01 ChE - Enero 2015

January
2015
METHANE
www.chemengonline.com REFORMING
PAGE 40
Painting
01
Temperature
CONTROLLING SUSPENSION RHEOLOGY • METHANE REFORMING
Effects for
a Clear High-Velocity
Gas Flow
Picture of Moving to
Modular
Suspension Industrial
Enzymes
RheologyPAGE 34
Facts at Your
Fingertips:
Pumps
Focus on
Pressure
Measurement
Plot Plan
Design
VOL. 122 NO. 1 JANUARY 2015
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JANUARY 2015 VOLUME 122, NO. 1
COVER STORY
34 Cover Story Controlling Suspension Rheology The physical
characteristics of dispersed particles in suspensions have a large impact
on overall rheological properties
NEWS
11 Chementator Modular hydrogen-production technology uses modified
SMR process; Solar-electric hybrid furnace could enable improved
Mg processing: CO2-capture project is largest to-date to use calcium-
looping technology; Polymer produced from CO2 waste gas makes its
commercial debut; This “superomniphobic” texture repels all liquids; 34
and more
16 Newsfront Moving to Modular Larger and more complex processes

are now being offered with this unique building approach
19 Newsfront Tunable Enzymes and the Leaner, Greener CPI Manu-

facturers of biofuels, detergents and pharmaceuticals have more control
than ever over enzyme and product properties
ENGINEERING
31 Facts at Your Fingertips The Impact of Off-BEP Pump Operation
This one-page reference discusses the negative consequences of operat- 40
ing pumps away from their “best-efficiency point” (BEP) for extended
periods of time
32 Technology Profile Sugar Inversion

This one-page profile outlines a technique for hydrolyzing the disachar-
ride sucrose into fructose and glucose
40 Feature Report A Guide to Methane Reforming A wide range of

factors must be taken into account before selecting the most appropri-
ate reforming technology
47 Engineering Practice Temperature Effects for High-Velocity Gas

Flow Guidelines are presented to better understand the temperature
profiles of high-velocity gases 16
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JANUARY 2015 1

52 Engineering Practice Plot Plan Design: Process Requirements
It is important to conceptualize plant layout in terms of both ideal loca-
tion and optimal geographical positioning of equipment components
EQUIPMENT & SERVICES

23 Focus on Pressure Measurement and Control A small-diam-
eter submersible pressure transmitter; These sensors measure dif-
ferential pressure in filters; This handheld calibrator features quick
pressure generation; Rugged pressure transmitters with many
signal-output options; These transducers are easily zeroed in the
23 field; and more
27 New Products Monitor sensor condition with these mobile

meters; This magnetic level instrument provides realtime
indication; Comprehensive motor and drive protection with this
dV/dt filter; Larger capacity now available for these double-wall
tanks; Surface-mount accelerometers for vibration measurement;
and more
COMMENTARY
5 Editor’s Page The Kirkpatrick Award: Call for Nominations
Nominations for the 2015 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering
Achievement Award are now being accepted
27 DEPARTMENTS
7 Letters
8 Bookshelf
60 Reader Service
62 Who’s Who
63 Economic Indicators
ADVERTISERS
58 Product Showcase/Classified
61 Advertiser Index
COMING IN FEBRUARY
Look for: Feature Reports on Heat Transfer; and High-Shear Mixers; An
Engineering Practice article on Flare-Gas Recovery; A Solids Processing
article on Feeding and Conveying; A Focus on Safety and Industrial
Housekeeping; A Facts at Your Fingertips column on Dimensionless Numbers;
19 News articles on 3-D Printing; and Valves; and more
Cover: Rob Hudgins
ONLY ON
CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Look for Web-exclusive articles;
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Latest News; and more
2 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JANUARY 2015

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PUBLISHER
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ART & DESIGN
ROB HUDGINS
Graphic Designer
Call for nominations
[email protected] [email protected]
s this new year opens, we at Chemical Engineering are looking
EDITORS
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A forward to the wide variety of articles, activities and offerings that
we have lined up for our readers. A highlight of 2015 is to honor
the most-noteworthy chemical engineering technology commercial-
GERALD ONDREY (Frankfurt) ized anywhere in the world during 2013 or 2014 with this magazine’s
INFORMATION
Senior Editor SERVICES 2015 Kirkpatrick Chemical Engineering Achievement Award.
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SCOTT JENKINS
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Director of Digital Development ously since 1933. The 2015 winner will join a distinguished group
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MARY PAGE BAILEY CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 1,4-butanediol (BDO; 2013); Chevron Phillips Chemical for signifi-
Assistant Editor SUZANNE A. SHELLEY
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AUDIENCE
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Development
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Letters
Frankfurt am Main · 15 – 19 June 2015
AIChE names new officers for 2015
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers
(AIChE) has announced that Cheryl Teich, reac-
tion engineering expertise area leader at The Dow
Chemical Company (Dow; Midland, Mich.), becomes
president of the organization in 2015. President-
elect Gregory Stephanopoulos, the W.H. Dow Profes-
sor of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (Cambridge, Mass.), joins
Teich on AIChE’s Board of Directors.
Newly elected directors of the AIChE Board are:
Alan Nelson, research and development director for
Performance Monomers at Dow; John O’Connell,
professor emeritus of chemical engineering at the
University of Virginia (Charlottesville); Anne Skaja
Robinson, chair of the Chemical and Biomolecular En-
gineering Dept. at Tulane University (New Orleans,
La.); and Sharon Robinson, senior staff member at the
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (Oak Ridge, Tenn.).
AIChE directors serve three-year terms.
American Institute of Chemical Engineers

www.aiche.org
ISA call for LDAR presenters
The Program Committee of the International Society
of Automation’s (ISA) 15th Annual Leak Detection
and Repair (LDAR) Fugitive Emissions Symposium
has issued a Call for Presenters, inviting profession-
als in the air-compliance field to submit abstracts
for presentation consideration at the conference.
The symposium will be held May 19–21 at the Astor
Crowne Plaza hotel in New Orleans, La. ➢ World Forum and Leading Show
Presenters are sought who can deliver addresses for the Process Industries
(or write technical papers) pertaining to the follow-
ing subject areas: long-term sealability; lowering and ➢ 3,800 Exhibitors from 50 Countries
preventing leaks; environmental/LDAR compliance;
LDAR design and validation; consent decree updates; ➢ 170,000 Attendees from 100 Countries
low leak technologies; implementing LDAR programs
at plants and refineries; LDAR compliance; batch pro-
grams; reducing air emissions; emission performance;
and LDAR regulations.
New program topics are also available. Abstracts
should be submitted to [email protected] by January
15. Abstracts should be 300 words or less and describe
Be informed.
what the presentation (non-commercial) will cover.
For more details and information on the conference,
Be inspired.
visit the website at www.isa.org/events-conferences/
isa-15th-ldar-2015/. Be there.
International Society of Automation
www.isa.org
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Bookshelf
Voids in Materials: From

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Mercury Control for Coal-

Derived Gas Streams. Edited
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Plant Design and Operations.

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webcasts 408 pages. $170.00.
Carbon Dioxide Utilization:

Closing the Carbon Cycle.
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Elsevier Inc., 225 Wyman Street,
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sevier.com. 2014. 336 pages.
$195.00

CGA-7, Guide to Classification
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Way, Suite 103, Chantilly, VA
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Rare Earths: Science, Technol-

ogy, Production and Use. By
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erry Le Mercier, Alain Rollat and
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02144. Web: elsevier.com. 2014. 406
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Fundamentals of Industrial
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Damages on Pumps and Sys-
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eration of Centrifugal Pumps.
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ment in the Chemical and
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many. Web: springer.com. 2014. 21
pages. $119.00.
Reactor and Process Design in

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Biorefineries: Integrated Bio-

chemical Processes for Liquid
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BROKEN VS BREAKING
NEWS NEWS
Edited by Gerald Ondrey January 2015
Modular hydrogen-production technology Fluegas

uses modified SMR process Waste heat
recovery
Demineralized
water
Process water
modular, skid-mounted hydrogen-pro- tubes filled
A duction plant developed by Linde AG
(Munich, Germany; www.linde.com) uses
with a nickel
catalyst to pro-
H2 recycle
Feed Pressure
Steam CO-shift
a modified version of conventional steam- duce diatomic pretreatment
reforming conversion
swing
adsorption
methane reforming (SMR) to generate hydrogen gas Natural gas feed Hydrogen
hydrogen from inexpensive natural gas, in a reforming
rather than relying on more costly meth- reaction. A sub- Air Tail gas
ods of hydrogen production, such as from sequent CO- Natural gas fuel
ammonia, methanol or water (by electrol- shift conver-
ysis), or by truck delivery. sion produces additional hydrogen over
At scales larger than 1 million ft3/d, an iron oxide catalyst. The hydrogen is ‘High-entropy’ alloy
SMR is the dominant means of hydro- purified to 99.999% H2 with a pressure- Researchers from North
gen production, but at scales smaller swing adsorption (PSA) operation. The Carolina State University
than that, cost and reliability become compact, modular unit can use tailgas (Raleigh; www.ncsu.edu) and
issues, according to Linde. Linde’s heat- from the PSA unit as part of the fuel for Qatar University (Doha; www.
integrated, modified SMR process lowers process heat. qu.edu.qa) have developed a
hydrogen costs by 20–30% compared to The product hydrogen is generated at new metal alloy that is claimed
truck delivery. flowrates between 0.15 and 0.3 million to have a higher strength-to-
The technology, known as Hydroprime, ft3/d. The open skid design offers simple weight ratio than any other
existing metal material. The
features an elaborate heat-recovery sys- site installation, a small footprint and
low-density, nanocrystalline
tem that allows water to be used as a excellent accessibility for maintenance, alloy — Al20Li20Mg10Sc20Ti30
feed, rather than steam, as would be the Linde says. Several Hydroprime installa- — belongs to a new class
case in conventional SMR. Hydroprime tions have been deployed to date in Eu- of materials known as high-
combines desulfurized natural gas with rope and Asia, and have demonstrated entropy alloys, which consist
preheated demineralized water inside excellent results, the company says. of ive or more metals in ap-
proximately equal amounts.
This particular alloy has a den-
Solar-electric hybrid furnace could enable sity comparable to aluminum,
but is stronger than titanium
improved magnesium processing alloys, says Carl Koch, Kobe
Steel Distinguished Profes-
sor of Materials Science and
new high-temperature reactor that can hope is that the hybrid reactor can en-
A draw power from conventional electric-
ity as well as from a solar-thermal heat-
able a continuous process that requires
less energy and labor in the production of
Engineering at N.C. State. It
has a strength-to-weight ratio
comparable to some ceramics,
ing system could enable a cleaner, lower- magnesium metal. but we think it is tougher (less
energy route to lightweight magnesium Harper’s system will be employed in brittle) than ceramics, he says.
alloys. The custom-made reactor was the reaction of MgO with carbon at high
built by thermal processing equipment temperatures to generate Mg vapor Onsite CN– generation
company Harper International (Buf- and carbon monoxide. “The reaction is Gold mines using traditional
falo, N.Y.; www.harperintl.com) in sup- known to be possible, but it’s very hard cyanide-leaching extraction
port of a research grant from the Dept. to carry out reliably and effectively,” processes will beneit with the
of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Fuller says. The Mg vapor is converted launch of a new technology al-
Agency–Energy (ARPA-E; Washington, to solid metal, while the CO is processed lowing onsite production of so-
D.C.; arpa-e.energy.gov). The reactor will in downstream systems. dium cyanide. The technology,
be used in the laboratory of Alan Weimer The research-scale reactor utilizes developed by Synergen Met
Pty Ltd (Brisbane, Australia;
at the University of Colorado at Boulder unique materials of construction and is
www.synergenmet.com), will
(www.colorado.edu) for projects related to designed to allow for tight control over eliminate a range of hazardous
the high-temperature processing of mag- pressure and temperature, Fuller points activities associated with the
nesium oxide to obtain Mg metal. out. Harper engineers equipped the reac- use of the highly toxic cyanide,
Current methods to produce magne- tor with a mechanism to switch back and such as transportation, onsite
sium metal from MgO are batch processes forth between electrical heating and con- handling, and maintaining
that are not energy efficient, explains centrated solar-energy power, to mimic large cyanide inventories. “For
Harper sales engineer Brian Fuller. The day-and-night cycles. (Continues on p. 12)
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number
on p. 60, or use the website designation. ChEMICAL ENGINEERING www.ChEMENGoNLINE.CoM JANUARY 2015 11
C HEMENTATO R the irst time, mining companies can
produce cyanide on demand and feed
directly into existing mills,” says manag-
ing director Christopher Dunks.
This ‘superomniphobic’ texture At the heart of the new process is a
high-temperature plasma torch, which
repels all liquids . . . instead of ammonia (used in existing
technologies), uses N2 or simple hy-
esearchers from the phobic surfaces, the
R University of Cali-
fornia at Los Angeles
“nail heads” on the
UCLA surface have
drocarbons, which are more accessible
feedstocks that can be produced on-
site using off-the-shelf technology. The
(UCLA; www.ucla. a nanoscale detail, advantages of using a plasma torch
edu) Henry Samueli which resembles a include its high thermal efficiency (up to
School of Engineering letter T in cross sec- 90%), its suitability for modulation, and
ease of operation, says the company.
and Applied Science tion. On this engi-
The company is inalizing testing
have created what is neered surface, even at its pilot plant in Australia and plans
claimed to be the first completely wetting to develop a commercial prototype in
surface texture that liquids roll around 2015, which will be the size of a stan-
can repel all liquids, like a ball and slide dard 40-ft shipping container that is
no matter what ma- right off when the readily transportable.
terial the surface is surface is tilted
made of. Up to now, (photo, bottom). New enzyme
superhydrophobic The team made Last month, Novozymes (Copenha-
surfaces have been the same microscale gen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com)
created that repel pattern on surfaces launched a new enzyme, dubbed
water, analogous to of glass, a metal and Eversa, which is said to be the irst
the so-called lotus ef- a polymer. In each commercially available enzymatic
fect — the phenomenon that causes case, the engineered surface super- solution to make biodiesel fuels from
water to bead-up and roll off of lotus repelled all liquids in a series of tests. waste oils. The enzymatic process
plants’ leaves. Up to now, nanostruc- The surface super-repelled all avail- converts used cooking oil or other
lower-grade oils into biodiesel.
tures mimicking those of the lotus able liquids, including water, oils and
Most of the vegetable oils currently
leaves (which are responsible for this many solvents — including perfluo- used in the food industry are sourced
effect) have not worked with oils due rohexane, the liquid with the lowest from soybeans, palm or rapeseed, and
to the low surface tension of oils. known surface tension, says UCLA. typically contain less than 0.5% free
The UCLA engineers formed a sur- The texture could have industrial fatty acids (FFA). Existing biodiesel pro-
face covered with thousands of mi- or biomedical applications. For exam- cess designs have difficulty handling
croscale flathead “nails,”— each about ple, the surface could slow corrosion oils containing more than 0.5% FFA,
20 µm in head diameter — and spaced and extend the life of parts in chemi- meaning that waste oils with high FFAs
about 100 µm apart (photo, top). Un- cal and power plants, solar cells or have not been a viable feedstock option
like the microstructured “hairs” found cookware. The research is described until now, says the company.
“The idea of enzymatic biodiesel is
in natural and manmade superhydro- in a recent issue of Science.
not new, but the costs involved have
been too high for commercial viability,”
. . . and this new material repels oil and water, too says Frederik Mejlby, marketing director
for Novozymes’ Grain Processing divi-
KIT/Rapp sion. “Eversa changes this and enables
eanwhile, a new class of
M highly fluorinated poly-
mers is being developed at
biodiesel producers to inally work with
waste oils and enjoy feedstock lexibility
to avoid the pinch of volatile pricing.”
the Institute of Microstruc- (Continues on p. 14)
ture Technology (IMT),
Karlsruhe Institute of Tech-
nology (KIT; Karlsruhe, tical use, however, they turned out to
Germany; www.kit.edu) have an insufficient stability, and are
that repels both water especially prone to abrasion. So more
and oil. Last month, IMT work needs to be done to further de-
was awarded €2.85 million velop the fluoropore. For this work,
funding from the Federal Rapp won the NanoMatFutur compe-
Ministry of Education and tition for young scientists, launched
Research (BMBF; Bonn, Germany) to water and oil droplets will roll off,” by the BMBF.
further develop the material, which says IMT mechanical engineer Bas- One of the many potential applica-
has been dubbed “fluoropore.” tian Rapp. In the laboratory, he has tions for the new material is fine-pore
“When combining the chemical already produced surfaces with the screens, whose chemistry and struc-
properties of fluoropolymers with so-called “lotus 2.0 effect” — which ture allow for the separation of oil/
the roughness of the lotus plant, sur- is super-repellent to both oil (photo, water mixtures used as cooling lubri-
faces are obtained, from which both right) and water (photo, left). In prac- cants in chemical process industries.
12 ChEMICAL ENGINEERING www.ChEMENGoNLINE.CoM JANUARY 2015
C HEMENTATO R
Polymer produced from CO2 waste gas makes commercial debut

or the first time, polypropylene cal resistance, which set it apart from reaction occurs at a moderate temper-
F carbonate (PPC) polyol, a versatile
polymer made from CO2, is avail-
typical polyester polyols.
PPC is manufactured via a batch
ature (around 35°C) so the process is
easily scaleable from a heat-transfer
able at a commercial scale. Produced reaction between CO2 and propyl- standpoint. Waste-exhaust gases from
by Novomer Inc.’s (Waltham, Mass.; ene oxide using a proprietary cobalt- nearby industrial facilities, includ-
www.novomer.com) polymerization based catalyst (for more on this PPC ing ethanol-fermentation and power-
process, PPC polyol has been adopted production process, see Chem. Eng., generation plants, provide the CO2
into a formulation for polyurethane July 2013, pp. 16–19). PPC capacity for the reaction. Improvements in
hot-melt adhesives by Jowat AG (Det- has been scaled up considerably in catalyst efficiency and removal tech-
mold, Germany; www.jowat.com). In the past year at a production facility niques were also incorporated with
addition to PPC’s status as a “green” in Houston. In 2013, production capa- scaleup. Going forward, the company
alternative (via CO2 waste utiliza- bilities were less than 100 tons, but re- hopes to increase its PPC production
tion) to traditional petroleum-based cent commercial interest necessitated capacity and eventually transition to
polymers, adhesives applications can an increased volume, so the process continuous production with options
take advantage of a key benefit of PPC has been scaled up to produce PPC for producing various grades of PPC
— its hydrolytic stability and chemi- in the multi-thousand-ton range. The for a wider range of end uses.
CO2-capture project is largest to use calcium-looping technology

cement plant in Taiwan has been Taiwan; www.itri.org), demonstrates duce the cost of carbon capture by up
A retrofitted with the largest CO2-
capture plant to use calcium-looping
ITRI’s high-efficiency calcium-looping
technology (Heclot) at a scale of 1 ton
to half, compared to traditional amine-
based CO2 capture, ITRI scientists say,
technology to date. The project, run CO2 captured per hour, and at a cap- and the Heclot project is unique in its
by Taiwan’s Industrial Technology ture efficiency of more than 90%. ability to meet a target international
Research Institute (ITRI; Hsinchu, Calcium-looping technology can re- (Continues on p. 14)
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(Continued from p. 12)
C HEMENTATO R
(For more on industrial enzymes, see
Newsfront, pp. 19–22.)
CALCIUM-LOOPING TECHNOLOGY (Continued from p. 13)
threshold-capture-cost of $30/ton of uses less energy than amine-based Phase-change slurry
CO2 for a fossil fuel power plant. CO2 capture and the CaO is a cheaper
Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute
In this Heclot project, CO2-laden raw material, explains Heng-Wen
for Environmental, Safety and Energy
exhaust gas from the cement plant Hsu, leader of the ITRI project. “The Technology (Umsicht; Sulzbach-Rosen-
is introduced into a fluidized-bed CaO fines that are no longer useful in berg; www.umsicht.fraunhofer,de) and
carbonator reactor, where the CO2 the carbonator can be used in cement RWTH Aachen University (both Germany;
reacts with calcium oxide (CaO) to manufacture,” he notes, “so there is www.rwth-aachen.de) have developed
form calcium carbonate between 600 virtually no waste in the process.” a new phase-change material (PCM)
and 650°C. The CaCO3 then enters ITRI is seeking partners to build trade-named CryoSolPlus. The PCM is
a calciner, where it undergoes oxy- an even larger demonstration fa- a dispersion of solid paraffin beads and
fuel combustion to release the CO2 cility using the Heclot system. The water, and can be circulated as a heat-
in high concentrations and re-form ITRI work parallels a similar proj- transfer luid, as a storage medium for
thermal systems, and for cooling. When
CaO. The concentrated CO2 is cooled ect at the Technical University of
the dispersion absorbs heat, the paraffin
and compressed for use in growing Darmstadt (Germany; www.tu- melts, thereby storing the energy without
microalgae and for enhanced gas darmstadt.de) that was discussed in a change in temperature. The researchers
recovery (EGR), where it is seques- a previous issue (Chem. Eng., Janu- have developed mats with capillary tubes
tered underground, while the CaO is ary 2013, p. 11), although both the that can be used in ceilings, for example,
returned to the carbonator. carbonator and calciner units differ to maintain room temperatures as it gets
Carbon capture by calcium looping in the two projects. hot outside, thereby reducing the demand
for air conditioning in buildings.
Biodegradable drilling lubricant garners LED sight-glass light

positive field results Illumination is required for visual inspec-
tion of a process through a sight glass in
n encapsulated, biodegradable proprietary biotechnology platform
A drilling-fluid additive designed to
reduce friction on drill bits and pip-
to convert sugars to triglycerides
and encapsulate the triglyceride in
a vessel or tank. A newly demonstrated
light source, developed by L.J. Star Inc.
(Twinsburg, Ohio; www.ljstar.com) and
ing inside oil wells has been demon- a polysaccharide shell. The product marketed as the LumiStar3000, is said to
be world’s brightest sight-glass light. The
strated successfully in more than 30 is dried to produce a light powder,
company says the product delivers 3,000
wells across North America following which is added to oil-drilling fluid at lumens of light, four times the brightness
its launch in mid-2014. the well site. of a 100-W halogen lamp. And because it
The lubricant product, known as The encapsulated cells, with their uses a specially designed light-emitting
Encapso, was developed by Solazyme payload of lubricating oils, circulate diode (LED) as the light source, the Lu-
Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.; in the drilling fluid until they en- miStar3000 consumes only one tenth of
www.solazyme.com), an industrial counter areas of high shear stress the energy of a halogen bulb. ❏
biotechnology company that makes and friction. At those points, the cells
renewable oils and products. Sola- rupture, freeing the lubricant and Solazyme’s ability to engineer en-
zyme recently announced a partner- reducing friction for sliding pipe and capsulations with specific charac-
ship with Versalis, the chemical arm lessening torque requirements for teristics, and to carefully control its
of oil-and-gas company Eni S.p.A spinning drill bits. biotechnology process allows the com-
(Milan, Italy; www.eni.com) whereby “Using the encapsulated cells as a pany to tailor the triglyceride profile
Versalis would market Encapso to delivery system for lubricant allows of the lubricant inside the cells, adds
the oil-and-gas industry. the lubricant to be deployed in a tar- Jad Finck, director of sales at Sola-
Encapso consists of specifically tai- geted way,” says Rob Evans, Solazyme zyme. Because of Encapso’s inherent
lored triglycerides that serve as lu- vice president for sales and business biodegradability and unique, on-de-
bricants inside polysaccharide cells, development. “so the Encapso prod- mand delivery method, Solazyme is
which serve as an on-demand deliv- uct is used up less quickly and less looking at additional industrial ap-
ery mechanism. Solazyme uses its lubricant is lost.” plications for the technology.
A one-step, phosgene-free route to urethane

