Meticulous verification, the last of the four societal themes of Vision 20/20, helps to assure that an organization’s process safety management program is reliable. Companies in the process industries use various verification, assessment, and...
December
2017
A tank car filled with dimethyl ether (DME) arrived at a factory in Ludwigshafen, Germany, in July 1948, where it was parked in the sunlight for about 10 hours. It is believed that during this time a weld seam of the tank car failed, allowing DME to...
December
2017
A patent gives its owner the right to block others from making, using, or selling products within the patent’s claims, or to demand a license fee for doing so. However, if the patent owner sells a unit covered by the patent’s claims, the patent...
December
2017
Operations and Maintenance Device Communicator Connects Field Device Data with Asset Management Tools Enhancements to the AMS Trex handheld communicator automatically synchronize field data with the AMS device manager database, enabling maintenance...
December
2017
The innovative endeavors of chemical engineers across specializations were on tap at the 2017 AIChE Annual Meeting, Oct. 29–Nov. 3, in Minneapolis, MN. More than 5,600 delegates from 54 countries attended the conference, which offered more than 780...
December
2017
My conscience nags me when I don’t call my mom back. It forms a knot in my chest when I owe my friend for lunch. And, its nagging greets me first thing in the morning if I neglect my work. It is a constant reminder of my obligations, which require...
December
2017
As the worldwide price of solar photovoltaic (PV) energy decreases, a growing amount of consumers are adopting PV technologies. In 2016, the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) for domestic utility-scale solar power reached $0.07/kWh, which is competitive with the cost of coal-generated power. However, the current cost of residential solar power remains at $0.18/kWh, which has prevented broader adoption of solar power.
December
2017
December is here, and along with celebrating the holiday season, many of us are thinking about making New Year’s resolutions. If you are contemplating quitting smoking, losing weight, exercising more, or saving more money, you are not alone. These...
December
2017
Chemically Reacting Flow: Theory, Modeling, and Simulation, 2nd Ed. Robert J. Kee, Michael E. Coltrin, Peter Glarborg, and Huayang Zhu, AIChE-Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, $195, 792 pages, Sept. 2017, ISBN: 978-1-119-18487-4 This book combines fundamental...
December
2017
Roy Jackson, a pioneer in the fields of process optimization and control, chemical reaction engineering, and the mechanics of granular materials and fluidized beds, has earned a reputation as one of the world’s leading thinkers in the field of...
