Emerson Exchange 365

Activity

Jim Cahill
- 24 Aug 2018
Improving Chemical Industry Manufacturing Performance

One look at the economic news and you see that trading relationships among countries are changing from longstanding norms. For manufacturers, this uncertainty requires flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions. In a Process Engineering article, Connectivity can safeguard the chemicals sector , Emerson’s Patrick Deruytter shares ways that chemical producers and other manufacturers can better adapt. For...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Aug 2018
A Novel Thermodynamic-Based Metric: The Magic Bullet for Resource-Efficiency?

Author: Ana Gonzalez Hernandez In my previous post , I introduced the concept of resource efficiency: the integrated efficiency with which energy and materials are transformed in industrial processes. I mentioned that improvements in resource efficiency are considered indispensable to achieving globally agreed CO 2 emission and energy reduction targets. This is because trends in production volumes are predicted to...
Jim Cahill
- 7 Mar 2018
Petrochemicals-a Growth Area for Hydrocarbons

As alternative energy sources and energy storage technologies continue to advance, will the decrease in transportation fuel demand be mitigated by the growth in petrochemical demand? At CERAWeek 2018, Emerson’s Jamie Froedge joined a panel, Petrochemicals: Future pillar of growth for hydrocarbons?, to explore the role downstream hydrocarbons will play in overall demand. The panelists included leaders from Dow Chemical...
Jim Cahill
- 6 Mar 2018
Petrochemicals-a Growth Area for Hydrocarbons

As alternative energy sources and energy storage technologies continue to advance, will the decrease in transportation fuel demand be mitigated by the growth in petrochemical demand? At CERAWeek 2018, Emerson’s Jamie Froedge joined a panel, Petrochemicals: Future pillar of growth for hydrocarbons?, to explore the role downstream hydrocarbons will play in overall demand. The panelists included leaders from Dow Chemical...
Jim Cahill
- 12 Dec 2017
Reliable Control Valve Performance in Ethylene Production

Olefins, also known as alkenes, are unsaturated hydrocarbons, use to make many petrochemical products such as plastics. Olefin production, including ethylene, propylene and butadiene products, requires tight control for higher throughput, more energy efficient, and more reliable operations. In an article from The Chemical Engineer, Increasing Ethylene Conversion and Plant Reliability , Emerson’s Blake Coleman describes...
Jim Cahill
- 12 Dec 2017
Reliable Control Valve Performance in Ethylene Production

Olefins, also known as alkenes, are unsaturated hydrocarbons, use to make many petrochemical products such as plastics. Olefin production, including ethylene, propylene and butadiene products, requires tight control for higher throughput, more energy efficient, and more reliable operations. In an article from The Chemical Engineer, Increasing Ethylene Conversion and Plant Reliability , Emerson’s Blake Coleman describes...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Nov 2017
Reliable Switching Valves for Ethylene Production Molecular Sieve Applications

For a valve, zero leakage is defined as no visible leakage when tested at high pressure with water and low pressure with air according to existing international standards. Some of these seat leakage standards for control and isolation valves include ANSI/FCI 70-2/IEC 60534-4, API 598, MSS SP-61 and ISO 5208. ANSI/FCI 70-2 and IEC 60534-4. Emerson’s Vanessa triple offset valves (TOVs) were the first to provide bidirectional...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Nov 2017
Reliable Switching Valves for Ethylene Production Molecular Sieve Applications

For a valve, zero leakage is defined as no visible leakage when tested at high pressure with water and low pressure with air according to existing international standards. Some of these seat leakage standards for control and isolation valves include ANSI/FCI 70-2/IEC 60534-4, API 598, MSS SP-61 and ISO 5208. ANSI/FCI 70-2 and IEC 60534-4. Emerson’s Vanessa triple offset valves (TOVs) were the first to provide bidirectional...
Jim Cahill
- 17 Oct 2017
Laser Gas Analyzers for Optimizing Ethylene Production

The ethylene molecule consists of a double bond between carbon atoms and four hydrogen atoms bonded, two to each carbon atom. Per the Wikipedia Ethylene entry , it: …is widely used in the chemical industry, and its worldwide production (over 150 million tonnes in 2016 [5] ) exceeds that of any other organic compound . [6] [7] Much of this production goes toward polyethylene , a widely used plastic containing polymer...
Jim Cahill
- 17 Oct 2017
Laser Gas Analyzers for Optimizing Ethylene Production

The ethylene molecule consists of a double bond between carbon atoms and four hydrogen atoms bonded, two to each carbon atom. Per the Wikipedia Ethylene entry , it: …is widely used in the chemical industry, and its worldwide production (over 150 million tonnes in 2016 [5] ) exceeds that of any other organic compound . [6] [7] Much of this production goes toward polyethylene , a widely used plastic containing polymer...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Jun 2017
Digital Transformation in the Chemical Processing Industries

How are companies in the chemical processing industries looking at Industrial Internet of Things technologies to improve their operations? This question was the focus of a Chemical Engineering article, The Digital Transformation in the CPI . The article opens describing this digital transformation occurring: More and more, smart sensors and equipment that contain smart diagnostic features are being used in industry...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Jun 2017
Digital Transformation in the Chemical Processing Industries

How are companies in the chemical processing industries looking at Industrial Internet of Things technologies to improve their operations? This question was the focus of a Chemical Engineering article, The Digital Transformation in the CPI . The article opens describing this digital transformation occurring: More and more, smart sensors and equipment that contain smart diagnostic features are being used in industry...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Mar 2017
Gaining Insights in Addressing Corrosion and Flaring Challenges