esearchers at the National Insti- thanes. Unlike traditional urethane CO2 pressure of 5 MPa. A 49% yield
R tute of Advanced Industrial Science
and Technology’s (AIST) Interdisci-
routes, no phosgene is required.
The process is a one-step reaction
was found using 2,4-diaminotoluene
— the precursor for polyurethanes.
plinary Research Center for Catalytic in which an amine is reacted with a After the reaction, the tin compound
Chemistry (Tsukuba, Japan; www. tin-alkoxide compound and pressur- could be recovered and reused after
aist.go.jp) have developed a new re- ized CO2. Yields as large as 82% have treatment with an alcohol.
action process to synthesize aromatic been achieved by reacting aniline and The group plans to enhance the ef-
urethane — a promising starting ma- dibutyltin dimethoxide (mole ratio ficiency, and scale up the process to
terial for the production of polyure- of 1:5) for 20 min at 150°C, using a realize industrial applications.
C HEMENTATO R
Generating power from kerosene and ammonia

he National Institute of Advanced dard combustor of a kerosene-fired, 25 kW of power was generated when
T Industrial Science and Technology
(AIST; Tsukuba City, Japan; www.
50-kW gas turbine with a prototype
combustor that enables co-firing with
10% of the heat was supplied by NH3
combustion, and 21 kW at 30% NH3.
aist.go.jp), in collaboration with To- liquid kerosene and ammonia vapor. It was demonstrated that emissions
hoku University (www.tohoku.ac.jp), The micro-gas turbine employs dif- of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) could be
succeeded in demonstrating what is fusion combustion to stabilize the reduced to below 10 parts per million
said to be the world’s first ammonia- flame. The functionality of each com- (ppm) by adjusting the NH3 supply to
fired power. The achievement was ponent of the micro-gas turbine was the existing NOx-removal unit.
carried out in a micro-gas turbine demonstrated at the AIST’s Fukush- Currently, the researchers are
with a fuel composed of 70 vol.% ker- ima Renewable Energy Institute. working to increase the ammonia-to-
osene and 30 vol.% NH3. The goal of Initially, the gas turbine was fired kerosene ratio, as well as to gener-
the project is to utilize ammonia as with kerosene. When the power out- ate power with only NH3 firing, and
a hydrogen carrier for the production put reached 25 kW, NH3 gas was in- the co-firing with methane and NH3.
of electrical power. troduced at increasing flowrate, until AIST and Tohoku University are also
The researchers replaced the stan- stable operation ensued. More than developing a low-NOx combustor.
Direct fermentation to produce propylene

lobal Bioenergies (Evry, France; a biological process — without any Propylene is a key building block
G www.global-bioenergies.com) says
that last month it developed a pro-
chemical step.
The announcement follows Global
of the petrochemical industry, and is
used for the production of plastics,
prietary strain of microorganism Bioenergies’ previous breakthroughs in such as polypropylene. The company
that directly produces propylene by the production of bio-based isobutene, says over 80 million metric tons of
the fermentation of glucose. The com- which is now being piloted (Chem. propylene are produced per year, cor-
pany claims this is the first time pro- Eng., March 2014, p. 12), and butadi- responding to a market exceeding
pylene has been produced entirely by ene (CE, September 2014, pp. 19–24). $100 billion. n
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Source: Koch Modular Process Systems
Newsfront
MOVING TO MODULAR
Larger and more complex
processes are now being
offered in this unique
building approach
f the word “modular” brings to
I mind a trailer office parked on

site, it’s time to revisit modular
systems. Today’s modular system
go well beyond office space and tool
sheds, and can contain almost any-
thing from a skid-mounted filtra-
tion system to a cleanroom labora-
tory to a petroleum refinery, which
is built elsewhere and delivered as
a complete unit to a site, where it is
then erected.
And, large modular process sys-
tems, especially, are impressive
feats of engineering. For example,
according to Brian Loftus, contracts
manager at Koch Modular Pro-
cess Systems (Paramus, N.J.; www.
modularprocess.com), which de- FIGURE 1. This modular system comprising three reactions steps and nine distil-
signs, plans and builds large-scale lation steps — a complete chemical production process — was designed and con-
modular mass-transfer systems, a structed off-site in a controlled environment as modules
typical modular process system of
this type includes all of the process systems have one thing in common: sures for power distribution and
equipment, such as columns, reac- They are pre-fabricated to the max- control systems used in power and
tors, heat exchangers and pumps, imum extent possible in a fabrica- process plants, and modular indus-
mounted within a structural steel tion shop that is remote from the trial-water-process skids and sys-
frame. After the process equipment user’s plant site. Because modular tems (Figure 2) that supply makeup
is installed within its frame in the systems are typically built indoors and process water, or clean and re-
shop, the piping components, field in a controlled, assembly-line fash- cycle a facility’s wastewater. “The
instrumentation and electrical wir- ion, many advantages can be real- modular approach to building at our
ing are completed. Items like trac- ized, says Loftus. site versus the customer’s site elimi-
ing, thermal insulation, lighting, nates the inefficiencies of onsite con-
control systems, safety showers and Modular benefits struction, including site restraints,
fire protection systems may also be “Because modular process systems labor stacking and weather delays.”
installed at the shop. Finally, all are built using industrial manufac- Also, because construction takes
these components are tested and turing techniques under stringent place in the fabricator’s shop, build-
then the module is shipped and quality controls and in a controlled ing can begin before site permits are
erected on site (Figure 1). environment by skilled technicians, obtained, which leads to a drasti-
While this type of modular pro- there are plenty of advantages for cally reduced construction timeline.
cess unit may contain different the customer,” says Brad Spindler, All of these factors come together
equipment and serve a different industrial water business unit man- to reduce the schedule for delivery
purpose from modular refineries, ager with Wunderlich-Malec (Min- of the completed project, which ar-
water systems or smaller-scale pro- netonka, Minn.; www.wmeng.com), rives at the user’s site ready to be
cess systems, all modular process which constructs electrical enclo- erected on a pre-laid foundation.
Newsfront
“Because we have a well estab- workers are highly

lished system of suppliers, and the skilled welders, fit-
process of parallel tasking and de- ters [and so on],” says
tailing allows for a very high level Reynaud. “If you work
of efficiency during design and con- onsite, you don’t know
struction, the modular project is the skill level of the
quite short,” explains Loftus. workers. If the weld-
He says a typical schedule, de- ers aren’t capable, the
pending upon materials, level of welds fail, and so on.
complexity, customer specifications But building under
and number of modules being made, controlled circum-
ranges from 9 to 12 months when stances affords the
starting at the process-design stage. ability to control the
The time to erect modular fa- quality of the work- Source: GEA Filtration
cilities is usually reduced as well. ers and, therefore, the
FIGURE 3. Crosslow iltration, microiltration, nanoil-
“After the modules arrive in the quality of the work.” tration, ultrailtration and reverse osmosis plants can all
field, a single module might be Spindler adds that be placed on modular skids
erected within a month, with the factory fabrication
average multi-module system tak- also allows the use of stringent tion or creating downtime, which
ing two to three months. Once the quality systems and factory test- results in lost production dollars,”
modules are erected, the customer ing to ensure that finished systems he emphasizes.
would be ready to commission a conform to technical requirements.
water startup, followed by chemical “Eighty percent of the commission- More and more modular
introduction,” says Loftus. ing and startup is already complete Because of the associated benefits,
Ken Reynaud, senior vice presi- on a system before it’s even shipped more operations and processes are
dent with Plant Process Equipment, to the site,” he says. being offered in modular form to
a subsidiary of Plant Process Group Finally, there are also cost ef- meet a myriad of process needs.
(League City, Tex.; www.plant- ficiencies. “Because our design is Here’s a summary of some of the
process.com/refining), agrees. “Our very precise and we are working modular systems currently avail-
modular refineries arrive at the site within the known space of a well- able to processors.
like an erector set. The foundation defined structural frame, and be- Process systems. A diverse variety
is already poured, the trucks roll cause we detail every isometric, we of process systems can be provided in
up, a crane lifts the modules off the have a fully detailed bill of materi- modules from filtration skids to water
truck, and everything is efficiently als, upon which our assembly shop purification to mass-transfer systems.
set up and ready to go. The time it can rely,” explains Loftus. “So, when Membrane filtration. Crossflow
takes to erect a modular refinery is they place the order for materials, filtration, microfiltration, nanofil-
dramatically less than to stick-build our shop doesn’t order excess, which tration, ultrafiltration and reverse-
the same size facility.” assists with cost efficiency. In tradi- osmosis plants can all be placed on
In addition to shortened sched- tional stick-build, extra materials modular skids by GEA Filtration.
ules, fabricators say the quality of are always ordered for contingency And, there has been an increased
modular systems is often higher planning, which drives up costs.” need for these molecular-level sepa-
than conventionally built systems. “Our clients make money by mak- ration plants due to a lot of activ-
“Because we are building in a con- ing a product, not by having us ity in the nutritionals market, says
trolled environment we have work- building a plant in the middle of Blanchard. “The basic technology
ers at designated stations, and those their floor,” says Bruce Blanchard, allows for converting a mixed nu-
national sales man- tritional stream into a very specific
ager with GEA Fil- nutritional stream,” he says. “For
tration (Columbia, example, if you take a nutritional
Md.; www.geafiltra- product that has fats, proteins and
tion.com), which carbohydrates, it can be segmented
provides modular so it has more proteins and less car-
filtration skids. bohydrates, which falls into creat-
“Not only is modu- ing healthier nutritional products
lar faster because by manipulating food chemistry.”
of the controlled What is the reason for doing this
Source: Wunderlich-Malec environment, but modularly? “The standardized ap-
it’s less expensive proach to a modular format of these
FIGURE 2. These complete, modular integrated water because we aren’t filtration plants results in a more
solutions are pre-assembled and factory tested to meet the
client’s functional requirements disrupting produc- compact plant that takes up less floor
WHEN TO SAY ‘NO’ TO MODULAR
Newsfront hile modular process systems offer many advantages, there are times when they
W
•
may not be feasible. Dennis Euers, strategic business manager with Wunderlich-
Malec, outlines some constraints that reduce the feasibility of going modular:
Size matters. If a system is to be delivered by road, there are often restrictions on
space in a facility, which is worth about size and weight. However, it is possible to design and package equipment as multiple
$200 to 300 per square foot,” explains units that can be shipped and assembled on site. Barge shipping is also possible if
Blanchard. “Our standardized, modu- there is water access
lar design allows them the operations • Processes that require large tanks or vessels for storage and reaction time may not be
suitable applications for a modular build
they need in a space- and money-sav-
• Ideal modular process skids include some level of complexity, incorporating piping,
ing package that doesn’t disrupt exist- pumps, equipment, electrical and instrumentation. Simple processes can be effec-
ing production” (Figure 3). tively delivered onsite without the engineering effort modular systems require
Industrial water solutions. Due • Some site constraints, such as in installations within existing systems or system modifica-
to increasingly stringent regulations at a facility, may not lend themselves to the logistics and ability to get a modular
tions regarding water, there is an system installed. In these cases, onsite field activities are often a better choice ❏
increasing demand for process skids
and systems that supply makeup semi-units to full-scale production be more than 14 ft by 14 ft due to
and process water, and for units units recently has been expanding transportation limitations, Reynaud
that clean and recycle wastewa- beyond single-operation units. explains. With a column this size
ter streams, according to Spindler. One of the areas of growth for sys- column, the largest modular refin-
Wunderlich-Malec’s systems go tems that go beyond single opera- ery likely could be no more than a
through a very detailed engineer- tion, according to George Schlowsky, 20,000 barrel a day (bbl/d) facility.
ing process to incorporate all the president with Koch Modular Pro- The desire to go with a modular
equipment, pumps, vessels and in- cess Systems, is in the biofuels in- refinery is often due to the signifi-
strumentation in an optimal layout dustry. Startup firms producing bio- cantly reduced schedule. “Because
so that the equipment and compo- fuels often need more than just the many refineries are being built over-
nents can serve as a fully functional distillation steps, explains Loftus. seas, a modular approach can really
system on a stand-alone skid. “So, in addition to the mass trans- shave time off the construction,” he
“What that means is that if our fer, we are more often incorporating explains. “If you build on site in a
clients have a phased facility ex- reactors, solids handling, filtration, foreign country, you have to ship all
pansion, it is very easy to add addi- drying and other processes that will the raw materials, metal and pieces
tional units when they need them, support their chemical process into there. Think of it like buying a tele-
so they are able to expand the op- our modular construction. Because vision that’s already assembled ver-
eration as their business expands we are not experts in these other sus the store shipping you a whole
or as regulations further tighten,” technologies, we leverage a network bunch of parts to be put together at
says Spindler. “Also, if the system of existing specialists in these indus- your house. You aren’t sure if all the
serves a temporary need, a modular tries and work to procure their units parts arrive, the quality of your con-
system can be placed, started and and incorporate them into our mod- struction is probably not that of a
operated and, if needed, re-located ular construction. So, in addition to skilled expert and it’s going to take
to another site in the future.” our expertise in system design and you a long time to get it right.
Mass transfer systems and be- modular mass-transfer systems, “Using that analogy, imagine the
yond.The demand for pre-assem- we have become system integra- difference between constructing a
bled, modular mass-transfer sys- tors, which is a tremendous value to modular refinery and a stick-built
tems for distillation and liquid startup companies that don’t have one,” says Reynaud. “A modular refin-
extraction that include not only the engineering expertise to manage ery can be constructed in 12 months
the process equipment, but also the the overall processes in house.” versus two years if built onsite.”
piping, instrumentation and elec- Refineries. Most modular refiner- Cleanroom laboratories. Hemco
trical wiring, ranging in size from ies are usually vacuum distillation (Independence, Mo.; www.hemcocorp.
Source: HEMCO
units. Therefore, com) provides an entire laboratory
the throughput of workspace, which is pre-engineered,
the modular re- including the structure, the furni-
finery is dictated ture and fume hoods for the interior
by the size of the (Figure 4). While modular cleanroom
vacuum distil- laboratories afford many of the same
lation column, time- and cost-saving opportunities
which, when part as modular process systems, one
of a modular re- of the biggest benefits of going this
finery, is gener- route versus traditional construc-
ally about 11 or tion, according to David Campbell,
12 ft in diameter vice president of sales with Hemco,
because it must is that the structure can be easily
fit within the assembled, modified in the future, or
skid. And, skids disassembled and moved if needed.■
FIGURE 4. An entire laboratory workspace is pre-engineered typically can’t Joy LePree
Newsfront
TUNABLE ENZYMES AND

THE LEANER, GREENER CPI Novozymes
Manufacturers of
biofuels, detergents and
pharmaceuticals have
more control than ever
over enzyme and product
properties
nzymes, nature’s catalysts,
E have been used in industrial

processes for centuries. Now,
they are coming into their own
in the chemical process industries
(CPI). As green chemistry becomes
FIGURE 1. Enzymes play a key role in the production of cellulosic ethanol. First in-
dustrial-scale plants are now coming onstream, such as this one in Crescentino, Italy
an industry mantra, pressures to gant Research (Boulder, Colo.; www. Del.; biosciences.dupont.com). How-
reduce product cost, facility car- navigantresearch.com). ever, scientific advances in gene
bon footprint and overall environ- A sign of the times is the world’s sequencing and developments such
mental impact are driving more first large-scale commercial cellu- as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)
companies to seek alternatives to losic-ethanol plants, some of which technology have been instrumental
traditional, catalyst-driven chemi- are just starting up in Europe (Fig- in improving discovery, isolation
cal syntheses. ure 1) and the U.S. Dependent on and expression, says Lars Birch
Convincing skeptics is mount- enzymes, the facilities use biomass Mathisen, household care launch
ing evidence that, where feasible, as feedstock and result in zero net manager for Novozymes. “Years
enzymatic processes can increase carbon emissions. ago, it was pure guessing,” he says.
product yield, dramatically re- “Now, you can construct heat-stable
duce requirements for solvent and Shrinking development time organisms and target search much
catalyst, as well as the number Industrial enzyme suppliers are better from the beginning.”
of steps and the overall costs of a betting on a future fueled by con- As a result, the time between the
chemical process. tinued demand for leaner, greener discovery of a new micro-organism
Last year, the industrial enzymes processes and products. Support- and commercial production of a new
market grew by 5% to $3.7 billion, ing market growth are ongoing industrial enzyme has shrunk sig-
according to Novozymes (Bags- improvements in protein engineer- nificantly over the past few years.
vaerd, Denmark; www.novozymes. ing and techniques such as random Today, the average time is five
com), a company that manufactures mutagenesis, high-throughput years, Mathisen says, but for some
roughly half of the world’s indus- screening and directed evolution, products it can even be shorter.
trial enzyme output and currently which make it much easier to pre- Svend Licht, Novozymes’ sales and
pumps about 14% of its earnings dict and control the properties of business director, attributes that to
back into research and develop- individual enzymes. better assay technology for screen-
ment. By 2020, demand for green Close work with customers and ing. “What used to take over a year
chemical processes could reach an applications-oriented approach can now be accomplished in a few
$98.5 billion, and save global indus- are essential during the innova- weeks or months,” he says.
tries, including the CPI, over $65 tion cycle, says Wendy Rosen, global Another key change has been in-
billion, according to a 2011 study public affairs leader with DuPont creased yields, enabled by continuous
by Pike Research, now part of Navi- Industrial Bioscience (Wilmington, improvement of production strains,
DuPont Industrial Bioscience
Newsfront
says Licht. The result: closer control

of the enzyme, and the product it is
used to make, than ever before.
Alliances
To further improve that control,
and shrink development time, CPI
companies are working more closely FIGURE 2. This 30-million-gal biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa is expected to start up
with specialists in biocatalysis to this quarter
bring new products to market, while cess it. “In 2015, we are expecting (Figure 1), POET-DSM’s JV plant in
enzyme manufacturers are working an export market of over 1 billion Emmetsburg, Iowa, and Abengoa’s
with experts in genomics and high- gallons,” says Jack Rogers, global plant in Hugoton, Kan.
throughput screening. DSM N.V. marketing manager for biofuels at The ethanol market is following
(Heerlen, the Netherlands; www. Novozymes North America. Last different growth tracks in the U.S.
dsm.com), a leading enzyme sup- year, the figure was around 650–700 and globally. Where ethanol demand
plier, started this trend back in 2003, million gal, and it was 300 million in the U.S. has matured to about
when it entered into a research gal the previous year, he says. 10% of the gasoline market, exports
agreement with Diversa [now Vere- Novozymes started up a corn bio- are going strong, particularly to
nium Corp. (San Diego, Calif.; www. fuels enzyme facility in Blair, Neb. Asia, Europe and Latin America,
verenium.com), which became part in 2011, and has developed enzymes says Novozymes’ Rogers.
of BASF in 2013]. that improve ethanol yield from Environmental pressures are
In addition to Novozymes and corn. Over the past three years, No- driving some of that growth, he says,
DSM, industrial enzyme suppli- vozymes has introduced three new but most of the increased demand
ers include DuPont, which bought enzymes for ethanol production: currently stems from market eco-
Danisco’s business in 2011, includ- Advantec, to improve conversion nomics. “The cost benefit of ethanol
ing the innovation-driven Genencor, and hydrolysis; Spirazyme Achieve, versus blended gasoline has reached
founded in 1982 as a venture be- a fiber-degrading glycoamylene, record levels internationally,” says
tween Genentech and Corning. Also to release additional starch, and Rogers, ranging from being “on par”
active is BASF SE (Ludwigshafen, Olexa, designed to improve corn to gasoline, to $1 less per gallon.
Germany; www.basf.com), which ac- oil recovery by breaking down the Observers have questioned
quired Henkel’s detergents enzyme binding oleozyme protein, explains whether lower oil prices in the U.S.
business last year. The company Novozymes’ Rogers. and potential cutbacks in U.S. Envi-
has linked up with Dyadic and Ve- Using the three enzymes together ronmental Protection Agency (EPA;
renium, providing access to new dis- can increase ethanol yield from corn Washington, D.C.) biofuel mandates
covery, expression and production by up to 5%, boost corn oil extraction might have an impact on future de-
platforms and an expanded genetic by 13% and energy savings by 8%, mand for cellulosic ethanol. Purdue
library based on organisms from ex- allowing customers to make more University (West Lafayette, Ind.)
tremely diverse environments. from less and substantially improve agroeconomics professor Wallace
profit margins, according to Andrew Tyner, for one, in a recent article
Biofuels Fordyce, executive vice president in Technology Review, has asked
Today, biofuels are a major CPI for Business Operations. For a typi- whether the entire market might
focus for industrial enzymes. In cal 100-million-gal feed-grade corn vanish in the future.
December, Novozymes introduced ethanol plant in the U.S., that could
Eversa, the first enzyme process translate into 45,000 tons of corn Consumer products
designed to convert waste cooking saved while maintaining the same Meanwhile, enzyme manufacturers
oils into biodiesel. This had been ethanol output, generating up to $5 are betting on continued consumer
too difficult in the past, since many million in additional profits. preference for products and pro-
waste vegetable oils, apart from But corn is not the only possible cesses that have less impact on the
soy, palm and rapeseed, contain feedstock. Recently, manufacturers environment. This trend is occurring,
levels of free fatty acids that are have started up plants that will sup- not only in developed markets but in
too high to work in conventional ply cellulosic ethanol, derived from emerging economies with growing
conversion processes. agricultural waste, to fuel and other young, middle-class populations.
Currently, ethanol dominates ac- markets. Examples include DuPont In addition, suppliers are passing
tivities in the biofuels enzyme sec- Industrial Biosciences’ 30-million- along to their customers the ability
tor, while detergents and pharma- gal biorefinery in Nevada, Iowa to control and customize enzyme
ceuticals are also key markets. (Figure 2), which is expected to use to tailor products for specific
One surprise, given decades of start up this quarter, Novozyme’s applications. In October 2014, No-
stops and starts, has been the grow- joint venture (JV) facility with Beta vozymes launched a multi-enzyme
ing global demand for ethanol and Renewables in Crescentino, Italy, solution called Medley to the Euro-
the enzymes that are used to pro- which started up in October 2013 pean market, targeting the needs
DuPont Industrial Bioscience
Pre- NH3, steam,

Feedstock Pretreater
Newsfront processing recycle NH3
of small to mid-sized liquid deter- Groundwater

Recycle Enzyme
Saccharifier
water supply
gents producers. The platform of-
fers multiple enzyme activities,
easily accessible to larger compa- Wellwater Seed
nies, to help smaller companies treatment
Evaporator
fermenter
Fermenter
simplify production, free working
Filtrate
capital and save money. Syrup
Whole
“We considered different needs Co-products stillage Ethanol Ethanol
to biomass Solids
throughout the world, and focused recovery
boiler + dryer Filter dehydration
on the specific stain removal most for fuel export
needed in each region. This means
that Medley is tailored to different Renewable solid fuel
Transportation fuel
geographies such as Europe, Asia, (lignin & syrup)
China and Africa — and the blends FIGURE 3. Enzymes play a central role in DuPont’s fully integrated process for
support that strategy,” according to making ethanol from biomass
Novozymes’ vice president Anders
Lund. Included are a new amylase supply biofuel, using DuPont’s new moving to lower washing tempera-
starch-removing enzyme that oper- Accellerase biomass enzymes and tures in the U.S. could reduce CO2
ates at lower temperatures and in process (Figure 3), but will also emissions by 40 million metric tons
liquid formulas, as well as a new supply Procter & Gamble’s Cold per year, the equivalent of taking
lipase oil-degrading enzyme that Water Tide detergent, which uses 6.3 million cars off the road.
is more stable in liquids, says No- a coldwater protease jointly de- The new coldwater protease en-
vozyme’s Birch Mathison. veloped by DuPont and Procter & zyme would allow detergent clean-
DuPont has also responded to Gamble (P&G; Cincinnati, Ohio; ing performance at washing tem-
the “green market” push by diver- www.pg.com), using new protein- peratures of 60°F to match what,
sifying output. Its Nevada biofuels engineering techniques. in current formulations, requires
facility, for instance, will not only DuPont and P&G estimate that temperatures of 90°F. Meanwhile,
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Newsfront
the Nevada biofuels facility would rently derived from roosters’ combs a February 2013 Webcast.
use 7,000 tons of agricultural waste, in a rather hard-to-control process, As part of this program, GSK
and reduce net greenhouse gas according to Novozymes’ Licht. said it is using Novozymes’ Veltis,
emissions by 100%. Drug companies are looking at an albumin designed to extend the
Not only green considerations, ways to cut production costs, re- half life of some drugs so that pa-
but better economics are driving duce chemicals and improve sus- tients only need to take the drug
demand for enzymes in detergents, tainability, says Licht, and bioca- once a month, once a week, or
says Novozymes’ Birch Mathisen. talysis and enzymes allow them to once every two weeks, instead of
“By substituting enzymes for petro- do this. Merck & Co., Inc. (Rahway, daily. Veltis is tunable, Licht says,
chemicals with volatile pricing, we N.J.; www.merck.com), for instance, so drug companies can adjust the
get enhanced performance that was has a partnership with the enzyme enzyme in the formulation to pro-
impossible just 10–15 years ago,” he specialist, Codexis, Inc. (Redwood vide exactly the half-life required.
adds. “In addition, enzymes allow City, Calif.; www.codexis.com), that Veltis is being used in GSK’s new
for more diverse performance pro- helped it develop an enzymatic diabetes drug, Tanzeum/Eperzan,
files, and a secure price point.” route to its blockbuster diabetes while other companies including
drug, Januvia, which had previ- CSL and Epivax are evaluating the
Reducing pharma’s E-factor ously required rhodium, a rare technology, Licht says.
Pharmaceutical applications, which metal catalyst. Currently, experts say that indus-
are notorious for their high E- The drug company GlaxoSmith- trial enzyme suppliers and the CPI
factors, or impact on the environ- Kline (Bentford, England; www. have just scratched the surface of
ment, are another area of focus for gsk.com) has rolled out a formal potential applications. As new en-
industrial enzymes today. For No- plan to shift from synthetic chem- zymes and applications continue
vozymes, today’s biopharma focus is istry to enzymatic reactions, a move to develop, the push to use them to
on biocatalysis, half-life extension, that CEO Andrew Witty expects to reduce environmental impact and
allowing for less frequent dosing, reduce carbon footprint and manu- product cost promises to continue. n
and hyaluronic acid, which is cur- facturing costs by 50%, according to Agnes Shanley
AT REDGUARD, THE WORK WE DO IS MORE THAN A JOB—IT’S A PASSION.

