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JJanuary 2011

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 Stop
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 contents
January 2011 | Volume 74, Issue 1

2011
20 27 39

Columns
Cover Story 7 F
 rom the Editor: Gas Buoys U.S.
20 T
 he Forecast Gets Sunnier Chemical Industry Outlook
Chemicals output now is on the upswing, especially in de-
veloping countries, and worldwide production is expected 9 C
 hemical Processing Online: A Better
to increase moderately in 2011 and 2012. Site Beckons

FEATUREs 11 Field Notes: Do Your Level Best

maintenance and operations
27 Safeguard Your Safety Review 16 E
 nergy Saver: Take a Fresh Look at Your
Process Heaters
An assumption gap is particularly dangerous during a pro-
cess hazard analysis (PHA). It could result in inadequate
19 C
 ompliance Advisor: 2010 Elections
identification of hazards and major hazards left hidden.
Could Impact EPA Programs
solids and fluids handling
43 P
 lant InSites: Control Issues Can Pinch
30 Dust Gets Its Due Energy Savings
The dangers posed by combustible dusts no longer are be-
ing swept under the rug. Tougher regulations and greater 50 E
 nd Point: Chemical Engineers Make
corporate resolve make dust hazard management an Explosive Progress
increasingly important topic.

instrumentation and control departments

35 Understand Safety System Tradeoffs 12 In Process: Fabric Destroys Toxic Waste |
Many facilities may be missing an opportunity to improve Seeds May Grow as Feedstock Source
safety via a fieldbus, but each fieldbus approach has ad-
vantages and limitations. 42 P
 rocess Puzzler: Vanquish Vexing
Venting
Making it Work
45 Equipment & Services
39 WirelessHART Successfully Handles Control
Use of wireless transmitters provides a new degree of 48 Product Spotlight/Classifieds
f lexibility in reconfiguring pilot plant processes without
installing or relocating transmitter wiring. 49 Ad Index

Chemical Processing (ISSN 0009-2630) is published monthly by Putman Media Inc., 555 West Pierce Road, Suite 301, Itasca, IL 60143. Phone (630) 467-1300. Fax (630) 467-1109. Periodicals postage paid at Itasca,
IL, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Chemical Processing, P.O. Box 3434, Northbrook, IL 60065-3434. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Qualified reader subscriptions are accepted from
operating management in the chemical processing industries at no charge. To apply for a qualified subscription, fill in the subscription card. To nonqualified subscribers in the United States, subscriptions are $68
per year. Single copies are $14. Canadian and foreign annual subscriptions are accepted at $115 surface per year. Single copies are $16. Canada Post International Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement No.
40028661. Canadian Mail Distributor information: Frontier/BWI, PO Box 1051, Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, L2A 5N8. Copyright 2011 Putman Media Inc. All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not
be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the copyright owner. REPRINTS: Reprints are available on a custom basis. For price quotation, contact Foster Reprints, (866) 879-9144, www.fostereprints.
com also publishes Control, Control Design, Food Processing, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing and Plant Services. Chemical Processing assumes no responsibility for validity of claims in items reported.

5  chemicalprocessing.com ● January 2011

CP1101_05_TOC.indd 5 12/27/10 11:51 AM

 The day Larry found himself buried in his
plant’s work processes.

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Gas Buoys U.S. Chemical Industry Outlook
Abundant supplies of domestic natural gas may open up more feedstock opportunities
KEVIN SWIFT, chief economist of the American
Chemistry Council, Arlington, Va., paints an upbeat
picture on the prospects for the worldwide chemical
industry through 2012 in his cover story (p. 20, www.
chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2011/chemical-indus-
try-bounces-back.html). The global recovery continues
to advance, he notes, particularly in developing coun-
tries such as China and India.
The outlook for U.S. chemical makers is positive, if
not as heady as elsewhere, believes Swift. He foresees op-
erating rates slowly rising this year from the 74% level of
late 2010 (p. 12, www.chemicalprocessing.com/Media/
MediaManager/CP1101_Economic_Snap.jpg). Increas-
ing demand coupled with some capacity reduction
should boost utilization to 79% in 2012, he expects.
“The stage is set for improving operating rates and
profit margins. This, in turn, could lead to moderate
increases in investment in new plant and equipment
in the United States,” Swift says.
Longer-term, the prospects may be even brighter:
“With improving competitiveness resulting from
developments in shale gas, the United States may once
again become a favorable location for investment.”
“Vast new reserves of natural gas in shale reservoirs
deep beneath our country have been discovered in the
past five years. These shale reservoirs are now estimated
to contain more than two quadrillion cubic feet of
natural gas, more than doubling America’s previously
estimated natural gas reserves, and giving us close to a
200-year supply...” notes Aubrey McClendon, CEO of
Chesapeake Energy, on the company’s website.
NEW ENERGY SAVER COLUMNIST DEBUTS
This issue contains the first Energy Saver column by
Veerasamy Venkatesan. Ven, who already serves as the
steam and thermal systems authority for our online
“Ask The Experts” feature (www.chemicalprocessing.
com/experts/index.html), is general manager of VGA
Engineering Consultants, Inc., Orlando, Fla. He’s a
certified energy manager (CEM) and a U.S. Dept. of
Energy-approved specialist in assessing steam and
process-heating systems. He boasts decades of field
experience related to plant operations and process
engineering and has helped sites around the world.
I’m sure you’ll find his column interesting and valuable.
Ven replaces Gary Faagau, who has just taken a new
job in industry. I wish him well and thank him profusely for
sharing his practical insights these past couple of years.
CP1101_07_Edit.indd 7
FROM THE EDITOR
“Two quadrillion cubic feet of America’s natural gas
represent more energy than Saudi Arabia’s 200 billion
barrels of oil reserves — but America’s natural gas is
much cleaner and 70% cheaper than Saudi oil,” he adds.
“In 2009, the U.S. passed Russia as the biggest producer
of natural gas in the world...”
The promise of this abundance of gas certainly
hasn’t been lost on major oil companies. Both Exxon- Ample and
Mobil and Chevron have bought gas producers relatively
inexpensive U.S.
recently. “They were late to the table,” says Sheila
McNulty of the Financial Times. “Europeans and Asians natural gas may
have been eagerly snapping up acreage for several years
alter plant-siting
now.” For instance, in November Chesapeake Energy
and China’s CNOOC International finalized a project decisions.
cooperation agreement in which the Chinese firm pur-
chased a one-third interest in Chesapeake’s Eagle Ford
Shale project in South Texas.
Natural gas promises to largely displace coal for
U.S. electricity generation by 2050, says a study, “The
Future of Natural Gas,” released in June by the Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology. Replacing the output
of America’s dirtiest third of coal-burning power plants
with natural-gas-fired electricity would substantially cut
pollution — eliminating 600 million tons of carbon
dioxide, 700,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 1.5 million tons
of sulfur dioxide, 19,000 tons of mercury and millions
of tons of particulates each year, says McClendon.
The growing attraction of natural gas also may
threaten the prospects of solar and wind for power
generation, warns Dallas Kachan, managing partner
of consultants Kachan & Co., San Francisco, in his
December predictions for 2011.
On the feedstock front, natural gas long has served
to make ammonia, methanol, ethylene, etc. However,
the ample potential supply of the gas is prompting new
interest as well as technical developments. For example,
start-up Siluria Technologies, San Francisco, now is
working on a proprietary catalytic process to directly
convert natural gas into ethylene.
“The prospects of abundant and cheap natural gas
ultimately may make the United States again a location
of choice for new capacity,” reiterates Swift.
MARK ROSENZWEIG, Editor in Chief
mrosenzweig@putman.net
7 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011
12/27/10 11:52 AM
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 CHEMICAL PROCESSING ONLINE

555 West Pierce Road, Suite 301

Itasca, IL 60143
Phone: (630) 467-1300
Fax: (630) 467-1109
www.chemicalprocessing.com
A Better Site Beckons
E-mail: cpnews@putman.net A variety of changes will enhance your visits
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Mark Rosenzweig,
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
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to help us get visitors to where they
want to go faster and easier.
Our fi ne-tuning has led to several
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that soon will appear. For instance,
we’ve just enhanced the format for our
article URLs. Previously, these were
fairly generic. They ended in numbers
and didn’t give any indication of the
content of the stories they related to.
For 2011 articles (and beyond), the
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the article headline. Th is will help
users better choose what links to click.
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gines pick up our award-winning con-
tent to ensure our expertise is widely
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In the near future we will roll out
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fi nd topics within the library.
We will also tweak our homepage
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Our site contains so many important
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ried away with showcasing them all
at once. The result: sensory overload.
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has led to several
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weig’s Ramblings videos in chrono-
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Ramblings under the Multimedia tab
soon — it will be nestled among the
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9 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011

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Do Your Level Best
Level control with dP transmitters appears simple but really isn’t
I didn’t think I could solve the problem. I
had to specify the level settings for a f langed and
dished tank divided into three compartments
with a bottom head as the third tank. It was a
challenge but I met it. What do you know — in-
tegral calculus is actually good for something!
In a typical level problem, you must set high-
high (HH), high (H), low (L) and low-low (LL),
based on percent, for a standard two-element
(wet, dry) differential pressure (dP) transmitter.
Don’t forget about full (100%) and empty (0%).
All measurements normally are to centerline un-
less otherwise noted.
For a dP level transmitter, the upper range
value (URV) and lower range value (LRV) are
defined as:
URV = liquid specific gravity (SG) × the dis-
tance between 100% and 0% (h100%) + LRV; and
LRV = capillary fill SG × distance between
the elements or pancakes × -1. The LRV distance
should comfortably exceed the URV span.
The HH setting usually is at the lip of the
overf low but sometimes is lower if process con-
straints dictate. Equating that with 100% full can
cause problems. You may want to measure above
HH in case the overf low fails. “Cameron Hy-
draulic Data” recommends a minimum spacing
between settings of 3 in. or 2 min.
Establishing LL is simple for a cylindrical
shape. Cameron suggests 1-ft submergence for ev-
ery ft/sec velocity for the pump suction. (Suction
is measured from the top of the pump nozzle.)
So, for a 2-ft/sec velocity and a 6-in. nozzle, LL
should be: 6/2 + 2 × 12 = 27 in. above the pump
suction nozzle centerline. For saturated (boiling)
liquids, use a safety factor or company standard.
The setting for H depends on the maximum
fill rate. The material balance may be helpful.
The L setting depends on the maximum with-
drawal rate. It may make sense to set HH and H
for the light liquid and LL and L for the dense
liquid. However, here’s where the calculation gets
complicated.
To calculate a setting for a cylinder, first
calculate the volume per inch. For a 10-ft-dia.
tank this is 4.9 gal/in. If the fill rate were 50 gal/
min, then for 2-min. minimum spacing the gap
between HH and H would be 50 × 2/4.9 = 20 in.
If the total span between 100% and 0% were 450
CP1101_11_FieldNotes.indd 11
field notes
in. and HH were set at 95%, then H would be at
(427.5 – 20)/450 = 91%. Change any gap less than
3 in. to 3 in. If you wanted H at 85%, the time
between H and HH would be 4.4 min.
With other shapes such as cones and vessels
where most of the volume is in the head, the cal-
culation is more difficult. I’ve found it best to use
the actual volume rather than the column change. Integral calculus
In one vessel only 30% of the volume was in
the cone. I’ve set LL based on liquid holdup and is actually good
recirculation rate for such tanks. Also, you may for something.
want to confirm LL against Cameron’s submer-
gence recommendation.
Calibration introduces new problems. The
density of ambient water used in testing probably
won’t match that of your process liquid. There’s
a simple correction. If water temperature during
testing is 75°F, SG is 0.997. If process f luid at
process temperature has an SG of 0.880, correct
via a ratio. For example, if an H of 90% were
desirable, then during calibration, the setting
should be: 90% × 0.997/0.880 = 102%. The total
inches of water column is the same but the height
of the liquid is less for the heavier test water.
While geometry makes life difficult, SG
causes real problems in dP level measurement.
Sometimes a vessel contains more than one
liquid, sometimes it changes during the process.
Usually, it’s best to set HH and H using the
lighter liquid but not if the density ratio is more
than about 1.2:1. Otherwise, your HH and LL
alarms would be separated by only 20–40%,
which is unworkable.
When this occurs, it’s still possible to use a
dP — but not alone. Consider a density mea-
surement; a nuclear or dP cell in a still well may
work. Calculate a new URV from the density:
URVnew = SGnew × h100% + LRV. Now, determine
the true level: % level = (dPnew - LRV)/(URVnew -
LRV). In this way, URV and span are variables.
(For more on level measurement options, see
“Select the Right Liquid Level Sensor,” www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/208.html.
And for information on effective level control,
watch for the first installment of a four-part series
on the topic in February’s issue.)
dirk willard, Contributing Editor
dwillard@putman.net
11  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011
12/27/10 11:54 AM
 in process

