Processing equipment

Processors businesses are also affected by technology in this case, it is the equipment they use. Not only equipment types, but also the scale and range of integration come into play when considering the technology impact on the nature of processors business models. 

To a large extent, a processor s equipment defines the business of that processor. A molder with 2500 ton clamp presses is more likely to be involved in business machine or automotive markets than in power tool 

As mentioned earlier, some processors specialize in types of materials processed, such as thermosets, or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Again, this tends to define the markets served, as well. Thermoset molders are likely to be focused on electrical/electronics and PTFE processors on chemical process equipment and some automotive components. 

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Walas, S. M., Chemical Process Equipment Selection and Design, Butterworth, Reading, Mass., 1988. 

The battery limit is a geographic boundary which deflnes the manufacturing area of the process. This includes process equipment and buildings or structures to house it but excludes boilerhouse facilities, pollution control, site infrastructure, etc. 

If produced gas contains water vapour it may have to be dried (dehydrated). Water condensation in the process facilities can lead to hydrate formation and may cause corrosion (pipelines are particularly vulnerable) in the presence of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide. Hydrates are formed by physical bonding between water and the lighter components in natural gas. They can plug pipes and process equipment. Charts such as the one below are available to predict when hydrate formation may become a problem. 

Once injection water treatment requirements have been established, process equipment must be sized to deal with the anticipated throughput. In a situation where water injection is the primary source of reservoir energy it is common to apply a voidage replacement policy, i.e. produced volumes are replaced by Injected volumes. An allowance above this capacity would be specified to cover equipment downtime. 

In Section 10.0, we have discussed process design and processing equipment rather than the layout oi production facilities. Once a process scheme has been defined, the fashion in which equipment and plant is located is determined partly by transportation considerations (e.g. pipeline specifications) but also by the surface environment. 

BE-M71 Continuous corrosion surveillance of process equipement by new felectrochemicah sensina techninues and devices Dr. 2heng Jian Hua METALOGIC NV... 

Computer modelling provides powerful and convenient tools for the quantitative analysis of fluid dynamics and heat transfer in non-Newtonian polymer flow systems. Therefore these techniques arc routmely used in the modern polymer industry to design and develop better and more efficient process equipment and operations. The main steps in the development of a computer model for a physical process, such as the flow and deformation of polymeric materials, can be summarized as ... 

Adsorption of t-PA to process equipment surfaces consisting of either stainless steel or glass was minimized by adding the detergent polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) to the semm-free culture conditioned media at 0.01% (vol/vol). The equipment was also rinsed, before use, with phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 0.01% Tween 80. Hydrophilic, plastic equipment was used whenever possible. AH buffers were sterile filtered. Sterile filtration of Hquids and gases is usually carried out using 0.2 or 0.45 p.m filters. 

The three principal methods of batch proportioning are accumulative, sequential, and simultaneous the best method for a given appHcation depends on the processing equipment available and the accuracy required. 

Safe handling practices are essential at all stages of production, from the laboratory to the manufacturing operations. The safety committee should inspect and advise on processing equipment and be responsible for providing personal protection, eye wash fountains, safety showers, etc. 

Brine Preparation. Sodium chloride solutions are occasionally available naturally but they are more often obtained by solution mining of salt deposits. Raw, near-saturated brines containing low concentrations of impurities such as magnesium and calcium salts, are purified to prevent scaling of processing equipment and contamination of the product. Some brines also contain significant amounts of sulfates (see Chemicals FROMBRINe). Brine is usually purified by a lime—soda treatment where the magnesium is precipitated with milk of lime (Ca(OH)2) and the calcium precipitated with soda ash. After separation from the precipitated impurities, the brine is sent to the ammonia absorbers. 

AvaUabUity and cost of raw materials and processing equipment Simplicity and cost of manufacture and inspection Manufacturing hazards PropeUant viscosity and flowabUity Environmental considerations... 

With process equipment With personnel (toxicity)... 

Fig. 1. Fine chemicals plant design showing successive additions of processing equipment, where A represents the reaction vessel with agitator B, centrifuge C, dryer D, crystaUi2ation vessel E, raw material feed tanks F, centrifuge which may have an automatic discharge G, mother Hquor tank H,...

Handling and Safety Factors. Oxygen difluoride can be handled easily and safely in glass and in common metals such as stainless steel, copper, aluminum. Monel, and nickel, from cryogenic temperatures to 200°C (4). At higher temperatures only nickel and Monel are recommended. The compatibihty of OF2 with process equipment depends largely on the cleanliness of the equipment contaminants such as dkt, moisture, oil, grease, scale... 

Of the common commercial resias and films, PVDC has the best water-vapor and oxygen-barrier properties. High crystallinity confers resistance to the permeation of odors and flavors, as weU as to fat and oil. Because of its high chloride content, PVDC tends to corrode processing equipment, which increases manufacturing costs. Unlike other high oxygen-barrier materials, PVDC is almost insensitive to water and water vapor. 

The next part of the procedure involves risk assessment. This includes a deterrnination of the accident probabiUty and the consequence of the accident and is done for each of the scenarios identified in the previous step. The probabiUty is deterrnined using a number of statistical models generally used to represent failures. The consequence is deterrnined using mostiy fundamentally based models, called source models, to describe how material is ejected from process equipment. These source models are coupled with a suitable dispersion model and/or an explosion model to estimate the area affected and predict the damage. The consequence is thus determined. 

The first step in the procedure is to define the purpose, objectives, and scope of the study. The more precisely this is done, the more focused and relevant the committee discussions can be. The next step is to collect all relevant information on the process under consideration. This includes flow diagrams, process equipment specifications, nominal flows, etc. The procedure is highly dependent on the reflabiUty of this information. Efforts expended here are worthwhile. Many committees use the flow sheet as the central stmcture to organize thek discussions. 

Table 3 lists typical failure rate data for a variety of types of process equipment. Large variations between these numbers and specific equipment can be expected. However, this table demonstrates a very fundamental principle the more compHcated the device, the higher the failure rate. Thus switches and thermocouples have low failure rates gas—Hquid chromatographs have high failure rates. 

Yokes. The need to couple the end cover to the body of the vessel may be avoided if yokes, external to the vessel, are used to resist the load arising from the internal pressure acting on the closures. However the necessity to move the vessel out of the yoke and remove one of the closures to gain access to the inside of the vessel limits its use for chemical process equipment. Yokes may be pinned, welded, bolted, or wire wound. Both the vessel and yoke maybe wire wound (136). 

Chromium is the most effective addition to improve the resistance of steels to corrosion and oxidation at elevated temperatures, and the chromium—molybdenum steels are an important class of alloys for use in steam (qv) power plants, petroleum (qv) refineries, and chemical-process equipment. The chromium content in these steels varies from 0.5 to 10%. As a group, the low carbon chromium—molybdenum steels have similar creep—mpture strengths, regardless of the chromium content, but corrosion and oxidation resistance increase progressively with chromium content. 

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