Chemical Engineering Progress back issues from December 2007:
A Positive Experience in SLC
Dec 01, 2007; ... Having just returned from a week-long trip to Salt Lake City for the AIChE Annual Meeting (Nov. 4-9), I was energized by the unbridled enthusiasm of the students and volunteers, as well as the many attendees who commented positively on the session topics and special events. Unofficially, the ...
A Smarter Way to Detect Fugitive Emissions
Dec 01, 2007; ... Early next year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA; Washington, DC; www.epa.gov) plans to issue an amended regulation to make it simpler and cheaper for process plants to detect fugitive emissions. Under existing rules, emissions monitoring is a time-consuming task in which plant ...
A GREENER CHEM SHOW
Dec 01, 2007; ... The 52nd biennial Chem Show kicked off its diree days of exhibitions and programming at me Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City on Oct. 30, 2007. Upwards of 7,000 registered attendees reportedly visited the 600+ exhibitors, which included a large international delegation of 56 ...
Corn-Based Ethanol - Addressing One Problem, but Possibly Causing Another
Dec 01, 2007; ... ENERGY If projected increases in die use of corn for etiianol production occur, me harm to water quality could be considerable, and water supply problems at the regional and local levels could also arise, says a new report from the National Research Council. The committee that wrote the ...
NEW SYSTEM USES A ROTATING MAGNETIC FIELD TO DETECT PATHOGENS
Dec 01, 2007; ... Researchers at Purdue Univ. and Duke Univ. have developed a technique that uses a magnetic field to selectively separate tiny magnetic particles, representing a highly sensitive method for potentially diagnosing disease by testing samples from patients. "Because different padiogens could be ...
Novel Refractory Technology Cuts Labor and Material Costs
Dec 01, 2007; ... MATERIALS Stellar Materials Inc. (Boca Raton, FL; www.thermbond.com) was recently granted a European patent for the technology used to produce its entire family of refractory products, branded Thermbond. Rather than mixing with water, as is done with traditional refractories, Thermbond ...
Laying the Groundwork for the Next Century
Dec 01, 2007; ... Letter from Larry Evans, 2007 AlChE President It was a privilege serving as your president this past year as AIChE began its 100* year as the leathng professional society serving chemical engineers. 2007 was a very good year for AIChE. Financially, we continue to show positive results ....
Shoebox-Size Vehicles Spark Excitement
Dec 01, 2007; ... 9th Annual ChemE-Car Competition At the 9th Annual AIChE National ChemE-Car Competition (Nov. 4; Salt Lake City, UT), held in connection with AIChE's Annual Meeting and National Student Conference, household kitchen goods reigned supreme over basic laboratory materials and fuel cells. A ...
In Memoriam - Gary J. Powers (1945-2007)
Dec 01, 2007; ... Gary Powers touched die lives of thousands of students at Carnegie Mellon Univ., where he served as a professor of chemical engineering for more than 30 years, until his deatii July 23, 2007. One of the most popular and wellliked professors, he was a frequent recipient of the Kirn Li Award for ...
Joseph J. Santoleri Honored for Pioneering Contributions to the Waste Management Industry
Dec 01, 2007; ... This past May, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers awarded AIChE member, Joseph J. Santoleri, the IT3 Pioneer Award at the 26th Annual Conference on Incineration and Thermal Treatment Technologies (IT3) in Phoenix, AZ. Santoleri was honored with this award for his lifetime of ...
OBITUARIES
Dec 01, 2007; ... Roy 0. Ball, 62, Bannockburn, IL Ronald A. Cole, 66, Seattle, WA Harry L. Frisch, 79, Albany, NY Carl H. Gamer*, 92, Franklin Lakes, NJ Elihu ...
AIChE Conference Calendar
Dec 01, 2007; ... For information and registration details, visit www.aiche.org/conferences or call Customer Service at 1-800-242-4363 or 1-203-702-7660 (outside the U.S.) 2008 SBE's International Conference on Stem Cell Engineering January 20-23, 2008 * Coronado Island Marriott Resort * Coronado, ...
Business Update
Dec 01, 2007; ... PLANTS AND PROJECTS Wacker Expands Biologies Operation in Germany Munich-based chemical group Wacker is making a $22-million investment to strengthen its biopharmaceutical operations in Jena, Germany. Through Wacker's Jena-based subsidiary, Wacker Biotech GmbH ...
Cutting the Strings: Process Automation Goes Wireless
Dec 01, 2007; ... I have always considered process automation to be at the leading edge of technological development. Several financial pundits of my acquaintance, however, demur. In their view, ordinary chemical engineers wouldn't know "high tech" if they tripped over it. "High tech" to them is anything with a ...
Understanding Future Wireless Options
Dec 01, 2007; ... Is there an advantage to installing WirelessHART instrumentation over ISA100? Although it has been announced that the HART 7 specification containing WirelessHART has been approved by the HART Communications Foundation, there are no instruments currently on the market that conform to ...
What's New
Dec 01, 2007; ... Instrumentation and Control Position Sensor Operates in Harsh Conditions The Positek E111 is an intrinsically safe, rugged, linear position sensor for use in potentially explosive dust and gas/vapor atmospheres, including areas with continuous, long or frequent periods of exposure to ...
Software and Information Technology
Dec 01, 2007; ... These Algorithms Solve EIT Problems DynaEIT is a suite of algorithms designed to solve electrical impedance tomography (EIT) problems. In EIT, the distribution of conductivity inside a container is determined by applying currents (or voltages) at locations along the container surface and ...
