This Edition Sponsored by EPCON International
Issue Highlights
- Chemical engineers' changing employment landscape
- Bioprocess routes gain popularity
The Ch in ChE stands for "Changing"
Chemical engineers know all about the laws of supply and demand. After all, the chemical industry, which historically has employed the bulk of chemical engineers, is cyclical. Exactly where on that economic cycle we are at any given moment is anyone's guess, but some reports on recruitment at the beginning of the year suggest better times might lie ahead.
Succeed at bioprocess scale-up
While fermentation-based syntheses were once reserved for producing high-value specialty chemicals and biopharmaceuticals, bioprocess routes now are gaining increasing attention for commodity products. The ability to produce valuable end products via batch biological processes, using such diverse microorganisms as E. coli and other bacteria, algae, mammalian cells, transgenic plants and other host cells, is proving to be a versatile and promising synthesis route for a growing slate of end products.
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GE gives plastic bottle recycling a new spin
Solve our latest mini puzzler on a contaminated fermentation batch
Read the digital edition of Chemical Processing magazine
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Process Puzzler
We operate an acid regeneration plant (ARP) for a steel mill. In the process, FeCl2 solution is oxidized to Fe2O3 and HCl in a spray roaster; the HCl is recycled to the mill and the oxide is agglomerated and pelletized for feeding back to the mill. Currently, operators do laboratory tests to monitor the quality of HCl (target: 18.5%). The absorber hits an azeotrope at 20.4% at which time the scrubbers become absorbers and we will be fined for an acid emission. Someone suggests monitoring the concentration of the acid in the absorber, e.g., by inferring concentration by measuring conductivity or density, or measuring directly by using an automatic titrator. Automating the absorber also is appealing because this loop requires constant attention, especially during start-up and shutdown. What should we do? Keep in mind that ARPs are water-restricted.
E-mail us at ProcessPuzzler@putman.net. Send us your comments, suggestions or solutions for this question by October 13, 2006. We'll include as many of them as possible in the November 2006 issue and all on CP.com. Send visuals — a sketch is fine. E-mail us at ProcessPuzzler@putman.net or mail to ProcessPuzzler, Chemical Processing, 555 W. Pierce Rd., Suite 301, Itasca, IL 60143. Fax: (630) 467-1120. Please include your name, title, location and company affiliation in the response. And, of course, if you have a process problem you'd like to pose to our readers, send it along and we'll be pleased to consider it for publication.
New Products
Veriflo offers miniature point-of-use pressure regulator
Rithmware Technologies releases drying-centered simulation software
Upcoming Events
4th Annual World Class Maintenance for Chemicals and Petrochemicals
Nov. 9-10, 2006, Amsterdam, Netherlands
UNIFAC Consortium
Oct. 6, 2006, Houston
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