From extensive product research and third-party blast tests to an unmatched
design and a relentless attention to detail, we go the extra mile every day to
ensure your—and our—employees make it home safely every night.
at’s what makes us the industry’s leading manufacturer of successfully
tested blast-resistant buildings.
Kobold Instruments
FOCUS ON
Pressure Measurement
& Control
A small-diameter, submersible
pressure transmitter
The Sitrans LH100 series GP:50
pressure transmitter (photo)
converts level-proportional
hydrostatic pressure into a
standardized 4–20-mA signal.
Mostly used for measurement
applications in the drinking
water and wastewater indus- Siemens
Industry
tries, the Sitrans LH100 offers Sector
0.3% accuracy and is available
in a variety of measurement ranges.
Omega Engineering
The transmitter is fully submers-
ible, and has a slim 0.92-in. diam-
eter, allowing it to be mounted in
pipes as small as 1-in. in diameter.
The instrument’s stainless-steel engineered for installation in ex-
housing and ceramic sensor provide tremely demanding industrial en-
resilience in harsh conditions. The vironments, including those with delay of the relays and analog out-
Sitrans LH100 is fitted with an in- shock and vibration. With stain- put are programmable. — Kobold
tegrated humidity filter, permitting less-steel housing and corrosion- Instruments Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa.
simple installation without the need resistant fasteners, these devices www.koboldusa.com
for a junction box. — Siemens In- also incorporate a connector guard,
dustry Sector, Erlangen, Germany which recesses the connector and These digital pressure gages are
www.siemens.com/industry eliminates breakage risks. The Se- designed for marine applications
ries’ four available signal-output The new DPG409S Sanitary/Clean-
Compensated, unamplified options provide pressure-trans- In-Place (CIP) digital pressure
sensors in a compact package ducer compatibility with most con- gages (photo) incorporate a rug-
The TBP Series of basic board- trol systems. An optional tempera- ged stainless-steel (SS) enclosure
mount pressure sensors have a ture output is also available, as well and are designed for washdown
millivolt output sensor that is com- as an extended high-temperature and marine applications. With ac-
pensated and unamplified, so that rating of 350°F. — GP:50 Corp., curacy capabilities of 0.08%, these
users can do their own amplifica- Grand Island, N.Y. instruments are tested to industrial
tion while retaining maximum res- www.gp50.com standards and can withstand very
olution. The TBP Series features harsh environments. The DPG409S
a wide pressure range of 1 to 150 These sensors measure is available in various models, in-
psi, and has a very small footprint, differential pressure in filters cluding: gage, absolute, compound
occupying only 7 × 7 mm on the PMP differential pressure (DP) gage, vacuum and barometric. Each
process-control board. A wide com- sensors (photo) are designed for model features an easy-to-read
pensated temperature range of 0 to controlling and measuring the DP 25-mm backlit LCD display, with
85°C allows the sensors to operate of low-pressure air or non-corrosive standard high and low alarms. The
in many types of applications. Low gases in filters. A PMP sensor mea- DPG409S has a long battery life,
power usage enables use in battery sures the pressure difference before with data logging and charting soft-
operations. — Honeywell Sensing and after the filter chamber. The ware included. — Omega Engineer-
and Control, Columbus, Ohio need for a cleaning cycle can then ing Inc., Stamford, Conn.
www.sensing.honeywell.com be determined by an increased DP, www.omega.com
at which point the instrument ac-
Rugged pressure transmitters tivates a programmable relay. A This vacuum transducer is
with many signal-output options second relay produces an alarm if equipped for harsh conditions
The Model 170/70/370/570 WECO the DP continues to increase. PMP The 902B Absolute Piezo vacuum
Hammer Union Series of rugged sensors can be customized to users’ transducer is equipped with a
pressure transmitters (photo) is needs, as relay, hysteresis, time microelectromechanical-system
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JANUARY 2015 23
on p. 60, or use the website designation.
Focus
(MEMS) piezoelectric sensor with tures up to three setpoint relays include semiconductor manufac-
a metal-sealed, stainless-steel dia- and a high bakeout temperature turing, thin-film coatings, vacuum
phragm and integrated electronics of 100°C. The 902B also provides furnaces, freeze-drying, analyti-
to provide seamless, gas-indepen- both analog output and digital com- cal instruments, medical devices
dent vacuum-pressure measure- munication, an optional, integrated and more. — MKS Instruments,
ment between 0.1 and 1,000 Torr. display and multiple analog output Andover, Mass.
Suitable for harsh processes and emulations. Its compact, single-unit www.mksinst.com
resistant to damage from air in- design is mountable in any orien-
rush and vibrations, the 902B fea- tation. Applications for the 902B This handheld calibrator features
quick pressure generation
The DPI 611 handheld pressure
calibrator improves upon its pre-
decessor by doubling pressure-
generation efficiency and pressure
accuracy and tripling electrical
accuracy, all in a more compact
package. Designed for use through-
Perfection is out many industrial sectors, the

DPI611 is said to be the first dedi-
cated pressure calibrator to feature
Better Dispersion and Control touchscreen swipe technology. The
screen interface displays a compre-
hensive application dashboard, and
a task menu allows for quick setup
for pressure tests and calibration.
Processes can be automated with
the DPI 611, significantly reducing
the time required for calibration.
The instrument’s pressure-genera-
tion capabilities have been signifi-
cantly improved compared to previ-
ous models, with the DPI 611 able
to create a 95% vacuum or generate
a maximum pressure of 20 bars in
just 30 s. — GE Measurement &
Control, Boston, Mass.
www.ge-mcs.com
These pressure transmitters

are now ATEX certified
This company’s line of explosion-
Perfecting Particle Size proof pressure transmitters has
The Sturtevant Micronizer® jet mill reduces the achieved ATEX certification for
particle size of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, Class I Zone 0 hazardous locations.
insecticides and dry chemicals to narrow particle The non-sparking or non-incendive
size distributions of 0.25 microns or larger without pressure transmitters are tradi-
heat buildup. tionally installed in applications
requiring special materials, such as
詐 Better control properties - dispersion & reactivity Alloy 718 or Alloy C276. Both the
詐 Particle-on-particle impact, no heat generation explosion-proof and non-incendive
詐 Simple design, easy to clean pressure-product families cover
詐 Abrasion resistant for long life pressures from 1 to 20,000 psi. The
transmitters can be ordered with
348 Circuit Street Hanover, MA 02339 compound pressure ranges for com-
Phone: 800.992.0209 • Fax: 781.829.6515 • [email protected] pressor applications, or bi-direc-
tional pressures for vapor-recovery
www.sturtevantinc.com systems. — American Sensor Tech-
nologies, Inc., Mt. Olive, N.J.
www.astsensors.com
November
In
2014
th
is
Is
s
ue
20
! St
ar
15
ts
Pa
ge
New logo.
65
New website.
New magazine.
Same exceptional content.
Coming 2015
Bookmark our new URL: chemengonline.com

Dear Chemical Engineering Subscribers,
You may have noticed some enhancements over the last few months to Chemical Engineering. We’ve upgraded our Chemical
Engineering Store Front, making it more user-friendly and easier to complete online transactions. We’ve also selected a new
URL that we feel better reflects our brand: chemengonline.com.
In the coming months, we’ll be adding even more upgrades to the Chemical Engineering brand, including:
z A responsive website
The new responsive design will be more aesthetically pleasing and optimized for your desktop, laptop and mobile device.
z An improved logo
For more than 113 years, Chemical Engineering has been the most widely respected global information source for the
chemical process industries. As we unveil our new design, you’ll see a refreshed and vibrant logo as a reflection of our
enhanced brand.
z An enhanced magazine layout

Chemical Engineering will remain the leading source for news, technology, and analysis. The new layout will be easier to
navigate with an enhanced design and layout.
Thank you for providing your input and being a part of our continued success. There’s still a lot of work to do in the coming
months and we’ll continue to update you on our progress.
Sincerely,
Chemical Engineering Staff
Automation Products Group Yokogawa
Focus
Low-power model added to

this family of transmitters
The DPharp EJA-E Series of differen-
tial pressure/pressure transmitters
is now being offered in a low-power
version (photo). The new low-power
transmitter outputs both 1–5 V d.c.
and HART signals, and consumes
just 27 mW of power. Even with the
device’s decreased power usage, it
still retains the accuracy and stabil-
ity of standard-power models, with
0.555% accuracy. At the upper range
limit, the transmitter can remain
within ±0.1% for seven years. Instal-
lation is simple, as basic settings for
the new DPharp transmitter can be mind, PT-503 submersible pressure transducer faces, built-in lightning
done easily using a setting switch transducers (photo) feature polyvinyl protection and breathable hydro-
and an external adjustment screw chloride (PVC) housing that enables phobic vent-tube caps that filter
on the transmitter. — Yokogawa them to operate under prolonged ex- out moisture. PT-503 transducers
Corp. of America, Sugar Land, Tex. posure to harsh or corrosive materi- also allow for temperature compen-
www.us.yokogawa.com als, in temperatures ranging from sation and are easily zeroed in the
–30 to 130°F and depths up to 450 ft. field. — Automation Products Group,
These transducers are These transducers feature three dif- Inc., Logan, Utah
easily zeroed in the field ferent cables for compatibility with www.apgsensors.com n
Built with chemical compatibility in various chemicals, Teflon or ceramic Mary Page Bailey
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Assmann
M4 Instruments
Monitor sensor condition
with these mobile meters
HandyLab 7 portable meters (photo)
are used for sensor calibration, di-
agnostics, predictive maintenance
and data logging. Using Memosens
digital sensing, the meter records
and tracks performance over a se-
cure digital connection, providing a
visual indication of sensor health.
HandyLab meters interface with
both Memosens digital and tradi-
tional analog sensors in many sens-
ing applications, including pH, oxi- of rotating flags housed inside the
dation reduction potential (ORP), assembly. As the level rises and falls,
conductivity and oxygen monitor- these flags will change color and pro-
ing. Various models are available, in heating, ventilation and air con- vide realtime indication of the liquid
with different data-storage and ditioning (HVAC), water and waste- level. — SOR Inc., Lenexa, Kan.
connection options. An explosion- water and irrigation applications. www.sorinc.com
proof version is also available. — The patented Triple Defense Core
M4 Instruments, Milford, Ohio technology allows the dV Sentry A valve for processing abrasive
www.m4instruments.com to protect against power distor- or corrosive substances
tion created over long-lead voltage The new SKW (slurry knife wafer)
Larger capacity now available power distortion, voltage spikes valve was developed for applications
for these double-wall tanks and common-mode voltage. The where abrasive or corrosive slur-
The introduction of the new IMT device has been shown to reduce ries, powders or coarse substances
8850 model (photo) expands this common-mode voltage by over 50%, are processed. The company has en-
company’s line of double-wall stor- says the company, decreasing the gineered its SKW valve at full-bore
age tanks, providing capacity of up risk of damage to motor bearings with no flow restrictions, allowing
to 8,850 gal of liquid, which can ac- and insulation, as well as providing processes with abrasive or corro-
commodate two truckloads of most less erratic VFD behavior. The dV sive fluids — such as lime slurry or
chemicals. Featuring a standard Sentry operates from –40 to 60°C, mineral slurries — to move without
24-in. hinged manway, the double- and creates little noise (less than 65 compromising performance. The
walled nature of these tanks elimi- db) during operation. — MTE Corp., main benefit to a full-bore design is
nates the risk of spills without Menomonee Falls, Wis. that the SKW valve itself becomes
the expense of lined concrete con- www.mtecorp.com an integral part of the pipe, and al-
tainment. The IMT 8850’s secure lows it to handle the same fluids
secondary-containment capacity This magnetic level instrument in the harshest of conditions. —
encompasses over 110% of the pri- provides realtime indication Flowrox, Inc., Linthicum, Md.
mary tank’s volume. A heavier-top 1100 Series Magnetic Level Indica- www.flowrox.us
sidewall and dome prevent dome tor (MLI) provides visual indication
collapse, while a primary inner tank of liquid level within a larger, pri- Surface-mount accelerometers
and a secondary outer tank prevent mary process vessel. Once the MLI for vibration measurement
chemical spills. — Assmann Corp. of is mounted to the vessel, the process The Model 5150 Series of surface-
America, Garrett, Ind. liquid will flow freely up and down mount, variable-capacitive acceler-
www.assmann-usa.com within the MLI chamber. Located ometers (photo, p. 28) offers general-
inside the chamber is a specially de- purpose vibration measurements for
Comprehensive motor and drive signed float, which contains a pow- a variety of aerospace, automotive,
protection with this dV/dt filter erful magnet that interacts with the energy, industrial manufacturing,
The new dV Sentry motor-pro- non-invasive indicator assembly lo- oil-and-gas, and testing and mea-
tection dV/dt filter offers compre- cated on the outside of the chamber. surement applications. Design of
hensive protection of variable-fre- The magnetic coupling between the the Model 5150 Series incorporates
quency drives (VFDs) and motors. float and the indicator allows the a micromachined variable-capac-
The dV Sentry is intended for use process level to be shown via the use itive sensing element and custom
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM JANUARY 2015 27
on p. 60, or use the website designation.
Silicon Designs
New Products
Michael Smith Engineers
Engineered Concepts
Rotork
cause corrosion in metallic pumps.

integrated circuit. The accelerom- All wetted parts are manufactured
eter produces two analog voltages, out of solid block, without the need
which vary proportionally according for injection molding, which elimi-
to measured acceleration levels. The nates the potential for stress-crack-
devices are both nitrogen-damped ing. ARBO pumps can handle solid
and hermetically sealed. — Silicon particles up to 3 mm, ensuring ex-
Designs, Inc., Kirkland, Wash. tended pump operation in the event
www.silicondesigns.com rated for temperatures from –25 to of process upset. The pumps are
70°C and voltages of 18–32 V. The available with either close-coupled
This system optimizes firetubes devices are also designed for use in or long-coupled design. In the close-
for reduced consumption hazardous environments and rated coupled configuration, ARBO pumps
The Automatic Secondary Air Con- to marine standards for shock and can be specified in either horizontal
trol (ASAC) system (photo) reduces vibration. — Rockwell Automation, or vertical mounting options. The
fuel consumption and emissions in Milwaukee, Wis. long-coupled, horizontal version in-
a wide range of natural-gas-fired www.rockwellautomation.com corporates separate frame-mounted
processing equipment. The patent- bearing support for the motor shaft.
pending ASAC design optimizes Remotely control and monitor The complete long-coupled pump
firetube operation by monitoring inaccessible actuators unit is assembled on a rigid glass-
and controlling the secondary air Designed for use with this com- fiber-reinforced polyester base-
in the combustion chamber. Appli- pany’s IQ3 actuators, the Remote plate. — Michael Smith Engineers
cable to larger process-heating ap- Hand Station (photo) enables local Ltd., Surrey, U.K.
plications found in heaters, treaters monitoring and control for equip- www.michael-smith-engineers.co.uk
and dehydrators, the ASAC sys- ment in inaccessible locations. At
tem is now available for processes distances up to 100 m from the valve, This separator has advantages
with pneumatic or electrical power, the Remote Hand Station provides for beer production
and can be installed prior to com- the user with an exact duplicate of To make the brewing process more
missioning new equipment, or be the actuator’s own monitoring and cost-effective while still taking
retrofit onto existing equipment in control interface, which retains all the quality requirements for beer
the field. — Engineered Concepts, of the actuator’s functionality, in- products into consideration, this
LLC, Houston cluding diagnostic data, such as company continues to improve its
www.engineeredconcepts.com valve torque and usage profiles, as workhorse AC separator line. The
well as service logs. Designed for AC 2500 (photo, p. 29) offers gen-
This series of monitors sends wall- or pole-mounted installation, tle processing of beer and efficient
machinery-health data sitewide the Remote Hand Station is explo- clarification before filtration. The
Allen-Bradley Dynamix 1444 con- sion-proof, and can be outfitted with advantages include the following:
dition-monitoring devices (photo, p. a cover to prevent unauthorized in- cost reduction through process op-
29) are primarily used as machin- terference. — Rotork plc, Bath, U.K. timization; reduction in beer losses;
ery-protection systems for rotating www.rotork.com avoidance of fluctuations; maxi-
and reciprocating equipment. To mum yield with consistent beer
protect equipment, the Dynamix Long- and close-coupled quality; and reduced cleaning and
1444 device measures and moni- thermoplastic pumps wastewater costs. — Flottweg SE,
tors a machine’s critical dynamic ARBO thermoplastic, mechanically Vilsbiburg, Germany
and position parameters, and as- sealed centrifugal pumps (photo) www.flottweg.com
sures appropriate actions are per- are available in polypropylene, poly-
formed. Information can be sent ethylene, polyvinylidene fluoride Simultaneous horizontal and
to plantwide and enterprise-wide and polytetrafluoroethylene, mak- vertical shaft alignment
databases for storage and trending. ing them resistant to the effects of The RS5 sensor (photo, p. 29) is used
Dynamix 1444 Series monitors are aggressive chemicals, which can for shaft alignment, with a mea-
Ludeca
New Products
Rockwell Automation
surement range that covers spans

of up to 10 m. Its five-axis technol-
ogy offers simultaneous tracking in
both planes for machine corrections,
allowing live monitoring of horizon-
tal and vertical machine corrections
at the same time, with the sensor at
any rotational shaft position. Hun-
dreds of measurement readings are
Flottweg
automatically taken during shaft
rotation, ensuring highly repeatable
results, even in harsh conditions industry. Thanks to the flexible se-
with vibration, and under unfavor- quential control, plant operators are
able mechanical constraints, such able to define their production steps
as coupling backlash. The inte- clearly and freely combine them into
grated ambient-light compensation individual process sequences. Both
ensures accurate measurements step sequences and parameters can
even in strong, direct sunlight. New be adapted online at any time to
battery technology enables longer meet ongoing production require-
sustained operation in the field. The ments. This means that produc-
RS5 laser and sensor are fully wa- Yokogawa
tion sequences can be re-adjusted
terproof, shockproof and dustproof. quickly and simply in the event that
— Ludeca, Inc., Doral, Fla. waterproof and dustproof, and an the quality of natural raw materials
www.ludeca.com explosion-proof model that can be fluctuates, or if another sequence
used in inflammable-gas environ- of production steps is necessary to
This adaptor allows ments are expected to be released enable flexible routing through the
wired devices to run wirelessly by the end of 2015. — Yokogawa production system. — Siemens AG,
The newly developed multi-func- Corp. of America, Newnan, Ga. Nuremberg, Germany
tion wireless adaptor (photo) en- www.yokogawa.com/us www.siemens.com/wincc
ables wired devices that transmit
or receive digital ON/OFF signals, Expanded Scada software for New simulation software ver-
or receive 4–20-mA analog sig- recipe-based production sion with App builder
nals, to function as ISA100 Wire- This company has added the WinCC/ This company’s newly released
less field devices. This increases SES (sequence execution system) Multiphysics software version 5.0
the variety of devices that can be option to its Simatic WinCC Scada (photo, p. 30) features extensive
used with field-wireless systems, (supervisory control and data acqui- product updates, three new add-on
and is expected to lead to a wider sition) system (photo, p. 30) for the products, and the new Application
use of such systems in plant opera- sequential control of recipe-based Builder. The Application Builder
tions. The adapter can be used with and sequence-based operations in empowers the design process by al-
switches, solenoid valves, and other production plants. Such an addition lowing engineers to make available
device types that utilize digital ON/ is ideally suited to plants for which an easy-to-use application based on
OFF signals, and transmitters that dosing, mixing and material trans- their Multiphysics model. Included
utilize 4–20-mA analog input sig- port are important process steps, with the Windows operating-sys-
nals. An all-weather model that is such as in the food and beverage tem version of Multiphysics 5.0,
Pepperl+Fuchs
New Products
Bronkhorst High-Tech
Siemens
An all-in-one
vapor delivery solution
The Vapor Delivery Mod-
ules (VDM; photo) are
compact sub-systems in-
the Application Builder provides corporating a liquid flow control-
all the tools needed to build and ler (thermal or Coriolis), one or two
run simulation apps. Any Mult- mass-flow controllers for carrier
iphysics model can be turned into gas and a temperature-controlled
an application with its own inter- mixing and evaporation device. The Comsol
face using the tools provided with modules are equipped with a 1.8-in.
the Application Builder desktop thin-film transistor (TFT) display
environment. Using the Form Edi- and push-buttons for local readout
tor, the user interface layout can be and control. The systems can also be
designed, while the Methods Edi- operated via digital communication
tor is used for implementing cus- (RS232 or FLOW-BUS). Optionally,
tomized commands. — Comsol, Inc. the units can be supplied with an
Burlington, Mass. additional mass-flow controller for
www.comsol.com dilution and with local or remote
trace-heating temperature control.

