size reduction,
and R&D, up to production. enabling wet nano milling down to 50 nanometers.
Meet your process experts at Interphex 2019, New York on
Booth 2232. www.powdersystems.com www.frewitt.com

Pfeiffer Vacuum Next generation EKATO ISOPAS

introduces new O ver the last 85 years, EKATO has become
the world market leader in agitation and
resulting in best mixing
conditions on high fill-
HiPace 700 H mixing technology. With EKATO SYSTEMS, the

product portfolio turned into a complete solu-
ing levels already from
the beginning of the
turbopumps
tions provider for vacuum processing units. The drying process wher-
application range includes mixing and drying of ever a phase transfer
solids (EKATO SOLIDMIX) as well as mixing and from a suspension to
• High compression especially for dispersing of semi solids from liquids to highly kneading towards
light gases viscous products (EKATO UNIMIX). powder is needed.
• Ideal for high vacuum and ultra high The EKATO SOLIDMIX technology is used Furthermore the
vacuum applications around the globe in a wide variety of industries. agitator leads to a
• Intermittent mode offers more than The Vertical Process Dryer (VPT) series more effective heat
90% energy savings without loss of has been developed for vacuum contact transfer and shorter mix-
performance drying of products with unique flow proper- ing times due to a par-
ties and a pronounced phase transfer. The ticularly small wall clearance. The optimized
EKATO ISOPAS with its efficient and effec- design enables an even higher product yield,
tive axial and radial mixing is the ideal agi- especially with products that tend to form de-
tator for this purpose. posits. These products are also removed from
The ISOPAS geometry in combination the wall of the cylindrical vessel section. Due
with the baffle ensures short mixing times to the extension, the agitator protrudes the
and efficient heat transfer. The steep blade product even at higher filling levels, thus en-
shapes, the conical vessel bottom and the suring good mixing at all times. Depending on
low ratio of agitator surface to vessel vol- the requirements of the product, further mod-
ume result in a higher product discharge in ifications can be realized, e.g. a heated agita-
comparison to other drying systems. tor shaft or modifications to reduce the shear
In addition to the unique and excellent stress of the product.
Pfeiffer Vacuum introduces mixing results, the EKATO ISOPAS agitator
the new HiPace 700 H has been further developed in terms of pro- POWTECH 2019
cess technology. EKATO exhibits at POWTECH 2019 in
P feiffer Vacuum is presenting extremely

high-compression models with its new
HiPace 700 H turbopumps. With a compres-
The ISOPAS blade design is extended
upwards in the cylindrical part of the vessel
Nuremberg, Germany. Hall 2 / Booth 2-346
www.ekato.com
sion ratio of ≥ 2·107 for hydrogen, they are
i.safe MOBILE presents Augmented

suitable for generating high and ultra high
vacuum. Due to the high compression ratio,
Reality in industrial use:

a low residual gas spectrum, which is desir-
able for certain mass spectrometry applica-
tions, is created in the chamber.
Due to their advanced rotor designs,
HiPace 700 H turbopumps have an excep-
tionally high critical backing pressure capa-
bility of 22 hPa. This allows the pumps to
i .safe MOBILE is an innovative specialist for mobile
communication devices that guarantee safe
use in hazardous areas. The i.safe MOBILE de-
reach ultra high vacuum, even when operat- velopment team incorporates all international
ing with high backing pressures that occur standards into product development and is
in combination with diaphragm pumps. itself a member of corresponding standardiza-
“With the new HiPace H-family, we have tion committees. i.safe MOBILE not only develops
the ideal turbopump for research and ana- devices, but also manufactures specially adapted
lytics applications as well as for other in- mobile devices for the specific requirements in close
dustrial applications. In terms of energy cooperation with its customers.
efficiency as well, this product is far ahead.
Due to the integrated ‘intermittent mode’ Completely hands-free working
function, the HiPace H switches a connected The Head Mounted Tablet HMT-1Z1, is the first intuitive and com-
backing pump on only if the backing pres- pletely hands-free Head Mounted Tablet (HMT) for work in hazardous areas. It was specially
sure is no longer sufficient. This reduces the developed for mobile workers and specialists in maintenance and service as well as for han-
energy consumption of the entire vacuum dling complex production and logistics processes. The HMT-1Z1 activates und controls the
system by up to 90%,” says Florian Henss, apps and functions by using speech. The voice guidance works precisely even in noisy en-
Product Manager at Pfeiffer Vacuum. vironments. In addition, an integrated scanner in the camera helps to capture data. Remote
Due to the hybrid bearing, combining video support allows mobile workers to receive help from the helpdesk, view technical
a ceramic ball bearing on the fore-vacuum documentation, download IoT (Internet of Things) data, access maintenance instructions
side with a permanent-magnet radial bear- and sketches, or record inspection work. Certified to ATEX Zone 1/21 or CSA Class I, II, III di-
ing, these turbopumps are equipped with vision 1, IP66 (water-resistant and dustproof ) and MIL-STD-810G (drop-proof up to 2 metres
a particularly robust bearing concept. As a high), the HMT-1Z1 is perfectly suited to perform tasks in potentially explosive Zone 1/21
result, they have a long service life with a such as in the oil/gas and chemical industries and in the mining environment more quickly,
service interval of more than four years. safely and intelligently. For further Information:
www.pfeiffer-vacuum.com www.isafe-mobile.com