Fabric Destroys Toxic Waste

Adsorbent cloth works with oxidants to decompose pollutants

Activated carbon cloth (ACC), a material Activated Carbon Cloth

composed of fine carbon fibers that have a similar
diameter to powder, may offer significant benefits over
powder alone for cleaning up toxic waste, say research-
ers at the University of Abertay, Dundee, Scotland.
The researchers, led by Professor David Bremner,
Chair of Applied Environmental Science, found that
ACC in conjunction with oxidants creates extremely
reactive hydroxyl radicals. These are so unstable they
instantly react with any pollutants, even at concentra-
tions of just a few parts per million.
“There’s been a lot of research into how activated
carbon in powder or grain form can be used, but what
we found is that using it as a fabric has a number of
real advantages, [such as] its efficiency in adsorbing
everything, its special structure and the fact that it is
electrically conductive,” says Bremner.
ACC is 100% activated carbon (AC). Its high level
of pore development can be tailored for specific applica-
tions. Typically, ACC is predominantly microporous,
but materials with levels of mesoporosity can be made,
notes Carbon Filter Technology Ltd. (CFT), Kirriemiur,
Economic Snapshot
61,000
60,000
59,000
58,000
57,000
56,000
$ Million
Figure 1. The fabric’s high level of pore development
can be tailored for specific applications. Source: Univer-
sity of Abertay
Scotland, (www.carbfilt.co.uk/), which supplied the
fabric. CFT produces different versions of the material
which already is used for medical clean rooms, air and
water filtration and highly advanced wound dressings.
“The fabric has countless tiny pores which adsorb
the organic molecules onto the surface via weak Van
der Waals forces,” explains Ian Johnson, the company’s
director. “The pollutants then react with the oxidant
(ozone) on the surface of the carbon cloth, converting
them into smaller molecules or even carbon dioxide
and water. The carbon cloth is really acting as a catalyst,
82.0
promoting the decomposition of the pollutants.”
81.0
CFT cites a number of other advantages of ACC,
80.0 including: high capacity and fast adsorption kinetics;
79.0 suitability for gas or liquid streams; and ease of han-
78.0 dling. The fabric can be cut, shaped and laminated.
77.0 “At the moment we are adsorbing pollutants onto
76.0
the ACC and then using hydrogen peroxide and
ozone along with the catalytic effect of the ACC to
75.0
produce hydroxyl radicals. Fineness and texture of the

74.0
%

cloth is not relevant but the size of the pores is impor-

55,000
73.0 tant,” says Bremner.
54,000 72.0 Further research will focus on optimizing the pro-
71.0 cess, using different oxidants and looking at a variety
53,000 of pollutants. Bremner also plans to investigate how to
70.0

52,000 69.0 take advantage of the material’s electrical conductiv-

ity. This work should take about three years, he reck-
68.0
51,000 ons. Pilot-scale trials might begin in around four years
67.0
and it will take at least six years before the technology
50,000 66.0
is ready for industrial-scale demonstration, he adds.
Nov 09 Dec 09 Jan 10 Feb 10 Mar 10 Apr 10 May 10 June 10 July 10 Aug 10 Sep 10 Oct 10
Cost is a disadvantage. “ACC is more expensive than
Shipments (NAICS S325) Capacity utilization AC, but it is much more active and worth the difference
for specialized applications,” he says. Volume production
Shipments sagged slightly but capacity utilization remained might halve ACC cost, he believes.
steady. Source: American Chemistry Council.
For industrial applications, Bremner sees the most

January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  12

CP1101_12_14_InPro.indd 12 12/27/10 11:55 AM

CP1101_full page ads.indd 13 12/27/10 11:30 AM
 in process
promising use in the removal and decomposition of
persistent organic pollutants, endocrine disrupters and
antibiotics from wastewater prior to reuse.
The fabric has not yet been tested to determine
how many cycles it would last, but Bremner notes that
it can readily be recycled by ultrasound or heating;
combined with AC, it can act as a mass adsorbent.
“ACC is very effective at adsorbing contaminants
from vapors and from solution but it does get satu-
rated eventually… It’s best considered as a polishing
filter rather than a mass adsorbent. AC can adsorb
0 45 50 55 60
the masses, but always some would leak through…
Actually, the dream team for large scale adsorption
is a combination of powdered activated carbon and
ACC. Thus, a large bed of AC with an ACC compo-
nent would be the perfect solution to ensure that no
substance leaks through,” says Bremner.
an 6pt
vy 7pt
Seeds May Grow As
Feedstock Source
33.3%
Few
0.0%
None
Many plants contain ω-7 fatty acids that 20.0% could
serve to make chemical feedstocks. However, theAlllow
levels of the fatty acids and those plants’ growth charac-
teristics preclude commercial production. Now, though,
researchers at the U.S. Dept. of Energy’s Brookhaven
National Laboratory, Upton, N.Y., and Dow AgroSci-
ences, Indianapolis, Ind., have metabolically engineered
13.3%
seeds whose oils contain the highest percentage of Most
the
fatty acids — more than 70% — thus enhancing the
prospects of using seeds as a source of raw materials.
“Our33.3%
new way of providing a feedstock sourced
from fattySome
acids in plant seeds would be renewable
and sustainable indefinitely,”
Responsesnotes
(%) John Shanklin, a
Growing Prospects
Figure 2. John Shanklin holds plant whose seeds
provide a high level of ω-7 fatty acids. Source:
Brookhaven National Laboratory.
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  14
CP1101_12_14_InPro.indd 14
11.6%
Yes, at least annually
11.6%
Yes, every
few years
37.2%
No 39.5%
Yes, but only only
on a sporadic basis
Responses (%)
More than three-quarters of respondents say audits are
done sporadically if at all. To participate in this month’s
poll, go to ChemicalProcessing.com.
biochemist at Brookhaven who led the research. “…
Our research shows 21.4%that high levels of the appropriate
Remained
feedstock can be made in plants.”
the same
“This proof-of-principle experiment is a successful
demonstration of a general strategy for metabolically en- 50%
gineering the sustainable production of ω-7 fatty acids Increased
as an industrial feedstock source from plants,” he adds. significantly
The researchers now are performing further meta-
bolic engineering to boost fatty acid levels even more.
“We think 85% should be achievable,” says Shanklin.
Their efforts focus on a common laboratory plant,
Arabidopsis. Its growth and development reportedly were
28.6%
Increased
unaffected by the genetic modifications and accumula-
somewhat
tion of ω-7 fatty acids.
The seeds hold particular promiseResponses (%)
for plastic pre-
cursors. Ethenolytic metathesis of the ω-7 fatty acids
produces 1-octene and 9-decenoate. The octene already
is consumed at significant volumes to make linear low-
density polyethylene, note the researchers.
Several academic and industrial research groups are
working to improve metathesis catalysts, says Terrence
Walsh, a research fellow at Dow AgroSciences.
“There are still significant technical hurdles to con-
verting the potential feedstocks made in our proof-of-
concept study into plastic precursors. This will require
some significant technical breakthroughs over several
years. One barrier is the development of an effective
and cost-competitive catalytic process for converting
plant-derived fatty-acid feedstocks into plastic precur-
sors. Also, the genetic system for feedstock production
that we demonstrated in a model plant will have to be
transferred into an oilseed crop for large-scale produc-
tion,” Walsh explains.
12/27/10 11:55 AM
CP1101_full page ads.indd 15 12/27/10 11:31 AM
 ENERGY SAVER
Take a Fresh Look at Your Process Heaters
A simple four-step program can lead to significant savings
Most of the fuel that plants purchase is con-
verted into heat in furnaces and boilers. So, the ef-
ficiency of these units has a big impact on a plant’s
energy cost. In this and the next column, we’ll
focus on how to improve the efficiency of process
heaters; we’ll look at boilers in future columns.
Furnaces either directly heat the process or
Many plants for- media like heat transfer f luids and air. Unfortu-
nately, minor details often are overlooked at the
get they’re pro- design stage.
viding four times For example, a chemical plant I visited in
Alabama vented considerable amounts of surplus
greater volume steam. Because the designers missed the excess
of nitrogen than steam availability, modifying the process heater to
utilize that steam would be very expensive. Only a
oxygen. few limited options, like selling steam to a neigh-
boring plant, are available now.
The biggest loss in any process heater is in heat
conversion, which normally results in higher stack-
gas losses. The two factors that contribute to the
stack losses are the quantity and temperature of the
gases leaving the heater to the stack or exhaust fan.
If these factors are higher than required, stack loss-
es also are higher and heater efficiency is reduced.
Controlling the quantity of stack gases is the
most-talked-about savings opportunity for process
heaters. However, at 80% of the process plants I
visit no significant efforts have been undertaken.
Plants of course supply air instead of oxygen
for combustion. Sadly, many forget they’re pro-
viding four times greater volume of nitrogen than
oxygen to the burner. The excess nitrogen gets
into the furnace at ambient temperature, picks
up heat directly at the f lame and leaves the stack
at an elevated temperature without contributing
anything. Hence, the first step in process heater
optimization is to control the quantity of excess
air supplied to the burner.
Most burner manufacturers recommend about
10% excess air. Many plants add a further safety
margin, increasing this to 20% or more. At some
sites, either operators are unaware of excess air
levels or burner control systems are too primitive to
make changes. In any case, it’s worthwhile to evalu-
ate the opportunity to trim excess air.
Burners firing natural gas typically require
about 1% excess oxygen (or about 5% excess air)
to achieve complete combustion. So, if the level
exceeds 2%, the first step is to reduce it. If a heater
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  16
CP1101_16_EnergySaver.indd 16
already is maintained at 2% oxygen in stack gas, it
still may be possible to trim further. For some heat-
ers, you can reduce excess air without significant
capital investment.
Address the quantity of stack gas by setting up
a small team or task force and having it follow a
simple four-step action plan:
1. Organize an on-site meeting about the
furnace to discuss and finalize its tuning
program. If multiple departments have
heaters, conduct meetings at each depart-
ment because each unit may have different
characteristics of operation.
2. Initiate a heater-tuning program. Use a
portable stack-gas analyzer to validate the
readings of any on-line analyzers.
3. Give all relevant operators on-site refresher
training on fuel efficiency fundamentals.
4. Start to measure stack condition on a daily
basis and create a monitoring database for
each heater.
Have an experienced engineer clearly define
task details in such a way that operators can fol-
low them easily.
Field-tune each major heater to meet a target
operating level — a combustion efficiency exceed-
ing 80% with 1%–2.5% oxygen and near 0%
combustibles in the flue gas. This target range is
neither new nor unrealistic. The tough part of the
task is convincing plant operators to shift from
their comfort zone to the optimum operating zone.
Seeking the assistance of an external expert may be
worth considering in a few cases.
Implementing the above tasks doesn’t require
big capital investment but instead a strong commit-
ment from the team and plant management. You’ll
surely notice positive results after a month. Give
the team and operators credit by duly reporting to
management and publicizing the results.
The results usually are measurable at the end of
the first year — and can add up to significant sav-
ings if the annual purchased fuel bill exceeds $25
million. Typically, the first year payoff is five times
more than the cost of the first year efforts. The
program also provides spin-off benefits, particularly
a motivated in-house team.
Ven V. Venkatesan, Energy Columnist
VVenkatesan@putman.net
12/27/10 11:56 AM
 ADT can help you
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CP1101_full page ads.indd 17 12/27/10 11:32 AM

