Dryer Selection and Bulk Solids Handling
Photo by Alexandre Debiève on Unsplash
Solids handling is not a unit operation. Therefore, it’s not covered in engineering courses. This leaves process engineers struggling to understand the “flowability” of bulk solids. This blind spot is huge. So, let’s talk about dryer selection and…
Containment of Slurries in Continuous and Batch Operations
Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
In the 1970s, the chemical operations used acetone and benzene for the main slurries solid-liquid separation process. Next, there was a push to minimize solvent use. We looked to use water as the process liquid, but still had open filter presses and rotary…
Engineer Checklists and Learning from Apollo
Image by WikiImages from Pixabay
Recently, I discussed the five management lessons that we can learn from the Apollo lunar landing in 1969. Continuing on this theme, an article in The Chemical Engineer, “Houston-We have a checklist” a UK magazine that I write for, had an interesting take on the…
Common Myths About Engineers
Photo by Scott Blake on Unsplash
As a regular reader of Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP), I was impressed to see its Editor-in-Chief Cindy Mascone writing her monthly editorial as a poem. She mentioned that when she writes for the magazine "accuracy, clarity, and conciseness take…
Moonshot & Management Lessons
Photo by malith d karunarathne on Unsplash
2019 is the 50th anniversary of the Miracle Mets World Series-winning season, Joe Namath and the New York Jets taking the Super Bowl title, and the New York Knicks’ NBA Championship win with Bill Bradley. 1969 was quite a time for…