Plant attainment

The synthesis of powders with eontrolled shape and narrow partiele size distribution is inereasingly a major ehallenge for the ehemieal industry. It has been shown that whilst the eonventional mixed suspension erystallizer is versatile and flexible in operation, the size distribution of the produet is often far from ideal from either the downstream units or eustomer viewpoints. It ean also give rise to diffieulty on seale-up sinee the required power input to maintain perfeet mixedness is diffieult to attain. Plant seale produet is often of differing ehar-aeteristies in erystal shape, size distribution and degree of agglomeration to that obtained from the laboratory seale. 

Locust bean gum is not completely soluble in cold water it must be heated to 80°C and cooled to attain a stable solution that has high viscosity at low concentrations. The gum is compatible with other plant gums and the viscosity of solutions is not appreciably affected by pH or salts. 

Double-Absorption Plants. In the United States, newer sulfuric acid plants ate requited to limit SO2 stack emissions to 2 kg of SO2 per metric ton of 100% acid produced (4 Ib /short ton Ib = pounds mass). This is equivalent to a sulfur dioxide conversion efficiency of 99.7%. Acid plants used as pollution control devices, for example those associated with smelters, have different regulations. This high conversion efficiency is not economically achievable by single absorption plants using available catalysts, but it can be attained in double absorption plants when the catalyst is not seriously degraded. 

Because of increased emphasis on maximizing cogenerated power, newer plants are trying to utilize back-pressure turbines only in applications where efficiencies above 70% can be attained. This typically means limiting the applications to the large (>1000 kW) drives, and usiag small machines only where they are necessary for the safe shutdown of the unit. Multistage turbiaes are used even on the smaller loads. 

Optimization of a process is an activity whereby the best conditions are found for attainment of a maximum or minimum of some desired objective. In the broadest sense, an industrial process has maximum profit as its goal, but there are also problems with less-ambitious goals that do not involve money or the whole plant. 

As a general rule, the optimum number of effects increases with an increase in steam cost or plant size. Larger plants favor more effects, partly because they make it easier to install heat-recovery systems that increase the steam economy attainable with a given number of effects. Such recoveiy systems usually do not increase the total surface needed but do require that the heating surface be distributed between a greater number of pieces of equipment. 

The response of any given feed to sink-float processing can be accurately established in the laboratory by testing with various heavy hq-uids. The hquids generally used for this purpose are listed in Table 19-12. These halogenated hydrocarbons are mutually miscible, which enables the preparation of almost any pulp density attainable in a commercial plant. Heavy-hquid test work provides the basis for specifying the optimum screen size for the preparation of the feed. 

Pyrolysis Of the many alternative chemical conversion processes that have been investigated, pyrolysis has received the most attention. Pyrolysis has been tested in countless pilot plants, and many full-scale demonstration systems have been operated. Few attained any longterm commercial use. Major issues were lack of market for the unstable and acidic pyrolytic oils and the char. 

The proposed advanced PFBC cycle will permit a turbine inlet gas temperature of over 1535 K (2300°F) by burning a fuel gas produced by pyrolysis of the coal feed. Because the turbine fuel gas must be practicaUy particulate free, it passes through HTHP filters before combustion. The char residue from the pyrolyzer may be burned in a circulating AFBC or PFBC to produce steam for power or heating. The efficiency attainable in an advanced PFBC plant may be as hi as 50 percent (HHV basis). 

The catalytic combustor has great potential in the application of gas turbines in new combined cycle power plants as the NO emissions in high attainment areas will have to be below 2 ppm. 

Ammonium Sulfate Plants - In ammonium sulfate plants, use of fabrie filters, with injeetion of absorbent as neeessary, is the preferred means of eontrol. Discharges of not more than 0.1 kg/t of produet should be attainable for particulate matter. 

The Japanese Direct Iron Ore Smelting (DIOS) process. This process produces molten iron directly with coal and sinter feed ore. A 500 ton per day pilot plant was started up in October, 1993 and the designed production rates were attained as a short term average. Data generated is being used to determine economic feasibility on a commercial scale. 

Various methods of scale-up have been proposed all based on geometric similarity between the laboratory equipment and the full-scale plant. It is not always possible to have the large and small vessels geometrically similar, although it is perhaps the simplest to attain. If geometric similarity is achievable, dynamic and kinematic similarity cannot often be predicted at the same time. For these reasons, experience and judgment are relied on with aspects to scale-up. 

Consider the oil-recycling plant shown in Fig. 3.16. In this plant, two types of waste oil are handled gas oil and lube oil. The two streams are first deashed and demetallized. Next, atmospheric distillation is used to obtain light gases, gas oil, and a heavy product. The heavy product is distilled under vacuum to yield lube oil. Both the gas oil and the lube oil should be further processed to attain desired properties. The gas oil is steam stripped to remove light and sulfur impurities, then hydrotreated. The lube oil is dewaxed/deasphalted using solvent extraction followed by steam stripping. 

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