 PERFORMANCE THROUGH ENGINEERING

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CP1101_full page ads.indd 18 12/27/10 11:32 AM

 compliance advisor

2010 Elections Could Impact EPA Programs

Some new senators may take a hard line against EPA program expansion

The 2010 Congressional elections will likely sig- affected by the 2010 election. The possible changes to
nificantly impact policy and legislative developments TSCA during the past two years are moot. The absence
in the regulation of chemicals and pesticides by the of Mr. Waxman in the Senate will have significant
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The implications for TSCA legislation. Sen. Lautenberg is
decline in the number of elected House Democratic expected to continue to support more extensive changes,
members will make for some significant differences but some of the new Senate members are likely to op-
in EPA’s budget, legislative proposals and general pose any legislation that seeks to “expand government.”
operations. Meanwhile, some newly elected senators The most interesting question lies with the response Changes in the
stridently oppose government expansion and want to of the chemical industry and its allies to the change
rein in federal deficit spending, which could affect in House leadership. Notwithstanding the rhetoric of Senate will affect
the future of EPA and other government agencies. agreeing on many, if not all, of the principles of TSCA any prospects
reform, industry trade groups or any of their members
Committees of Jurisdiction put forth no legislative proposal. Perhaps now with for EPA’s toxics
Changes in House committee leadership will be expected friendlier forums for discussion of TSCA program.
monumental. Most notably, Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) amendments, industry representatives will hesitate less
replaces Henry Waxman (D-CA) as House Energy and to develop specific amendments they believe will give
Commerce Committee Chairman. This will affect any expression to the stated principles.
prospects for climate legislation, as well as almost every Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
element of EPA’s operational programs. The new goal Act (FIFRA) implementation has been quiet over
for many interested parties, who a short time ago hoped the first half of the Obama administration. The new
for expansion of EPA programs, now will be to maintain Republican majority in the House will likely lead to
the current status quo. some level of aggressive oversight of all EPA programs.
EPA’s budget will also face an expected spend- For the pesticide program, immediate candidates for
ing freeze, and is less likely to be allowed exceptions an increased level of scrutiny include the use of “good
or special initiatives directed by the Appropriations science” in decision-making, the use of FIFRA or
Committee. The new chairman of the Oversight and Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) authority in
Government Reform Committee, Rep. Darrell Issa removing pesticide uses from the market without go-
(R-CA), intends to conduct extensive oversight hear- ing through the FIFRA cancellation process, specific
ings on various programs and agencies. product decisions, and transparency and participation
In the Senate, much less change in committee in developing new program initiatives.
leadership is expected. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
was reelected, and is expected to continue as chair of Administration Reaction
the Senate Environment and Public Works Commit- As President Clinton reminded leaders of the Republi-
tee. Senator Boxer renewed interest in focusing on can “takeover” in 1995, the President remains relevant.
climate change. Sen. Lautenberg (D-NJ) was not up Presidents can unilaterally sign Executive Orders or
for reelection, and is expected to continue to champi- determine priorities under current law. One such
on Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reform and example for President Clinton came in 1995 when the
attempt to keep it high on the Committee agenda. President ordered EPA to accelerate the expansion of
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and issued an Executive
EPA Appropriations Order mandating greater TRI reporting obligations on
In addition to any expected freeze in domestic pro- federal contractors. The Obama White House likely will
gram spending, EPA could face a variety of restric- consider similar initiatives.
tions or reductions in its operating programs. Some
legislators could also attempt to use appropriations Lynn Bergeson, Regulatory Editor
restrictions to limit any EPA program or policy, which lbergeson@putman.net
is speculated to be a real possibility in 2011.
Lynn is managing director of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., a Wash-
Chemicals Management ington, D.C.-based law firm that concentrates on chemical industry
The future of EPA’s toxics program is one of the most issues. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author.

19  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011

CP1101_19_Comp.indd 19 12/27/10 11:57 AM

 Positive outlook should last through 2012 with emerging nations posting strongest gains
By Thomas K. Swift, American Chemistry Council
The global economy clearly has emerged
from the deepest recession since the Great De-
pression and a recovery has evolved into expan-
sion in much of world, especially in developing
countries. For the United States, however, a boost
from inventory restocking has played out and
underlying demand remains weak. The housing
sector, which precipitated the downturn, contin-
ues to struggle as foreclosures mount and high
unemployment persists. The slow U.S. economic
growth to date hasn’t generated jobs for most of
the 8 million put out of work since the begin-
ning of the recession in December 2007. Gross
domestic product (GDP) remains below its past
peak and should increase at a subdued pace com-
pared to rates typical at this point in a recovery.
Consumer spending, traditionally an engine
of growth, should rise slowly as payroll growth
lingers and consumer behavior remains cautious.
Business investment should be a driver. The
recovery is fragile; multiple risks remain and the
wrong trade, tax and other policy initiatives could
derail activity.
With the exception of building and construc-
tion, most major end-use markets for chemicals
have recovered — some quite strongly. The manu-
facturing sector, which is the largest consumer of
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  20
CP1101_20_26_CoverStory.indd 20
chemicals, rebounded robustly during the 1st half
of 2010 but growth has slowed following the end
of the inventory rebuild. This sector remains well
below its past peak. With consumers still cautious
and incomes constrained by unemployment,
retail sales have softened, though; production of
durable consumer goods, e.g., appliances and fur-
niture, has moderated. Light vehicle production,
which fell sharply during the recession, has come
back strongly and continues to expand — vehicle
sales should rise in 2011 and 2012. Housing mar-
kets, however, still need additional time to fully
repair and recovery isn’t expected until 2012.
THE GLOBAL CONTEXT
The worldwide recovery continues to advance,
especially in developing countries. Global trade
has rebounded sharply from the steep drop in
2009 and should expand significantly in 2011
and 2012 (Figure 1). In the developed countries
consumer and government austerity constrain
growth; demographic factors also pose obstacles
to long-term economic growth there. Growth in
emerging markets, however, continues robust and
will underpin economic developments during the
next 10 years. Fears of sovereign debt crises and
asset bubbles have dampened expectations.
12/27/10 11:58 AM
 2010
During 2010, trends in the global business of
chemistry paralleled those in broader industry.
Overall activity in the $3.43-trillion worldwide
chemicals sector improved about 9% in 2010 as
the global economic recovery extended into its
second year. After a trough was reached in March
2009, a sharp V-shaped recovery ensued. This
was particularly the case in China and elsewhere
in East Asia. Virtually every nation and region
2011 2012
now has experienced recovery. Demand upswings
continued in North America, Europe and Japan
while emerging markets sustained strong mo-
mentum. At the global level, production volumes
exceeded their previous peak in 4th quarter
2009, and the recovery evolved into an expansion
(Figure 2).
Most leading indicators of global industrial
production suggest further recovery albeit at a

Global Economic Outlook

16

14

12
Real GDP change (2007-2012)

10

6
Figure 1. GDP con-
4 tinues to rebound,
led particularly by
2
increases in countries
0 such as China and
India.
-2

-4

-6

-8

-10
USA Canada UK Eurozone Japan Mexico Brazil Russia India China

21 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011

CP1101_20_26_CoverStory.indd 21 12/27/10 11:58 AM

 Recent Cycles in Global Chemistry
tion capabilities in emerging markets in addition
110 20%
to anemic growth in domestic demand. Among
100
15% the developed nations, the United States should
90 benefit from low natural gas prices. Ireland also
10%

80
should achieve stronger growth than most other
5% developed nations. Other developed countries
70
face more-muted prospects, although Germany
0%
60 and a number of other large exporting nations
50
-5% currently are experiencing strong gains.
40 -10%
U. S. CHEMICALS OUTLOOK
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
For the chemical industry in the United States,
Year-over-Year % Change - three-month moving average (right) the steep and sudden drop in spending caused
Global Chemistry (excluding Pharmaceuticals)
Production Index - three-month moving average, 2007=100 (left) massive inventory imbalances going into 2009.
Demand for many chemistry-intensive items
Figure 2. Production volumes now have surpassed their previous peak in late (light vehicles, construction goods, appliances,
2009.
furniture, carpeting, etc.) plunged. As a result,
Global Chemistry Outlook inventories surged throughout the supply chain.
15 Much of 2009 was spent working these invento-
ries down. As a result, chemical production was
weak as were shipments and most other indicators
% change in production volumes

10
5 stronger export demand bolstered by an improved
0
-5
-10
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Developed Nations Emerging Markets
Figure 3. Emerging markets not surprisingly will continue to pace the produc-
tion buildup.
diminished pace. As the worldwide expansion
continues, global output should rise by more than
5% in both 2011 and 2012. During the next two
years the most rapid growth should occur in the
developing nations of Asia-Pacific, Africa and the
Middle East, emerging Europe and Latin America
(Figure 3) — most notably China, India and
Brazil. Korea, Singapore and Taiwan also should
present good prospects through 2012. Growth
in the chemical industries of emerging nations
should exceed 12% in 2010, with average gains of
about 8% in 2011 and 2012.
In contrast, after the cyclical rebound of
2010, the chemical industries of developed na-
tions should average only 3% growth during
2011–2012 due to headwinds from rising produc-
of industry activity.
A recovery emerged in mid-2009, fueled by
competitive position with regard to feedstock
costs. The upswing continued into 2010, boosted
initially by restocking among downstream cus-
tomers. After the 1st quarter, though, domestic
demand slowed and in some markets even de-
clined, thus increasing the importance of export
markets. Indicators of industry activity all went
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 up during 2010. Production of chemicals exclud-
ing pharmaceuticals should rise 5.2% in 2010.
Basic chemicals — inorganic chemicals,
petrochemicals, plastic resins, synthetic rubber
and man-made fibers — were hardest hit in the
recession, having suffered sharp falls in demand
from important customer markets such as light
vehicles and housing. This segment, however,
reached a trough first and has experienced the
strongest cyclical recovery. Downstream custom-
ers remain cautious about building inventories
but have largely depleted their stocks; improve-
ments in final demand will necessitate replenish-
ing once caution is overcome. Many downstream
customers still face credit and liquidity issues. As
is typical in cyclical rebounds, adhesives, coatings
and other specialties should lag basic chemicals,
experiencing a more-nominal gain initially but
stronger ones in 2011 and 2012 (Figure 4).
Leading indicators of manufacturing activity
are pointing to slowing demand. U.S. chemi-

January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  22

CP1101_20_26_CoverStory.indd 22 12/27/10 11:58 AM

 Corrosion_Conferance_ad.pdf 1 12/22/10 1:00 PM

CM

MY

CY

CMY

CP1101_full page ads.indd 23 12/27/10 11:33 AM

 U.S. Chemicals Production
dampen domestic demand further while a weak
15
world economy would adversely affect exports.
Another downside risk might arise if significant
10
% change in production volumes

output from new capacity in the Middle East

5 and East Asia finds its way into traditional U.S.
export markets and even North America.
0 With a slow recovery of volumes, overall
operating rates rose to an average of 74% in 2010
-5
— see CP ’s Economic Snapshot, p. 12. Further
-10
modest gains in chemical industry production
volumes suggest slowly improving operating rates
-15 in 2011. Further capacity reduction coupled with
strengthening production volumes could boost
-20
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
capacity utilization to 79% by 2012. This implies
Basic Chemicals Specialties the industry is operating far below its optimal
capacity utilization levels.
Figure 4. As is usual, basic chemicals rebounded more strongly initially but
specialties should pick up.
CAPITAL SPENDING PROSPECTS
Narrowing margins, austere market conditions,
U. S. Chemicals Capital Spending
lower operating rates and a high level of uncer-
$35
tainty spurred the stringing out or delaying of a
$30
number of chemical industry projects in recent
years. Furthermore, companies slashed capital
$25 spending budgets to conserve cash f low. As a
Billions of dollars

result, U.S. capital investment in chemistry fell

$20 by more than 9.2% to $25.3 billion in 2009. This
followed a 9.3% drop in 2008 from a peak level
$15 in 2007. Despite a recovery, lingering uncertainty
concerning future demand combined with lower-
$10 than-average operating rates hindered investment
again in 2010, with capital spending falling 1.0%
$5
to $25.1 billion.
Capital spending cycles generally lag cycles of
$0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 industry activity with profits and operating rates
leading determinants of investment. In general,
Figure 5. A large portion of investments will go for replacing worn-out assets
rather than adding new capacity. improving production and utilization rates, cost
containment from earlier cost-reduction efforts,
cal industry growth should rise 3.0% in 2011, modest increases in raw material costs and higher
buoyed particularly by pharmaceuticals; exclud- gains in selling prices have resulted in a strong
ing pharmaceuticals the chemical industry will recovery of profits during 2010. In addition, uti-
experience a 2.7% gain in 2011. Nonetheless, the lization rates have improved, although they still
gains should be broad-based and more sustainable don’t match the levels of several years ago and are
growth is likely. below the long-term average.
The strong projected 2010 year-on-year Other factors influencing the level of capital
growth rates for most segments must be viewed spending include the business cycle, long-term
in the context of the exceptionally sharp de- business expectations, taxation policies, the cost
clines seen in 2008 and continuing into 2009. It of capital, the burden of debt, the supply of credit
may take years for activity to recover from these and mandated expenditures. The business cycle
steep drops to reach past peaks. The industry is was in a repressed stage in 2009 and a muted
sensitive to a number of risks, most particularly recovery occurred in 2010. Lingering credit tight-
high and volatile energy costs. A double-dip in ness, companies’ debt reduction efforts to repair
the U.S. economy and industrial activity would their balance sheets, and uncertainty over taxation