VDM-Series vaporizers are suit-
able for vapor deposition and coat-
ing processes for the production of
semiconductor chips, displays and
solar cells. — Bronkhorst High-Tech
B.V., Ruurlo, the Netherlands
www.bronkhorst.com
A HART loop converter with

autodetect function
The HART loop converter (HLC;
photo) records up to four digital sig-
nals and converts them into analog
4–20-mA current signals. The new
improved version automatically
detects whether a different master
is working in the same mode when
querying the dynamic variables. The
HLC enables direct access to all data
from intelligent HART field devices
without the need for additional field
wiring. It captures up to four digital
HART variables, three of which are
converted into various analog 4–20-
mA current signals and made avail-
able to various systems via signal
splitting. — Pepperl+Fuchs GmbH,
Mannheim, Germany
www.pepperl-fuchs.com n
Mary Page Bailey,
with Gerald Ondrey
The Impact of
Off-BEP Pump
Department Editor: Scott Jenkins Operation
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps
est-efficiency point (BEP), the flowrate Venturi
B at which a pump operates at its

highest or optimum efficiency for
a specific impeller diameter, is a key
consideration when assessing pump
performance. While most pumps do not
consistently operate at their exact BEP, a
Low velocity/ Increased velocity /
pump that is properly sized will maintain high pressure pressure drop
a flow near peak efficiency (85–105% Bubble Bubble
of BEP). inception Bubble collapse
growth
Operating a pump “off-BEP” means
Static pressure
that the flowrate is either too far above
or below the BEP for a sustained period Vapor pressure
of time, resulting in a number of negative
consequences. This article outlines the
FIGURE 2. Cavitation can be created for demonstration purposes using a venturi
consequences of operating pumps away
from their BEP for extended periods, as head drop (Figure 1). At that 3% ratio, tion and can lead to catastrophic pump
well as the key questions to ask when a pump is already cavitating. That is failure when portions of the impeller inlet
assessing off-BEP pump operation. why there are common practices in the or discharge vanes fatigue and fail by
industry that require a certain margin to breaking off.
Consequences of off-BEP operation be in place to make sure a pump is not Temperature rise. Temperature rise is one
Vibration and noise. Noise and vibra- running right at the NPSHA, and thus, by of the more severe effects of off-BEP opera-
tion can occur when a pump operates definition, cavitating. tion, because at its most extreme, human
too far to the right of BEP, generating Bearing and seal failure. Bearing and life can be lost. If a pump is allowed to
high-velocity eddy currents that contribute seal failure accounts for more than 80% run at shut-off for an extended period
to the imbalance of pressure and shaft of all premature centrifugal pump fail- of time, enough energy can be applied
deflection. The resulting stress on the ures, and occurs when a pump experi- to the fluid to cause the pressure in the
pump’s internal components can lead to ences increased radial and thrust loads pump to build to a point where it’s greater
poor pump performance, excessive wear during off-BEP operation. Pumps that than the yield strength of the casing, thus
and increased risk of failure. The ideal have a single-volute casing design nor- causing an explosion. Such explosions
noise/vibration point is approximately mally experience a rapid increase in im- have been known to throw motors through
90% of BEP. peller radial and thrust loads as the flow concrete block walls. The chances of this
Cavitation. Cavitation occurs when declines below BEP flow. Dual-volute cas- happening are remote, yet real.
vapor bubbles continuously form and ing designs help to balance radial loads
collapse, creating intense pressure (up and are essential for reliability when a Key questions
to 10,000 psi) and shock waves (Figure pump must operate for a substantial pe- The following application-related ques-
2). This is caused when the net positive riod of time at flows considerably below tions should be considered when assess-
suction head required (NPSHR) increases its BEP flowrate. Modified concentric ing off-BEP pump operation:
beyond the NPSH available (NPSHA), volute-casing designs are an alternative • What type of damage can occur if a
or when the NPSHA drops below the to single volutes — offering reduced pump is run below the BEP?
NPSHR. In determining reliability, if radial loads in off-BEP operation, but • What type of damage can occur if a
the NPSHA in the system drops below giving up a little bit of pump efficiency pump is run above the BEP?
the NPSHR by the pump, the pump will in the process. The impeller loads that • How does off-BEP operation affect a
experience cavitation — eroding the develop during off-BEP operation can pump’s mechanical seal?
impeller, vibrating the bearings and cas- lead to shaft deflection and mechanical • Why does vibration increase in off-
ings, and causing damage that can be seal failures, or overload the bearings BEP operation?
quite severe. The fatigued metal breaks with increased temperatures. • What are some ways pump manufac-
away, creating pitted surfaces, which Discharge and suction recirculation. turers use hydraulic design to mini-
become concentration points for further Discharge and suction recirculation hap- mize loads on bearings and increase
bubble collapse. NPSHR is typically pens when fluid does not flow through bearing life?
based on test standards established by the pump as it was designed, causing • Are proper operational controls in
the Hydraulic Institute (www.pumps.org); small flow instabilities called eddies. The place to prevent a catastrophic event?
the definition of it is based on a 3% total damage caused by eddies mirrors cavita-
Source: ITT Goulds Pumps
In pursuit of peak efficiencies and
increased reliability (longer mean time
between failures), pump adjustments are
Total head, ft
often made to align their BEP with the

Constant flow
–3% duty point of the pumping systems. Con-
sider testing a pump if you are uncertain
Of total head about its BEP for a specific application. ■
14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 –2 –4 –6 –8 –10 Editor’s note: Content for this edition of “Facts at

your Fingertips” was contributed by Rich Nardone,
NPSHA, gage global product manager at ITT Goulds Pumps (Sen-
eca Falls, N.Y.; www.gouldspumps.com).
FIGURE 1. Shown here is an example of an NPSH test plot used to determine a pump’s NPSHR
Sugar Inversion
T he substance known colloquially as table sugar is actually su-

crose, a disaccharide composed of fructose and glucose. Sucrose
is a major agriculturally derived product with an established
n in-
dustry for its extraction, processing and supply. It is mainly employed
a sweetener in industrial and domestic food applications, but also
n
n finds
as
additional uses in the pharmaceutical industry, in chemical manufactur-

n
ing, and as a feedstock for fermentation processes. For example, sugar
n
is used as a feedstock for the manufacture of bio-based chemicals, such
as bio-succinic acid. n
Sugar generally exists commercially as a solid granular product.
n
However, some food manufacturers prefer to use sugar in a liquid n form,
due to the ease of handling a liquid product. One commercially avail-
able liquid-sugar product is liquid invert sugar, also known as invert
syrup. It is produced from the inversion of sucrose, which refers to the
hydrolysis of the disaccharide molecule into its constituent parts, the
monosaccharides glucose and fructose. The result of this reaction is a n United States 5%
product with greater sweetening power and improved microbiological n Brazil 22%
stability, when compared to sucrose. n European Union 9%
Invert syrups are commercialized with different combinations of invert n India 15%
sugar and sucrose contents, depending on the degree of inversion per-
n China 8%
formed. Also, invert syrups can be produced by three different inversion
processes: acid hydrolysis with mineral acids; enzymatic hydrolysis; or n Thailand 6%
hydrolysis by cation ion-exchange resin. The latter process is described n Mexico 4%
in this column. n Others 31%
The process FIGURE 2. World sugar production by country or region in 2013

The process for sucrose inversion by ion-exchange resin shown in
Figure 1 is similar to the one presented in U.S. Patent 8,404,109, pub-
lished by European Sugar Holdings S.a.r.l. (Capellen, Luxembourg). An The estimated total fixed investment for building such a plant is about
important feature of this process is the removal of ash from the solution $40 million.
in the ion-exchange columns.
Sucrose dissolution. Water and steam are mixed to form a hot water Global perspective
stream. Part of this stream is added to raw sugar (sucrose) before it is Sucrose can be produced either from sugarcane or sugarbeet plants,
fed to a screw conveyor, which directs wet sucrose to an agitated ves- depending on climate conditions. Sugarcane is cultivated in tropical
sel. The remaining hot water is fed into the vessel, forming a 60 wt.% and subtropical regions, while sugarbeets are more suitable in temper-
sucrose solution. ate zones.
Sucrose inversion. The sucrose solution is fed to a cation-exchange In 2013, world sugar production was about 177 million tons (in raw
column, where some ash is retained and the pH is lowered, allowing sugar equivalent). About 80% of global sugar production is derived
the inversion reaction to occur. Then, part of the inverted solution is fed from sugarcane, and about 20% is from sugarbeets.
to an anion-exchange column, where some ash is removed and the pH Brazil, the world’s largest sugar producer, accounts for about 22%
of the solution is increased. Finally, the fully inverted solution is concen- of global sugar production, with all of its sugar production originating
trated to 70 wt.% dry matter, forming the final product. from sugarcane.
The world’s main sugar producers are shown in Figure 2. The U.S. is
Economic evaluation the only country among them that produces sugar from both sugarcane
An economic evaluation of the sugar-inversion process was conducted, and sugarbeet in significant amounts. As the world’s sixth-largest sugar
taking the following assumptions into consideration: producer, the U.S. produces 56% of its sugar from sugarbeets, while
• A facility producing 585,000 ton/yr of invert syrup from raw sugar. the remaining 44% comes from sugarcane. n
The facility was assumed to be located on the U.S. Gulf Coast in the
same location as a plant operating a fermentative process that uses
invert syrup as feedstock Editor’s Note: The content for this column is supplied by Intratec Solutions LLC
• A raw-sugar warehouse with storage capacity equal to 20 days of (Houston; www.intratec.us) and edited by Chemical Engineering. The analyses
and models presented are prepared on the basis of publicly available and
operation non-confidential information. The content represents the opinions of Intratec only.
• Utilities facilities and product storage were not considered in the More information about the methodology for preparing analysis can be found,
analysis along with terms of use, at www.intratec.us/che.
H2O Raw Sugar

1
ST 3 4 CW To waste
treatment 1) Screw conveyor
5 2) Dissolution vessel
3) Cation exchange resin bed
4) Anion exchange resin bed
ST
5) Evaporator
2 Liquid CW Cooling water

CW
invert ST Steam
sugar
FIGURE 1. The sugar-inversion process shown here uses ion-exchange resins

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Feature
Cover Story
Report
Controlling Suspension
Rheology
environment, there are benefits to
The physical characteristics of dispersed particles low viscosity, since it aids the even
distribution of the product over
have a large impact on overall rheological properties the surface. Paint therefore offers
a good example of a suspension
where there is a need to engineer
John Duffy Industrial suspensions a specific viscosity profile — in this
Malvern Instruments Suspension products are ubiqui- case, shear-thinning behavior —
tous in everyday life, as well as which is where viscosity decreases
any important products of within industrial manufacturing. with applied shear stress. A paint
M the chemical process in-

dustries (CPI) exist as sus-
pensions or dispersions of
particles in liquid media. Examples
range from adhesives, ceramics,
Examples from the domestic sphere
range from indigestion medicines
and nasal sprays to shower gels
with eye-catching suspended ac-
tive ingredients, and low-fat foods
formulation that shear-thins will
deliver the low shear, high viscos-
ity required for stability and a good
surface finish, coupled with the low
viscosity at high shear needed for
paints and inks to food-and-bever- that mimic the performance of their easy, low-energy-input application.
age, personal care and pharmaceu- high-fat counterparts. Paints, inks, The formulation of pharmaceu-
tical products. The physical prop- coatings, ceramic slurries and abra- tical suspensions provides a con-
erties of the dispersed particles in sives exemplify suspensions in in- trasting example, where stability
such systems — including particle dustrial use. Rheological properties is the defining focus. Stability in a
size, particle-size distribution, con- are critical in defining the perfor- medicine equates to uniform dos-
centration, electric charge and even mance of all suspension products, ing, so if the active ingredient does
particle shape — can all strongly most especially their stability and sediment (settle) out, it must be
influence the overall (bulk) rheo- flow characteristics. easily resuspended on shaking. A
logical properties of a suspension, Consider, for example, the under- stable suspension addresses any
thereby defining product behavior lying characteristics that impart concerns about this issue by reduc-
and functionality. Understand- high performance to paints, which ing the risk of sedimentation. In the
ing these interactions is crucial are actually suspensions of pig- formulation of medicines, engineer-
for achieving the desired product ments and other ingredients in a ing rheology to deliver the required
performance. This could mean, for liquid continuous phase. Paints are stability is crucial, but there may be
example, the stability of a paint or stored in a low-stress state, sub- less need to ensure that viscosity is
medicine, or the visual appeal of a ject only to the influence of gravity. closely controlled over a wide range
shower gel or drink. These same stresses apply follow- of shear stresses.
This article examines the im- ing the application of paint to a sur-
pact of particle loading on suspen- face. A paint that is highly viscous Rheological properties
sion viscosity, and more broadly, on at low shear will tend to resist sedi- These examples draw attention
overall rheological behavior. It looks mentation or settling, and there- to the way in which viscosity can
in some detail at how particle size fore be very stable. Having a high change as a function of shear, and the
and shape influence critical aspects viscosity under low shear will also need to understand those changes
of suspension performance, such make a paint less likely to slump or within the context of the conditions
as viscosity and stability. One cen- curtain on the substrate to which applied to the product during use
tral focus of the article is to provide it is applied, producing a desirable (see also Chem. Eng., August 2009,
practical guidance for measuring smooth finish. pp. 34–39). However, viscosity can
the rheological properties of suspen- However, when it comes to the also exhibit time-dependent behav-
sions and to show how particle prop- use of paints, the shear stresses ior, known as thixotropy. For exam-
erties can be manipulated to tailor applied are relatively high and the ple, a shear-thinning paint that is
and control product performance. viscosity target changes, too. In this thixotropic will take an appreciable
Cover Story
time to regain high viscosity follow- single hard sphere in a liquid. His particle-particle interactions start
ing a reduction in the shear stress. conclusions remain of value for sys- to become significant. These inter-
This can be a useful characteristic. tems containing very low particle actions inhibit the freedom with
If a brushed paint instantly regains concentrations. However, in many which particles move, and give rise
high viscosity when brushing stops, industrial suspensions, particle to an increase in viscosity. How-
then brush marks are likely to be loadings are relatively high, with ever, because the strength of par-
visible in the finish forever. A prod- particles in far closer proximity to ticle-particle interactions is rela-
uct with some thixotropy will allow one another. The consequence of tively low, they are broken down as
these marks to flow away into a this is a much more inhibited flow shear rate is increased. This effect
smoother finish. field that results in higher suspen- is compounded by the influence of
One further viscosity-related sion viscosities and greater sen- Brownian motion, especially in sus-
characteristic that is also used to sitivity to incremental changes in pensions containing relatively fine
impart defined properties to a sus- particle concentration. The Krieger particles, where Brownian stresses
pension product is yield stress (often and Dougherty relationship, ex- can be relatively high. Brownian
termed apparent yield stress). Sus- pressed in Equation (1), describes motion opposes an applied shear
pensions with a yield stress change the relationship between particle stress, acting to maintain random-
relatively abruptly from solid-like loading or concentration and viscos- ized particle movement. However,
to liquid-like behavior at a certain ity in this regime of higher particle this effect is overcome at higher
point. Below this point (the yield concentrations: stresses, at which point particles re-
stress), such suspensions behave in arrange into a more efficient pack-
[ ] (1)
a solid-like or gel-like way; above it m
ing structure. As a result of both of
they flow like liquids. Yield stresses =1 these mechanisms, suspensions in
arise from underlying macro- and medium m this regime exhibit non-Newtonian
micro-structural characteristics in shear-thinning behavior. Viscosity
a material and can be usefully engi- Where is the viscosity of the sus- is no longer independent of shear
neered into many products. pension; medium is the viscosity of rate (Newtonian behavior) but de-
For example, mayonnaise with an the medium;  is the volume frac- creases as shear rate is increased.
appreciable yield stress will hold tion of solids in the suspension; m At high particle loadings, once
its form when spooned from a jar or is the maximum volume fraction of /m exceeds 0.5, there is minimal
when sitting on a plate, enhancing solids in the suspension (the maxi- room for the particles to move. Now
perceptions of quality. High-quality mum amount of particles that can the particles are not only interact-
tomato ketchup will not drip from be added to the suspension); and [ ] ing with each other, they are physi-
a plastic bottle, but will flow well is the intrinsic viscosity for spheres cally inhibiting the motion of one
when the bottle is squeezed. The (a dimensionless number with a another. As shear increases, this in-
term “apparent yield stress” arises value of 2.5) hibition of movement becomes more
because some materials can appear Figure 1 shows how the viscosity and more limiting and so the sus-
to behave like a solid on short tim- behavior of a suspension changes pension exhibits non-Newtonian,
escales but, over longer periods of as the volume fraction of particles shear thickening behavior; viscosity
applied stress, can flow or creep. increases, relative to the maximum increases with shear rate.
A number of suspension param- volume fraction. At
eters can be varied in order to re- low volume frac- Newtonian Shear-thinning Shear-thickening
fine rheological properties to meet tions, where /m

formulation goals, within the con- is less than 0.1, the
straints of meeting other targets re- particles have room
lating to, for example, appearance. to flow freely, a situ-
These parameters include particle ation closer to the
loading, particle size, particle size one considered by
distribution, particle morphology Einstein. The sus-
Viscosity
and, for sub-micron particles, zeta pension exhibits the

potential. Focusing on viscosity, Newtonian response
the following section examines how of the continuous
these different parameters can be phase, which means
manipulated and managed to reach that viscosity is in-
formulation goals. dependent of the
shear rate. Volume fraction of particles
The impact of particle loading At slightly higher
FIGURE 1. Increasing the volume fraction of particles
At the beginning of his career, phys- volume fractions, in a suspension increases viscosity and also inlu-
icist Albert Einstein studied and when /m lies in ences whether a suspension will exhibit Newtonian or
described the flow field around a the range 0.1 to 0.5, non-Newtonian behavior

Cover Story
175 nm shear viscosity

Viscosity
Viscosity
All
750 nm
750 nm
Shear rate
FIGURE 2. Decreasing particle size may lead to an in-

crease in low shear viscosity, for a constant volume frac- 100% 0%
Increasing amount of 175 nm particles
tion of particles, if colloidal interactions are significant 0% 100%
Increasing amount of 750 nm particles
The actual values of /m that in this range, FIGURE 3: The impact of polydispersity and particle size can
mark the transition from Newto- with smaller produce competing effects and, in the system above, produces
a minimum viscosity value
nian to shear-thinning and then particles giving
to shear-thickening behavior are rise to higher results in a minimum viscosity (see
system-specific, but those included viscosities due to their higher effec- Figure 3). For a given volume frac-
here provide a good guideline for tive volume. At high shear rates, in- tion, suspension viscosity with only
most cases. Changing the particle terparticle forces are broken down 750-nm particles is lower than with
loading is clearly a productive strat- and hydrodynamic forces dominate. 175-nm particles because the use
egy for altering not only the vis- A consequence of this phenomenon of finer particles increases the ef-
cosity of a suspension, but also its is that the effective volume fraction fective volume. However, the inclu-
Newtonian/non-Newtonian char- becomes less dependent on particle sion of a relatively small fraction of
acteristics. Varying not only the size and viscosity values converge. 175-nm particles in a binary mix-
amount, but also the properties, of Polydispersity. For a constant vol- ture reduces, rather than increases,
the particles added is a complemen- ume fraction, increasing polydisper- viscosity. The impact of these finer
tary approach. sity will decrease viscosity. particles on packing behavior — an
Polydispersity is the span or range effect that decreases viscosity —
Particles and viscosity of the particle-size distribution. more than offsets the increase in
Optimizing particle properties can A particle-size distribution with viscosity caused by a greater num-
provide a means to control the vis- a wide span contains dissimilarly ber of particle-particle interactions.
cosity profile of a suspension. sized particles — some large, some Convexity. Smoother particles
Particle size. For a constant vol- small — and tends to pack better result in suspensions with lower
ume fraction, decreasing particle than if particles are of uniform size shear viscosities than those with
size will increase viscosity. If vol- (a narrow distribution; small poly- low convexity.
ume fraction is kept constant, then dispersity). This superior packing Convexity is a measure of the
decreasing particle size leads to an makes it easier for an equivalent regularity or sharpness of the pe-
increase in the number of particles volume of particles to move around, rimeter of a particle — a descriptor
present. This is especially the case leading to lower viscosity. Again, in of particle shape. Particles with low
with sub-micron-sized particles. For terms of the Krieger and Dough- convexity (see Figure 4) have a con-
such particles, the effective hydro- erty relationship, increasing poly- voluted outline that increases the
dynamic size may be substantially dispersity increases the maximum likelihood of mechanical resistance
increased by any surface charge, volume fraction, thereby lowering to flow in a suspension. Further-
hydration or adsorption layers that viscosity. Conversely, this means more, relative to equivalently sized
surround each core particle. This that narrowing the particle-size smooth particles, particles with low
will result in a higher effective vol- distribution can increase viscosity, convexity may have a higher spe-
ume fraction for a given particle a change often associated with in- cific surface area, increasing the
loading, thereby increasing the vis- creased stability. strength of any particle-particle
cosity of the suspension. For larger The effects of polydispersity and interactions. Both of these effects
particles, which are fewer in num- particle size can at times be compet- tend to be more marked at high
ber, this effect is greatly reduced. ing, so particle size and particle-size solids loadings.
Figure 2 shows data for latex distribution can be used in combi- More generally, however, parti-
particles in a pressure-sensitive nation to engineer system viscosity. cles with higher surface roughness
adhesive that illustrate this effect. Returning to the example of using cause greater deviation of the liq-
Because interparticle (colloidal) in- either 175-nm particles or 750-nm uid flow fields around them, a phe-
teractions are dominant at low shear particles (see Figure 2), a bimodal nomenon that also acts to increase
rates, the effect is more pronounced distribution of these two particles viscosity. As a result, the viscos-
Cover Story
Sharp (lower convexity) Under shear

particles interact more at
lower deformations
Viscosity
Smooth particles can
Viscosity
low easily over each

other under these low
At rest
deformations
Shear rate
Shear rate FIGURE 5. As a result of orientation at high shear rates,