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching—March 19-21 in San Antonio Texas. It is: …the world’s premier refining meeting, assembling key executives, decision-makers, and technical experts from refining businesses, technology providers, contracting and consulting firms, and equipment manufacturers around the world. If you’ll be attending, make sure to catch...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Mar 2017
Gaining Insights in Addressing Corrosion and Flaring Challenges

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching—March 19-21 in San Antonio Texas. It is: …the world’s premier refining meeting, assembling key executives, decision-makers, and technical experts from refining businesses, technology providers, contracting and consulting firms, and equipment manufacturers around the world. If you’ll be attending, make sure to catch...
Jim Cahill
- 26 Sep 2016
Optimizing Distillation for Increased Methanol Capacity

James Gremillion Author: James Gremillion When the process licensor designed your methanol plant, everything fit together to exactly produce the nameplate amount of methanol yearly. In the design there were necessary tradeoffs made because of costs, physical size, availability of materials, etc. In designing the distillation section, for example, the licensor did a calculation of how many theoretical trays were needed...
Jim Cahill
- 26 Sep 2016
Optimizing Distillation for Increased Methanol Capacity

James Gremillion Author: James Gremillion When the process licensor designed your methanol plant, everything fit together to exactly produce the nameplate amount of methanol yearly. In the design there were necessary tradeoffs made because of costs, physical size, availability of materials, etc. In designing the distillation section, for example, the licensor did a calculation of how many theoretical trays were...
Jim Cahill
- 18 Aug 2016
Avoiding Corrosion while Increasing Urea Production

James Gremillion Author: James Gremillion One of the key problems urea plants face is corrosion. The corrosion problem rests with one chemical produced by the urea process, ammonium carbamate . Ammonium carbamate is produced by reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide at high pressures (up to 200 bar ) in a special reactor. The urea reactor is a reactor vessel inside a protective shell. Should there be a leak in the...
Jim Cahill
- 18 Aug 2016
Avoiding Corrosion while Increasing Urea Production

James Gremillion Author: James Gremillion One of the key problems urea plants face is corrosion. The corrosion problem rests with one chemical produced by the urea process, ammonium carbamate . Ammonium carbamate is produced by reacting ammonia and carbon dioxide at high pressures (up to 200 bar ) in a special reactor. The urea reactor is a reactor vessel inside a protective shell. Should there be a leak in the...
Jim Cahill
- 10 Aug 2016
Optimizing the Ammonia Production Process

James Gremillion Author: James Gremillion One of the earliest applications of “computer control”, a now archaic term, on an ammonia plant was done in 1969 by Weissenfelder and Shah of Borden Chemical and IBM respectively. They were able to implement advanced control schemes in a computer that had proven to be too difficult to do in the pneumatic and electronic controllers of the time. Ammonia production increased...
Jim Cahill
- 5 Jul 2016
Urea Production Automation Challenges

Urea is a key component in nitrogen-rich fertilizers. Typically, the urea production process begins with hydrogen from natural gas and nitrogen in the air to produce ammonia. Urea is produced from the combination of ammonia and carbon dioxide. Urea producers must balance throughput with efficiency and the quality of the urea produced. In a new whitepaper, 4 Solutions for Urea Automation Challenges , Emerson’s James...
Jim Cahill
- 7 Jun 2016
Opportunities in the Petrochemical Industry

The petrochemical industry has benefitted from the huge supply increase of natural gas and liquids from shale gas here in the U.S. I’m in New Orleans for the next few days at the Petrochemical Engineering & Construction conference. Simultaneously the Gulf Coast Shutdowns & Turnarounds conference will be happening. Each conference has a Twitter hashtag you can follow at #PEC16 and #GCST16 . I’ll be using these hashtags...
Jim Cahill
- 3 Mar 2015
Outlook for Chemical and Specialty Chemical Manufacturers

The post Outlook for Chemical and Specialty Chemical Manufacturers appeared first on the Emerson Process Experts blog. In the news every day we see the changes in economic activity in the upstream oil & gas exploration and production business caused by the significant drop in oil prices over the past several months. Peter Cox Director, Global Chemical Industry But what have been the implications for downstream producers...
Jim Cahill
- 2 Dec 2014
Solving Thermal Oxidizer Interacting Loops

Sonal Gilani Chemical Industry Program Manager Author: Sonal Gilani In an earlier post, Improving Energy Efficiency in Thermal Oxidizers , I highlighted how switching control loops from manual to automatic mode improved overall efficiency. James Beall Principal Process Control Consultant Emerson’s James Beall shared a second story on this thermal oxidizer equipment, which is used to destroy the waste gases containing...
Jim Cahill
- 12 Nov 2014
Improving Energy Efficiency in Thermal Oxidizers

Sonal Gilani Chemical Industry Program Manager Author: Sonal Gilani Thermal oxidizers are used to destroy the waste gases containing volatile organic compounds (VOC) and volatile hazardous air pollutants (HAP) by raising the temperature of the material above its auto ignition point in the presence of oxygen. The high temperature is maintained for sufficient time to complete combustion to carbon dioxide and water...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Aug 2014
Solving Reactor Water Drum Level Problems

Mark Brewer Senior Consultant Author: Mark Brewer I was asked by the engineers at a chemical manufacturing site here in the United Kingdom if I could have a quick look at a level control problem in a reactor coolant water drum. They have 2 very large...