http://www.che.com Chemical Engineering en-us 2013 Thu, 23 May 2013 3:38:36 EDT This article covers permitting and directly related design issues associated with thermal processes used for drying and calcining, using the production of ceramic proppants as an illustrative example. While the magnitude of permitting issues varies significantly with... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/9782.html Tue, 2 Oct 2012 0:00:00 EDT Information management provides a way to develop new materials, products or formulations more rapidly, on the basis of the information that a company already possesses in-house, while providing insight that can be used to guide experimentation and predict results — even when there are no experimental data available. These approaches have been successfully adopted by numerous corporations across industries and can accomplish research goals using fewer materials and less energy while delivering solutions more rapidly... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/9568.html Mon, 6 Aug 2012 0:00:00 EDT   Recent visits to several chemical plants and industry events around Baton Rouge, Louisiana confirmed that workforce issues are a major concern for manufacturers of chemicals in that region. In discussions in late February with plant leaders at chemical manufacturing facilities around the Baton Rouge... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/9206.html Sun, 1 Apr 2012 0:00:00 EDT In the long run, humans will exhaust the Earth's current supply of fossil fuels. This article summarizes the commonly held wisdom of reserves for each non-renewable fuel, and the factors that may affect their use... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/8874.html Wed, 11 Jan 2012 0:00:00 EST In today’s economy, businesses have become more cash-conscious. The focus on expenses has become increasingly important to the bottom line. Typically, the top three business expenses are wages, raw material costs and taxes. If jobs are cut, or raw material purchases are reduced, margins may be salvaged in the short term, but over a period of time, lack of inventory and production shutdowns can prove to be costly. A benign way of cutting costs is reducing the tax burden. By taking full advantage of the R&D tax credit, many chemical process industries (CPI), with annual sales ranging from five million to more than one billion dollars, have achieved annual tax savings of anywhere between $50,000 and $1.5 million.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/8498.html Tue, 27 Sep 2011 0:00:00 EDT There are many people working in a typical chemical process industries (CPI) facility. The individuals who work hands-on with the equipment — especially the experienced personnel — have a wealth of information that can make a huge difference in the success or failure of many projects. The key to gaining wisdom from these valuable resources lies in how you approach them. You should cultivate relationships with these colleagues wisely, be willing to learn from them, and give them credit for their assistance. One day, it just might save your job.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/8012.html Tue, 31 May 2011 0:00:00 EDT All good things come to an end. And so it is with Microsoft extended support and security updates for Windows 2000,which ended in July 2010. Any manufacturer with industrial applications that are based on Windows 2000 may wisely be considering a newer operating system, in order to remain in production with the necessary security support. But migrating to a new operating system can be time-consuming, disruptive and expensive. Are there any better alternatives? This article presents several proven solutions.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/7886.html Fri, 15 Apr 2011 0:00:00 EDT Water-supply issues are emerging as a national concern with certain sectors coming under increasing scrutiny. This is certainly the case with the ethanol industry. State discharge regulations dictate that plant designs incorporate technological solutions to minimize water use. These designs give operators increased flexibility in terms of enabling the reuse of water streams internally, with the goal to discharge no water to the environment. When this can be accomplished, the plant operates as a zero liquid discharge (ZLD) facility. Efforts to operate as a ZLD facility bring additional challenges to an ethanol production plant, because process water quality must be compatible with the biological processes that are at work during critical fermentation stages, and will affect co-product quality, as well. As a result, the complexity and risks associated with failing to properly integrate the water system design with the underlying ethanol process can become painfully manifest. The wrong decisions can be disastrous and costly, leading to operational difficulties, unscheduled downtime and even complete process shutdown. US Water Service (USWS) has participated in the design of a number of ZLD plant designs in order to allow plant operators to meet key water-quality requirements that are required for ethanol production. While USWS had historically designed traditional water systems in a number of industry sectors, the company embarked on its first ZLD facility for an ethanol plant in California. That facility began operations in 2006 after a year and a half of careful design and construction. This was the first operational ethanol plant in the U.S. to incorporate ZLD concepts that were mandated by California regulations.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/6494.html Wed, 23 Mar 2011 0:00:00 EDT Over the years, the demand to energy density and performance of batteries from new applications has led to the development of new generations of batteries, including secondary lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are foreseen to play an important role in the electric vehicle market, which is predicted to grow significantly in the coming years. For this reason, there is an intense race among leading manufacturers worldwide for developing proprietary Li-ion batteries with superior performance characteristics.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/5658.html Wed, 5 May 2010 0:00:00 EDT Biodiesel, the methyl ester of fatty acids, has been accepted as a renewable-sourced alternative to fossil-derived diesel fuel. Today in many parts of the world, biodiesel is already blended with diesel fuel up to about 5%. Presently the demand for biodiesel is only approximately 40–50% of the production capacity, but the global biodiesel market is expected to experience strong growth in the next few years as the economy rebounds and the demand for renewable resources continues to increase. To further improve the quality of the biodiesel and enhance the position of biodiesel as a viable, cost-effective renewable-energy source, there has been a continued effort to make further technology improvements.... http://www.che.com/only_on_che/web_features/5542.html Mon, 29 Mar 2010 0:00:00 EDT