FIGURE 4. Sharper particles (those with lower convexity) give rise the viscosity of suspensions with elongated particles has
to suspensions with higher viscosity, all other factors being equal a different profile compared to that of a suspension con-
taining spherical particles of equivalent size
ity of a suspension can often be Electrical charge zeta potential and increasing viscosity, especially
reduced by using smoother, more The preceding analysis of how par- at low shear rates (see Figure 7),
regular particles. Although once ticle size and shape impact viscos- when the particles exhibit a larger
again, any impact on viscosity is ity has shown that these physical effective hydrodynamic volume. A
usually more marked at low shear characteristics influence how easily zeta potential of sufficient magni-
rates and high volume fractions. particles within a suspension can tude (around ±30 mV) will main-
At low shear forces, elongated move, relative to one another. One tain particle separation. In these
particles produce higher viscos- further parameter that can also systems, gravitational forces only
ity than spherical ones, although influence particle movement, and become large enough to cause sedi-
the converse is true at high shear, consequently viscosity and stability, mentation if the particles grow in
where elongated particles are as- is the electrical charge on particles mass by a process of agglomeration.
sociated with lower viscosity than within a system. One way of mea- Keeping particles separate there-
spherical analogs. suring this charge is to quantify fore ensures stability.
Elongated particles produce a zeta potential. In a suspension with larger parti-
different suspension viscosity pro- Zeta potential quantifies the cles, zeta potential may be controlled
file than spherical analogs (Figure magnitude of the electrostatic re- in order to deliver a quite different
5). Particle-particle interactions be- pulsion or attraction in a system. effect. For particles of significant
tween spherical particles typically It is a measure of particle charge at mass, gravitational forces are suffi-
break down as shear increases, and the edge of the slipping plane be- cient to induce sedimentation. Here,
this gives rise to shear-thinning tween the particle and associated engineering a high zeta potential to
behavior. Elongated particles are double layer, and the surrounding maintain the particles as discrete
generally randomly oriented at low solvent (Figure 6). The fact that entities does not produce a stable
shear, thus occupying larger vol- zeta potential is not the charge suspension. Counterintuitively, the
umes, but at high shear, will tend on the surface of the particle, but opposite can work. In certain sys-
to orient in way that is parallel to rather at the edge of the particle’s tems reducing the zeta potential in-
the direction of flow, resulting in “sphere of influence,” makes it duces partial agglomeration of the
more efficient packing. As a result, highly relevant to suspension be- particles, creating a networked gel
suspensions with elongated par- havior. If a suspension has a large that can give appreciable viscosity
ticles also shear-thin, but far more negative or positive zeta potential, to a suspension. Reduction in zeta
markedly that those containing then the particles within it will potential also induces an apparent
spherical particles. tend to successfully repel each yield stress in these cases.
At low shear forces, a suspension other. Low zeta-potential values
that contains particles with elon- increase the likelihood of floccula- Rheology measurement
gated shapes typically has higher tion or agglomeration (the joining Clearly, a number of strategies can
viscosity than one that contains together of discrete particles). be used to refine rheological prop-
spherical particles of equivalent In sub-micron colloidal systems, erties to meet performance targets
size. At high shear, however, this particles tend to move under Brown- for a specific suspension. However,
situation is reversed, and the sus- ian motion and the influence of the driver for such formulation op-
pension with spherical particles gravity is low because particle mass timization is analytical data. Laser
will have higher viscosity than is small. Here, increasing the zeta diffraction and dynamic light scat-
those with elongated particles of potential causes particles to repel tering (DLS) are well-established
equivalent size. one another, inhibiting movement techniques for measuring particle
Cover Story
range over which shear stress can

be applied, their facility for oscilla-
tory testing and the level of control
over the normal force applied dur-
ing rotational testing.
Rotational rheometers are argu-
ably the most versatile rheological-
measurement tools available. They
can be configured for a number of
different rheological methods, all of
which probe the structure and per-
formance of suspensions. Test types
include the generation of simple vis-
cosity flow curves (plots of viscosity
against shear) over many decades
of torque, yield-stress measurement
and precise sequences that simu-
late the chewing of food. Modern,
sophisticated instruments enable
close matching of the test method to
the specific process or in-use envi-
ronment of the product. Innovative
software products are increasingly
helpful in allowing even novice rhe-
ologists to generate and interpret
relevant data.
Rotational rheometers are used
for a broad range of sample types,
from pastes and gels to the most
weakly structured liquids. Applied
shear can be precisely controlled
into the very low shear-stress re-
gion, making these instruments
suitable for stability studies and
for the measurement of yield
stress. However, rotational rheom-
eters are optimized for operation
FIGURE 6. Zeta potential inluences whether particles will repel or attract each
other when held in suspension
across many a wide range of torque
levels rather than for the precise
differentiation of viscosity in low-
size distributions centered in the cation. Understanding the capabili- viscosity, weakly structured fluids.
micron and sub-micron ranges, re- ties of different rheometers helps to In addition, rotational rheometers
spectively. Zeta potential can be identify the best choice for specific face mechanical limitations in the
measured by electrophoretic light uses and materials. high-shear region for low viscosity
scattering, a technique that is com- Rotational rheometer / viscom- or highly elastic materials.
plementary to DLS and is often in- eter. These instruments work Capillary rheometry. In capil-
tegrated into DLS systems, while by loading samples between two lary rheometry, a sample is forced
automated imaging brings rapid, plates (or other similar geometry, to extrude through a barrel or die of
statistically relevant analysis of such as cone-and-plate, or alter- well defined dimensions under high
particle shape. natively, a cup-and-bob system). pressure. The pressure drop across
This leaves the actual measure- Applying a torque to the top plate the barrel or die is measured to give
ment of rheological parameters. exerts a rotational shear stress pressure-flowrate data for the fluid,
Here, there are multiple options but on the material and the resulting from which viscosity is calculated.
often some confusion as to which strain or strain rate (shear rate) is Temperature and shear rate can be
instrument and methodologies to measured. Rotational rheometers closely controlled to simulate the
employ. A defining requirement in and viscometers share the same processing environment of interest.
rheological characterization is to operating principle, but the former Originating in the polymer indus-
make measurements under condi- have far greater functionality. This try, capillary rheometry is useful
tions that are relevant to the appli- is most evident in the accuracy and for measuring the viscosity profiles
Cover Story
of suspensions and slurries con-

taining relatively large particles, at
high particle loadings. Industrial
examples include polymer melts,
ceramic slurries, foodstuffs, inks
and coatings. Capillary rheometers
can apply very high force, which
Viscosity
enables the exploration of behav-
ior at far higher shear rates than
is possible with rotational rheom-
Increase Ordered
etry. High-shear-rate performance zeta weak
is pertinent in many industrial potential structure
processes, such as extrusion and
spraying. For certain applications,
the sample size required for capil- Shear rate
lary rheometry — around one liter
for the generation of a flow curve —
can be a limitation. Associated structure strong
enough to induce a yield stress
Microfluidic rheometry. A rela-
Ordered
tively new form of mechanical strong
rheometry, microfluidic rheometry structure
is closely aligned to capillary rhe- Increased structure
Viscosity
ometry, since it is similarly based strength to increase

viscosity even at high
on the determination of viscosity shear rates
from measurements of how pres-
sure drop varies as a function of
flowrate. However, with this tech- Decreasing
zeta potential
nique, the sample is forced down
microfluidic channels and the re-
Shear rate
sulting pressure drop is measured
using micro-electro-mechanical- FIGURE 7. In a colloidal suspension with sub-micron particles, increasing zeta
system (MEMS) pressure sensors potential increases viscosity at low shear stress (top). In contrast, decreasing zeta
potential can induce a locculated particle gel with an apparent yield stress (bottom)
embedded within the channel. This
method delivers highly accurate
measurements. The scale of testing sample, and more easily accommo- a rheometer that can measure ef-
is small, but extremely high shear dates low-viscosity materials. fectively under the conditions that
rates can be applied. These capabilities make micro- will prevail during product use. A
Microfluidic rheometry charac- fluidic rheometry especially useful robust rheological characterization
terizes low-viscosity, dilute suspen- for measuring the viscosity behav- strategy provides a secure platform
sions containing relatively small ior of products, such as inkjet inks, from which to address the optimi-
particles (less than 20 microns), specialty chemicals, personal care zation of suspension formulation,
especially at ultra-high shear rates, products and food and beverages, which involves tuning particle load-
in excess of 1,000,000 s–1. Instru- under the shear conditions that ing, size, shape and charge, to meet
ments that use this technique offer exist during product use. The small specific performance targets. ■
completely enclosed measurement, sample size can be particularly Edited by Scott Jenkins
which is helpful for the safe and helpful during early development
reliable analysis of highly vola- work, when the supply of material Author
tile or environmentally sensitive may be limited. John Duffy is product mar-
keting manager for rheology
samples. Microfluidic rheometry products at Malvern Instru-
instruments can generate accurate Concluding remarks ments Ltd. (Grovewood Road,
Malvern, Worcestershire,
viscosity data using volumes as low Formulating a suspension to have WR14 1XZ, UK; Phone: +44-
as 50 µL. Compared with rotational specific rheological characteris- 1684-892456; Email: John.
[email protected]). Duffy
rheometry, microfluidic rheometry tics is essential when it comes to holds a Ph.D. from the Uni-
versity of Nottingham (U.K.),
more sensitively differentiates commercializing products with where his research in the
samples with low viscosities and consumer appeal and competitive School of Chemical and Envi-
ronmental Engineering involved rheological
enables testing under higher-shear- advantage. Generating reliable studies of the microstructure of molten coal.
rate conditions. Relative to capillary rheological data to support prod- Duffy has previously worked with both Boots
and Unilever, and has a wide range of experience
rheometry, microfluidic rheometry uct formulation is essential to the on the role of rheology in household and personal
requires orders of magnitude less effort, and this relies on choosing care products.

FIGURE 1. The Gulf Coast
Feature Report SMR (steam methane re-
former) in La Porte, Tex.,
is capable of producing
more than 116 million
A Guide To: standard cubic feet per

day of pure hydrogen
Methane Reforming
A wide range of factors THE NEED FOR SYNGAS
ver two-thirds of the synthesis gas (syngas) generated worldwide is used to produce
must be taken into
account before selecting
O hydrogen, which in turn is used to synthesize ammonia for the fertilizer industry, or
put to work in petroleum refineries, where it plays an important role in processes
such as hydrotreating and desulfurization. The second-largest market segment is syngas
used for the production of methanol (CH3OH), including dimethyl ether (DME). A valu-
the most appropriate able resource in the chemicals industry, methanol is also deployed as a synthetic fuel,
and can be converted to olefins, such as propylene via methanol-to-propylene (MTP)
reforming technology technology as an alternative to propylene production from crude oil. A smaller fraction
of global syngas output — less than 5% — contributes to chemical products or Fischer-
Tropsch synthetic fuels, while only a small fraction of all syngas produced is used as a
Dieter Ulber substitute for natural gas (SNG) or in integrated gasification combined cycles (IGCC)
Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions for power production.
Germany GmbH Demand for syngas is rising across the board, in large part driven by a growing need
for H2 in many sectors. For example, H2 plays an essential role in petroleum refineries
rom the agrochemicals sector and the broader petrochemical industry. Against the background of ever-more-stringent
F to steel production, from pe-

troleum refineries to chemicals
production — many sectors
of the chemical process industries
(CPI) would grind to a halt over-
environmental legislation, it is a key ingredient in desulfurization and in the hydrocrack-
ing methods used to convert crude oil into ultra-clean diesel fuel. Moreover, the general
trend toward processing heavier, lower-grade oil is leading producers to turn to new
refining schemes that require large volumes of hydrogen. Plus, H2 is fast gaining promi-
nence as a transportation fuel, deployed in fuel cells for electric vehicles. ❏
night without one crucial ingredient:

syngas. Short for “synthesis gas,” When it comes to the downstream feedstock to syngas comprises a
syngas describes a blend of primar- application, on the other hand, the number of basic steps. First, the
ily hydrogen and carbon monoxide. ratio of H2 to CO in the final syngas feedstock is pre-treated to remove
Highly versatile, syngas forms the will vary depending on the process sulfur. Depending on downstream
basis for diverse end products that used. The rule of thumb is that re- processing requirements, it may
are deployed in a wide range of in- forming techniques yield a higher also undergo a pre-reforming stage.
dustrial scenarios (see box). H2 content, while gasification tips The feedstock is now ready to begin
Broadly speaking, syngas is gen- the balance in favor of CO. For ex- the transformation into syngas, by
erated by one of two ways: using a ample, reforming natural gas can means of a reforming process — and
methane reforming process, based generate an H2-to-CO ratio of up to it is here that significant differences
on a gaseous reaction principle; or 5.5, while the corresponding figure between the various techniques be-
applying a gasification technique, for entrained-flow coal gasification come apparent, as will be discussed
centered around a heterogeneous hovers between 0.35 and 0.8. Con- below. After reforming, the syngas
reaction. It cannot be claimed that sidering that the bulk of syngas is conditioned to adjust the ratio
one method is categorically better manufactured worldwide is used to of components as required, before
than the other; rather, the technol- produce H2, as outlined above, this being purified in a final step. Again,
ogy chosen will depend on the avail- article focuses on methane-reform- the choice of reforming process will
ability of feedstock and the intended ing technologies as the most effi- impact on the options available in
downstream application. In terms cient way of generating H2. these final two stages.
of feedstock, reforming techniques The following section outlines
are ideal for gases and light hydro- Overview of CH4 reforming in more detail the four main tech-
carbon liquids, while gasification The reforming process itself, how- nologies used in the all-important
is generally reserved for heavier ever, comes in a number of different reforming stage. These can be bro-
liquids and solids, such as coal and guises. And the choice of technol- ken down into two categories: three
biomass. In this context, methane ogy is crucial, as it will have impli- catalytic models — steam methane
reforming technology is growing in cations for all other aspects of the reforming (SMR), heat exchange
popularity as the spread of hydrau- syngas production process. reforming, and autothermal reform-
lic fracturing contributes to a fall in Regardless of the generation ing — and the non-catalytic partial
the price of natural gas. method deployed, the journey from oxidation process.
TABLE 1. CARBON TO HYDROGEN
RATIO OF DIFFERENT FEEDSTOCK
Feature Report IN KG/KG
C/H in kg/kg Hydrogen
1.5–3.0 Refinery offgas
Steam methane reforming. A triggers partial combustion to begin (H2-rich)
good place to begin is with the most the transformation to syngas. This 3 Methane
common syngas generation technol- is completed by means of an endo-
3.0–3.3 Natural gas
ogy: SMR, also referred to simply thermic reforming reaction in the
as steam reforming. This process catalyst bed. 3.0–4.0 Refinery offgas
is based on an endothermic reac- The addition of O2 and the higher 4.3 Natural gas
tion. After blending the desulfur- temperatures involved in ATR (CO2-rich)
ized feed with steam, the mixture is mean that the chemical composi- 4.5-4.8 LPG
superheated before being routed to tion of the resulting gas is different
5.0-6.0 Naphtha
a primary reformer. This unit com- from that generated by means of
prises a number of tubes containing SMR or heat exchange reforming. 6.0-8.0 Biomass
a catalyst. As heat is applied to the While an air-blown autothermal re- 7.0–10.0 Oil residue
tubes externally from the surround- former is preferred for conventional 18.0–32.0 Petcoke
ing furnace, the catalyst sets off a ammonia production, for other ap-
10.0–50.0 Coal, petcoke
reaction between the feedstock and plications (such as syngas for meth-
the steam, transforming the methanol production), a pure O2-blown Carbon
ane and water into a syngas com- autothermal reformer is applied. In
prising H2, CO, CO2, residual CH4, this article, the term ATR is used to
N2 and H2O. refer to syngas production by ATR the feedstock selected, with lighter
Heat exchange reforming. Closely using pure O2. gases resulting in a higher H2 con-
related to SMR is heat exchange re- Partial oxidation. The final re- tent and heavier gases tipping the
forming. This term describes technol- forming technique that will be balance toward CO (Table 1).
ogies such as gas-heated reformers considered is partial oxidation It is also important to keep in mind
and post-reformers, which recover (GasPOX). In marked contrast to that different feedstocks will have
process heat to catalyst tubes. This the previous three processes, par- different heating values, which has
energy — which would otherwise tial oxidation does not require the consequences for steam production,
contribute to steam production — is use of a catalyst. Instead, the reac- utility consumption and system de-
used to trigger a further reforming tion is instigated by blending the sign. Against this background, cer-
reaction, resulting in greater ther- feedstock directly with O2 and com- tain feedstocks are a naturally good
mal efficiency. The heat exchange busting the mixture in a reactor fit for specific reforming methods.
reactor can be arranged in series at an extremely high temperature. For all four of the methane reform-
or parallel to other reforming tech- This exothermic process converts ing technologies discussed here,
nologies. Conditions and limits are the input material into a syngas natural gas is the principle starting
similar to SMR, and a wide range of with a different composition to that point. However, heavier input mate-
reactor designs are available. Many resulting from SMR, heat exchange rials such as liquified petroleum gas
heat-exchange reformers are essen- reforming or ATR. (LPG) and naphtha are often used
tially heat exchangers with a cata- as an alternative in SMR units. Of
lyst on the tube or shell side. How- Selection considerations course, natural gas composition can
ever, recent innovations include the Each of the reforming technolo- vary significantly in terms of the
potential to perform heat exchange gies described above offers certain proportion of CO2, N2 and heavier
inside an SMR tube, reducing equip- benefits for certain applications. As hydrocarbons. These differences
ment cost and making the technol- mentioned previously, there is no will directly impact technology se-
ogy an attractive option for low- single best way to generate syngas lection, depending on the required
steam co-production and zero-steam — the method used will depend on gas ratio in the end product, as will
H2 generation, while simultaneously a number of factors. The following be discussed in more detail below.
cutting CO2 emissions. section of this article examines a Process parameters. When de-
Autothermal reforming. Like number of key aspects at various signing a syngas-generation plant,
SMR and heat exchange reform- stages of the process chain: begin- a number of key parameters must
ing, authothermal reforming (ATR) ning with feedstock and general be carefully considered. Although
is a catalytic process. However, it process parameters, before moving these differ from technology to tech-
differs fundamentally from these to end-product characteristics, con- nology, they are closely related to
two methods in terms of how the ditioning and separation options, one another within a single system
reforming reaction takes place. and cost considerations. — with the result that a change in
The feedstream of hydrocarbon Feedstock. When choosing a gen- one parameter will often have con-
and steam is fed into a refractory- eration technology, the availability, sequences for the others.
lined pressure vessel, where a top- price, and properties of the feed- Pressure. Process pressure varies
mounted burner adds oxygen to the stock are key considerations. The between syngas generation systems,
mixture. The exothermic reaction of hydrogen-to-carbon ratio in the with the most important distinc-
feedstock and reformed gas with O2 final syngas will vary depending on tion existing between SMR/heat ex-
Feature Report
change reforming and ATR/GasPOX. components: it should be evaluated mal efficiency of the plant. At the
In SMR and heat-exchange reform- whether these will have a negative same time, this unconverted steam
ing units, heat is applied to the impact on downstream units, and will require greater heat input, a
feedstock indirectly from outside such impurities must be eliminated larger reformer and a larger heat
the reforming tubes, limiting the during gas separation to ensure they recovery section, all of which have
gas pressure within. With the O2- do not appear in the final product. cost implications.
based processes ATR and GasPOX, Without a catalyst, the temperature The steam-to-carbon ratio will
on the other hand, the heat comes must be higher for the reaction to differ for each reforming technol-
from an exothermic reaction within take place, resulting in greater lev- ogy, depending on the amount of
a refractory-lined vessel, meaning els of CO in the final syngas. steam required in the process. This
pressure levels can be much higher. Oxygen. As ATR and GasPOX re- ratio ranges from up to 3.0 mol/
Greater pressure during reforming forming both revolve around reac- mol for SMR to just 0.1 mol/mol for
will translate into lower levels of H2 tions that require O2, the availabil- GasPOX. In many cases, minimizing
and higher levels of CH4 in the gas ity and price of this element will the steam-to-carbon ratio can im-
at the reformer outlet. play a role when considering these prove the overall thermal efficiency
High pressure can deliver other technologies. Oxygen impacts on of the plant, lowering costs. For ex-
benefits in terms of the overall pro- the reforming process in a number ample, by applying pre-reforming in
cess, too. For example, high feed- of ways. By adjusting the amount of an adiabatic reactor at low tempera-
gas pressure can minimize power O2 added, it is possible to directly ture upstream of an SMR unit, it is
requirements for downstream control the reforming temperature. possible to convert higher hydrocar-
product compression, saving costs. And the more steam admixed or the bons in the feed to natural gas, low-
Moreover, it can reduce pipe size in higher the inert content in the feed, ering steam-to-carbon ratios.
large plants, and makes it possible the more oxygen will be necessary A minimum steam-to-carbon ratio
to supply the end product at higher to reach the required temperature. exists for each reforming method,
pressures without the need for an Indirectly, these higher O2 levels determined by the reaction kinet-
additional compressor. Also, greater will lead to increased formation of ics of hydrocarbon cracking during
pressure provides more options in CO2 in the output gas — something heating and reforming. It is essen-
terms of downstream product sepa- that is important to keep in mind tial not to exceed these limits if
ration, as will be discussed later in in terms of downstream processing carbon formation is to be avoided in
this article. and costs. It is perhaps interesting the reforming process. Of the four
Temperature. The temperature at to note, however, that the syngas reforming technologies discussed
which reforming takes place will generated by a GasPOX system here, the steam-to-carbon ratio limit
directly affect the composition of will contain less CO2 than that pro- is lowest for the GasPOX method.
the syngas generated: the lower the duced by ATR — despite the fact As a result, trace amounts of soot
temperature, the greater the propor- that GasPOX requires more O2 in are formed during generation; this
tion of H2; the higher the tempera- the feedstream. This is because the impurity must subsequently be
ture, the more CO is created and temperatures involved in this pro- washed out of the syngas and will
the more CH4 is converted. Once cess are so much higher that much also limit the options for re-using
again, the endothermic nature of of the CO2 is shifted to CO during process condensate.
SMR and heat exchange reforming the reaction, cancelling out the ef- It is important to note that a min-
places limits on how high process fects of the increased O2 levels. imum steam flow may be required
temperatures can be — once a cer- Steam. Process steam is another for downstream units, for example
tain point is passed, there is a dan- important parameter that can affect if an iron-based catalyst is used.
ger of melting the metal reforming the generation process in a num- However, these limits have been
tubes. During GasPOX reforming, ber of ways. First of all, the more relaxed by the introduction of new
in contrast, temperatures can soar steam admixed during reforming, catalyst products for high- and me-
as high as 1,500°C. the higher the H2-to-CO ratio in the dium-temperature CO shift.
Catalyst. Another important consid- final syngas and the lower the level A final consideration is that in-
eration is whether or not the reform- of export steam co-produced. How- creasing co-production of steam can
ing process requires a catalyst. Of ever, as the volume of steam added enhance efficiency: depending on
the four main technologies discussed increases, an ever-smaller propor- plant design, a higher flow of steam,
here, GasPOX is the only one where tion of the steam fraction actually boiler feedwater and demineralized
a catalyst is not necessary. As cata- reacts with the hydrogen in the water can be used to capture and
lysts are easily damaged by impuri- feedstock. A point is reached where reuse more heat energy.
ties in the feed material, GasPOX the additional steam is no longer
systems are therefore capable of adding value — it is simply being Downstream considerations
handling heavier, lower-grade ma- heated up only to be cooled down Of course, the most important con-
terials. Nevertheless, it is essen- again later in the process, impact- sideration when generating syngas
tial to track any unwanted trace ing negatively on the overall ther- is the downstream application: what
TABLE 2. H2-CO-MIXTURE FOR
DIFFERENT PRODUCTS
Feature Report Hydrogen
100% H2 Hydrogen
100% H2 Ammonia
will the final gas be used for? De- then it is possible to produce H2 and
75% H2 SNG
pending on requirements, producers CO in the reformed gas at a ratio
will look to create a mixture with a of 1. However, it is important to ob- 67% H2 MeOH
specific ratio of H2 to CO, and each serve the thermodynamic limit in ≤ 67% H2 Fischer Tropsch /
technology will produce a different order to avoid carbon formation in synfuels
result (Table 2). In general, SMR is the reforming stage. ~62% H2 Direct reduction gas
the most flexible in this regard. It Synfuels. When manufacturing 60% H2 DME
can yield the highest H2 content, but synthetic fuels, CO2 in the syngas
also enables different ratios for ap- will also be converted to fuel. As 50% H2 Oxoalcohol
plications in the chemicals and met- such, the optimum syngas com- 26-41% H2 Power (integrated
allurgy sectors. ATR and GasPOX, position is expressed in terms of a gasification com-
bined cycle)
on the other hand, result in a syn- stoichiometric number, which de-
gas with a larger CO content, due to scribes how much CO and CO2 will 100% CO Pure CO (acetic acid)
the higher temperatures and the O2 react with H2 to form methanol or 100% CO Polyurethanes
used in the process. Fischer-Tropsch products. The op- (MDI/TDI)
The following section discusses timum stoichiometric number can Carbon monoxide
in more detail the important points be achieved by deploying more than
to consider when designing a sys- one technology simultaneously. A
tem to generate the following prod- combination of SMR and ATR — a due to the chemical equilibrium at
ucts: H2, CO and synfuels. process known as combined reform- the necessary reaction temperature.
Hydrogen. To generate H2, the ing — is often chosen to produce Moreover, methane is not fully con-
feedstock chosen will ideally exhibit methanol and synthetic fuels. When verted during reforming, and all ni-
an inherently high hydrogen-to- using the combined method, the trogen in the feed and in the oxygen
carbon ratio, such as natural gas. It steam reformer is operated at higher stream will end up as N2 in the re-
is also possible to produce H2 from pressure (~40 bars) and lower tem- formed gas. And of course, the CO2
more carbon-heavy fuels like naph- perature (~750°C). The lower level created as a byproduct will need to
tha; in this case, the heating value of methane conversion in the SMR be removed in the majority of cases.
of the feed helps to extract H2 from stage (primary reforming) is then A number of downstream gas-condi-
the steam during the reforming pro- compensated by the downstream tioning and product-separation sys-
cess. However, the overall levels of ATR system (secondary reforming). tems can be used to produce pure
H2 will be lower and the additional The required stoichiometric num- gases or gas mixtures. The methods
steam must be taken into account ber can be achieved by adjusting the chosen will vary depending on the
in plant design. SMR and ATR feed flow ratio, and required end product.
For each of the four reforming by separating H2 from the purge gas The cost and effort of CO2 extrac-
technologies discussed here, the syn- following methanol synthesis and tion will depend on the level of CO2
gas generated will contain differing recycling it back to the upstream present and the syngas flow, and the
levels of H2. With SMR, the resultant syngas generation system. CO2 fraction in the reformed gas
gas exhibits the highest H2-to-CO Combining syngas streams. An- will vary in line with the generation
ratio (up to 5.5). At the other end of other option for large-scale syngas technology deployed (Table 3). There
the scale, the ratio with GasPOX is production is to combine syngas are two main reasons for this: dif-
in the range of 1.5–2.0. Of course, it streams from different sources — ferences in the carbon-to-hydrogen
is possible to change this balance by for example, from entrained-flow ratio for individual feedstocks, and
adding a CO shift unit downstream coal gasification and from a meth- variances in the outlet temperature
of the reforming process. ane reforming unit — to achieve of the reforming unit in question.
Carbon monoxide. Where the re- the required product flowrates. When it comes to product separa-
quired end product is CO or oxogas, This scenario allows the individual tion, there are three main options
GasPOX can deliver the highest syngas production units to run at downstream of methane reforming:
CO levels. CO can, however, also be maximum efficiency, while the mix- a cryogenic or cold box unit, poly-
generated using SMR: in this case, ing process ensures the optimum mer membranes, or pressure swing
almost all the carbon in the feed is product-ratio adjustment. adsorption (PSA). The choice of one
converted to CO, by taking the CO2 technology over the other will be in-
and unconverted CH4 remaining Conditioning and purification fluenced by a number of factors. For
in the reformed gas and recycling Syngas generation does not end cryogenic processes, for example, it
it back to the feedstream, thereby with the reforming process, as the is important to keep in mind that a
lowering the H2-to-CO ratio from gas created will always contain sev- higher reforming temperature — as
around 4.5 to 3.0. Moreover, if CO2 eral unwanted components. First of in a GasPOX plant — will contrib-
is available from an external source, all, even where a CO shift unit has ute to higher methane conversion
and more than 50% of the CH4 feed been deployed, it is never possible to and lower methane slip. As a result,
molar flow is replaced with CO2, achieve complete conversion to H2 when separating CO from a syn-
Feature Report
TABLE 3. SYNGAS TECHNOLOGY COMPARISON

