Sources of information on manufacturing processes

Sources of data on costs were discussed in Chapter 6 and materials of construction in Chapter 7. This chapter covers sources of information on manufacturing processes and physical properties and the estimation of physical property data. Information on the types of equipment (unit operations) used in chemical process plants is given in Volume 2, and in the Chapters concerned with equipment selection and design in this Volume, Chapters 10, 11 and 12. 

The literature on the physical properties of elements and compounds is extensive, and reliable values for common materials can usually be found. The principal sources of physical property data are listed in the references at the end of this chapter. 

Where values cannot be found, the data required will have to be measured experimentally or estimated. Methods of estimating (predicting) the more important physical properties required for design are given in this chapter. A physical property data bank is given in Appendix C. 

Readers who are unfamiliar with the sources of information, and the techniques used for searching the literature, should consult one of the many guides to the technical literature that have been published such as those by Lord (2000) and Maizell (1998). 

In this section the sources of information available in the open literature on commercial processes for the production of chemicals and related products are reviewed. 

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Thermoplastics. Many thermoplastics can be joined by solvent or heat welding as well as with adhesives. These alternative joining processes are discussed in detail in another chapter. The plastic manufacturer is generally the leading source of information on the proper methods of joining a particular plastic. 

There are but a few typical basic polymer resin suppliers. However, there are many companies that formulate filled plastic systems from these basic resins. These smaller companies are quite often the ultimate suppliers to the manufacturer of the end-product. Both the basic resin manufacturer and the formulator have considerable influence on the joining characteristics of the final material. Because of this, they should be considered to be the primary source of information regarding joining processes and expected end results. 

However, there is not much information available about plastic properties besides density and melt flow index (MFI). Having no consistent grade or/and source of plastics, a manufacturer faces from time to time a significant variation in the flowability of a polymer that is already purchased, sometimes in amounts of rail cars. These variations lead to improper process settings for production. This in turn results in a variety of defects on the surface of extruded profiles, such as sharkskin (fish skin), surface roughness, edge tearing, and so forth, and other property inconsistency in the final product. 

For the last 20 years. Synapse Information Resources has established itself as a primary source for information on trade name and generic chemical products. Data from technical specification sheets, brochures, and MSDS from over 4,000 chemical manufacturers and their branches are collected, processed and updated on a continuous basis. This research has yielded comprehensive profiles on the generic chemicals contained in this reference that are currently used in a variety of formulated end products. This two-volume reference profiles these chemicals, lists and fully cross-references their chemical and trade name synonyms, and presents full contact information for their generic and trade name chemical manufacturers (including email and internet addresses). 

Additional details on joining plastics by adhesive bonding, direct heat welding, indirect heat welding, frictional welding, solvent cementing, or mechanical fastening can be found in numerous places. The best source of information is often the plastic resin manufacturers themselves. They often freely offer related recipes and processes, because it is in their interest that their materials successfully find implementation in joined components. 

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