January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  24

CP1101_20_26_CoverStory.indd 24 12/27/10 11:59 AM

CP1101_full page ads.indd 25 12/27/10 11:34 AM

and other policies as well as long-term demand are
hindering capital spending. On the other hand,
low interest rates make for a low cost of capital.
The stage is set for improving operating rates
and profit margins. This, in turn, could lead to
moderate increases in investment in new plant
and equipment in the United States. The need
to replace existing assets is apparent and will be
a driver. By 2011 the industry investment cycle
should re-engage, with U.S. spending rising more
than 6% and accelerating to a 9% gain in 2012.
Capital spending should reach $29.2 billion in
2012 (Figure 5), which still falls short of the
most recent peak. The largest proportion should
continue to go toward replacement of worn out
assets. The majority of the expansion of produc-
tion capacity should target existing product
ranges and largely be incremental. As the recovery
strengthens into an expansion, spending should
rise in future years. With improving competitive-
ness resulting from developments in shale gas, the
United States may once again become a favorable
location for investment.
RELATED CONTENT ON
CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
“Economic Snapshot,”www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
Media/MediaManager/CP1101_Economic_Snap.jpg
“Better Times Beckon for Contract Engineers,” www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/203.html
“2010 Salary Survey: Clouds of Concern Begin to
Clear,” www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/067.
html
POSITIVE SIGNS
Chemicals output now is on the upswing,
especially in developing countries. Worldwide
production should increase moderately in 2011
and 2012. The U.S. chemical industry should
share in these gains and should boost its capital
spending, with much of the investment aimed at
replacing aging plant and equipment. However,
the prospects of abundant and cheap natural gas
ultimately may make the United States again a
location of choice for new capacity.
THOMAS K. SWIFT is chief economist and managing direc-
tor of the American Chemistry Council, Arlington, Va. E-mail
him at kevin_swift@americanchemistry.com

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 Safeguard Your
Safety
Review
Assumption gaps can undermine a process hazard analysis
By G.C. Shah, Mustang Engineers
If listeners misunderstand what a speaker
means, problems can arise. Such an assumption gap
is particularly dangerous during a process hazard
analysis (PHA). It could result in inadequate identifi-
cation of hazards and major hazards left hidden.
Typically, PHA activities are collaborative efforts
between a facilitator and a team. The facilitator asks
a series of questions and the team then works col-
lectively to identify hazards. Because its results form
the basis for subsequent safety analyses, the PHA is
recognized as the foundation upon which the safety of
the entire project rests. So, here, we’ll look at several
assumption gaps to consider while performing a PHA.
This list isn’t by any means comprehensive.
Metallurgy. During the design stage, material se-
lection gets considerable attention to ensure hardware
can handle the corrosion and erosion anticipated dur-
ing normal and abnormal operations. However, there
may be some assumption gaps.
Consider a question by the PHA facilitator: “Is the
metallurgy of the equipment adequate for all antici-
pated operations — normal as well as abnormal?”
The PHA team typically would respond “Yes. Met-
allurgy has been considered thoroughly in design.”
The team may assume that quality assurance and
quality control (QA/QC) in place at the fabricator and
construction contractor will ensure equipment is free
from metallurgical defects. However, this may not be
true in all situations. Indeed, in view of recent cases of
poor quality control at various international fabrication
shops, always re-examine the assumption of QA/QC.
CP1101_27_28_Operations.indd 27
A PHA facilitator should confirm that systems (e.g.,
material inspection and welding procedures) are in
place to verify equipment meets all safety requirements.
Multi-plant sites. Plant acquisitions and joint
ventures can result in sites housing operating units be-
longing to different organizations. Often, the organi-
zations share some utilities or services. The accounting
and business agreements generally are worked out in
meticulous detail. However, the lower-level procedural
issues, including safety and risk containment, aren’t
given sufficient thought in some cases. For instance,
many units may share a common flare and a flare
header and may have good accounting (flow totalizers)
— but may lack effective coordination on flare design,
modification or operation among various units.
Some questions to ponder include:
1. Do the flare and its ancillaries (header, knock-
out drum and pumps) have adequate capacity to
handle anticipated flows resulting from the project
modifications?
2. Do release scenarios for the flare system con-
sider all units at the site?
3. Are management systems in place to ensure that
all companies thoroughly review modifications that
impact the flare system?
4. Are management systems or engineering
controls in place to prevent unilateral modifications of
shared systems prior to a multi-party safety review?
5. Are there proper installation and maintenance
procedures for relief valves and rupture discs?
6. Have all companies at the site continually
27  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011
12/27/10 12:00 PM

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“Tame Your Transient Operations,” www.Chemical-
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“Watch Out With Piping, Valves and Hoses,” www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/012.html
“Keep Chemical Operations Safe,” www.Chemical-
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“A Haphazard Approach Can Hobble Hazard
Reviews,” www.ChemicalProcessing.com/arti-
cles/2008/085.html
reviewed flare operation, emergency response systems
and other utility systems?
Vents. Some vents may discharge directly to the
atmosphere. On the process and instrumentation
diagrams, they usually are shown as “vented to a safe
location.” The term “safe location” may not get scruti-
nized during a PHA. An assumed “safe location” may
not be sufficiently safe. Some natural-gas vents and
turbine exhausts are routed to the atmosphere. While
such vents may be small and generally pose minimal
fire hazard, it’s appropriate to ensure that:
1. The vent is sufficiently far from any ignition
source, sparks, or storage of flammable materials.
Industry standards such as NFPA-54 may help in
determining criteria for “safe” locations.
2. During the worst-case conditions of flow to the
vent and atmospheric conditions (stable with no or
mild wind), the ground-level concentration of flam-
mable material poses an acceptable hazard. Similarly,
hot turbine exhausts, under the worst-case scenario,
don’t create an ignition or a thermal hazard.
3. Venting doesn’t occur in confined spaces or
close to buildings. If it’s absolutely necessary to vent in
a confined area, verify that effective safeguards (e.g.,
gas detectors and alarm and mitigation systems) are in
place to manage the hazard to an acceptable level.
Isolation valves. Are these valves actually leak-proof?
For furnace operations, fuel supply is almost always
double-block-and-bleed. Not all valves (e.g., plug valves)
are leak-proof. So, always check the valve leak rating.
Safety management systems. Companies differ
widely in the structure and implementation of their
safety management systems. It’s worth verifying that
management systems suffice to prevent unsafe inci-
dents as a result of the project. Include a brief review
of the company’s safety management system as part
of a PHA. This review should confirm that the safety
JANUARY 2011 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM 28
CP1101_27_28_Operations.indd 28
management system is robust enough to ensure safe
operation while the project is being implemented and
after project systems are put in operation.
Risk management matrix. PHA studies often rely
on this semi-quantitative method that assigns risk
based on likelihood and consequence of a hazard. The
criteria for determining likelihood and consequence
vary widely among companies and among industries.
For instance, offshore oil/gas exploration uses different
criteria than refining in determining consequence
(severity) of an incident. The PHA facilitator should
review the existing risk matrix to verify that a consis-
tent system of ranking risk is followed.
CLOSING ASSUMPTION GAPS
Consider the following steps to minimize the risk of
misunderstanding:
• Clearly define and communicate to management
the scope of your PHA.
• Prior to starting the PHA, familiarize yourself with
the organization’s safety management systems. Ensure
they can accommodate project modifications safely.
• Understand the terminology of the organization
and technology as far as equipment and procedures of
the project are concerned.
• Make certain the PHA team comprehends your
terminology.
• Pose questions to the PHA team in a clear man-
ner. Confirm that the team understands the intention
of questions. Include examples, where appropriate,
with your questions. For instance, in terms of double-
block-and-bleed, you might clarify what you mean by
the term “blocking.” Let the PHA team elaborate on
their answers.
• Before beginning a PHA, review past unsafe
incidents at the project site.
• Consider a system’s approach and lifecycle safety
to ensure safety is maintained throughout the life of
the project.
• When preparing the PHA report, avoid arcane
technical jargon. If you must use jargon, clearly
explain the meaning of the terms. A layperson should
be able to understand the report and implement its
recommendations in their entirety.
• As a general rule, to minimize assumption gaps
select PHA facilitators with plant or operational experi-
ence as well as good communication and diplomatic
skills.
G.C. SHAH, PE, is a safety, environmental and industrial hygiene
professional at Mustang Engineers, Houston. E-mail him at ghan-
shyam.shah@mustangeng.com.
12/27/10 12:01 PM
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 By Seán Ottewell, Editor at Large

Gets Its Due

The dangers posed by combus- Industry is placing One recommendation of the
tible dusts no longer are being swept subsequent CSB studies was that the
under the rug. Tougher regulations greater emphasis on U.S. Occupational Safety & Health
and greater corporate resolve are Administration (OSHA), Washing-
addressing combustion
making dust hazard management ton, D.C., should get more actively
an increasingly important topic for hazards involved in combustible dust hazard
every manufacturing sector includ- management. In late 2007, OSHA
ing the chemical industry. issued its National Emphasis Program
Testifying to the topic’s popularity, a recent CP (NEP) on combustible dust.
webinar on dust control (now available on demand at However, in February 2008, a huge explosion
http://video.webcasts.com/events/putm001/33721/) and fire at Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth refinery,
attracted the second largest attendance of any such Savannah, Ga., left 14 dead and 38 others seriously
event. In it, speakers from the National Fire Protection injured. The explosion was fueled by massive accu-
Association (NFPA), Quincy, Mass., Fike Corporation, mulations of combustible sugar dust throughout the
Blue Springs, Mo., Chilworth Technology, Plainsboro, packaging building.
N.J., and Camfil Farr APC, Jonesboro, Ark., outlined Guy Colonna, division manager of the industrial
the key challenges facing the industry today. and chemical engineering department of the NFPA,
says he has attended an increasing number of dust-
THE IMPETUS management events like CP’s webinar over the last two
The importance of dust management really started to years. He attributes their popularity to a much greater
come under regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. in 2003 focus on hazard awareness across all industries and the
when the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB), Wash- public following the explosion at Imperial Sugar.
ington, D.C., determined that lack of attention to dust “Earlier incidents during the decade noted and
had resulted in explosions at three U.S. manufacturing investigated by OSHA and CSB were no less signifi-
plants that year. A January fire and explosion at West cant in terms of their losses to people and property,
Pharmaceutical Services, Kinston, N.C., was caused by but didn’t stir everyone the way the Imperial Sugar
a fine plastic powder that gathered above a suspended incident seems to have established a resolve across all
ceiling over a manufacturing area; six workers died affected interests.”
and many more were injured. Three weeks later, an ac- He cites data reported by CSB in its November
cumulation of resin dust from a phenolic binder used in 2006 dust report and similar incident data published
a production area led to a blast that killed seven workers by the insurance industry that show explosions and
at fiberglass insulation manufacturer CTA Acoustics, fires involving combustible dusts aren’t that rare —
Corbin, Ky. Then, aluminum dust was found to be the about ten incidents per year took place on average
culprit for an October explosion that killed one person from the early 1980s until 2005 in the U.S.
and injured many others at Hayes Lemmerz’s alumi- “Those numbers suggest the various industries
num wheel plant in Huntington, Ind. have ‘coped’ with the hazard and operated around the

