The Wisdom of Silence this Summer
Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com 2020 has gotten off to a really weird start. Many of us have been working remotely, trying to continue to design projects and meet with clients. But, even in the best of situations, we can lose track of ourselves in the process. Consider the wisdom of silence. This feeling of being pulled in too many directions at once need not be inevitable. We can find ways to ground ourselves amidst all the chaos. Create moments of stillness where you can. When…
Contribute to a Holistic Approach to Unit Operations!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com As the chemical industry changes and becomes more integrated worldwide, there is a need for information exchange. This must include not only principles of operation but practical knowledge transfer. That’s why I have agreed to edit a new book for Elsevier, “Integration and Optimization of Unit Operations.” As my readers know, in 2015, I published the “Handbook of Solid-Liquid Filtration” with Elsevier, UK. This new project offers up-to-date and practical…
Dryer Selection and Bulk Solids Handling
Image source: https://www.toolshero.com/decision-making/blindspot-analysis/ 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 bulk solids handling. Recently in The Chemical Engineer, Grant Wellwood described bulk solids handling as the biggest industrial activity on the planet. The article…
Containment of Slurries in Continuous and Batch Operations
Image source 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 drum filters; the entire plant was white from titanium dioxide or pharma stearates. Today, we all know that processes remain open with filter presses, vacuum filters, and centrifuges. Our job is finding solid-liquid separation…
Engineer Checklists and Learning from Apollo
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 lunar landing and engineer checklists. I was intrigued, of course, as I periodically invoke Sherlock Holmes and the benefits of checklists for testing, analysis, etc. The magazine article, written by Mark Yates, looks at the…
The Wisdom of Silence this Summer
Photo by Jill Wellington on Pexels.com 2020 has gotten off to a really weird start. Many of us have been working remotely, trying to continue to design projects and meet with clients. But, even in the best of situations, we can lose track of ourselves in the process. Consider the wisdom of silence. This feeling of being pulled in too many directions at once need not be inevitable. We can find ways to ground ourselves amidst all the chaos. Create moments of stillness where you can. When…
Contribute to a Holistic Approach to Unit Operations!
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com As the chemical industry changes and becomes more integrated worldwide, there is a need for information exchange. This must include not only principles of operation but practical knowledge transfer. That’s why I have agreed to edit a new book for Elsevier, “Integration and Optimization of Unit Operations.” As my readers know, in 2015, I published the “Handbook of Solid-Liquid Filtration” with Elsevier, UK. This new project offers up-to-date and practical…
Dryer Selection and Bulk Solids Handling
Image source: https://www.toolshero.com/decision-making/blindspot-analysis/ 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 bulk solids handling. Recently in The Chemical Engineer, Grant Wellwood described bulk solids handling as the biggest industrial activity on the planet. The article…
Containment of Slurries in Continuous and Batch Operations
Image source 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 drum filters; the entire plant was white from titanium dioxide or pharma stearates. Today, we all know that processes remain open with filter presses, vacuum filters, and centrifuges. Our job is finding solid-liquid separation…
Engineer Checklists and Learning from Apollo
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 lunar landing and engineer checklists. I was intrigued, of course, as I periodically invoke Sherlock Holmes and the benefits of checklists for testing, analysis, etc. The magazine article, written by Mark Yates, looks at the…