The path to digitized maintenance

A lthough digitization is undeniable trend,
regular inspection rounds with a defined
maintenance plan will continue to be an
markings directly in the con-
struction trailer, with no delay
and less likelihood of errors.
integral part of plant monitoring and main- Phoenix Contact has al-
tenance. Clear and easily scannable mark- ready installed RFID tags at
ings are essential for these inspections. The several companies as part
identification systems in many old plants of a full-service package.
are in dire need of modernization. By mod- "During that process, we saw
ernizing, companies can pave the way for the bad state that many well-
digitally supported maintenance rounds. known companies are in,"
says Grote. “For many com-
Proper marking as the basis for proper panies, there's simply no way
maintenance around it: They have to spend money to im- This scenario requires a wireless net-
The most obvious solution is durable, prove the situation." Easily readable RFID work that connects the tablets to the mas-
easily decipherable signs. Plant operators HF or UHF transponders, integrated into the ter MES at all times. As with markings and
can improve productivity and system avail- marking or installation material, are an in- RFID, Phoenix Contact provides the essen-
ability by installing these markings on all vestment that will not only increase safety, tial hardware and services. A WiFi network
components and equipment consistently but also pave the way to more advanced is suitable if industrial office equipment
throughout the plant. For even greater effi- maintenance methods. One such method will be used to support maintenance pro-
ciency, RFID tags can be used. is the use of maintenance software on tab- cesses. However, Phoenix Contact also
"We have customers who label each lets. This software guides the maintenance provides wireless infrastructures for
new piece of equipment immediately after engineer to all components scheduled for smaller companies whose automation de-
installation. Some use RFID tags, others use inspection. The employee can immediately partments are also responsible for wire-
stainless steel tags," says Wilfried Grote, confirm performed maintenance procedures less communication in the production
Director Process Management at Phoenix online. environment. This service includes every-
Contact. Locally installed marking systems A maintenance application on the tablet thing from design to installation to the IT
facilitate this task. Instead of having to print simplifies tasks and improves results for the security strategy.
an ID label several 100 meters away in the maintenance staff, thereby increasing plant
control room, installers can create robust availability. www.phoenixcontact.com
Log, transfer, analyse – How examining stranded field

