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Chemical Industry Blog
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Tools for Solving Compressible Fluid Flow Challenges with Today’s DP Technologies
7 hours ago
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Tools for Solving Compressible Fluid Flow Challenges with Today’s DP Technologies
Jim Cahill
In an automation.com article, Emerson’s Michael Flesch explains how advances in DP flow metering technology solve measurement challenges of compressible fluids. One of the perpetual instrumentation challenges that engineering students and working technicians face is measuring the flow of a gas, or worse, steam. The main problems emerge due to the compressible nature of such fluids, resulting in far more variables entering…
7 May 2024
How to Understand and Use a Great Tool: Instrumentation Diagnostics
Jim Cahill
In a Process Instrumentation article, Emerson’s Kelly Albano looks at a powerful but often underutilized tool, instrumentation diagnostics, and shows how you can use them to improve operations. Recently, while loading some software onto my computer, I saw a message at the end: Software Installed Successfully! Maybe this doesn’t sound like much, but it’s always reassuring when something has worked as it’s supposed to…
29 Apr 2024
Managing Equipment Damage Caused by Corrosive Feedstocks Encountered with Biofuel Production (Part 2)
Jim Cahill
When we talk about renewable fuels to the general public, many might imagine cars running on gasoline made from wildflowers and meadow grass. However, those who work in the industry recognize that the fats and oils used to make renewable diesel can be just about anything but that, and in fact often come from more prosaic sources, such as meatpacking waste. From a process viewpoint, waste sources can cause serious problems…
15 Apr 2024
Micro Motion™︎ G-Series: Precision in a Compact Package
Jim Cahill
Over many years working with end users who are trying to solve challenging flow measurement problems, I’ve often suggested that a Coriolis mass flow meter is exactly the technology solution needed, but in some cases an alternative is preferred for a variety of reasons. Just to review, let’s mention a few of the reasons why Micro Motion Coriolis Mass Flow Meters are so versatile in many straightforward and difficult…
26 Mar 2024
Solving Corrosion Problems by Treating Metal Deterioration as a Process Variable
Jim Cahill
Imagine that you’re called into your plant to solve a recurring problem. The operator states: “We’ve had to replace this valve three times this year due to failures from over pressure.” Your first question is pretty obvious: “How high is the pressure?” The operator shrugs and responds with a perfectly straight face: “We don’t know. We don’t measure it.” As absurd as this scenario sounds, it happens every day in facilities…
19 Mar 2024
Modernization and Extension of Existing Batch Production Plants
Jim Cahill
In his presentation at the Emerson Exchange EMEA 2024 in Düsseldorf, Sven Girgensohn, E-EMC/OT E&I Engineering at BASF Personal Care & Nutrition GmbH , described how a modernized control system is supporting the need for greater flexibility and reliability of both new and existing production lines at its plant in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Düsseldorf plant is BASF’s third-largest site in Europe. The Düsseldorf plant…
12 Mar 2024
Retrofitting a New Transmitter to an Existing Micro Motion™︎ Coriolis Flow Meter Adds New Capabilities
Jim Cahill
Most of us know someone who carries a really old smartphone, or maybe just a cellphone. Some people do this deliberately as a statement, but others just can’t be bothered with doing an upgrade. Everybody doesn’t need the latest whiz-bang technology, but many truly useful capabilities don’t work on old platforms. Such can be the reality in many industrial environments, where the pinnacle of achievement for some is still…
11 Mar 2024
Digital transformation in chemical processing: how to start small to scale big..
Jim Cahill
The chemical industry is facing a unique challenge: a need for growth along with environmental regulations that each day are becoming stricter and more urgent. Limited resources, an aging workforce, aging equipment: achieving both efficiency and sustainability can seem impossible. But there’s a solution: creating an ecosystem of real-time data and actionable insights. In a word, digital transformation. Unlocking Data…
28 Feb 2024
Measurement Integrity for Improved Mass Balance
Jim Cahill
Based on physics and chemistry’s conservation of mass law, mass can be neither created nor destroyed. Mass balance is: The mass that enters a system must, by conservation of mass, either leave the system or accumulate within the system. I offer this as background for my communications with Emerson’s Martin McDonough , who shared with me its use in chemical plant losses and production accounting. The gain or loss is…
13 Dec 2023
Industrial Software Helps Pipeline Operators Transition to More Sustainable Operation
Jim Cahill
Today, it’s not only the public calling for more sustainability commitment from industry. In many cases, investors are increasing their interest in companies’ sustainability plans as well, leading more and more organizations to make very public commitments to reaching net zero emissions within the next decade or two. But for every commitment made, there are many people supporting the company’s operations who must find…
9 Nov 2023
Modern Software Drives Cutting-Edge Terminal Operations
Jim Cahill
Terminals are businesses, and, like any business, they face competition in the marketplace. A terminal that can turn vessels around more quickly provides added value to customers who in turn can use that extra time to create more value in their own businesses. So, to stay competitive, today’s terminals must maximize their throughput capacity and efficiency. However, today’s terminals are more complex than ever, just…
31 Oct 2023
Emerson PACSystems Edge Solutions Accelerate Digital Transformation & Eliminates Software Compatibility Issues
Jim Cahill
Edge technology and IIoT use continues to expand, with over one-third of the industrial market adopting these technologies so far, and many more evaluating them. A recent article by editor-at-large Seán Ottewell for Chemical Processing August 2023 titled Chemical Industry Embraces Edge Computing highlighted some opportunities and challenges presented by edge used in industry, and it included my input and thoughts on the…
27 Oct 2023