*: items in Steam Meth- Heat Ex- Auto-thermal Partial Residue Gas- Entrained Flow Fixed Bed Entrained Flow
brackets, {}, ane Reform- change Reforming Oxidation ification Coal Gasification Coal Gasifica- Biomass Slurry
optional ing (SMR) Reforming (ATR) (GasPOX) (MPG) (ETF / dry feed) tion (FBDB / Gasification
dry ash) (Bioliq)
Principles Reaction Gaseous Gaseous Gaseous Gaseous Heterog- Heterogenous Heterogenous Heterogenous
enous
Catalytic yes yes yes no no no no no
Heat supply indirect indirect direct (O2) direct (O2) direct (O2) direct (O2) direct (O2) direct (O2)
(firing) (heat ex-
change)
Feed Natural Natural gas, Natural gas, Natural Heavy Oil Fine high-rank Low-rank Biomass in-
gas, refinery refinery off- refinery off- Gas, Refin- Residue con- bituminous coal lignite or high- cluding highly
offgas, LPG, gas, partially gas, partially ery Offgas taminated or lignite, low ash rank reactive viscous feed,
naphtha reformed reformed gas with sulphur content, low ash coal, lump high water
gas and heavy fusion tempera- coal, high and oxygen-
metals ture moisture and ate content
ash content,
high ash fu-
sion tempera-
ture
Feed Hydro-des- Hydro-des- Hydro-des- {Hydro- Fluidization, Coal grinding Coal screen- Biomass
pretreatment* ulfurization, ulfurization, ulfurization, desulfurisa- pumping & and drying, pul- ing, lock preparation,
{Pre-reform- {Pre-reform- pre-reforming, tion}, fired atomization verized fuel qual- hopper pyrolysis,slurry
ing} ing} fired heater heater ity, dry feed, lock feed
hopper
Reforming Equipment Externally Heat ex- Refractory Refractory Refractory Cooling screen Refractory Reactor
heated changer lined reactor lined reac- lined reactor lined reactor with cooling
catalyst filled filled with tor with internals screen
tubes in a catalyst for coal dis-
furnace tribution and
ash removal
Pressure, 15–45 30–40 40–100 40–100 50–80 25–40 25–60 40–80

barg
Temperature, 750–950 750–880 950–1,050 1,200-1,400 1,200–1,350 1,300–1,600 230–600 1,200–1,500

°C
Steam/car- 1.8–3.0 1.8–3.0 1.0–2.0 0.1–0.5 0.3–0.5 1.2–1.5 1.0–1.7 0.1–0.5

bon ratio,
mol/mol
H2/CO in 3.5–5.5 3.5–5.5 2.5–3.5 1.5–2.0 0.85–1.0 0.35–0.8 1.5–3.3 0.6–1.0

syngas in
mol/mol
CO2 in syn- 7–12 7–12 8–10 2–4 3–6 3–8 23–34 15–40
gas, mol%
CH4 in syn- 3–30 6–10 2–3 0.2–1 0.2–1 0.25–1 5–16 0.2–1
gas, mol%
Condensate Internal re- Internal re- Internal re- Soot water Soot, ash Slag removal, Waste water Slag removal,
handling cycle cycle cycle recycle (metal) re- Soot water re- treatment, ash Soot water
and blow- moval cycle and blow- lock and han- recycle and
down down dling blow-down,
waste water
treatment
Syngas - - - Soot scrub- H2S removal H2S removal rec- Liquor sepa- H2S removal
cleaning bing/ Rectisol, sul- tisol, sulfur unit ration, tar/ Rectisol, sulfur
washing fur unit oil/phenol/ unit
NH3 recovery,
Rectisol, sulfur
unit
Product sepa- PSA (H2), Liq- PSA (H2), Liquid meth- Partial con- Methanation Combined cycle Methane syn- Combined
ration of typi- uid methane syngas for ane wash densation (H2, NH3), liq- (power), syngas thesis (SNG), cycle (power),
cal products wash cold- synfuels coldbox coldbox uid nitrogen for synfuels syngas for syn- syngas for
box (CO), (CO), mem- (CO), wash (NH3), fuels, syngas synfuels
syngas for brane (H2 + membrane syngas for for DRI
synfuels CO), syngas (oxogas), synfuels
for synfuels syngas for
DRI
gas with a methane component of than 1.5 mol%. However, the choice H2-rich gas at high pressure.
1 mol% or lower following GasPOX of cold box will also depend on the Polymer membranes can be an ef-
reforming, a partial-condensation required end product. For example, fective means of product separation
cold box must be chosen rather oxogas can be made readily avail- if quality specifications are lower, or
than a methane-wash cold box, as able from the first column of a par- where byproducts are to be recycled.
the latter requires that the feed tial condensation cold box, while a Membrane technology is particularly
gas have a CH4 content of greater methane-wash cold box can provide advantageous in scenarios where the
Feature Report
TECHNOLOGY CHOICE IN PRACTICE and plant design.

Thermal efficiency. For all meth-
his case study illustrates many of the points discussed in the main text, by outlining
T how a technical solution was chosen to meet a more complex set of requirements.
The plant in question specializes in large-scale production of carbon monoxide for
the chemicals industry [toluene diisocyanate (TDI) and diphenylmethane diisocyanate
ane-reforming technologies, ther-
mal efficiency is determined by the
limitations that exist on the use of
low-temperature heat in flue and
(MDI)]. At the same time, the operator wishes to generate hydrogen as an additional
source to feed an existing pipeline network, for over-the-fence gas supply to several process gas. Losses can be mini-
customers. The required product ratio of CO to H2 is 2.5:1, and a variety of natural mized by optimizing process param-
gas sources are available as feed and fuel. As the plant serves multiple customers eters to reduce fluegas flow and by
with fluctuating requirements, a decision is made to implement a flexible system that maximizing the use of internal pro-
allows the ratio of H2 to CO in the syngas to vary between three and six. In addition, cess heat, for instance, by deploying
co-produced superheated steam at 53 barg can be exported as required at almost a pre-reformer or heat exchange
steam fuel value. reformer. Moreover, technologies
The technologies implemented along the process chain are as follows: pre-reforming,
designed to use low-temperature
steam methane reforming, and amine wash CO2 removal — with a downstream serial
arrangement of a methane-wash cold box, pressure swing adsorption, and CO2 and heat in reforming plants are becom-
methane recycle compression. For this system design and the given product ratio, it is ing more attractive, as they have
not necessary to operate a parallel CO shift train downstream of the reforming unit. become more advanced and less ex-
In the PSA unit, the purity of the H2-rich gas from the cold box is increased from 97.8 pensive in recent years.
to 99.99%. The H2 is compressed from 23 barg to the specified product pressure of The point at which improvements
44 barg. And by deploying a feed ejector driven by process steam, feed compression in thermal efficiency outweigh the
can be avoided. The remaining H2-rich tailgas from the PSA stage is used as fuel in advantages of higher hydrogen con-
the reformer. Moreover, the plant design can facilitate the import of CO2, should a version will depend on utility cost
suitable source become available in the future — providing scope to reduce natural factors, particularly steam value
gas consumption.
and the ratio of feed to fuel cost.
The solution is implemented using a tailor-made combination of proven, standardized
technology units, and the construction of the plant is based on pre-fabricated modules. This can be calculated by means of
As a result, it is possible to not only overcome the challenge of selecting the right methane an overall utility cost assessment.
reforming technology, but also to combine the technologies and adjust the parameters of To take an example, minimizing the
each individual unit in such a ways as to maximize overall plant performance. ❏ steam-to-carbon ratio and lowering
methane conversion will not be an
attractive option if feed is more ex-
process pressure is high, as is the into CO2. As such, the more natural pensive than fuel.
case in GasPOX plants, for example. gas consumed, the larger the volume In contrast to coal gasification,
Where the aim is to achieve as of CO2 produced. Any calculation of where high up-front expenditure
pure a H2 stream as possible, PSA total CO2 emissions, however, must (capex) is required, the bulk of the
is the separation method of choice also take into account the indirect total cost breakdown for gas-reform-
— enabling H2 recovery of up to emissions from power production or ing plants is for operating expenses
90%. Recently, a new technology air separation. (opex) — attributable to feed, fuel,
has been launched that compresses If CO2 removal has been inte- oxygen, steam, power and other utili-
the remaining tailgas from the grated into the technology chain, ties. This is particularly true of large
PSA process, removes CO2 using the capture rate of CO2 from syngas gas reforming plants, where econo-
cryogenic technology, and recycles will be higher for those technolo- mies of scale can shift the opex-to-
the hydrogen back to the PSA via gies that consume less carbon-con- capex ratio to as high as 80:20.
membranes. In addition to lowering taining fuel. Where opportunities For the four technologies dis-
CO2-capture costs, this method can exist to recycle CO2 — as in the CO cussed here, it should be noted that
increase H2 recovery to over 98%. If process chain — it is also possible they differ in terms of the economies
using partial oxidation, it can be ad- to reduce CO2 emissions. The fuel of scale that can be achieved. In the
vantageous to perform conventional for the SMR or fired heater will, case of steam methane reforming,
CO2 removal followed by methana- in this case, primarily comprise H2 for example, the relationship of cost
tion to achieve a H2 recovery close extracted from the syngas during to capacity for the system’s tubes
to one. This can be the case in in- product separation. and burners is almost linear. How-
stances where the H2 product-qual- ever, the SMR furnace and header
ity specification allows for it and Cost considerations system scales at a rate of less than
the upstream reforming technology Needless to say the cost factor will one. For ATR and GasPOX reactors,
requires a syngas cleaning unit for loom large when making decisions the overall cost-scaling exponent is
H2S and CO2 anyway. on which syngas technology to also below one. This is one of the
choose. A number of aspects are of main reasons why ATR and com-
A note on CO2 emissions relevance: thermal efficiency, the bined reforming are often chosen
When generating H2, every carbon potential for economies of scale, re- for large-scale methanol and syn-
atom in the feed will be converted liability of the equipment chosen, fuel production.
Feature Report
For large-scale synfuels projects, important to first pay close atten- comparing the modules available
the capital cost of the air separation tion to how the feedstock, steam and narrowing down the process-
unit (ASU) must be taken into ac- and O2 are fed and mixed at the chain options using the criteria dis-
count, whereas for smaller GasPOX burner nozzle; second, to minimize cussed above. Teams with extensive
or ATR projects, the price of the O2 the exposure of the burner front to experience can feed this knowledge
will add to operating expense. radiation from the high flame tem- into the decision-making process,
Reliability. When calculating the peratures that result from the O2 helping them to find the most cost-
total cost of operating a reforming combustion reaction; and third, to effective solution.
site, it is essential to take into ac- choose carefully the cooling prin- To master this challenging task,
count the reliability of the plant. ciple of the burner during operation providers nowadays offer end-to-
What will the price of unforeseen and after plant shutdown. end portfolios to address the entire
downtime be and what impact will Whichever generation technology process chain. And some even go a
this have on subsequent interrup- is used, it is imperative to eliminate step further. For example, innova-
tion to product flow? These costs can single points of failure in the con- tive planning solutions are avail-
vary from technology to technology, trol and plant emergency shutdown able that enable a process simu-
largely due to the differing effect of system. Plant vulnerability studies lation to calculate and optimize
downtime on individual downstream can define compressor redundancy utility costs, and automatically pre-
production systems. In a petroleum and identify critical components pare piping and instrumentation
refinery, for example, an interrup- that require the implementation diagrams (PIDs), providing reliable
tion to H2 supply can almost lead of online maintenance functional- estimates of capital expenditure.
to a complete shutdown. The same ity. Based on this analysis and the These kinds of services can help
is true of downstream chemical con- required turnaround cycle, a deci- save costs before any construction
version in a CO-production-process sion can be made on how many re- work has even begun.
chain. A back-up product buffer or a dundant reactors are required in a As outlined in the box on p. 40, the
pipeline network connecting several partial oxidation unit, for example, majority of syngas produced world-
production units and consumers is or what number of capital spares wide is currently used to generate
essential in such cases. (for example, burner and rotor of H2 for the petroleum-refining and
Catalysts and tubes. The critical induced or forced draft fans for the fertilizer industries. The suitabil-
components in terms of reliability furnace or heater) are necessary for ity of SMR units for producing H2
and availability will vary for each an SMR, ATR or gasPOX system. means that this is the most widely
reforming technology. For catalytic Outsourcing. Of course for many used of the methane reforming
processes, the catalyst volumes of manufacturers working with syn- technologies. However, it is worth
reactors must be sized in line with gas, the cost and effort of operating a noting that as the synfuels mar-
planned turnaround periods. Ensur- plant to generate the gas themselves ket continues to expand, combined
ing a well designed plant front-end might be too high. In such cases, reforming methods are set to grow
and steam system will be money sourcing syngas from a third-party in importance. Moreover, the abun-
well spent, as these measures will operator can be an attractive option. dant availability of coal is leading
prevent catalyst poison traces en- By working with syngas specialists to a rise in the popularity of coal
tering from internal or external in this way, it is also possible to ben- gasification units for MTP, MTO
sources. In an SMR unit, the steam efit from a global industrial manage- and SNG processes — in China and
reformer tubes are the critical com- ment system and extensive practical India, in particular. If this trend
ponent. These are typically designed expertise. Moreover, by integrating continues, such methods of syngas
for a lifetime of 100,000 hours, based a feedback loop, some providers are production could soon catch up with
on the creep of the centrifugally cast in a position to ensure that lessons those based on natural gas. n
material as it is exposed to high tem- learned on the ground are immedi- Edited by Gerald Ondrey
peratures. A number of steps can be ately communicated to the engineer-
taken to maximize tube lifetime at ing design team for implementation. Author
a competitive cost: for example, by Dieter Ulber is director of
technology, HyCO Product
opting for state-of-the-art control Final remarks Line at Air Liquide Global
systems, over-firing protective func- Ultimately, the choice of technology E&C Solutions Germany
GmbH (Olof-Palme-Straße 35
tions, automatic SMR start-up se- chain for a specific project is made 60439 Frankfurt am Main,
quences and load change functions, on the basis of a total cost evalua- Germany; Phone: +49- 69-
5808-0; Fax: +49-69-5808-
proper heat distribution, and ad- tion that takes into account capi- 1109; Email:
[email protected]).
vanced design tools. tal expenditure, feed, fuel, oxygen Since joining the company in
Burners. For O2-based processes, and other utilities, steam value, 2002, Ulber has been a pro-
cess engineer for a number of the company’s
on the other hand, the main priority and additional opex, such as the projects in Malaysia and China. He holds a bach-
is to ensure that the burner is well cost of catalysts. The development elor of engineering degree from the Thayer
School of Engineering, Dartmouth College (Ha-
designed and exceptionally safe. To engineers tasked with design have nover, N.H.) and a doctoral degree in mechanical
ensure a long burner lifetime, it is the important job of systematically engineering from RWTH (Rheinisch-Westfälis-
che Technische Hochschule) Aachen (Germany).
Feature Report
Engineering Practice
Temperature Effects for

High-velocity Gas Flow
NOMENCLATURE
Guidelines are presented Variables
to better understand the Cp Specific heat capacity at constant pressure

H Specific enthalpy
temperature profiles of M Mach number
high-velocity gases P Pressure