Assess the Performance of Positive-Displacement Pumps
Dec 01, 2007; ... Here's how to evaluate rotary pumps - gear, lobe, vane and multiple-screw designs - regardless of whether the material being handled is a Newtonian or non-Newtonian fluid. Several standards (1-3) address the testing of pumps, primarily at the pump manufacturer's test facilities. Such ...
Product Digest this month's topic: Environmental Equipment
Dec 01, 2007; ... Desalination Technology Treats Wastewater Updated electrodialysis reversal (EDR) desalination technology removes salt, radium, arsenic, perchlorates and other potentially harmful contaminants from tough-to-treat well and surface waters. Using an electrochemical separation process that ...
Is Your Cold Lime Softener Effective?
Dec 01, 2007; ... If your plant's utility system is experiencing problems, the culprit may be the clarifier. Understanding how to diagnose and correct off-spec clarifier operation will allow downstream units to function more efficiently and reliably. Maintaining the reliability of a plant's utility system ...
SBE Update: From Idea to Reality
Dec 01, 2007; ... Since we published SBE's supplement on the Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) Consortium in the September issue of CEP, several readers have wondered how researchers ever came to consider genomics as a solution to traditional bioprocessing problems. The answer, to my mind, is the concept captured in ...
Recognizing Bioengineering Excellence
Dec 01, 2007; ... Several leaders in the biological engineering field were honored at AIChE's annual meeting in Salt Lake City last month. As previously announced (CEP, Oct. 2007, p. 36), George Georgiou, the Cockrell Chair in Engineering at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, received SBE's James E. Bailey ...
Le plus ça change ... le plus c'est la même chose
Dec 01, 2007; ... Nicholas A. Peppas, a world leader in biomaterials, controlled drug delivery, and bionanotechnology, and the Fletcher Stuckey Pratt Chair in Engineering and Professor of Chemical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Pharmacy at the Univ. of Texas at Austin, was selected as the 59th AIChE ...
Breaking the Downstream Bottleneck in Chromatography
Dec 01, 2007; ... Thermodynamics vs. kinetics - these two competing factors are the primary causes of the downstream bottleneck in chromatography columns employed in biopharmaceutical applications. The maximum binding capacity is a thermodynamic relationship between the resin and the protein. But, because the ...
ENGINEERING ORGANS HEART AND ESOPHAGUS
Dec 01, 2007; ... The potential for tissue engineering to transform the practice of medicine is enormous. Chemical engineers will play important roles in this revolution. The conceptual ideas underlying tissue engineering evolved in the 1970s and were shaped into a more modern form in the late 1980s and ...
BIOPRINTING: DIRECTED TISSUE SELF-ASSEMBLY
Dec 01, 2007; ... Imagine eliminating patient waiting lists for organ transplants. Bioprinting holds the promise of making this happen, but, much research must be done first. Traditional or classic tissue engineering is based on fabrication of porous solid biodegradable scaffolds with sequential cell ...
CONDUCTING POLYMERS: A BRIDGE ACROSS THE BIONIC INTERFACE
Dec 01, 2007; ... Inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) exhibit a variety of dynamic behaviors that make them an exciting platform for a new generation of bionic devices. Bionics - the quest to interface the worlds of biology and electronics to improve human performance - is a fascinating and challenging ...
Ludwig's Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants
Dec 01, 2007; ... Ludwig's Applied Process Design for Chemical and Petrochemical Plants Vol. 1, 4th Edition A. Kayode Coker, Gulf Professional Publishing/Elsevier, Burlington, MA, 1,024 pp., $199,2007, ISBN 13: 978-0-7506-7766-0; ISBN 10: 0-7506-7766-X Completely revised and expanded, this fourth edition ...
Rules of Thumb in Engineering Practice
Dec 01, 2007; ... Rules of Thumb in Engineering Practice Donald R. Woods, WileyVCH, Weinheim, Germany, 479 pp., $120, Apr. 2007, ISBN: 978-3-527-31220-7 This handy, concise reference is designed to save engineers time and effort in solving design, process improvement, operation and troubleshooting ...
Successful Trouble Shooting for Process Engineers
Dec 01, 2007; ... Successful Trouble Shooting for Process Engineers Donald R. Woods, Wiley-VCH, Welnhelm, Germany, 444 pp., $135, Mar. 2006, ISBN: 978-3-527-31163-7 A companion to "Rules of Thumb in Engineering Practice," this book introduces practicing engineers and students to the fascinating and ...
Plate Heat Exchangers: Design, Applications and Performance
Dec 01, 2007; ... Plate Heat Exchangers: Design, Applications and Performance L. Wang, B. Sunden and R. M. Manglik, WIT Press, Billerica, MA, 288 pp, $190, Aug. 2007, ISBN: 978-1-85312-737-3 This latest book (Volume 11) in the Developments in Heat Transfer series starts with a general introduction to ...
Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers
Dec 01, 2007; ... Rules of Thumb for Maintenance and Reliability Engineers Smith and R. Keith Mobley, Butterworth-Heinemann, Burlington, MA, 336 pp., $95. Oct. 2007, ISBN: 978-0750678629 Focusing on predictive maintenance, this book is a convenient guide to best practices for maintaining machinery and ...
The Rise of Chemical Engineering and the Transformation of DuPont
Dec 01, 2007; ... As 2007 draws to a close, DuPont Corp. is four years into its third century. Founded in 1803, the firm still bears the name of the French ernigre" who founded it. And the oldest industrial company in America is well into its second centennial transformation. This year DuPont sold its last carpet ...