Improving Fired Heater Efficiency and Performance
Jim Cahill
In chemical manufacturing operations, fired heaters are used to provide heat for the desired chemical reactions. They are a significant component in energy usage—in fact, 37% of the U.S. manufacturing end use, and improving their efficiency translates directly to the bottom line. 30% to 50% of an operating budget is typically spent on energy. I caught up with Martin McDonough about ways that chemical manufacturers can…
27 Oct 2023
Driving Safer Chemical Manufacturing Performance
Jim Cahill
Safety is consistently among the highest priorities for manufacturers and producers. Critical goals are to avoid safety incidents, keep site personnel safe, protect the community around you, protect the environment as a whole, and improve your corporate financial health. A robust safety culture has many facets, including occupational safety, containment safety, process safety, and functional safety. I caught up with…
18 Oct 2023
Modern Pipeline Engineering Requires the Best Software
Jim Cahill
Pipeline operations are vastly different than they were just five or ten short years ago. One key area in which this is true is in the rise of renewables and sustainability. Today’s pipelines are moving new products like hydrogen or carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from carbon capture operations along with the old standards, and these changes significantly impact their operations. Fortunately, as Paul Dickerson and Dr. Jon…
17 Oct 2023
Safe, Reliable and Accurate Loading and Unloading Operations
Jim Cahill
Loading and unloading operations for chemical producers must be performed safely, reliably, and accurately. I caught up with Emerson’s Martin McDonough on ways to mitigate risks and improve operational performance. These operations can be some of the highest-risk operations within a facility and account for as much as 80% of transport-related incidents. In addition to mitigating risks to personnel and the environment…
26 Sep 2023
Advancing a Plastics Manufacturing Circular Economy
Jim Cahill
We’ve all seen images of plastic trash floating in the oceans and huge landfill locations. A lot of work is going into how to recycle this waste to drive greater sustainability. In a ControlGlobal.com article, Automation enables a circular economy for plastic recycling , Emerson’s Don Fregelette highlights the role of automation in “creating a sustainable solution for plastic trash by improving manufacturing processes…
18 Sep 2023
Improving Maintenance and Monitoring to Advance Sustainability Programs
Jim Cahill
Click to enlarge If you were to ask most people in the chemical processing industry about the kinds of steps necessary to support sustainability efforts, you’d likely get a variety of complex answers citing alternate energy sources, rethinking supply chains, and suggesting major changes to processes. These may all be valid, but let’s suggest something very practical, and doable right now: tightening up plant maintenance…
7 Sep 2023
Achieving Repeatable Golden Batches
Jim Cahill
The term “golden batch” describes the ideal batch production against which all other produced batches are compared. I caught up with Emerson’s Martin McDonough about how this concept applies to chemical manufacturers with batch production processes. Martin shared some industry statistics with me. Many of these chemical manufacturers operate with a “Right-First-Time” metric between 40-70%. The bad batches increase cycle…
6 Sep 2023
Digital Solutions for Driving More Sustainable Production
Jim Cahill
At the EHS (Environmental, Health & Safety) Seminar , Emerson’s Michael Machuca presented Digital Solutions to Achieve Your Sustainability and Decarbonization Goals. This conference focuses on companies within the petrochemical industry. Michael opened his presentation by citing that 37% of U.S. manufacturing energy consumption is by the chemical industry. In an analysis by Worley, opportunities to drive more sustainable…
24 Aug 2023
4 reasons why radar level is superior to ultrasonic level technology
Jim Cahill
4 reasons why radar level is superior to ultrasonic level technology: Radar and ultrasonic level measurements are both widely used in industrial and environmental applications for measuring the level of liquids and solids in lift stations, tanks, and open channel flows. Both technologies work on the principle of measuring the time of flight between the transmission of the signal and its reflection from the surface…
11 Jul 2023
Master Liquid Storage Operations with Digital Twin Technology
Jim Cahill
Competing in the modern, competitive liquid storage market means keeping customers happy, a task that is difficult to accomplish using a traditional model of terminal operation. Efficiency is the name of the game, and most terminals today simply don’t have access to the high numbers of experienced personnel necessary to stay competitive. However, as Ryan Thompson explains in his recent article in Tanks & Terminals …
6 Jun 2023
Navigate Uncharted Territory with Industrial Software
Jim Cahill
The hydrocarbon industry is rapidly evolving, adapting to support new product demand, increased focus on sustainability , and an increasing need for flexibility. As a result, hydrocarbon process manufacturers have needed to dramatically change the toolbox they employ to support their operations. As Dustin Beebe and Monil Malhotra explain in their recent article in Hydrocarbon Engineering magazine, hydrocarbon manufacturers…
11 Apr 2023
Three Strategies to Implement More Cybersecure Pipeline Operations
Jim Cahill
Managing the cybersecurity of thousands of miles of pipelines can be difficult for even the largest teams. It used to be safe to assume that pipelines would fly under the radar for cyberattacks. Even though they are a critical infrastructure element, they weren’t something hackers focused on. However, a recent series of high-profile attacks on pipeline infrastructure has changed that outlook, and today, the organizations…
27 Feb 2023
Three Strategies to Implement More Cybersecure Pipeline Operations
Jim Cahill
Managing the cybersecurity of thousands of miles of pipelines can be difficult for even the largest teams. It used to be safe to assume that pipelines would fly under the radar for cyberattacks. Even though they are a critical infrastructure element, they weren’t something hackers focused on. However, a recent series of high-profile attacks on pipeline infrastructure has changed that outlook, and today, the organizations…
27 Feb 2023
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