Pr Prandtl number
r Recovery factor
Aubry Shackelford Re Reynolds number
Inglenook Engineering, Inc.
T Temperature
U Mean velocity
n high-velocity gas flows, such as
I
Subscripts and superscripts
those that may occur within the
discharge piping of a pressure- a Under adiabatic constraint
relief or depressurization valve, aw At the pipe wall under the adiabatic constraint
the temperature experienced at the w At the pipe wall
wall of the pipe through which the
y Coordinate system in the direction normal to the pipe wall (radial)
gas is flowing can be much higher
than the flowing stream’s “static” ¤ At stagnation conditions
temperature. In fact, the wall tem- » At flowing conditions (static) outside of the boundary layer
perature approaches the stagnation * Reference condition for estimatiing fluid properties within the tem-
temperature, which is the tempera- perature gradient
ture that would be obtained if the
fluid were brought adiabatically and perature of relief-valve discharge (or vessel) wall temperature can
reversibly (isentropically) to rest. piping have shown that low-flowing approach the bulk fluid tempera-
Experimental work in aeronauti- temperatures can exist for a wide va- ture given a long enough pipe and
cal engineering has established this riety of systems, including: flashing a low enough convective loss to am-
effective adiabatic wall tempera- liquids or two-phase flow; autorefrig- bient from the pipe is needed. This
ture, and correlations have been eration and Joule-Thompson cooling article provides guidance in deter-
proposed to determine the “recovery in response to pressure drops; and mining the wall temperature for
factor” as a function of the Prandtl high-velocity gas flow [1]. high-velocity gas systems.
number (Pr) of the fluid. It has been There is evidence that some sys-
found that the adiabatic wall tem- tems exhibiting these behaviors Boundary layers
perature is about 90% of the differ- have resulted in metal embrittle- Before attempting reconciliation of
ence between the stagnation and ment and failure. However, there the various notions related to wall
static temperatures for a turbulent is an apparent lack of evidence temperatures, it is useful to recall
gas having a Prandtl number of 0.7, supporting embrittlement failures Prandtl’s theory of the boundary
which is typical for many gases. involving high-velocity gas flow, layer, which envisions a small layer
When performing heat-transfer cal- and there is some suspicion that of fluid close to the pipe wall in
culations between the pipe and the the flowing temperatures experi- which the viscous forces are signifi-
gas, or when specifying tempera- enced in high-velocity gas flow may cant due to the velocity gradient.
tures for piping material selection, not be realistic, as evidenced by a However, outside of this layer, the
this recovery factor is important, common refrain — “if the gas was core fluid flow approaches that of
and should be accounted for. getting this cold, I would be seeing an inviscid fluid. The velocity gra-
Recent investigations into the ice on the pipes.” Some attempt to dient is established by the known
potential for fluid temperatures to reconcile this anecdotal evidence boundary condition of zero velocity
exist below the embrittlement tem- with the “intuition” that the pipe at the wall, as real fluids will “stick”
y
U
Inviscid
Viscous
Turbulent layer
to the pipe wall, and the maximum Hydraulic
velocity is approached in the center U(y)
boundary layer Buffer zone
of the pipe. For turbulent flow, this thickness
boundary layer consists of a lami-
nar sublayer, a logarithmic outer Uw = 0 Thin laminar sublayer
layer and a buffer zone of some
nominal thickness that transitions Insulated wall U Velocity
continuously between these sublay-
ers [2]. The resultant velocity pro- FIGURE 1. The velocity profile near the wall of a pipe shows that both turbulent and
file for a constant-area pipe in fully laminar conditions are present [2]
developed turbulent flow is shown
in Figure 1. All variables, subscripts y
and superscripts presented in the 2
T U››/2Cp
equations and figures are defined
in the Nomenclature section. T
It is also useful to remember that
the majority of resistances to flow Temperature
( )
Profile T
within a pipe — the frictional losses Thermal =0
y
themselves — are actually due to boundary layer w
effects of this boundary layer, and thickness
that the friction factor is used as
a means to determine these losses
as a function of the mean velocity
in the pipe. In addition, while a rig- Insulated wall Taw Temperature
orous analysis of the energy and
momentum balances that includes FIGURE 2. The temperature profile near the pipe wall is affected by the velocity gra-
the boundary-layer effects would dient within the pipe [5]
find that a slight modification of
the terms would be required for temperature. The normal calcula- static (flowing) temperature. Also
turbulent flow (for instance, a mo- tions then proceed using this bulk described in literature by Shapiro
mentum-correction factor of 1.018 temperature, and general experi- [5], is the phenomenon of the tem-
for the logarithmic-law profile in ence is based on the most common perature profile of a gas in response
turbulent flow), these correction heat-transfer situations — those to the actual velocity profile, where
factors are commonly ignored in that deal with phase transitions (in the steady-state temperature dis-
engineering calculations. They tend which case the effective tempera- tribution shows an adiabatic wall
to cancel out from mathematical ture is essentially fixed at the satu- temperature Taw being greater than
expressions, and are minor when ration temperature) or liquid flow the free-stream temperature T», yet
compared to the loss terms [2]. As (in which case the effective temper- less than the free-stream stagna-
a result, the typical energy and mo- ature is taken as the average of the tion temperature, T¤. This tempera-
mentum balances as employed in flowing temperatures). Heat trans- ture profile is shown in Figure 2.
engineering hydraulic calculations fer in gas flow is not as common, The experimental work in this
are still valid, even when recogniz- and when it does occur, the velocity area has confirmed that the adia-
ing the actual velocity profile. is typically reduced. As a result, the batic wall (recovery) temperature
For present purposes, we are con- accumulation of experience with approaches, but does not reach, the
cerned with the temperature profile heat-transfer design at petrochemi- stagnation temperature. A recovery
that exists as a result of this actual cal processing facilities does not factor is thus defined as the amount
velocity profile. However, before typically include heat transfer with of the stagnation temperature that
evaluating this, it is useful to also high-velocity gas streams. is recovered as the fluid decelerates
address heat-transfer consider- to zero velocity at the wall, based on
ations. For heat transfer within a Adiabatic wall temperature the actual temperatures achieved
pipe, a temperature gradient exists An area of practice that does offer [3]. Equation (1) shows an expres-
between the wall and the center of experience with this situation is sion for the recovery factor, r.
the pipe. In general heat-transfer aeronautical engineering. A sum-
calculations, it is convenient to de- mary of the cumulative theoreti- (1)
fine a bulk temperature. The bulk cal and experimental work in this
temperature is generally defined area, provided by Eckert [3, 4], in- The subscripts aw, », and ¤ are
as the effective temperature across dicates that for high-speed gas flow, for the adiabatic wall, static and
the gradient that drives the heat the fluid temperature at the wall stagnation temperatures, respec-
transfer with a wall of a given is significantly greater than the tively. The recovery factor, r, has
1.00
Reproduced using air low
data from NACA TN 4376
0.95 and TN 985, not showing
Engineering Practice unsteady-state data from
NACA TN 4376
0.90
Recovery factor
0.85
been found to be dependent on Pr,
and for 0.5 < Pr < 5, the recovery
0.80
factor is estimated as shown below
in Equations (2) and (3) for laminar 0.75
NACA TN 4376
NACA TN 985
and turbulent flow, respectively [3]. Unpublished NACA data (from TN 4376)
0.70 0.7^0.333=0.888
0.7^0.384=0.872
for laminar flow (2)
0.65
for turbulent flow (3)
0.60
100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000
A detailed analysis of the turbu- Reynolds number, Re
lent boundary layer, presented by
Shapiro [5], finds that the adiabatic- FIGURE 3. The variation of recovery factor (r) at the tube exit with Reynolds number
is shown [8]
wall recovery factor is a function of
Pr and the ratio of velocities between Mach numbers less than or equal wall-temperature recovery factor for
the laminar sublayer and the edge to one. turbulent flow to this point has been
of the boundary layer. While admit- The difference between the stagna- focused on flat plates or flow within
tedly, this velocity ratio is not accu- tion and static temperatures can be pipes, and it is not obvious whether
rately known for compressible flow, expressed as a function of the veloc- this analysis applies in situations
it does indicate the boundaries for r ity and the specific heat capacity at involving a significant change in
when Pr < r < 1. Development of a constant pressure (evaluated at the the fluid flowing direction, such as
more accurate expression for the re- reference temperature [3]), based on at an elbow or a tee. The velocity at
covery factor is further complicated the fluid specific enthalpy, as defined the wall is still assumed to be zero,
by the difference in the hydraulic in Equations (6), (7) and (8). but the boundary layer is not devel-
and thermal boundary-layer thick- oped in the same way as with flat
nesses. Nonetheless, Shapiro pres- (6) plates at a given angle of attack or
ents an analytical expression [5], for pipes. Experimental work on the
(7)
which has been further developed heat transfer for jets impinging on
by Tucker and Maslin [6], and shows surfaces may provide some guid-
that this expression approaches the (8) ance in this evaluation, although
expression for turbulent flow shown much of the focus is on the effects
in Equation (2) at high Reynolds The experimental and theoreti- on heat transfer when changing the
number values and Mach numbers cal work outlined by Eckert [3, 4] distance or angle of attack between
less than one. is based on high-velocity gas flow the jet source (nozzle, orifice or end
The computation of Pr requires relative to flat plates; nonetheless, of pipe) and the flat plate. In the jet-
the selection of a reference temper- additional work for the now-defunct impingement studies found by the
ature, T*, at which to evaluate the National Advisory Committee for author, the discharge is directed at
fluid properties, and Eckert’s work Aeronautics (NACA) [7,8] experi- a flat plate having a large surface
states that the constant-property mentally determined the recovered area, without restriction or redirec-
calculations could be used with a wall temperatures in adiabatic and tion of the flow, so it is not directly
reference temperature defined as in diabatic airflow in pipes at a range applicable to configurations like
Equation (4) below [3]. of Reynolds and Mach numbers. Fig- a tee in pipe flow — nonetheless,
ure 3 is adapted from NACA Tech- some temperature recovery occurs.
(4) nical Note (TN) 4376 [8] and shows Per work by Goldstein and others
how the recovery factors vary with [9], the recovery factor for the im-
changing Reynolds number values. pingement of air on a surface is in-
For adiabatic flow, Tw is equivalent NACA Technical Note 4376 states dependent of the jet Reynolds num-
to Taw; therefore, the reference tem- that “In the turbulent flow region ber, but is dependent on the jet to
perature is given by Equation (5). (Reynolds numbers above 3,000) impingement plate spacing. In this
the temperature recovery factor work, a minimum recovery factor
(5) is nearly independent of Reynolds of 0.7 was determined, which is the
number. The average value is 0.88, approximate value of Pr for air.
Further research at Mach num- which agrees with values for flow It would appear that the prudent
bers much greater than one found parallel to flat plates.” The experi- course of action would be to use the
that an enthalpy approach (as mental evidence for pipe flow was bounds of the recovery factor de-
opposed to the temperature ap- found to be in substantial agree- pending on the goals of the analysis.
proach) was needed. However, ment with the experimental evi- For the case of the determination of
the present discussion is lim- dence for flat plates. the adiabatic wall temperature for
ited to flowing velocities having The development of the adiabatic- use in the low-temperature estimate
TABLE 1. CALCULATION OF ADIABATIC WALL TEMPERATURE
Engineering Practice Area ft² 0.348
Volumetric flow ft³/h 500,000
Mass flow lb/h 25,000
for material specification, the lower
Density lb/ft³ 0.05
bound of the recovery factor would
provide this estimate, as shown in Flowing enthalpy Btu/lb 341
Equation (9). Flowing entropy Btu/lb°R 1.49
Stagnation enthalpy Btu/lb 344.125
for lowest recovery (9)
Stagnation temperature °F –13.7
In addition, in the evaluation and Reference temperature iterations
development of the adiabatic-wall- Iteration 1 2
temperature recovery factor, only
Wall temperature °F –13.7 –14.3
noncondensable gases have been
considered. It is conceivable that a Reference temperature °F –15.46 –15.89
vapor stream may experience flow- Specific heat capacity Btu/lb°R 0.51185 0.51177
ing temperatures below its dew- Viscosity cP 0.00936 0.00935
point, thus possibly condensing
Conductivity Btu/h-ft°F 0.01576 0.01574
within the core stream. It is possible
that at the wall, the shearing work Prandtl number 0.736 0.736
and frictional heating is sufficiently Recovery factor 0.903 0.903
high to ensure that there are no liq- Adiabatic wall temperature °F –14.3 –14.3
uid droplets touching the wall, and
the flow behaves as an annular two-
phase flow that can be treated as a abatic wall temperature evaluation capacity at constant pressure,
gas for practical purposes. On the can be found in natural-gas process- viscosity and conductivity for use
other hand, it is possible that the ing facilities, where discharges from in determining Pr
condensed liquid droplets can con- pressure-relief or depressurization ● The stagnation temperature
tact the wall, which may result in valves may involve high-velocity is used as the adiabatic wall
additional cooling at the wall as the noncondensable gas. Evaluations of temperature for the first step
liquid is vaporized. The evaluation discharge piping that are performed in the iteration in this exam-
of the adiabatic wall temperature assuming adiabatic flow yield flow- ple, but a better estimate can
for high-speed condensable vapor ing temperatures and velocities. be determined using an esti-
flow remains as further work. These flowing conditions can be mated recovery factor of 0.88
used to determine the stagnation and Equation (8)
Application and examples enthalpy, and thus the stagnation ● The reference temperature is
One of the direct applications of this temperature, which can then be calculated based on Equation
information would be the screen- used in the calculation of r. (5) at each step
ing of potential low-temperature ●
The fluid properties are
issues caused by low-flowing tem- Calculation example re-evaluated at the refer-
peratures in all-gas flow systems. As an example of wall-temperature ence temperature and the
The recovery factor for these cases determination, consider the flow of flowing entropy, and Pr is
can be determined as a function of 25,000 lb/h of methane at 400 ft/s recalculated
Pr at the reference temperature T* within an 8-in. Schedule 40 pipe ● Calculate r based on Equa-
as described by Eckert [3, 4], or per- having a stream temperature of tions (2), (3) or (9). Equa-
haps in the more detailed analysis –20°F. The following steps were per- tion (3) was used in this
of Shapiro [5]. This recovery factor formed, using the equations defined particular example
can then be used to determine an previously in this article, as well as ● Calculate an adiabatic wall
actual adiabatic wall temperature. the properties of methane obtained temperature based on Equa-
The recovery temperature should from the National Institute for tion (1)
then be compared to the minimum Standards and Technology’s (NIST) ● Iteration is continued until
design metal temperature (MDMT) standard reference data program, the solution converges on an
of the piping system for identifica- Refprop v. 9.0 [10]: adiabatic wall temperature
tion of potential low-temperature • Use the velocity and flowing en- In this case, an adiabatic wall tem-
cases. In addition, any analysis that thalpy to determine the stagna- perature of –14.3°F is calculated.
is being performed involving heat tion enthalpy per Equation (6) Table 1 gives a summary of the pa-
transfer between the fluid and the • Perform an enthalpy-entropy rameters used in this example for
pipe should be based on the effective flash at the stagnation enthalpy the iterative determination of the
temperature differential between and flowing entropy to obtain the adiabatic wall temperature. One will
the pipe wall temperature and this stagnation temperature find that by using an estimated re-
adiabatic wall temperature. • Iterate on the reference temper- covery factor of 0.88 to generate the
A practical application of the adi- ature to obtain the specific heat reference temperature from Equa-
Design chart for methane for an adiabatic wall temperature of –20 °F
Engineering Practice 0
r = Pr1/3
–10
tion (8), iteration is generally not –20

needed, as Pr does not vary signifi- Flowing conditions in this
cantly over the temperature range.
Flowing temperature, °F
–30 area result in adiabatic wall
temperatures greater than –20°F
–40
Design chart for methane
Alternatively, design charts can –50
be prepared for a specific gas and Flowing conditions in this
material specification to speed the –60 area result in adiabatic wall
screening of potential low tempera- temperatures lower than –20°F
–70
tures. Using the fluid properties of
methane, obtained by means of the –80 P = 500 psia
NIST Refprop program [10], the P = 100 psia
locus of flow conditions that would –90 P = 14.7 psia
result in an adiabatic wall tempera- –100
ture of –20°F were identified for the 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400
Eckert estimate for turbulent pipe Flowing velocity, ft/s
flow using Equation (3), as well as FIGURE 5. This design chart for methane shows a very minor dependence on pres-
the low temperature estimate using sure at an adiabatic wall temperature of –20°F
Equation (9), with the reference design charts. Design charts, along 3. Eckert, E.R.G., Survey on Heat Transfer at
High Speeds, Aeronautical Research Labora-
temperature evaluated using Equa- with the correlations described in tory (ARL) Technical Report 189, Dec. 1961.
tion (5). As shown in Figure 4, flow this article, are effective ways of de- 4. Eckert, E.R.G., Survey of Boundary Layer
Heat Transfer at High Velocities and
conditions above the line result in termining adiabatic wall tempera- High Temperatures, Wright Air Develop-
adiabatic wall temperatures greater ture in high-velocity gases. n ment Center Technical Report 59–624,
April 1960.
than –20°F, while conditions below Edited by Mary Page Bailey 5. Shapiro, A.H., “The Dynamics and Thermo-
the line result in adiabatic wall dynamics of Compressible Fluid Flow,” Ron-
ald Press Co., N.Y., 1953.
temperatures less than –20°F. Acknowledgment
6. Tucker, M. and Maslin, S.H., Turbulent
The properties of methane in the The author would like to thank Boundary-Layer Temperature Recovery Fac-
regions investigated are primarily Georges A. Melhem and Dale L. tors in Two-Dimensional Supersonic Flow,
NACA Technical Note No. 2296, 1951.
dependent on temperature; however, Embry for their review of the con- 7. McAdams, W.H., Nicolai, L.A. and Keenan,
there is some pressure dependence. tent of this manuscript. J.H., Measurements of Recovery Factors and
Coefficients of Heat Transfer in a Tube for
The design chart as described above Subsonic Flow of Air, NACA Technical Note
is generated for other static (flow- References No. 985, June 1945.
ing) pressures, using the turbulent 1. Shackelford, A.E. and Pack, B.A., Overpres- 8. Deissler, R.G., Weiland, W.F. and Lowder-
sure Protection: Consider Low Temperature milk, W.H., Analytical and Experimental In-
recovery factor of Equation (3), and Effects in Design, Chem. Eng., July 2012, vestigation of Temperature Recovery Factors
is shown in Figure 5. One will note pp. 45–48. for Fully Developed Flow of Air in a Tube,
NACA Technical Note No. 4376, Sept. 1958.
the minor effects of pressure on the 2. Benedict, R.P., “Fundamentals of Pipe Flow,”
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1980. 9. Goldstein, R.J., Behbahani, A.I. and Hep-
pelmann, K.K., Streamwise Distribution
of the Recovery Factor and the Local Heat
Design chart for methane for an adiabatic wall temperature of –20 °F transfer coefficient to an Impinging Cir-
cular Air Jet, International Journal of
0 Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 29(8), 1986,
Pressure = 14.7 psia pp. 1,227–1,235.
–10 10. Lemmon, E.W., Huber, M.L. and McLinden,
M.O., NIST Standard Reference Database
–20 23: Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and
Transport Properties-REFPROP, Version 9.0,
Flowing conditions in this area National Institute of Standards and Tech-
result in adiabatic wall tempera-
Flowing temperature, °F
–30 nology, Standard Reference Data Program,

tures greater than –20°F Gaithersburg, Md., 2010.
–40 Author
Aubry Shackelford is presi-
–50 dent and principal engineer
Flowing conditions in this at Inglenook Engineering,
–60 area result in adiabatic wall Inc. (15306 Amesbury Lane,
temperatures lower than –20°F Sugar Land, TX 77478; Phone:
713-805-8277; Email: aubry@
–70 inglenookeng.com). He has
over ten years of experience
–80 in process safety management
in general, with particular
r = Pr emphasis on pressure-relief
–90 r = Pr^(1/3) design. Shackelford has also
helped author several guidelines related to pres-
sure relief for the American Petroleum Institute
–100 (API), the International Organization for Stan-
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400
Flowing velocity, ft/s dardization (ISO) and the Center for Chemical
Process Safety (CCPS). He has a B.S.Ch.E. from
Northeastern University and holds affiliations
FIGURE 4. A design chart for methane shows the corresponding lowing velocities for with AIChE, NSPE and SPE.
adiabatic wall temperatures
Feature Report
Plot Plan Design:

Process Requirements
It is important to conceptualize plant layout in terms of both ideal location and
optimal geographical positioning of equipment components
Mohammad Toghraei a good supply of human resources. ers want to locate plants in loca-
Engrowth Training When plants are established in de- tions with minimum land costs and
sirable locations, they have access minimum applicable taxes.
or any chemical process facility, to a broad pool of qualified, skilled Level 2. During Level 2 efforts,
F the cost of improper or sub-ob-

timal plant layout can be enor-
mous. Designers are generally
well aware of safety constraints, but
there is often less recognition about
people for operation, maintenance
and management of the plant.
Plant location should also be se-
lected to minimize the potential
environmental impact of plant op-
stakeholders work to identify the
best method for laying out the dif-
ferent units within the facility. One
overarching objective of a plot plan
(but not necessarily the most impor-
other process requirements that erations. For instance, establish- tant one) is to minimize the length
will impact the design. This article ing a plant in an area that is sur- of equipment-connecting elements,
discusses key elements of plant lay- rounded by mountains is often not such as pipes that convey liquids,
out and plot plan design, in two im- a good decision, due to potentially gases and bulk solids. Material
portant levels: poor air-flow characteristics in the conveying systems, such as screw
• Level 1. Plant location. This step area. Similarly, if the treated waste- conveyors, belt conveyors, also fall
involves selecting the best loca- water of a plant needs to be injected within this category.
tion into a disposal well, the plant can- During the development and de-
• Level 2. Plant layout. This step not be very far from an area that sign of a plot plan, requirements
involves the placement of units has a suitable underground geologi- and limitations are identified and
and equipment relative to each cal structure. decisions are made with regard to
other, in an effort to optimize all Economic parameters are also the following considerations:
safety, operations and mainte- important when scouting possible • Process requirements, such as
nance objectives plant locations. Ideally, stakehold- the need to support equipment
Each requires a certain chain of de-
cision making that can impact the Plot plan
success of all efforts (Figure 1). AREA 1: Production tank farm AREA 2: Separation area Heat exchangers AREA 3: Reaction area
O2 Scavenger Acid
Ion exchange beds
Separator
An integrated effort
Catalyst
Level 1. During Level 1, engineers Product Product Separator
beds
tank tank
seek to identify the optimal location Separator Caustic
for the plant. Generally speaking, a

chemical process industries (CPI) Finger pipe racks Sand Filters
plant should be in a location that

allows it to easily receive raw ma-
terials and have access to utilities, Future Future Pipe racks
such as water and power. Other key

considerations are related to access
Neutralization
to the infrastructure needed, such
Thickener Thickener
as roads, rail lines and shipping op- Raw water Flush water Feed tank BFW tank Feed tank
tank
tions, to enable both the shipment
of products (and side-products) and
Future
the disposal of waste streams. AREA 4: Tank Farm Off specification water Overlow tank Overlow tank
Other than material resources, FIGURE 1. Shown here is a typical plot plan
any CPI facility also needs access to
Stacked heat exchangers FIGURE 2. In many cases, it makes
good engineering sense to incorporate
vertical designs, to take advantage of
gravity-based low, limited footprint area
• Suitable performance in the facility, and other engineering
• Safety requirements, such as the considerations
need to ensure the proper dis-
tance between the furnace and
oil-storage tanks
• Construction requirements, such
as the need to provide enough ac- Control
cess area to allow construction cabinet
equipment (such as cranes and Centrifuge
lifts) to maneuver around the Mezzanine
equipment level
• Operation, inspection and main-
tenance requirements, to ensure
easy accessibility for operators to
reach each component, system or
monitoring console
• Logistics requirements, to ensure
Chute
easy accessibility for service com-
panies and their vehicles, includ-
Truck for
ing chemical-delivery trucks dumped
If the team follows the basic rule sludge
of seeking to minimize pipe length
wherever possible, it will undertake
efforts to minimize the length of
both process piping and utility pip-
ing. To minimize the process piping
length, equipment must be placed
in the order of the process flow dia- Prevailing wind direction at the this typically leads the plot plan de-
gram (PFD) arrangement. However, target location also affects the loca- signer to locate all the air coolers in
the effort to minimize the utility tion of equipment. Thus, a furnace, one location, to economize.
piping length often forces designers for instance, can be placed at the The concept of constructability
to lay down the developed “string” edge of a plant against the direction can affect the location of equipment,
of equipment based on the PFD of the prevailing wind to make sure too. For instance, a piece of equip-
along the perimeter of a circle with any potential flammable leaked ment may be placed relatively far
shared utility units in the center. fuel gases would move away from from the main part of the plant —
Although other requirements (such the plant. This same logic is why in a less-congested area against all
as those related to safety and logis- flares are typically placed far from other requirements — to satisfy the
tics) will usually result in changes human activity. need for ease of access for construc-
to this preliminary arrangement, Another group of safety consid- tion vehicles, such as large cranes.
it will be a useful exercise to group erations could be better classified Operation and inspection require-
equipment components that are as “nuisance issues.” For instance, ments will also impact the location
using common utilities, in a first even though engineering controls of equipment. Such considerations
attempt to minimize the utility are often used to manage noise often require that operator-inten-
pipe lengths. and fugitive emissions, units that sive equipment be grouped and
The designer not only needs to try are inherently noisy or odorous placed in easily accessible areas.
to minimize the pipe length but also should be placed in areas with little There must be specific clearance
to minimize the pipe rack length human presence. around each piece of equipment, to
and the number of finger pipe racks. Construction requirements are provide enough room for operators.
Doing so requires effort to develop equally important during the de- Specific maintenance require-
common routes for different pipes, velopment of a plot plan. Ease-of- ments may require wider clearance
as much as possible. construction rules typically call for around one or all sides. For exam-
Safety requirements call for seg- a plant with a regular shape, pref- ple, a floating bundle shell-and-tube
regating areas within a plot plan in erentially with right angles. heat exchanger needs a clearance of
a way that groups equipment and Meanwhile, specific installation about 1.5 times the tube length in
units with common hazardous char- requirements associated with cer- front of the heat exchanger as an
acteristics. To minimize the risk of tain equipment must also be taken area for bundle removal. Similarly,
releasing flammable, toxic, or lethal into account. For example, air cool- plate-and-frame heat exchangers
liquids from storage tanks, they ers are usually installed in a hori- need enough clearance to allow for
should be grouped based on hazard- zontal direction, at some height plate removal.
ous classification areas and then above the ground. Such an installa- Some equipment — raw material
put within different containments tion will require an additional sup- tanks, silos of additives, chemical-
or diked areas. port structure. The added expense of injection skids that may need fre-
quent fillings by trucks — is con- indoors. example, in a small walk-in cabinet,