January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  30

CP1101_30_34_Solids.indd 30 12/27/10 12:02 PM

 hazard. At this stage, it would appear that industry
is no longer looking to cope with the problem and is
resolute in finding common understanding about the
phenomenon that can lead to more effective hazard
assessment and control solutions.”
KEY POINTS
In Colonna’s experience, two issues commonly crop
up in question-and-answer sessions these days — and
both are core to coming to grips with combustible
dust hazards.
The most common relates to the hazard identifica-
tion process for examining a facility and any combusti-
ble particulates that might be involved as process input,
intermediate or final product. This generally requires
testing of a sample and then interpreting the results.
One property commonly determined is the dust’s
deflagration index, KSt, which indicates how rapidly a
pressure front forms and moves through the combus-
tion zone.
“Often, those interpreting the data are seeking
guidance on the interpretation for the value reported.
Their question asks whether a ‘low value’ for the KSt
means there is no problem from the dust in terms of
explosibility. The answer to that question is NO. There
is no target or threshold value below which no hazard
is assumed. Lower values of the index just mean the
rate of rise of the pressure with respect to time will
be ‘slower’ (in a relative sense) than other materials
that have higher values for the index. The damage
pattern from a low KSt value dust is different than the
damage experienced when the index is greater, but the
overpressure is still present and capable of destroying
structures — and the fireball also poses a hazard to
both personnel and the facility.”
The second issue involves the characterization
of the dust hazard condition or area. In many cases
this currently is based on the thickness of the layer of
accumulated dust. Colonna explains that NFPA 654
presents an equation that enables adjusting the per-
mitted or target layer thickness based on the specific
material’s bulk density — how packed or non-packed
a settled accumulation could be — while still yielding
an equivalent mass per area. The layer thickness as
used today serves as a trigger for various protective
measures as well as housekeeping. The prorating equa-
tion in the standard permits users to adjust their layer
thickness (ultimately that accumulated mass) based on
the specific bulk density.
“So, materials like tissue paper, which have a very
low bulk density compared to wood and other materi-
als, when evaluated for layer thickness on the basis of
CP1101_30_34_Solids.indd 31
Flameless Explosion Vent
Figure 1. Layers of stainless steel absorb heat generated
by combustion, allowing venting without flame release.
Source: Fike.
the bulk density prorating equation are recognized as
accumulating in a less packed or thicker layer while
still yielding the same amount of accumulated dust
mass across a given area. The equation method for
establishing the layer thickness doesn’t penalize those
materials whose bulk density is low relative to other
materials by requiring them to comply with the same
layer thickness as more densely layered dusts,” he says.
EVOLVING REGULATIONS
Lately, the chemical industry also has become
concerned about various regulatory standards and
consolidations currently afoot. Much of this revolves
around OSHA’s notice of its intention to develop a
federal standard to address workplace safety require-
ments to protect workers from combustible dust fire
and explosion hazard conditions.
One solution could be to adopt the five existing
NFPA dust standards — there are arguments both for
and against this strategy. So the NFPA has challenged
its four combustible dust technical committees to
determine a path that would consolidate the various
requirements of its dust standards into a single com-
prehensive standard.
“Those supporting the concept see that many of
the steps in the hazard assessment process are the
same regardless of dust type and, once the explosibil-
ity properties are determined, the protective measures
are the same in general and only become unique in
their design due to those properties which become
part of the design process. A single comprehensive
standard makes enforcement easier and, thus, stron-
ger,” notes Colonna.
31  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011
12/27/10 12:02 PM
 This changing regulatory landscape is driving
increased interest in combustible dust hazards by all
industry groups, says Bob Korn, director of sales for
explosion protection products for Fike: “OSHA’s NEP
has pushed a new emphasis on OSHA inspections
of U.S. manufacturing facilities. In October, OSHA
chief Dr. David Michaels told a safety group that in
the three-year-old combustible dust NEP, nearly 9,100
violations have been found, although not all of them
have been for dust violations, with initial penalties
totalling more than $19.5 million. At a symposium,
also in October, OSHA assistant secretary Jordan
Barab said OSHA’s inspections of refineries under
the process safety NEP has resulted in an average of
17 violations per inspection with penalties averag-
ing $166,000. He said 53 of 58 refineries have been
inspected. At hazardous chemical manufacturing
facilities, inspectors have averaged nine violations dur-
ing each of 136 inspections.”
This increase in inspection rates, coupled with
OSHA’s commitment to the creation of a combustible
dust standard, has the U.S. chemical industry scram-
bling to understand the hazards and develop strategies
to protect their facilities, Korn believes.
This scramble is reflected in the sort of queries he
faced in the webinar question-and-answer session.
These typically concerned equipment applications,
code compliance issues and hazard assessment. For
example:
• W hat is the anticipated timeline from OSHA
on the implementation of its widely discussed
combustible dust standard?
• Does your suppression equipment need to be in-
Blowout Panels
Figure 2. Rebuilt Port Wentworth, Ga., sugar refinery now
contains such wall panels for fire and dust safety. Source:
Imperial Sugar.
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  32
CP1101_30_34_Solids.indd 32
spected on a regular basis and, if so, how often
and who can do the inspection?
• How do the operating costs of inert atmospheres
compare with capital costs of suppression or
flame-arrest systems?
• W hat type of explosion suppression/relief sys-
tems have you seen installed on direct-contact
rotary dryer applications?
• W hat methods do you use to determine particle
size and shape?
Overall, the best advice he can give to a chemical
maker today is to perform a hazard analysis or risk as-
sessment of its facilities and understand where it needs
to improve housekeeping, add dust collection and
provide protection for processes at risk.
“Organizations that are actively engaged in under-
standing the hazard and taking the necessary actions
to provide a safe work environment will dramati-
cally lessen the effect of an OSHA inspection and
any resultant fines. The chemical industry is in the
OSHA spotlight due to other recent serious accidents;
consequently they are in the top three of industries in-
spected by OSHA under the combustible dust NEP.”
For Fike, whose business centers on supply of
explosion-protection and fire-suppression systems, all
this regulatory activity is spurring product develop-
ment. The company relatively recently introduced
rectangular flameless explosion vents (Figure 1). It’s
working on faster-responding suppression devices
because speed is key when dealing with a deflagration.
“Our systems must detect the combustion event and
inject a chemical suppressant in a matter of millisec-
onds. From time of detection to full release of the
suppressant happens typically in less than 50 millisec-
onds. It takes approximately 250 milliseconds to blink
your eyes, for comparison.”
The company also is looking at impulse valve tech-
nology for opening its chemical suppressant contain-
ers for explosion suppression and chemical isolation of
interconnections between vessels. “The impulse valve
will provide the quick activation we need without the
use of a pyrotechnic GCA [gas charged activation] de-
vice that is currently used. This will be a great benefit
to future systems as we can eliminate the shipping and
handling issues associated with these GCA devices,”
he explains.
EFFECTIVE HOUSEKEEPING
This is a key issue, stresses Dr. Vahid Ebadat, CEO
of Chilworth Technology: “The severity of an explo-
sion is often directly related to the size/quantity/
spread of the available fuel, in this case, the dust.
12/27/10 12:02 PM
 Dust Collection
When one studies the large dust
Figure 3. Sugar-refinery rebuild also in-
explosions that industry has been cluded this dust-collection system. Source:
experiencing, one realizes that Imperial Sugar.
almost always the fatalities and
most of the damage has not been ly in the sugar industry. However,
the result of the initial event but use of this method for conveying
the so-called secondary dust cloud sugar to the top of a 175-foot-high
explosion. Therefore, ensuring silo — as at the Port Wentworth
that the dust is contained within refinery — is unusual. Among
the protected processing equip- the safety features of dense-phase
ment and an effective housekeep- pneumatic conveying in conduc-
ing measure is in place would go tive piping are: complete contain-
a long way towards ensuring the ment of the product; minimized
safety of people and facilities.” generation of static electricity;
The huge accumulations of and no moving parts that could
sugar dust at the Imperial Sugar re- cause frictional heating or impact
finery clearly resulted from a failed sparks,” notes Ebadat.
housekeeping strategy, something The rebuilt refinery also fea-
that Chilworth has been working tures wall blowout panels (Figure
with the company to rectify. 2), dust collection systems (Figure
The last stage in the rebuild at 3) and explosion suppression
the refinery involved the three sugar devices (Figure 4).
silos, each with a storage capacity of
6.5 million pounds of sugar, or 19.5
million pounds total — three million
pounds more than the former silos
held. All sugar begins its curing
journey in a primary condition-
ing silo, where dehumidified air is
percolated through the silo for 24
hours and where a dust-collection
system removes dust. The sugar then
moves to one of the other two silos,
where it sits in storage before moving
to packaging or to a bulk station for
distribution.
Following consultations with
Chilworth, Imperial Sugar opted
for 56 pressure-relief vents on each
of its silos at the Port Wentworth
refinery. More unusual, however, is
the conveying sugar through the si-
los via a dense-phase system instead
of belt or screw conveyors or bucket
elevators. The advanced system uses
high-pressure air to pump sugar
within pipes at a rate of 225 tons/hr.
“Dense-phase conveying is
a form of pneumatic conveying
that is used in the grain, flour and
chemical industries, and for wood
chips and sawdust, and infrequent-

CP1101_30_34_Solids.indd 33 12/27/10 12:03 PM

 Explosion Supression

The OSHA NEP has led to
an increasing degree of aware-
ness in the issue, he believes.
“And rightly so. Many com-
panies still don’t realize that
combustible dusts can be just
as dangerous as flammable
PANEL liquids and gases.” However, in
preparing for an OSHA inspec-
DISCUSSION tion, companies handling and
processing combustible powders
WEBCAST and dusts have become increas-
ingly more proactive with their
combustible dust management
Figure 4. Multiple units activities, he adds.
now are installed at
Port Wentworth sugar Ebadat off ers four pointers on how to succeed
refinery. Source: Impe- in such activities:
rial Sugar.
1. Properly assess your dust’s fire and
explosion characteristics so adequate measures
can be taken for the prevention and mitigation
of hazards in your own facilities and, if you are
shipping the dust to some other facilities, at those
locations.
RELATED CONTENT ON
CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
“Dust Control,” free on-demand webcast, www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/204.html
“Understand the Shocking Truth,” www.Chemical-
Processing.com/articles/2010/192.html
“Expect More Inspections,” www.ChemicalProcess-
ing.com/articles/2009/217.html
“Get Up-to-Date on Explosion Venting Re-
quirements,” www.ChemicalProcessing.com/ar-
ticles/2009/047.html
2. Understand your own powder handling and
processing operations. You should be able to identify
likely ignition sources during both normal and abnor-
mal operating conditions. Also pinpoint location(s)
where combustible dust clouds could exist during
normal and abnormal operating conditions.
3. Take effective measures to avoid or control
ignition sources and formation of combustible dust
clouds. Also consider explosion protection (such as
venting and suppression) and isolation to lower the
risk to a tolerable level.
4. Maintain dust explosion prevention and mitiga-
tion measures.

Register now! 2011 CP PANEL DISCUSSION WEBCAST SERIES!

Join Chemical Processing editors and industry experts as we engage in lively discussions about
strategies, industry challenges and solutions during our CP Panel Discussion Webcasts. Each 60
minute Webcast features experts on the topic being discussed and will also include a Q&A session
with all attendees. Register now for the remaining CP Panel Discussion Webcasts at
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/cpseries

Additional 2011 CP Panel

Next up! Discussion topics include:
Condition Monitoring – February 17, 2011, 2:00 PM ET Asset Management - April
Plants are stepping up their efforts to monitor the condition of key assets to identify potential
problems before they effect operational performance, damage equipment or lead to Emissions - May
costly downtime. This discussion will review key tools and solutions that will enhance your
Alarm Management - June
operations, optimize efficiencies, improve asset life and improve overall reliability. Learn what
you need to do to bring your condition monitoring program up to date. Register now! Dust Control - July
CFATS - August

For more information on each of these Process Safety – Sept.

exciting 60-minute Webcasts and to register, go to: Energy Efficiency – Oct.

www.ChemicalProcessing.com/cpseries Dry Materials Handling – Nov.

