As we move into a new year, December can be a good time to reflect on the previous year's accomplishments. In that spirit, this column will highlight some of the most-informative web resources developed for each of ten key chemical processing topics.
Filtration and separation
An excellent resource for information about membrane separations and technology is Membrane Online. The site allows quick access to everything from an overview through discussions, articles, company websites, research groups, software, books and a glossary.
Fluid flow
Summaries and sample chapters from the book Advanced Water Distribution Modeling and Management (AWDM) Online are available. Conversion factors and tables including roughness, C-factors, Manning and minor loss coefficients are included in the appendix.
Pressure Drop Calculation and Pipe Flow Software Freeware provides a downloadable online calculator.
Corrosion control
Corrosionsource.com is a one-stop materials and corrosion information resource. The site is expanding and includes a corrosion knowledgebase, community discussions, and a directory of suppliers of corrosion-control related products. An article by Dr. Russell Kane further describes the content.
Energy conservation
A short, thought-provoking summary of the major areas of energy conservation relating to steam lines in a chemical plant is available from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) site.
Plant maintenance and engineering
The Principal Metals site includes useful metals property data, a weight calculator and specifications reference. A glossary of metallurgical terms and a convenient, linked, periodic table of the elements are included.
Maintenance tips from the workplace can be helpful. Maintenance reliability training and items in the Free Downloads area can also be useful.
Valves and piping
The TubeNet site links detailed tube and pipe specifications. Information relating to control valves is available from the engineering toolbox.
Mixing, size reduction and agglomeration
Andre Bakker's site now includes a 154-page Computational Fluid Mixing booklet available for download as a zipped portable document format (pdf) file.
Mixing motion pictures of a static mixer, a screw feeder and a coating drum are included in studies from the Tsuji Laboratory at Osaka University.
Heat transfer
Heat transfer is one of the more esoteric areas of chemical engineering and, perhaps, one of the most important. It seems like a good place to introduce The laws list. The list includes a compilation of laws, rules, principles, and other related topics in physics and astronomy. Many laws relate to heat transfer.
Heat Transfer Fluids Tips on saving time and money may be especially useful this time of the year.
Pollution prevention
Cleaning particles from gases is the topic of a sample chapter from Fundamentals of Particle Technology, a book by Richard Holdich, published by Midland Information Technology & Publishing.
Conversions and Formulas for air dispersion modeling are available from Milton Beychok's site along with his book, Fundamentals of Stack Gas Dispersion.
Instrumentation and process control
Instrumentation plays a pivotal role in research and development (R&D). One of the critical barriers for achieving goals for design of collaborative experiments and models is the lack of standards for instrumentation, according to Vision 2020 Combinatorial Methods. As computer modeling of process control moves to the forefront, engineers and operators will be able to take better advantage of the full capabilities of chemical manufacturing facilities.
