Chemical Manufacturing News

According to Chemical Processing's 2013 Salary and Job Satisfaction Survey, chemical industry compensation continues to nudge upwards, with the average annual salary for full time chemical engineers rising to $104,884 from $103,340 a year ago. The average annual raise settled in at 4.27%, up 12 basis points from last year, while bonuses inched up to $6,483 compared to $6,318 the prior year. Still, despite steady salary gains since 2011, many survey respondents expressed concern that their compensation was not keeping up with the rising cost of living and worried that raises and benefits may be curtailed if the economy sputters.

The Orbiting Screw Conical Mixer/Dryer can be the most versatile piece of equipment in your process with its ability to mix, blend, coat, dry, and cook. The low-shear 3D mixing created by the tapered screw and orbital arm will ensure minimal product damage. Contact Heinkel to learn more today!

A direct steam injection heater provides a cost-effective method to heat water and other fluids by injecting steam directly into the fluid. The direct injection heater is designed to handle a wide range of flow rates and deliver hot fluids at precise temperatures. View video.

U.S. Plastic Corporation is your source for a huge line of bottles, labware, tanks, tubing, barrels, containers, sheet, buckets, and many other plastic MRO products. Check us out from your desktop, cell phone, or from our traditional catalog.

Ultra Electronics is the leading supplier of sanitary temperature sensors, thermowells, and transmitters to end users, OEMs, and process skid suppliers. We have over 30 years of experience in providing accurate and robust solutions for sanitary process temperature measurements.

Improving chemical metering is an ongoing challenge, but Watson-Marlow has proven up to the task with its newest Qdos 30 pump range. Fully sealed for tool-free maintenance, the new pumps boost process efficiency by providing accurate and repeatable flow performance from 0.1 to 500 ml/min at 7 bar. The pump has no seals or valves in the flow path that can clog, leak, or corrode, thus ensuring safe metering of even the most caustic, abrasive, or viscous fluids.

Keeping track of inventory, whether wind turbine blades or chemical drums, is a time-consuming and often inefficient process. The task is made even more difficult when stuff moves around a lot; for example, between plants or to and from off-site storage facilities. German engineers designed a solution for one large customer that has potential worldwide. It's a digital inventory management system that uses a GPS module and motion sensors to simplify tracking and taking inventory.

An innovative initiative is underway in northern Spain to turn the waste matter generated from biogas plants into high-grade organic fertilizers. Directed by the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, a pilot plant is being built that will take in the organic byproduct, subject it to chemical hydrolysis and then granulate it. The bio-fertilizer will be a slow-release organic microgranulate that requires lower dosage than conventional fertilizers and can be customized for specific crops and soils.

If a new process for "burning" coal developed at Ohio State University proves commercially viable, coal-fired power could go from one of the dirtiest to one of the cleanest forms of energy virtually overnight. The process is called coal direct chemical looping, or CDCL The technology uses tiny metal beads to carry oxygen to the fuel, sparking the chemical reaction. Carbon from the coal binds with the oxygen from the iron oxide and creates carbon dioxide, which rises into a chamber where it is captured.

From grounding drums and IBC's to tanker trucks, this handbook is a complimentary practical guide for engineers/plant managers on static electricity control. It addresses controlling hazards associated with discharges of static electricity in flammable/explosive atmospheres. Get your no charge copy of Newson Gale's Grounding and Bonding applications handbook.

The DMQX™ bead mill features an enhanced disc/rod design that significantly improves grinding efficiency. The new system dramatically increases milling effectiveness with shorter milling times and lower shaft speeds. This leads to less wear on seal faces and other wearing parts, which in turn results in significant cost savings.

Strategic solutions and comprehensive technical product assistance in design, temperature ranges and purity level qualifications make Technical Glass Products your best source for fused quartz labware, flat stock, rod, and tubing. Manufactured with the most stringent standards and tolerances, these products are fully guaranteed for workmanship and quality.

Chemac's Process Equipment Division specializes in high-pressure equipment (pumps, valves, piping, etc.) and services for all types of chemical, petrochemical, oil, and gas process equipment requiring positive pressure applications. From individual pieces of equipment to complete commercial size production facilities, Chemac has what you need for high-pressure applications.

Food packaging experts have made huge strides developing edible antimicrobial films and coatings. These new materials work by releasing preservatives or antimicrobial ingredients directly onto the product itself. Now, scientists have discovered that all-natural essential oils from oregano and cloves are potent antimicrobial agents in film packaging for poultry. These oils showed high effectiveness against the main spoilers that appeared on the surface of refrigerated skinless chicken breasts.

Two European specialty chemical companies have teamed up to produce caprolactone lactide co-polymers for greener coatings, adhesives, and plastics. Netherlands-based Purac, a specialist in renewable lactic acid-based chemicals, and Perstorp, a Swedish producer of specialty products for coatings and plastics, will market the products for use as polyols for coatings, sealants, elastomers, biodegradable plastics, and hot-melt adhesives.

Nanotechnology has opened the door to a tiny implantable blood testing device that can warn of an impending heart attack, check glucose levels in diabetics, or monitor a cancer patient's chemotherapy treatment. Invented by academic scientists in Switzerland, the minuscule, battery-less under-the-skin device is equipped with seven electrochemical and molecular sensors. As explained in this video, an intelligent patch on top of the skin collects the data and transmits it via Bluetooth connection to a physician's iPad or smartphone.

Intense light may prove to be key to preventing rust. Chemical engineers at the University of Michigan discovered that copper nanoparticles didn't oxidize when exposed to intense white light like they did when kept in darkness. When propylene and oxygen were added to the nano-mix, not only did the copper remain in its metallic state, but it turned 50% of the propylene into propylene oxide, a heavily-used industrial chemical. The discovery could pave the way for a catalyst that can form propylene oxide in a more efficient direct reaction.

Air Technical Industries announces the development of a unique mobile universal lifter-dumper. The dumper will lift and invert up to 180°, dumping any size of container, even a 55-gallon steel drum. Place any container in the specially-designed hopper, and it will transport, lift to desired height, and invert the container.

Arkalon specializes in custom synthesis applications where: needed compositions may be novel and no manufacturing sources exist, compositions may have demanding purity specs, packaging or unusual analytical needs, or a secondary supply may be needed. Arkalon provides a reliable and cost-efficient source of chemicals to support.

The ROxiTHERM™ Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer from LTB America provides high VOC/solvent thermal destruction efficiencies without the excessive energy usage common to regular thermal oxidizer systems. Each system is designed around the customer's unique processes and operating conditions ensuring a highly cost-effective pollution solution. Visit us here for more info.

TPL offers a range of titanate powders with controlled size and chemistry. The nano-size powders are produced via an aqueous, low temperature process that allows for binary and tertiary oxide compositions with controlled stoichiometries. The particle sizes (50 to 400 nm) are ideal for ultra-thin dielectric layers in composites and ceramic capacitors.

Register Today!
IHS GlobalSpec's Oil & Gas Technology Online Event — May 22, 2013

Join your peers and leading manufacturers for this free, informative and interactive Online Event — right from the convenience of your desktop. Participate in any or all of the educational sessions including Indusoft's, "Cloud Computing in Oil and Gas," and more. Register Today!

The ASTM D5759 guide recommends standards for the characterization of fly ash from the combustion of coal, fly ash from coal combusted in the presence of alkaline materials, and fly ash from combusted coal in which the flue gases have been treated with alkaline materials in the presence of the fly ash. The guide also provides recommended and optional test methods for fly ash evaluation.

For more information on IHS standards, visit us here.

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