CP1101_30_34_Solids.indd 34 12/27/10 12:03 PM

 Understand Safety
System Tradeoffs
Each fieldbus approach has advantages and limitations
By Ian Verhappen, Industrial Automation Networks
Chemical plants treat safety as a top prior-
ity and install a variety of safety equipment and
systems. However, changes in technology as well
as new standards suggest that plants take a fresh
look at their safety systems. Many facilities may
be missing an opportunity to improve safety via
a fieldbus. The majority of fieldbus protocols now
have an approved safety bus. In addition, many
automation vendors today favor integrating the
safety instrumented system (SIS) with the process
control system.
Figuring out what makes sense for your plant
requires an understanding of fieldbuses (see “Take
Advantage of Fieldbus,” www.ChemicalProcess-
ing.com/articles/2010/149.html) and of the pros
and cons of the various fieldbus safety approaches,
including integration. Using fieldbuses for safety
and integrating the safety system with process
control systems are relatively new concepts in the
chemical industry — so, many operating compa-
CP1101_35_38_Intsru.indd 35
nies remain wary of both. Hopefully this article
will shed some light on some of the tradeoffs to
help you make an informed decision consistent
with your-risk management practices.
SAFETY BUSES
Conventional fieldbus networks aren’t suitable for
safety-related controls. Additional error detection
and avoidance mechanisms are required for the
communications between devices to detect con-
nection or device failures and to implement neces-
sary emergency shutdown action to avoid danger.
The majority of fieldbus systems use a “black
channel” approach to their safety communications
bus. This basically means the physical layer is the
same as their “regular” bus, but with extra checks
and balances to meet additional protections
and features required of a safety system. These
enhancements make the bus a “safety bus” and, in
many cases, allow sharing infrastructure between
35  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011
12/27/10 12:04 PM
 that safety bus and conventional control commu-
nications. Despite being able to do so, few if any
users will mix their control and safety systems at
the physical layer.
When fieldbus organizations say their fieldbus
safety devices comply with their appropriate safety
standard, it means the device is compliant and
consistent with IEC 61508 and verified by TÜV
or some other safety organization. Devices and
hosts/logic solvers therefore require two sets of
safety approvals now — one for the safety fieldbus
or communications and a second for the associ-
ated safety integrity level (SIL) rating. After ob-
taining approval for the communications/fieldbus
part of its device, a manufacturer must obtain SIL
certification from an appropriate organization.
Most safety fieldbus specifications are designed
so devices can achieve a minimum SIL-2 rating,
although many buses are certified to SIL 3.
Figure 1 shows how a combination of changes
to both the function blocks (circles in the devices)
and communications layer (squares) are needed to
meet the requirements of IEC 61508 to obtain the
SIL rating necessary for a safety bus implementa-
tion. The function block changes add the neces-
sary safeguards to the traditional function blocks
used for control while the communication layer
changes perform additional checks on the mes-
sages themselves.
SAFETY STANDARDS
The two international standards applicable to
the process industries are IEC 61508 and IEC
61511. The IEC 61508 standard is most relevant
to safety device manufacturers as it defi nes the
Achieving SIL Rating
FF-SIS User Application Extentions
SIS protocol above the Black Channel detects network faults and appropriate action
is taken without human interventions. (circles)
Function Block diagnostics detect application faults and appropriate action is taken
without human intervention (squares)
Design to
IEC 51508
New SIS Function Blocks &
Function Block Diagnostics
Black Channel
Design to
IEC 51508
Figure 1. Changes to both function blocks (circles) and communications
layer (squares) are required.
JANUARY 2011 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
CP1101_35_38_Intsru.indd 36
requirements and criteria upon which a device’s
reliability and, hence, SIL rating are based. IEC
61511 is the more important standard for end
users as it defi nes how systems are to be designed,
installed and operated. ANSI/ISA-84.00.01-2004,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/ISA-84, is the
ANSI-approved and OSHA-referenced version of
this document and the one to which systems in
the United States must comply. The most recent
release includes statements permitting use of
fieldbus communications as part of safety systems
and removes the requirement that SIS and process
control systems must be separate. As a result of
this change, ISA has issued a technical report,
ISA–TR84.00.06 “Safety Fieldbus Design Consid-
erations for Process Industry Sector Applications,”
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/ISA-TR84, that
describes the requirements for using fieldbus in
safety applications.
The June 2009 release of the ISA18.2 standard,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/ISA-18.2, has ac-
celerated the pace of convergence of control and
safety systems and is leading practitioners to take
steps to treat the two holistically. However, some
see that approach as counter to the principles of
safety systems. A debate is raging about the wis-
dom of combining these two systems in a single
environment.
Results of a 2009 online CP poll about SIS
preference (www.ChemicalProcessing.com/arti-
cles/2009/134.html) show how polarized positions
are. More respondents (63%) chose “separate from
the control system” than “integrated with the con-
trol system” (37%). Not a single person selected
“no preference” or “don’t know.”
As Figure 2 indicates, safety systems are one
part of the “layers of protection” strategy used to
keep a process from entering unsafe conditions.
The process design itself is where the principles
of safe design must begin. Safety systems serve as
the fi nal automation-based step to control a plant
disruption before mechanical protection must
take over. So, safety systems must have the highest
levels of reliability — this involves removing or at
least markedly reducing possible single points of
failure of the system and of course minimizing the
impact of any failure that should occur.
Careful design is crucial for a combined sys-
tem — with these being new, fi nding people who
know how to do a design correctly can be a chal-
lenge. Otherwise the resulting system could lead
to lower overall reliability not only of the safety
36
12/27/10 12:05 PM

system but the control system as well. Th is often is
part of the price of compromise.
IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS
Today, four approaches are available:
The fi rst is the traditional route of providing
two separate and unconnected systems from the
same or diff erent vendors. Th is is the highest cost
option, both in terms of upfront expenditures and
ongoing outlays for operations and maintenance.
The second option is top-level integration of
the human/machine interface (HMI) function.
Th is relies on a single supplier providing separate
controllers that are both connected to one HMI
via a network. Because the controllers are separate
and diff erent, controller programming requires
two engineering workstations. Costs are lower
than with two distinct systems because common
hardware is used at the HMI level.
The third uses two HMIs, two controllers and
two networks, like the fi rst option, but features
two controllers from the same vendor. Th is allows
programming of both controllers from the same
engineering workstation. Because the equipment is
all confi gured and operated from the same operat-
ing system and development environment, this
approach cuts training and maintenance time.
The fourth option, which is the most integrat-
ed one, uses common HMIs and two controllers
from the same family of a single vendor’s products.
Both controllers are connected to the HMIs via a
single network and, in some cases, can reside on
the same backplane. Th is is the lowest-cost choice
because common HMIs and common engineering
workstations are employed.
However, the economics of safety systems involve
more than just “dollars and cents.” So, let’s look a
little further at the economic side of the equation.
ECONOMIC DRIVERS
As noted before, the trend — at least from the
perspective of distributed control system (DCS)
suppliers — is to incorporate the logic solver into
the DCS hardware so all components are part of
a single environment. One of the biggest benefits
of this is that the end user now only has a single
confi guration and maintenance environment and
HMI interface for all data points.
Another significant impact of using the inte-
grated approach is removal of a third party inter-
face (connection to a different system). Integrating
diff erent systems is always the most difficult part
CP1101_35_38_Intsru.indd 37
Layers of Protection
Process Design
Basic Process Controls, Process
Alarms & Operator Intervention
Critical Alarms, Operator
Intervention & Manual
Intervention
Automatic Response; SIS,
ESD, etc.
Mechanical Protection:
Relief Valves, PSV, etc.
Figure 2. Safety instrumented systems aren’t enough on their own to
keep operations safe.
of a control system to implement and maintain
because, in many cases, this requires mapping of
parameters across gateways and protocols. In addi-
tion, typically when something goes wrong at least
two vendors are involved — it’s always the other
supplier’s fault, with you, the customer, being
stuck in the middle with the unresolved problem.
One advantage of having separate safety and
control systems is that changes (addition or re-
moval of new hardware, system software updates,
network changes, etc.) to one system don’t directly
affect the other. Therefore, when it’s necessary
to do this sort of work or even to conduct the
mandated periodic testing of the full safety loop
(input, logic solver and output), there’s no risk of
inadvertently introducing a disturbance to the
regulatory control environment.
Regulations increasingly are mandating use
of safety systems in smaller facilities for such ap-
plications as burner management of furnaces and
boilers. Th is may make a combined system a better
fit for such sites, which often have limited staff
— because the people responsible for the plant’s
automation systems will only have to work in a
single integrated environment instead of having to
learn how to maintain two different systems.
One of the key considerations in obtaining a de-
sirable SIL rating is the time between maintenance
and testing (proof test interval); devices that fail
more often require increased testing (less time be-
tween intervals) to compensate. Diagnostics enable
continuously monitoring the health of all compo-
nents in the system that can communicate digitally
with each other including smart field devices.
37 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011
12/27/10 12:05 PM
 Four Options
diagnostic information, including device status,
Integrated System Separate System
another link back to the safety system is required
Without Bus With Bus Without Bus With Bus for the instrument status — unless the device
Buses have lim- Integrated diag- Buses have lim- Integrated diag- has been confi gured to fail high (>20 mA) or low
ited support for nostics and field ited support for nostics and field
discrete devices device status discrete devices device status
(typically 3.8 mA).
Being all digital, fieldbuses can communi-
Only maintain a single system Most common
implementation cate field device status every update cycle and
so technical normally not only indicate OOS (out of service
support is widely
available or failed) but also measurement deterioration or
Single integrated environment/ Isolation of safety and control systems
uncertainty. Integrated host systems typically
interface share this type of information more easily than
standalone designs.
Table 1. Integrated and separate safety systems offer different benefits.
Buses, especially Foundation Fieldbus, have
The majority of smart devices today use HART limited support for discrete input/output (sole-
communications. The safety system logic solver noids and contact inputs). Foundation Fieldbus
uses the analog signal while the digital signal, was designed for continuous processes, so discrete
which contains maintenance and diagnostic processes aren’t its core strength. It does support
information, normally goes to a separate system several discrete output (on/off ) process valves,
linked to asset management software. (HART though. The Fieldbus Foundation recently re-
has limited support for discrete devices and thus leased a new transducer block for analog output
only provides sparse information for these types devices (control valves) to enable partial stroke
of instruments and output devices.) Because a testing — in part because such testing is a critical
dedicated asset-management system interprets the component of the testing of safety control loops.
In the end, it’s still a case-by-case decision,
somewhat like deciding whether to use a multi-
purpose tool like a Swiss army knife or a suite of
Material Handling Equipment dedicated tools for each task. Both will get the job
done but there are tradeoff s. Only you can decide
what level of risk is acceptable in your facility and
what approach will work best in your situation.

