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Current Issue - May 2009 |
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INTERVIEW
"Manufacturing Sector must have Strong Support Functions"
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are not just about tax breaks and allocation. It is also about common facilities that include utilities that otherwise get duplicated and trading of byproducts within the industrial estate. Pothen Paul, Executive Chairman, Aker Solutions, emphasizes on these support functions for the manufacturing sector to survive the competitions well as to attracting foreign investments, over an exclusive chat with Mittravinda Ranjan. Excerpts.
- Pothen Paul |
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FEATURES
From Batch to Continuous Processing
An improved versatile annular centrifugal contactor design is now commercially employed in numerous liquid-liquid extraction applications. The paper discusses selection of proper size and operating parameters in addition with convenient methods of using this technology to convert from batch to continuous processing.
Importance of Humidity Control
While moisture is undoubtedly a significant menace in every industry, it assumes threatening proportions in the Chemical Industry. In many cases, even the presence of minuscule amount of moisture during production, storing and packaging of most of the chemicals can result in an Explosive Mixture.
- Sonali Dutta
Effective Control of Waste Boiler Steam Drum
Very often, young engineers get confused while designing boiler steam drum level control system that are different than conventional level controls in a drum. The paper discusses the basic concept, correct approach and complexities involved to design an ideal level control system.
- S K Saxena
Anchored Enzymes for Sustainable Processes
Results of several experiments have significantly indicated the significance of using anchored enzymes in chemical process industries. An analysis of the bio-gas from cow-dung slurry and that from using the anchored enzyme showed that while the bio-gas from the raw cow-dung slurry had the usual 60: 40 ratio of methane to carbon dioxide, the use of anchored enzyme yielded the biogas with composition of 75: 25
- Dipak Guha
Better Use of Information Means Better Productivity
In the current turbulent economic climate, companies are concentrating on reducing their costs while increasing profitability. Their efforts also involve focusing on optimizing their processes. Many firms are only approving new investments in the Process Optimization area after thoroughly scrutinizing the proposed expenditure and verifying for rapid Return on Investments (ROI). However, new investments may not even be necessary in some cases as the so-called ‘hidden knowledge’ in many companies still harbours immense potential for improvement.
-Uwe Kueppers
Ionomers: The Self-healing Polymers
Ionomers are a class of polymers that have up to 20mol% of ionic species incorporated into the structure of organic polymer. These ionic species create interactions that are not possible in non-ionic polymers. These have profound effect on mechanical and physical properties of the polymer. Bonded to the backbone, these polymers show self-healing property when incurred to damage.
- AP Joshi, SS Bhandari, GA Bhaduri, SU Lokhande
Third Generation Peeler Machines
Fine Chemicals and particularly the Pharmaceutical Industries always required the machine that would allow separation of processing area from the rest of machine. These requirements encouraged the development of Peeler Centrifuges because of their configuration and mechanical arrangement.
Process Engineering of Bio-diesel Plant
Process know-how for production of bio diesels were studied lab scale and on waste vegetable oil. The process know-how was later developed onto the pilot plant scale and finally scaled up for commercial production of 6 lakhs bulk liters of bio diesel of ASTM D 6751 02 standard. Process parameters like mole ratio, catalyst concentration, mixing of reactants kinetics, mass transfer were optimized. |
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MARKET INSIGHTS
PU Market on an Upswing
"Polyurethane Markets to reach 1000KTPA by 2018-19," predicts K Ramamurthy, Secretary General, Indian Polyurethane Association
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