sidered “logistic-intensive” in the The main group of operator–in- a full firefighting system will not be
sense that it may affect the logistics tensive equipment includes equip- available. Selecting this interim op-
if placed in non-suitable locations. ment used in semi-continuous, tion should be considered very cau-
Placing such units in a poorly con- intermittent or batch operation. Al- tiously, making sure that all safety
sidered spot could also be unsafe though many batch operations are measures are considered carefully.
or might interfere with an opera- designed to be operated fully auto- In very cold areas, such as north-
tor’s daily duties because of the in- matically, frequent operator checks ern Canada, the plot plan of indoor
creased truck traffic that would be are still necessary. equipment sometimes needs to en-
needed to transfer products or raw Consider the case of filtration. It sure that certain sensitive equip-
materials. To address these poten- is popular to place pressure filters ment components are not located
tial issues, such units are usually indoors even though the filtering near doors or windows, to minimize
placed near the edge of the plant. media (such as sand or anthracite) the chance of freezing. In such areas,
Another aspect of plant design are not temperature-sensitive. frequent opening of doors and gates
to consider is where to place ponds Any equipment that, for whatever can increase the chance of freezing
such as storm water ponds that are reason, is not monitored by instru- for the equipment near the door, es-
often used in plants to collect rain ments — and thus requiring more pecially if there is no hot-air curtain
water. Placing such ponds in the operator attention — is usually available.
middle of a plant will decentralize placed indoors. For example, equip- 2. One story versus multi story
the other units and will lengthen ment for which taking samples is plant. The decision must be made
intra-plant travel time for person- important should be placed indoors as to whether or not the plant
nel, so it best to place them at the to ensure a suitable environment should be designed on one level, or
periphery of the overall layout. for the operator to be able to take whether some equipment should be
the samples. However, some compa- placed on a second or third floor. The
Key elements to consider nies may opt to utilize another op- default option is to maintain the en-
The following elements should be tion, which is to use an expensive, tire plant on one floor to minimize
reconciled during the development automatic grab-sampling system the cost, however, that may not
of the plot plan: for some equipment so that they be possible.
1. Indoor versus outdoor instal- can locate it outdoors. Having the plant built on more
lations. If the outside ambient The other consideration during than one story increases the cost
temperature is not extreme (and plot plan development is the need because of additional required
the variation in temperature over for clean rooms, which are used to structures and supports to hold
time is not significant), then the protect processes for which even all equipment systems, especially
least expensive decision is often to trace amounts of impurities could when the equipment is dynamic
place all of the equipment outdoors. impact the quality of the product. rather than static, and reciprocat-
However, this option is not avail- Examples of such processes are ing rather than rotary. For example,
able everywhere. pharmaceutical and microchip man- placing a small tank on a mezza-
The indoor-versus-outdoor deci- ufacturing plants. In general, clean nine level could be less expensive
sion is important because of the rooms need to be located indoors. than placing a centrifugal pump or
added cost of providing buildings It is not the case that only two mixer on that level.
to house the equipment. The first options — indoor or outdoor — However, in some cases having a
choice is always to locate the equip- are available. Having equipment multistory plant is preferable and
ment outdoors unless the equip- partially indoors is one option to justifiable (Figure 2). Consider the
ment is sensitive to very low or high achieve a compromise between cost case for plants involved with sol-
temperatures, or the equipment is and operability. For example, in ids handling, such as those whose
very operator-intensive. In these some cases, the side of the equip- raw materials, products or interim
cases, it makes more sense to locate ment that has all the sampling products are in bulk, granulated
the equipment indoors. points can be located indoors while or powdered form. Solids convey-
Higher costs are associated with the rest of the equipment could ing is typically carried out by
indoor installation not just because be left outdoors. Similarly, when pneumatic conveying systems, belt
of the cost of buildings, but also due equipment has tall towers, instead conveyors, screw conveyors, bucket
to added costs required to meet ju- of raising the roof of the building, conveyors and related systems. One
risdictional building codes (which the tower portion can be left above way to reduce the need for some
tend to be more explicit, and thus (that is, outside) of the building. modes of pneumatic or mechani-
more costly, for indoor facilities). Another interim option is plac- cal conveyance (and hence reduce
Polymeric membrane systems, ing equipment inside of a “shed” or energy requirements) is to ar-
for example, usually cannot tol- walk-in cabinet. The downside to range the equipment vertically and
erate temperatures greater than this approach, however, is that not use gravity.
40–50°C or very low temperatures. all provisions associated with an in- In some cases, vertical arrange-
As a result, they are usually placed door building will be available. For ment can ease cleaning, especially
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for sticky materials. In this ap- tion acceleration head” term, which severe electrical classification level
proach a simple chute can some- needs to be added to the NPIP by only because of one or a few units
times replace a more complicated, the manufacturer. The magnitude that are handling flammable fluids.
mechanical solid-conveying system. of acceleration head is a function of 5. Inline mixing with or without
Another common example of the speed of reciprocation, the vol- static mixers. When two or more
plants that benefit from vertical ar- ume of cylinder(s) and the length of streams will be mixed in line (pipe)
rangement are those that deal with suction pipe. rather than a mixing tank, require-
liquids in the boiling temperature 4. Chemical compatibility. Dif- ments associated with the static
range (or in the bubble-point range ferent equipment handles different mixer should be defined by the plot
for non-pure liquids). In such cases, chemicals, which are not necessarily plan. The aim of any mixing effort
the designer usually prefers to have compatible. In an ideal world, vari- is to produce a fairly homogenous
a vertical arrangement to prevent ous chemicals are bound by their mixed fluid at the inlet of the down-
unwanted evaporation or flash of respective equipment or containers. stream equipment.
the liquid. It is common to see a However, there is always a chance If the downstream equipment
“stack” of heat exchangers that op- of leakage in an accident or via con- can be placed far from the mixing
erate at temperatures close to the trolled release as the primary step point, a homogenous fluid can often
boiling temperature of liquid, to of maintenance. Plot-plan develop- be attained via regular pipe flow
suppress the flash of liquid caused ment must consider the impact of even without a static mixer. If this
by the weight of the column of liq- the presence (and potential co-min- is not the case, then a static mixer
uid (Figure 2). gling) of all site-specific fluids, in is needed. As a rule of thumb, when
3. Pipe length in the suction side any given location. dealing with relatively watery liq-
of pumps. All pumps, either cen- One specific concern is sumps. uids (viscosity <20 centipoise), a
trifugal or positive-displacement Sumps can receive different liquids pipe length of 100–150 times the
types, are sensitive to low suction and must be designed to store them pipe diameter is usually sufficient
pressure. This sensitivity can be safely for a limited time. The com- and removes the need so that a
quantified using the required net patibility of any liquids that could static mixer can achieve the desired
positive suction head (NPSHR) end up in a given sump should be homogeneity.
term for centrifugal pumps, and the checked to make sure no uncon- 6. Handling time–sensitive flu-
required net positive inlet pressure trolled reactions can occur. If fluids ids. As noted, the relative location
(NPIPR) term for positive-displace- are not compatible, the respective of equipment affects the pipe length
ment pumps. NPSHR is essentially equipment could be moved to an- between units. This could be critical
the required effective liquid column other building, or a dedicated sump for time-sensitive fluids. Although
in the suction side of the pump to could be considered. the travel time in specific sections
guarantee proper operation with Another issue related to poten- of pipe is a matter of minutes, it
minimum cavitation. tual incompatibility of chemicals could still be important for very
This sensitivity can be addressed is electrical area classification. sensitive fluids.
by ensuring an adequate margin on The electrical devices in each area For example, in some flotation
top of NPSHR exists to provide a should be compatible with the na- vessels, the bubbles are generated
suitable available net positive suc- ture of the chemicals in each area. outside of the flotation vessel and
tion head (NPSHA). The goal is to For example, a conventional electri- then bubble-laden liquid is trans-
make sure NPSHA is higher than cal device that may generate sparks ferred to the vessels. If the distance
NPSHR with enough margin. This during its functioning is not suitable between the bubble-generating
can be done by minimizing the suc- to be installed in any area in which mechanism and the flotation vessel
tion pipe length and the number of highly flammable liquids may be is too large, bubbles will coalesce
fittings used. Doing so forces the de- present. This requirement is gen- with each other. And at the vessel
signer to place the source container erally addressed by designating an inlet, instead of having a liquid with
and the pump as close as possible “electrical area class” for each area, small bubbles, there could be liquid
on the plot plan. depending on the type of chemicals with big slugs of gas. This reduces
Although reciprocating pumps in that area. the separation efficiency of the flo-
are typically less sensitive than It should be considered that one tation vessels.
centrifugal pumps toward suction area with a less-stringent electri- 7. Process gravity-flow pipes.
pressure (in other words, they could cal class should not be pushed to a When flow from one equipment
have lower NPIPR than equivalent more-stringent electrical area class component or container to another
NPSHR), their pulsational opera- only because of a few units that are occurs only by gravity, some other
tion, or the fact that pressure in located (unwisely) in the area and issues should be considered. In two
their suction (and discharge side) require more-stringent electrical interconnecting containers, the
can go much below average suction area classification. With proper plot liquid level in the second (down-
pressure makes them vulnerable. plan design, engineers can avoid the stream) container is partly adjusted
The effect of pulsation in their suc- poor (and costly) practice of classify- by the pressure drop in the connect-
tion side is quantified in the “suc- ing a big area or building with more ing pipe. This shows the importance
of gravity-pipe pressure drop and operation should be done carefully planned. While the designer of the
its length in the design and opera- and the design should minimize plot plan cannot leave room for the
tion of a unit. The pipe pressure loss attrition. One requirement in such unplanned modifications, he or she
can be minimized by placing these systems is to minimize the transfer should try to reserve enough room
containers as close as possible and line length and use specific fittings, in suitable locations to accommo-
using the minimum number of el- such as long-radius elbows. This re- date those future modifications
bows and other fittings on the con- quires the source and destination that can be planned or anticipated
necting pipe. units to be placed as close to each in some way. n
If the gravity pipe is placed with other as possible, which will affect Edited by Suzanne Shelley
a slope toward the second intercon- the plot plan.
nected container, the importance of 9. Symmetric piping. Providing
minimizing the pipe length becomes a symmetrical piping design to the Author
more obvious. If the pipe is long, the inlet of two similar equipment com- Mohammad Toghraei is an
instructor and consultant
second downstream container may ponents is one passive way to split a with Engrowth Training
need to be placed in a pit to be able stream equally to both of them. The (Web: www.engedu.ca; Phone:
403-808-8264; Email: moe.
to provide the required slope. This is need for symmetric piping can force [email protected]), based
not an ideal situation, because deal- the designer to relocate or rotate in Calgary, Alta. He has more
than 20 years of experience in
ing with equipment in a pit provides equipment in the plot plan. As a the process industries, and
has published articles on dif-
some difficulties for operators. rule of thumb, any need for ferent aspects of process op-
8. Hydraulic transferring of symmetrical piping around equip- erations. His main expertise
is in the treatment of produced water and waste-
critical solids. One method of ment should be identified early, water from the oil-and-gas industries. Toghraei
transferring powders, granules as it will impact the plot-plan received a B.Sc. in chemical engineering from
Isfahan University of Technology (Iran), and an
or beads is through the use of hy- design efforts. M.Sc. in environmental engineering from Tehran
draulic transfer systems. Hydrau- 10. Future plans. The basis for University (Iran). He is a member of the Assn. of
Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Al-
lic transferring can be done by air, future modifications in the plant berta (APEGA), and is a professional engineer,
P.Eng., in the province of Alberta.
water or other fluids. If the integ- could be economic or technical, and
rity of solid beads is important, this they may be either planned or un-
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Chemical Engineering’s
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Heat Exchanges and Tanks 565.1 560.9 509.2
500
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Process Machinery 559.6 556.2 521.7 monthly updates as soon
490
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Fluid Metering Inc. 9 Wabash Power Equipment Co. 59
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24670

People
WHO’S WHO
Sauquet Diele-Braun Wagner Aitken Ray
Greene’s Energy Group LLC chemicals, makes the following two procurement and construction firm
(Houston), a provider of testing ser- announcements: Valerie Diele-Braun Black & Veatch (Redhill, U.K.).
vices, equipment rentals and becomes president, paper solutions,
specialty services for the oil-and-gas succeeding Helmut Wagner, who Cashco (Ellsworth, Kan.), a manu-
industry, names Robert Fraser becomes chief purchasing officer. facturer of control valves and other
regional business-development equipment, promotes Dan Ray to
manager, based in Dubai. Amyris (Emeryville, Calif.), a renew- director of engineering, procurement
able products company, appoints and construction management.
Philippe Sauquet becomes president Raffi Asadorian chief financial officer.
of refining and chemicals, and a The interim CFO Paulo Diniz, Adept Technology (Pleasanton,
member of the executive committee, becomes chairman of Amyris Brasil. Calif.), a provider of intelligent robots,
for Total S.A. (Paris). autonomous mobile robot solutions
Scott Aitken becomes managing and services, welcomes Michael Jellen
Archroma (Reinach, Germany), director for the European water vice president for North America. ■
a producer of color and specialty business for engineering, Suzanne Shelley
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Economic Indicators
BUSINESS NEWS
Solvay boosts production capacity for
PLANT WATCH MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
polyaryletherketone resin in India
Bayer MaterialScience inaugurates december 3, 2014 — solvay s.a. (Brussels, Solvay to acquire Brazilian specialty-
TDI plant in Dormagen Belgium; www.solvay.com) is increasing esters manufacturer Dhaymers
december 9, 2014 — at its site in dormagen, production capacity of polyaryletherketone december 9, 2014 — solvay s.a. is acquir-
germany, Bayer materialscience ag (Le- resin by 25% at its plant in Panoli, gujarat, in- ing dhaymers (www.dhaymers.com.br), a
verkusen, germany; www.materialscience. dia to support demand for its ultra-high-per- Brazilian manufacturer of specialty esters.
bayer.de) has started up a new production formance polymers. Healthcare, electronics dhaymers’ specialty esters are used in skin-
plant for toluene diisocyanate (tdi).Valued and energy are among the key markets for care products, mining emulsions and lubri-
at around €250 million, the new plant was these polymers. cants for the metal-working industry.
under construction for 30 months, and re-
places a smaller tdi production unit. Showa Denko and UOP open Indorama to acquire manufacturing
high-silica zeolite plant in Japan operations from Performance Fibers Asia
Air Liquide will construct a new december 3, 2014 — Union showa (UsKK), december 8, 2014 — indorama Ventures
air-separation unit in Port Neches a joint venture (JV) between showa denko Public co. (Bangkok,thailand; www.indora-
december 9, 2014 — air Liquide (Paris, K.K. (sdK;tokyo, Japan; www.sdk.co.jp) and ma.net) has acquired the asian manufac-
France; www.airliquide.com) broke ground UoP LLc (des Plaines, ill.; www.uop.com) turing operations of Performance Fibers (PF)
for a new air-separation unit (asU) that will has completed the construction of a new asia, a producer of polyester tire-cord (Ptc)
produce oxygen (o2), nitrogen (n2) and high-silica zeolite plant at sdK’s Higashi- fabric. PF asia has plants located in Kaiping
argon (ar) in Port neches,tex.the new asU nagahara Plant in aizu-Wakamatsu city, city, china that produce 41,000 m.t./yr of
will produce 2,400 metric tons (m.t.) per Fukushima, Japan. High-silica zeolite is an Ptc fabric and 48,000 m.t./yr of Ptc yarn.
day of o2 and 2,600 m.t./d of n2, tripling o2 adsorbent used for the removal of volatile
production capacity and doubling n2 pro- organic compounds (Vocs). Vertellus acquires sodium
duction capacity at the Port neches facility. borohydride business from Dow
commercial operations are expected to Tecnimont awarded EPC contract december 5, 2014 — Vertellus (indianapo-
begin by the end of 2015. for Illinois fertilizer plant lis, ind.; www.vertellus.com) has acquired
december 1, 2014 — maire tecnimont s.p.a. dow’s sodium borohydride (sBH) business.
BASF starts up emulsion (milan, italy; www.mairetecnimont.com) sBH is used in the synthesis of fine chemi-
polymers plant in Freeport was awarded a $1.5-billion engineering, cals, such as pharmaceutical ingredients
december 8, 2014 — BasF se (Ludwig- procurement and construction (ePc) con- and agrochemicals.the transaction is ex-
shafen, germany; www.basf.com) began tract by cronus chemicals,LLc to build an pected to close in the first quarter of 2015.
operations at a new emulsion polymers ammonia and urea plant in tuscola, ill.the
plant at its integrated site in Freeport,tex. plant will have a production capacity of Lubrizol creates Oilfield Solutions
the acrylic emulsion polymers manufac- 2,200 m.t./d of ammonia and 3,850 m.t./d segment with Weatherford acquisitions
tured at this plant are used for architectural of urea, as well as the equipment necessary december 1, 2014 — the Lubrizol corp.
coatings, construction chemicals and to produce diesel exhaust fluid. (Wickliffe, ohio; www.lubrizol.com) has
adhesives, as well as applications in the acquired the oilfield-chemicals and drilling-
paper-chemicals industry. construction of Verdezyne to produce bio-based diacids fluids businesses from oilfield services com-
the plant began in February 2013. at newly announced Malaysian facility pany Weatherford (Houston; www.weath-
november 20, 2014 — Verdezyne inc. (carls- erford.com) for $825 million. the acquired
Yara to build new nitric acid plant, bad, calif.; www.verdezyne.com) will build businesses will form a new segment within
increase ammonium nitrate capacity a commercial-scale renewable chemicals Lubrizol, called oilfield solutions.
december 5, 2014 — Yara international asa plant in nusajaya, malaysia. construction
(oslo, norway; www.yara.com) will invest will commence in 2015.the plant is de- Synalloy acquires carbon-pipe
$220 million to expand production capacity signed to produce, from plant-based feed- distributor Specialty Pipe & Tube
of technical ammonium nitrate (tan).the stock, 13,600 m.t./yr of bio-based diacids, november 25, 2014 — synalloy corp.
investment includes construction of a new including dodecanedioc acid (ddda), and (spartanburg, s.c.; www.synalloy.com)
nitric acid plant, which replaces an existing is said to be the world’s first plant for the bio- has acquired specialty Pipe & tube, inc.,
plant.the total tan capacity after the up- based production of ddda. a distributor of seamless carbon pipe.the
grade will be approximately 450,000 m.t./yr. transaction is valued at $31.5 million.
Dow plans polyethylene capacity
Airgas to construct new liquid- expansion in Argentina BASF divests omega-3 production plant
hydrogen plant in Kentucky november 14, 2014 — starting in 2015,the in Norway to Marine Ingredients
december 4, 2014 — airgas, inc. (radnor, dow chemical company (midland, mich.; november 24, 2014 — BasF se plans to sell
Pa.; www.airgas.com) has announced www.dow.com) plans to expand capac- its manufacturing facility for omega-3 oils
plans to build a new liquid-hydrogen plant ity at its four polyethylene (Pe) production in Brattvåg, norway to marine ingredients, a
in calvert city, Ky.the new facility is targeted units located in Bahia Blanca,argentina.the manufacturer of marine-based ingredients
to be onstream in the summer of 2016 and project will upgrade dow’s low-density, gas- and customized products.the transaction is
will complement the company’s nearby phase, slurry and solution Pe units at the site. expected to close in early 2015. ■
asU, also slated for a 2016 startup. Mary Page Bailey
FOR ADDITIONAL NEWS AS IT DEVELOPS, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM

January 2015; VOL. 122; NO. 1
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Economic Indicators 2012 2013 2014
DOWNLOAD THE CEPCI TWO WEEKS SOONER AT WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM/PCI

625
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING PLANT COST INDEX (CEPCI)
Annual
(1957–59 = 100)
Oct. ’14 Sept. ’14 Oct. ’13 Index: 600
Prelim. Final Final
579.8 580.1 567.5
2006 = 499.6
CE Index
Equipment 704.1 704.6 686.6 2007 = 525.4
575
Heat exchangers & tanks 652.3 650.9 620.0 2008 = 575.4
Process machinery 666.9 668.1 655.7
Pipes, valves & fittings 876.4 877.4 874.5 2009 = 521.9
550
Process instruments 411.9 413.4 411.8 2010 = 550.8
Pumps & compressors 941.1 939.0 924.7
2011 = 585.7
Electrical equipment 516.0 515.7 513.8 525
Structural supports & misc 769.1 775.1 744.1 2012 = 584.6
Construction labor 324.4 323.9 321.6
2013 = 567.3
Buildings 547.2 546.3 533.7 500
Engineering & supervision 320.3 321.4 324.4 J F M A M J J A S O N D
CURRENT BUSINESS INDICATORS* LATEST PREVIOUS YEAR AGO
CPI output index (2007 = 100) Nov.’14 = 93.9 Oct.’14 = 93.1 Sept.’14 = 92.9 Nov.’13 = 89.1
CPI value of output, $ billions Oct.’14 = 2,056.1 Sept.’14 = 2,114.6 Aug.’14 = 2,123.6 Oct.’13 = 2,137.9
CPI operating rate, % Nov.’14 = 78.7 Oct.’14 = 78.1 Sept.’14 = 77.9 Nov.’13 = 75.5
Producer prices, industrial chemicals (1982 = 100) Nov.’14 = 283.4 Sept.’14 = 293.2 Aug.’14 = 296.6 Nov.’13 = 290.0
Industrial Production in Manufacturing (2007 = 100) Nov.’14 = 102.2 Oct.’14 = 101.1 Sept.’14 = 100.7 Nov.’13 = 97.6
Hourly earnings index, chemical & allied products (1992 = 100) Nov.’14 = 157.4 Oct.’14 = 156.2 Sept.’14 = 157.0 Nov.’13 = 157.4
Productivity index, chemicals & allied products (1992 = 100) Nov.’14 = 107.8 Oct.’14 = 107.8 Sept.’14 = 107.9 Nov.’13 = 106.8
CPI OUTPUT INDEX (2007 = 100) CPI OUTPUT VALUE ($ BILLIONS) CPI OPERATING RATE (%)
100 2300 80
95 2200 78
90 2100 76
85 2000 74
80 1900 72
75 1800 70
J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
*Current Business Indicators provided by IHS Global Insight, Inc., Lexington, Mass.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM RECENT ACC ECONOMIC DATA CURRENT TRENDS

he American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com) he preliminary value for the
T released its “Year-end Chemical Industry Situation and Outlook” report in late December. T October CE Plant Cost Index
(CEPCI; top; the most recent avail-
The report says that despite facing global headwinds, the American chemical industry ex-
panded at a 2.0% growth rate in 2014, and is expected to reach a 3.7% gain in output in able) declined slightly (0.05%) from
2015, before hitting 3.9% in 2016. The report’s consensus is that U.S. chemical output will the final September value, reversing
continue to expand well into the second half of the decade, exceeding that of the overall U.S. the increasing trend that has been
economy. Other key highlights of the Situation and Outlook report include the following: observed for the past six months.
The Equipment subindex saw a
• Light vehicle sales ($3,500 of chemistry per unit) grew 5.2% in 2014
very small decline in October, as
• Housing starts ($15,000 of chemistry per start) grew 7.5% in 2014
did the Buildings and Engineering
• Basic chemicals were hard hit from recessions in Japan and Brazil & Supervision subindices, while the
• During the second half of the current decade, U.S. chemical industry growth is ex- Construction & Labor subindex saw
pected to expand at a pace of more than 4% per year on average, exceeding that of a small increase. The overall Octo-
the overall U.S. economy ber PCI value stands at 2.2% higher
• A trade surplus of $77 billion is expected by 2019 than its value from October 2013.
• More than 215 new chemical production projects valued at over $135 billion have Meanwhile, updated values for the
been announced in the U.S., helping capital spending to surge nearly 12% in 2014 to Current Business Indicators (CBI)
more than $33 billion from IHS Global Insight (middle)
Globally, the ACC reported that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Develop- show that the CPI output index was
ment’s (OECD; Paris; www.oecd.org) composite leading indicator pointed to stable growth up slightly from the previous month,
momentum for the OECD regions as a whole. ❑ while the value of output declined. ❏

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