IAN VERHAPPEN is director and principal consultant of

Industrial Automation Networks Inc., Wainwright, AB. E-mail
him at iverhappen@gmail.com.
Drum Discharger Container Discharger

Lift & Dump

Container Discharger
RELATED CONTENT ON
CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
Reader Poll: “Which Approach Do You Prefer for
Safety Instrumented Systems,” www.ChemicalProcess-
ing.com/articles/2009/134.html
“Integrated System Improves Operations,” www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/186.html
“Properly Protect Control Systems,” www.Chemi-
calPocessing.com/articles/2007/104.html
“Get Full Value from Partial Stroking,” www.Chemi-
calProcessing.com/articles/2007/046.html
Bulk Bag Filler
“Meet SIS ‘User Approval’ Mandates,” www.Chemi-
Lift & Dump Bulk Bag
Drum Discharger Discharger calProcessing.com/articles/2006/068.html
“Can You Safely Grandfather Your SIS?,” www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2005/521.html
Call: 800.836.7068
www.materialtransfer.com

CP1101_35_38_Intsru.indd 38 12/27/10 12:05 PM

 making it work

WirelessHART Successfully Handles Control

Tests on stripper and absorber show results rival those with wired devices

By Frank Seibert, University of Texas at Austin, and Terry Blevins, Emerson Process Management

In recent years the Separations

Research Program (SRP) at the
University of Texas at Austin has been
involved in testing pilot plant pro-
cesses that require significant equip-
ment modifications and additions.
In these activities, process setup and
decommissioning take about three
times longer than the actual runs. So,
decreasing setup time and pilot plant
downtime are a high priority. Use of
wireless transmitters provides a new
degree of flexibility in reconfigur-
ing the process without installing or
relocating transmitter wiring.
The flexibility of being able to
work on the absorber and stripper
without disconnecting cables offers
ongoing benefit by reducing downtime
and maintenance. However, many
measurements that are candidates
for switching to wireless transmitters
serve for control. Thus, measurement
reliability and control performance
achievable using wireless transmitters
were of primary concern. To allow
direct comparison of the performance
of wireless versus wired installations,
wireless transmitters were installed
in parallel with wired transmitters for a few criti- collector and liquid re-distributor are located in the
cal loops on an absorber and stripper process. This middle of the column. In the SRP CO2-capture
article presents the results of these tests. experiments, ambient air is blended with recycled
stripped CO2 and make-up CO2 and fed to the bot-
PROCESS EQUIPMENT tom of the column. Carbon dioxide is absorbed into
The equipment setup used to evaluate application the downflowing amine solvent as the gas flows up
of wireless transmitters in control currently serves through the packing. The exiting solvent, referred
for testing new energy-efficient stripping processes to as the rich amine, goes to the stripping section to
associated with carbon dioxide capture from coal- remove the absorbed CO2.
fired power plants. From a process standpoint, this The stripper tests packings and determines
involves an absorber to remove CO2 from a simu- the energy efficiency associated with a proprietary
lated stack-gas stream using an amine-based solvent solvent. This column also has two 10-ft beds of
and then a stripper to recover the CO2 and recycle packing. A liquid collector and liquid re-distributor
the regenerated amine solution to the absorber. The are located in the middle of the column. The solvent
photo shows the equipment. leaving the absorber, referred to as the rich amine,
The absorber generally tests proprietary sol- is heated with the stripper bottoms liquid using a
vents and packing or tray internals. The absorption cross-plate exchanger and then is fed to the top of
column provides two 10-ft beds of packing. A liquid the stripper. A kettle-type reboiler generates vapor to

39  chemicalprocessing.com January 2011

CP1101_39_41_MIW.indd 39 12/27/10 12:06 PM

 MAKING IT WORK

Control Performance
Using Wired Using WirelessHART and steam flow control were modi-
Measurements Measurements fied to allow the operator to switch
Loop FIC202 PC215 FIC202 PC215 between wireless and wired inputs.
Column Column Column Column When control with wireless input was
Steam Flow Pressure Steam Flow Pressure
selected, the PID modifications for
Setpoint Average 511.32 24.01 509.66 24.01
wireless control were automatically
IAE on Control 9,134.33 145.46 10,645.15 198.60
used. Also, the new measurements
Number of Measure- 13,655.00 6,649.00 1,184.00 912.00 and a switch to select the source of
ment Updates While
on Control control input were added to the opera-
Time on Control, sec. 6,830.00 6,829.00 5,926.50 5,925.00
tor displays. Thus, using their normal
displays the operators can visually
Table 1. Wired and wireless control provided comparable results. compare wired and wireless measure-
ments at all times and select the measurement
strip off some of the carbon dioxide. The overhead to be used in control.
from the stripper goes to a shell-and-tube condenser Metrics were added to the control module
where the vapor is condensed and lean amine is to calculate the integral of absolute error (IAE)
returned to the absorber feed tank. while on automatic control. Also, the number of
new measurement values used in control and the
WIRELESS INSTALLATION duration of control were automatically captured to
Over the last few years development and design of allow comparison of wired versus wireless control
wireless field devices for the process industries has performance.
rapidly advanced. After a review of available wireless
technology, WirelessHART devices were selected THE TRIALS
for installation at the SRP. (For details about the Preliminary tests of a wireless pressure transmitter
technology, see “Make the Most of WirelessHART,” and a steam-flow differential pressure transmitter
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/071. took place during a recent packing characterization
html.) Pressure and differential pressure transmitters test to determine distillation efficiency and hydraulic
were put in to support testing of control of column performance of Raschig-Jaeger RSP-250 structured
pressure and steam flow. packing. (The stripper also may be used as a distilla-
The WirelessHART gateway was centrally tion column.) The column was operated at total re-
located in the process area and connected to the flux using the cyclohexane/n-heptane binary system.
control system via Ethernet. A DeltaV control system The effect of pressure on distillation performance
installed in the SRP provides standard support for also was studied. The standard test pressures were
the WirelessHART gateway as well as configuration, 2.4, 4.83, 24 and 60 psia. In the wireless testing,
setup and diagnostics of WirelessHART devices. the base pressure was 24 psia. The project sponsor,
Thus, the effort to integrate these devices into the Raschig-Jaeger, had agreed to allow the wireless test-
control system software configuration matched that ing during the runs.
associated with traditional field devices. Because Figure 1 shows pressure control achieved on the
these devices are battery powered, no power wiring column with a wired pressure transmitter and a wire-
was required to install them in the process. less one. For these tests, the proportional-integral-de-
The existing control modules for column pressure rivative (PID) tuning, filtering and control configu-

REFERENCES
1. Broadley, S., Karschnia, R., Nixon, M. and Blevins, T., “Using Wireless Transmitters in Single-Use
Disposable Bioreactor Control,” IFPAC Conf., Baltimore, Md. (Jan. 2009).
2. Nixon, M., Chen, D., Blevins, T. and Mok, A., “Meeting Control Performance over a Wireless Mesh
Network,” 4th Annual IEEE Conf. on Automation Science and Engineering (CASE 2008), Washing-
ton D.C. (Aug. 2008).
3. Johnston, G. and Munns, A., “Make the Most of WirelessHART,” Chemical Processing, May 2008,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/071.html.
4. Chen, D., Nixon, M., Blevins, T., Wojsznis, W., Song, J. and Mok A., “Improving PID Control under
Wireless Environments,” ISA Expo Houston (Oct. 2006).

JANUARY 2011 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM 40

CP1101_39_41_MIW.indd 40 12/27/10 12:07 PM

 MAKING IT WORK

Performance Comparison

Figure 1. Similar control results were

achieved with wired (top) and wireless
(bottom) measurements.

A POSITIVE STEP
Installation of WirelessHART
transmitters for stripper steam
flow and column pressure has
eliminated the cost to relocate
wiring. Column-pressure and
heater steam-flow control using
WirelessHART transmitters
and PID modified for wireless
communication provide the
same dynamic response and
performance as that achieved
using wired transmitters and
traditional PID.
The application of Wire-
lessHART is being extended to
other areas at SRP. For exam-
ple, three wireless temperature
ration were exactly the same. As this demonstrates, transmitters (4 RTD inputs per device) are being
there are no visible differences in performance. put in to monitor temperature distribution across
Similar results were observed using wired versus the absorber. Also, two wireless pH transmitters
wireless transmitters for steam flow control. Filtering are being installed in the lean liquid input and rich
was 10 sec. for the wired measurement and zero for liquid outlet streams of the absorber to indirectly
the WirelessHART one; the original plant PID tun- monitor CO2 concentration in the amine solution.
ing was used for both wired and wireless control. The Using wireless transmitters should improve the
same dynamic control was seen for set-point changes. accuracy and reliability of the temperature and pH
As the table details, comparable control per- measurements — and hence enhance stripper and
formance versus wired, as measured by IAE, was absorber operation — because the battery-powered
achieved for both pressure control and steam flow transmitters aren’t as susceptible to the ground
control using WirelessHART measurements with the loops that often plague a wired installation.
PID modified for wireless communication. How-
ever, WirelessHART used one-tenth the number of FRANK SEIBERT, P.E. is technical manager of the Separations
measurement samples for flow control and one-sixth Research Program at the University of Texas at Austin. TERRY
the number for pressure control as wired control to BLEVINS is a principal technologist for Emerson Process Manage-
reduce battery drain. ment, Austin, Texas. E-mail them at fseibert@mail.utexas.edu and
These test results indicate the combination of terry.blevins@emersonprocess.com.
WirelessHART transmitters with PID modifica-
tions for wireless communication performed as
reliably as the standard SRP hard-wired transmit- RELATED CONTENT ON
ters using traditional PID. Additional tests were CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
carried out where compositional and packing “Wireless Proves its Worth,” www.ChemicalProcess-
efficiency HETP (height equivalent to a theo- ing.com/articles/2009/066.html
retical plate) data were obtained using the SRP “Make the Most of WirelessHART,” www.ChemicalPro-
hard-wired transmitters and then the operation cessing.com/articles/2008/071.html
was transitioned to the wireless transmitters and “Wireless Starts to Mesh,” www.ChemicalProcessing.
control. No differences in the relative bottoms com/articles/2008/208.html
and distillate compositions or HETP were ob- “Wireless Proponents Take HART,” www.Chemical-
served in the wireless mode. Processing.com/articles/2007/155.html

41 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011

CP1101_39_41_MIW.indd 41 12/27/10 12:07 PM

 PROCESS puzzler
Vanquish Vexing Venting
Try process-control and equipment changes to eliminate hydrogen losses
This month’s puzzler
Our hydrogenation system, consisting of a column filled with cata-
lyst, an interchanger and a knockout drum under vacuum, produces
excess hydrogen. The drum is meant to separate the hydrogen
from the product, which is then pumped to the tank farm. The
vacuum pump surges constantly, unable to find a sweet spot. The
pump vents to atmosphere perhaps as much as 3 std. ft 3/min of
hydrogen. Our plant manager wants to know if there’s a way to re-
cover the hydrogen and stabilize the level feeding the pump. How
can we address this situation? Is there any way to limp along with
this process until it’s convenient to shut it down?
ALTER THE CONTROL SCHEME
There are a number of issues here, so let’s start
with the explicit one — recovery of the hydrogen.
The vacuum discharge must be connected to the
hydrogen input stream, upstream of the existing
H 2 f low meter. The new control loop will need
a buffer vessel, f low controller, f low transmitter
and a compressor. The H 2 f low must be total-
ized so that the hydrogen supply makes up the
difference. Before this can be done a hazard and
operability study is needed to comply with man-
agement of change.
The vacuum pump hunting comes down
to poor control design. Two relatively simple
March’s PUZZLER
At our batch specialty chemicals plant the production man-
ager wants us to use waste isohexane as a cleaning solvent.
He proposes pumping the isohexane, which is available
from a nearby process, into our columns prior to cleaning
for startup. The commissioning engineer opposes using it
on the grounds that a safer cleaning solvent, such as spent
methanol or acetone, could be available. He suggests using
methanol because it’s cleaner. We’re cleaning two knockout
pots and two distillation columns that have been used for
several months in the production of fish oil (eicosapentae-
noic acid and docosahexaenoic acid). The material safety
data sheet for fish oil shows the following: closed-cup flash
point, 149°C; auto-ignition point, unknown; and conditions
to avoid, “oxygen.” The columns each contain one eight-ft.
bed of structured packing. Normally, the columns oper-
ate at a maximum of 100-torr with electric thermosiphon
reboilers. The condensers use chilled glycol. (The cleaning
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  42
CP1101_42_Puzzler.indd 42
improvements can be made, either individually
or together. One, install a buffer vessel between
the knockout drum and the vacuum pump with
a pressure control valve between the knockout
drum and the new buffer vessel. The second is
to reduce the pumpout rate from the knockout
drum. It is likely that the rate of change of pres-
sure and the poor vacuum pump response are
caused by the pump curve. A full solution would
require a shutdown but the situation might be
improved by altering the control parameters.
Edward Fish, director/consultant
Pandora Consulting, Manchester, England
RUN BATCH FOR NOW
I see several design f laws in this process: the vent
stack, the configuration of the hydrogenation
column and the controls.
My first thought is that the knockout drum
is undersized. Horizontal drums are about 150%
more efficient than vertical drums. The only
reason for choosing the latter is to save plant f loor
space. Then, I noticed that the feed is co-current.
Counter-current is usually the preferred ar-
rangement because the weak stream runs into
Continued on Page 44
process proposed by the production manager appears
online at www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2011/
vanquish-vexing-venting.html.) What do you think of the
commissioning engineer’s objection? Is there a better ap-
proach for cleaning the process?
Send us your comments, suggestions or solutions
for this question by January 13, 2011. We’ll include as
many of them as possible in the January 2011 issue and
all on CP.com. Send visuals — a sketch is fine. E-mail
us at ProcessPuzzler@putman.net or mail to Process
Puzzler, Chemical Processing, 555 W. Pierce Road, Suite
301, Itasca, IL 60143. Fax: (630) 467-1120. Please in-
clude 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.
12/27/10 12:11 PM
 PLANT INSITES

