This Edition Sponsored by Woodex Bearing Co. Inc.

MECO Launches Next Generation Of Standard Screw Conveyor Seals
"HB" model provides MECO quality for five standard CEMA and seven metric screw conveyor shafts, in stock at a reasonable price. HB seals perform under 90% of typical operating conditions associated with screw conveyors, including inclined or vertical shafts, abrasive products, food-grade, high temperatures and shaft run-out up to 6mm.

Visit MECO at booth #S1011 at NPE, June 22-26 in Chicago.

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Timeless Content: Prevent Fine Powder Flushing
Trapped air can cause fine powders to shoot through cracks and crevices. Here's how to eliminate this bin-afflicting problem.

Timeless Content: Avoid Confusion With Air Injection For Fine Powders
Fine powders often need air injection to increase flow rates to an acceptable level. With entrained or injected air, powders flow like water, but when deaerated, the extremely low flow rate may be confused with a hang-up or arching condition.

Featured Content

Nominate a Candidate for the Vaaler Awards

Chemical Processing is now accepting entries for its biennial Vaaler Awards. These awards honor products and services that have significantly improved the operation and economics of chemical plants. Winners will be presented with an award at the Chem Show in New York in November. They also will be featured in Chemical Processing’s December 2009 issue. Deadline to enter is June 30.

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Process Puzzler

We’re in the midst of investigating a fatal accident caused by a fire that occurred at a petrochemical storage facility. A farmer living nearby reportedly smelled gasoline for several days before the accident. He says he called the refinery several times but wasn’t taken seriously. The Fluid Catalytic Unit (FCU) that produces much of the refinery gasoline was having an emergency turnaround during this period, so staff were stretched thin. They didn’t see much urgency because of the tank farm’s safety system, which relies on redundant controls with an automatic gauging system and high/high alarms on each tank. Finally, two operators drove out to the tank farm and died in the fire. How should we approach this investigation? Do you have any suggestions for improvements in the tank farm? What do you think killed the two operators?

Send us your comments, suggestions or solutions for this question by June 12, 2009. We’ll include as many of them as possible in the July 2009 issue and all on CP.com. Send visuals — a sketch is fine. E-mail us or mail to Process Puzzler, Chemical Processing, 555 W. Pierce Road, Suite 301, Itasca, IL 60143. Fax: (630) 467-1120. Please include your name, title, location and company affiliation in the response.

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