device data can make all the difference
L et sleeping dogs lie, they say. But would you
also let sleeping or “stranded” data lie?
Field instruments in process plants gen-
more insights for informed decisions
does actually make a difference?
One area of application are optimiza-
erate millions of data each day by trans- tion endeavors. Process instruments are
mitting their measuring and status signals the eyes and ears of the process but in-
to the process control system. But there is vesting in instrumentation used purely
more to sensors than just their measuring aimed at optimization tasks would be too
values. To date, 85 % of the data produced costly. However, deciding against it, comes
by a sensor, remain unused. So why let this at a cost as well: even simple correlations
potential slumber in the age of big data? of process measurements to monitor the
New concepts such as the NAMUR Open cavitation at a pump or the health status
Architecture (NOA) allow simplified access of the installed valves cannot easily be
to this wealth of data and accelerate time implemented. The plant operators miss The Valve Monitoring App by Siemens
to insight. While the automation system out on information that could be used for allows operators to use diagnostic
and its function as central control instru- asset management and predictive main- information of their valve fleet to schedule
ment within the plant remains untouched tenance – and hence to reduce unplanned preventive maintenance works.
by the NOA concept, a second data channel plant downtime. When using a second
is being implemented. Destined for the col- data channel, the additional data would not folio, customers can close the gap between
lection of smart field device data and their clog the process control system, but would field and cloud. The actual design of the so-
routing into data collectors and cloud ap- instead be transferred to an application ex- lution, is another service offered by Siemens:
plications for further analysis, this alternate clusively designed to monitor different asset “It is our task to support and accompany our
route for data offers real-time characteris- groups and provide diagnosis. Using the customers in transforming their processes
tics. Thanks to this co-existence of existing computing power of cloud applications, edge into digital structures and ultimately reap the
proven-in-use structures and the new open devices or on-premise solutions, big data benefits offered by digitalization”, says Dr.
standard, also Brownfield plants may be sets, assembled either on-site or across loca- Ralf Huck, Head of R&D process instrumenta-
equipped with additional intelligence. But tions, reveal correlations, patterns and can tion at Siemens.
what are use cases where this additional deliver foresights about upcoming mainte- www.siemens.com/
data channel and its promise to provide nance requirements. With the Siemens port- processinstrumentation

Crust Breaking Explosion Protection

Sampling Valve
– A Problem P epperl+Fuchs is a leading supplier of automation equip-
ment for a wide range of industries and has been associ-
ated with safety in hazardous areas for decades. Our deep
Solver expertise enables us to offer a complete range of automation

solutions for the process automation industry.
The product portfolio includes intrinsic safety isolators,
Zener barriers, signal conditioners, fieldbus technology,
F AMAT’s brand new

125CC Sampling
Valve has been devel-
Remote I/O, HART interfaces, level measurement, purge &
pressurization systems, Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) for
hazardous environments, custom cabinets, and junction boxes.
oped to solve a recur- We provide process industry companies all over the world
ring problem. During with proven components and tailor-made solutions for a di-
the mixing/drying pro- FAMAT Crust-Breaking Sampler verse range of applications. The branches that we cover
cess of power in the include the oil and gas industry, petrochemical, chemical in-
pharmaceutical and dustry, pharmaceutical industry, as well as wastewater treat-
chemical industries, a possible crust could be formed on the inside of ment plants, and power technology.
the reactor preventing the power sample to be taken. Terminal and Junction Boxes (Ex e, Ex i, Ex op)
The ingenious system with two handwheels allows the piston to The whole range from small junction boxes to complex,
be used in two functions: configurable terminal boxes, is covered by the series GR, SLS,
• Small handwheel used for normal sample taking operation XLS, FXLS, and HVB. Enclosure materials include glass fiber
• Big handwheel used to push piston inside the reactor to break the crust reinforced polyester and stainless steel.
The complete system can be equipped with limit switches and
small pneumatic actuator to ensure the piston can not be introduced
into the reactor while under operation.
FAMAT’s new sampling valve is definitely responding to a growing
need on the market.
www.famat.com
Get Chemical Engineering’s Plant

Cost Index to improve plant cost
estimates…and delivered in Terminal and Junction Boxes (Ex d)
Optimal protection for any installation is achieved by
advance of the print edition! the sturdy flameproof enclosures of the EJB and GUB series.
Materials are aluminum and stainless steel.
GR-Series: Your Solution for Hazardous Areas

The new GR enclosure series, which is developed for cus-
tomized solutions with increased safety (Ex e) and intrinsi-
cally-safe (Ex i) type of protection, is available for various
products of our portfolio—including certification for global
For more than 40 years, chemical process use in your plant.
industries professionals-engineers, manager
and technicians, have used Chemical Engineering’s Intelligent Design
Plant Cost Index to adjust process plant During the design stage, the free placement of the DIN rail
with no need for a mounting base enables you to incorporate
construction costs from one period to another.
a higher number of components and functions into one of the
This database includes all annual archives (1947 13 enclosure types.
to present) and monthly data archives (1970 to Expanded Temperature Range
present). Instead of waiting more than two weeks Extremely rugged GR series GRP enclosures withstand
for the print or online version of Chemical Engi- temperatures down to -60 °C. Beyond versatility this enclo-
neering to arrive, subscribers can access new sure series can serve in place of stainless steel housings in
data as soon as it’s calculated. many applications.
Handling Made Easy