Control Issues Can Pinch Energy Savings

Heat integration can make achieving effective control more difficult

OUR INDUSTRY doesn’t use energy as effi- of run.

ciently as it could, contend some critics. They cite The bottoms stream has a minimum tempera-
plants that downgrade heat to a cooling utility ture requirement. This is a problem around 40%
or provide heat from a heating utility even when of the time because of product specifications.
temperature levels may indicate the heat can be Luckily, one steam generator (X451) is already in
recovered. These faultfinders don’t appreciate the service upstream of the proposed exchanger. It
importance of control. supplies steam to dedicated services, so maintain-
The purpose of any control system is to ing its duty at a maximum is also important. Integration
move a disturbance from where it’s undesired to While not ideal, shifting duty from the steam
where it’s unimportant. Utility systems provide generator to the new service is acceptable as long
reduces the
a straightforward and often inexpensive method as the duty shift is always minimized. Placing number of utili-
of absorbing disturbances. As a process becomes the new service after the existing steam generator
more heat-integrated, control becomes more dif- achieves this goal.
ties available to
ficult. Inability to control has real costs. Figure 2 shows the new unit configuration. A absorb control
One part of a recent project involved improving bypass loop prevents the feed from becoming too
unit heat integration. Figure 1 shows a section of hot at start of run. A second bypass loop on the
disturbances.
the unit before modification. The feed goes through tower bottoms shifts duty from the steam genera-
five heating services before heading to trim heating. tor to the new service as required. The exchanger
The trim heating energy ultimately comes from fuel pressure drops set pressure drop available for driv-
firing. The column bottoms’ product goes through ing the bypass f low. Under some conditions the
four cooling services before trim cooling. The trim heat exchangers have insufficient pressure drop
cooling duty varied from 50% to 125% of the trim to force enough f low through the bypasses. Two
heating requirement. Temperature levels were such hand-operated control valves enable adding extra
that the heat could be transferred with a 25°F ap- pressure drop.
proach temperature between the streams. At fi rst The configuration changes reduce the number
glance, this seems an ideal match for heat recovery. of utilities available to absorb control distur-
So, why wasn’t it being done? bances to one from three. A more complex control
One key historical reason is that both streams system is required to shift the disturbance around
are fouling — the feed moderately and the bot- the system. Some extra control f lexibility comes
toms highly. For most fouling services at moder- from allowing the bottoms temperature to rise
ate temperatures economics don’t support ap- above minimum values under some conditions.
proach temperatures less than ~35°F to ~45°F. In Flow bypasses provide a simple way to reduce
this case, though, the permitting and regulatory exchanger duty. They also decrease f luid velocity
benefits of shutting down
a heating service (the trim An Ideal Candidate?

heating) were attractive. Heat

Integration Minimum
Trim Cooling
This still leaves a sec- Stream 1
(Utility)
Temperature
Limit
ond issue, control. The feed Constraint

stream has both minimum Feed

X413 X412
Trim Heating
Minimum and
Maximum
and maximum temperature X401 X441
(Utility)
Temperature
Constraint
constraints. The necessary X442

X433 X432 Heat

surface area for a new heat- Heat Integration
Stream 3
integration exchanger to Integration
Stream 2 bfw
X452

meet the minimum tempera- steam

ture requirement on the feed X451

Tower
when fouled will overheat Bottoms

the feed when clean. Some X446 X447

type of control is needed to

prevent overheating at start Figure 1. Greater heat integration would pose risks of overheating the feed.

43 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM JANUARY 2011

CP1101_43_44_InSites.indd 43 12/27/10 12:11 PM

 PLANT INSITES

Heat Integration
Heat
Heat
tem will tolerate on both sides — this keeps
Integration Minimum
Stream 1 Integration
Addition
Temperature the velocities higher;
Limit
TC Constraint • using a low-fouling design on the shell-
Feed
X413 X412 X461
HC
Minimum and side — in this case, a helical baff le;
Maximum
X401 X441 TC Temperature • enabling removal of the exchanger from ser-
Constraint
X442 vice during operation for online cleaning; and
X433 X432 Heat
Integration • employing an easy-to-clean design for the
Heat
Integration
Stream 3
X452
tube side — in this case, a TEMA AET shell
Stream 2 bfw
steam to simplify exchanger cleaning.
HC X451 The final package includes process configura-
Tower
Bottoms
tion changes, control upgrades, and special design
X446 X447 criteria for the equipment.
Every plant has different constraints, so ag-
Figure 2. This layout makes handling control disturbances more difficult. gressive energy integration in your facility will
pose its own specific challenges. Nevertheless,
in the exchanger. Low velocity gives higher foul- as you reduce the use of utilities, you will face
ing rates. Using such bypasses can easily create control issues in nearly every unit. It’s essential to
enough fouling to completely negate the benefit track down the consequences of all your changes
of the new exchanger. and address all control challenges.
To reduce the effect of low velocity and faster
fouling, you must adjust the exchanger design by: ANDREW SLOLEY, Contributing Editor
• making the pressure drop as high as the sys- ASloley@putman.net

PROCESS PUZZLER

Continued from Page 42

the strong stream at either end of the equipment,
resulting in the greatest driving force. Hydro-
genation is very exothermic. I recall that hydro-
genation of fatty acids can be as high as 25 kcal
per mole. Maybe running counter-current could
decrease the wasted H2 — if the temperature rise
permits.
The vent stack is a different matter. I assume
that the process is outside and the stack is well
above any building. Most chemical companies
and refiners have been forced to get rid of these
in favor of f lare stacks. Although H2 is lighter
than air, there is always the risk of unfavorable
wind conditions. H2 has a nasty habit of infil-
trating enclosures. Then there is the blue, nearly
invisible f lame.
The most immediate concern, though, is how
to keep the process running now. Try reducing
the pressure and temperature of the column (gas
expansion). Also, try reducing the ratio of H2 to
oil. Perhaps, by watching the column tempera-
tures, the column could be run by batch. Monitor
the product quality to ensure the reaction is still
going on; recycle the oil to the column feed tank
until product quality meets specifications.
To recycle the H2, design a recycle line from
the vent back to the hydrogen source. First,
you’ll need to add a second, larger knockout
drum, maybe another at the source. The current
one continues under vacuum but the first drum
should operate with enough pressure to pump the
hydrogen back to the source. The current drum
should catch the oil from the new one. Trap-
ping oil vapors may be a problem with recycle;
take care in designing the drum mesh-pad mist
eliminators.
Dirk Willard, contract staff engineer
Hemlock Semiconductor, Hemlock, Mich.

JANUARY 2011 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM 44

CP1101_43_44_InSites.indd 44 12/27/10 12:12 PM


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CP1101_45_46_EandS.indd 45
a stand-alone layer of protection
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45 
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Pepperl+Fuchs
330-486-0002
www.pepperl-fuchs.us
Software Aids Lifecycle
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LCC 2010, the latest version of
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LCC 2010 facilitates the prepara-
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Camfil Farr
800-479-6801
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 END POINT
Chemical Engineers Make Explosive Progress
TNT gets a safer replacement and elastomeric material provides blast protection
While it can safely be argued that chemical engi-
neering and chemical engineers have a substantial in-
put into most aspects of life today, Time magazine’s
awards for the top 50 innovations in 2010 highlights
two examples with military flavor.
The first is a safer, more stable explosive that engi-
neers tested and qualified at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.,
Chemical engi- as a replacement for TNT in U.S. Army projectiles.
Traditional TNT is relatively unstable and can deto-
neers win awards nate when dropped or when a vehicle carrying it is hit
for military by an improvised explosive device (IED) or a bullet.
Called IMX-101 (Insensitive Munitions Explosive
developments in 101), it packs the same punch as TNT, but is more
Time magazine’s thermally stable, according to Philip Samuels, a chemi-
cal engineer at Picatinny Arsenal’s Armament Research,
top innovations Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC).
of 2010. Researchers spent four years working on the
material, which is scheduled for production this year.
IMX-101 is more expensive than TNT, with an initial
price of about $8/lb, compared with $6/lb for the
traditional explosive.
Picatinny selected the IMX-101 formula, developed
by BAE Systems, from a group of 23 different formulas
submitted to the Army by various government groups,
and foreign and domestic companies. Researchers found
BAE’s formula to be the most cost-effective option that
exceeded all the system tests designed to represent real
hazards and threats soldiers face in combat.
Because of Picatinny’s efforts to test, qualify and
apply the new explosive to existing Army and Marines
field artillery projectiles, soldiers will see IMX-101 in
155-mm M795 artillery projectiles in 2011. The new
explosive is also being researched for use in other types
of field artillery, another step towards the Army’s in-
tention to phase out its stockpile of traditional TNT.
“If you were involved in an incident near a tra-
ditional TNT projectile hit with a rocket propelled
grenade (RPG) or an IED, you wouldn’t be stand-
ing here today to tell about it,” says Charlie Patel, a
program management engineer for Project Manager
Combat Ammunition Systems (PM-CAS) on the N.J.
site. “But with IMX-101, all that would happen is the
explosive would deflagrate (burn quickly), and the
shell would break into a few pieces. You wouldn’t have
the big detonation that would wipe out the vehicle
and driver or a whole storage area and crew.”
“Because it’s less sensitive, the Army can store
more shells in a magazine, and store more in one
building at a closer distance to the soldiers,” notes
January 2011 chemicalprocessing.com  50
CP1101_50_EndPoint.indd 50
Anthony DiStasio, ARDEC project officer. “It signifi-
cantly reduces the logistics burden both here in the
U.S. and overseas.”
The second military innovation in the Time awards
involves blast protection as opposed to blast generation.
Created by flexible film and tape specialist Berry
Plastics Corporation, Franklin, Mass., the X-Flex blast
protection system is an innovative peel-and-stick solu-
tion that is designed specifically to absorb energy and
mitigate debris hazards during a significant blast event.
Developed through a co-operative research
and development agreement between the Engineer
Research and Development Center (ERDC) of the
U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Champaign, Ill., and
Engineered Protective Systems of Berry Plastics, this
new stretch-and-catch system uses the technology
of elastomeric material to retrofit walls and greatly
enhance ability to mitigate secondary debris hazards
associated with blast loads.
“In areas where threat risk is high, X-Flex helps
provide a measure of safety that was previously un-
available,” says Elizabeth A. Curran, business develop-
ment manager.
Rigorous full-scale testing of X-Flex has resulted
in proven performance to specific threat levels. The
fiber-reinforced polymer composite is engineered for
adhesion to many surfaces, and performs well across
a wide temperature range and diverse environmental
conditions. X-Flex is moisture-, mold- and fungus-
resistant, and the environmentally-friendly product
contains no volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Furthermore, it is easy to transport, store and install.
“These are factors that are critical to our military
personnel,” adds Curran. “Unlike traditional methods
for increased protection, which required specialized
equipment, toxic materials, difficult transport and
lengthy implementation through trained labor, X-Flex
can be installed instantly — and performs as soon as it
is installed. Two individuals can retrofit a 10-by-10-ft
wall in a matter of minutes.”
A custom adhesive system allows the patent pend-
ing X-Flex to be applied to the primed interior side
of an exterior wall simply by removing the protective
film liner and sticking the product to the wall. X-Flex
is further supported by a simple fastener at the top and
bottom of the wall at the floor and ceiling interface.
Seán ottewell, Editor at Large
sottewell@putman.net
12/27/10 12:08 PM
 WHERE DO THE
KEY PLAYERS IN PHARMA,
BIOTECH AND MANUFACTURING
COME TOGETHER?

MARCH 29 - 31, 2011 | JACOB K. JAVITS CENTER | NEW YORK, NEW YORK

INTERPHEXConnects | www.INTERPHEX.com

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IPX11_AD_
CP1101_fullPharmaMan_7.825X10.5.indd
page ads.indd 51 1 12/10/10
12/27/10 11:28
11:36 AM
AM
 A Better IEEE 841
Super-E® windings meet or exceed NEMA High strength cast iron frame, endplates,
Premium® efficiency standards conduit box and fan cover are designed
to reduce vibration and assure accurate
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and shaft surfaces Oversize bearings on each end
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CP1101_full page ads.indd 52 12/27/10 11:37 AM