Modifications chemical industry

Emission Standards. In order to have a nationwide basis for air pollution emission controls and to set a minimum emission limit, the EPA developed New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). The NSPS set specific poUutant emission limits or describe the best available control technology (BACT) that should be appUed at that source. The EPA has issued NSPS, which apply to new constmction as weU as to large modifications, for many different sources. Sources in the chemical industry include the foUowing. 

The commercial exploitation of our increased understanding of protein stmcture will not, of course, be restricted to the pharmaceutical industry. The industrial use of enzymes in the chemical industry, the development of new and more specific pesticides and herbicides, the modification of enzymes in order to change the composition of plant oils and plant carbohydrates are all examples of other commercial developments that depend, in part, on understanding the structure of particular proteins at high resolution. 

The incident shows once again how a simple modification, in this case adding liquid to the bottom of a tank instead of the top, can produce an unforeseen hazard. In the oil and chemical industries we are taught to add liquid to the bottom of a tank, not the top, to prevent splashing, the production of mist, and the generation of static electricity (see Section 5.4.1). No rule is universal. 

Amoco Amoco Chemicals Company, a subsidiary of Amoco Corporation, formerly Standard Oil Company (IN), is best known in the chemicals industry for its modification of the Mid-Century process for making pure terephthalic acid. /7-Xylene in acetic acid solution is oxidized with air at high temperature and pressure. Small amounts of manganese, cobalt, and bromide are used as catalysts. The modification allows the use of terephthalic acid, rather than dimethyl terephthalate, for making fiber. The process can also be used for oxidizing other methylbenzenes and methylnaphthalenes to aromatic carboxylic acids. See also Maruzen. 

The use of the Draize tests has been receiving attention for a number of years because of animal welfare considerations. Consequently, the modifications of the existing protocol and the development of alternative methods have been extensively examined by the cosmetic and chemical industry to reduce animal usage and the occurrence of severe reactions. One modification of this model uses reduced volumes of 0.01 mL and 0.01 g, which reduces severe reactions but does not compromise the predictive value of the test. 

Probably the law that has specifically affected the chemical industry the most is the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Since it was signed on October 11, 1976 and became effective on January 1, 1977, it has caused many changes in the industry and will create further modifications in the years to come. The basic thrust of the law is threefold (1) to develop data on the effects of chemicals on our health and environment, (2) to grant authority to the EPA to regulate substances presenting an unreasonable risk, and (3) to assure that this authority is exercised so as not to impede technological innovation. 

Rarely in the pharmaceutical industry is a new plant built to accommodate a new process or product It may happen in the petrochemical industry, where economies of scale mean that product-specific plants are designed from scratch and then continuously de-bottlenecked over a number of years to increase and optimize productivity, but it is not the case in the pharmaceutical industry, where the number of types of unit operations in use is generally fairly small and fixed. Within a multi-purpose chemical plant commonly found in the batch chemical industry, it is common practice for process designers to make do with what is available on a given site to avoid capital expenditure and plant shut-down for modifications. 

Common sense and the OSHA Process Safety Management standard require a formal method to effectively deal with change in the chemical industry. The safety designed into the original process often occurs after a multidisciplined design team agonized for the optimum arrangement of process and layout. This process safety must not be jeopardized by modification schemes of poor quality. 

Kletz s article also presented the 1976 procedures utilized by Imperial Chemicals Industries, Ltd. (ICI) Wilton, England. It stated that within the Petrochemicals Division of ICI, any modification, even if it is very inexpensive, or temporary, must be authorized in writing by a competent manager (or, in the United States, a second line supervisor) and an engineer. [6]... 

There is a variation on the basic 3c and R chart idea that we wish to illustrate here next, because of its frequent use in chemical industry applications. That is the making of a so-called x and MR chart pair. The motivation for this modification of the ideas outlined thus far in this section is that in many chemical process monitoring contexts the natural group size is n = 1. A mean of n = 1 observation ) is simply that observation itself, and the limits of (5-9) make perfectly good sense for the case of n = 1. That is, the analog of an x chart for n = 1 cases is clear, at least if one has an externally provided value for cr. But what, if anything, to do for an... 

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