Subscribe today at Cleverly designed features enable convenient one-person
mounting, maintenance, and flexible extensions—this saves
www.chemengonline.com/pci time and makes handling much easier!
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MARCH10:56 2019
AM
Product Showcase Product
Showcase
See us at:
POWTECH
Hall 1, Booth 305
April 9–11, 2019 Written for engineers,
by engineers
More and more, Februa
business in the
2015 ry
02
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Hea
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Economic Indicators
2016 2017 2018
Download the CEPCI two weeks sooner at www.chemengonline.com/pci
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT COST INDEX (CEPCI)

625
(1957–59 = 100) Dec. ’18 Nov. ’18 Dec. ’17 Annual Index:
Prelim. Final Final
2010 = 550.8 600
CE Index_______________________________________________ 616.0 616.5 572.9
Equipment _____________________________________________ 751.3 752.3 691.8 2011 = 585.7
Heat exchangers & tanks __________________________________ 667.3 671.4 604.9
Process machinery ______________________________________ 731.7 732.6 694.0 2012 = 584.6 575
Pipe, valves & fittings _____________________________________ 979.9 973.6 893.5 2013 = 567.3
Process instruments _____________________________________ 420.3 420.8 410.7 550
Pumps & compressors ____________________________________ 1037.3 1036.3 996.4 2014 = 576.1
Electrical equipment _____________________________________ 553.7 552.8 524.1 2015 = 556.8
Structural supports & misc. ________________________________ 827.2 832.5 732.7 525
Construction labor ________________________________________ 339.6 338.2 330.4 2016 = 541.7
Buildings ______________________________________________ 600.1 600.7 567.4 2017 = 567.5
Engineering & supervision __________________________________ 316.6 317.1 308.9 500
J F M A M J J A S O N D
Starting in April 2007, several data series for labor and compressors were converted to accommodate series IDs discontinued by the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Starting in March 2018, the data series for chemical industry special machinery was replaced
because the series was discontinued by BLS (see Chem. Eng., April 2018, p. 76–77.)
CURRENT BUSINESS INDICATORS LATEST PREVIOUS YEAR AGO

CPI output index (2012 = 100)_____________________________________________________ Jan. '19 = 104.1 Dec. '18 = 104.2 Nov. '18 = 103.7 Jan. '18 = 100.4
CPI value of output, $ billions _____________________________________________________ Nov.'18 = 1,971.9 Oct. '18 = 2,031.8 Sept. '18 = 2,029.1 Nov. '17 = 1,892.6
CPI operating rate, % ___________________________________________________________ Jan. '19 = 77.2 Dec. '18 = 77.3 Nov. '18 = 77.0 Dec. '17 = 75.1
Producer prices, industrial chemicals (1982 = 100) _____________________________________ Jan. '19 = 249.7 Dec. '18 = 260.7 Nov. '18 = 279.2 Dec. '17 = 268.1
Industrial Production in Manufacturing (2012 =100)* ____________________________________ Jan. '19 = 105.2 Dec. '18 = 106.1 Nov. '18 = 105.3 Dec. '17 = 102.3
Hourly earnings index, chemical & allied products (1992 = 100) _____________________________ Jan. '19 = 188.4 Dec. '18 = 186.7 Nov. '18 = 187.3 Dec. '17 = 187.3
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100)_______________________________ Jan. '19 = 96.2 Dec. '18 = 97.0 Nov. '18 = 97.0 Dec. '17 = 95.7
CPI OUTPUT INDEX (2000 = 100)† CPI OUTPUT VALUE ($ BILLIONS) CPI OPERATING RATE (%)
110 2300 80
105
2200 78
100
2100
95 76
2000
90
74
1900
85
72
80 1800
75 1700 70
J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
*Due to discontinuance, the Index of Industrial Activity has been replaced by the Industrial Production in Manufacturing index from the U.S. Federal Reserve Board.
†For the current month’s CPI output index values, the base year was changed from 2000 to 2012
Current business indicators provided by Global Insight, Inc., Lexington, Mass.
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