Chemical Engineering January 2018 - 3

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
SUZANNE A. SHELLEY
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CHARLES BUTCHER (U.K.)
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PAUL S. GRAD (AUSTRALIA)
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TETSUO SATOH (JAPAN)
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Editors Page
Starting strong
ast month, the American Chemistry Council (ACC; www.
americanchemistry.com) issued its annual year-end report,
which offers a positive outlook for the chemical process
industries (CPI). The report, " Year-End 2017 Chemical Industry
Situation and Outlook, " was prepared by the ACC's Economics and
Statistics Department, with the ACC's chief economist, Kevin Swift,
as lead author. According to Swift, " Manufacturing has turned a corner,
business investment is on the rise, and domestic oil and gas
production is on the rebound. It all sets the stage for tremendous
momentum, expansion, and capital investment. "
L
Industry outlook
In the U.S., the abundant and inexpensive feedstock and energy
advantages offered by shale gas developments have led to significant
capital investments, and continue to play a prominent role
in the direction the CPI are taking. More than half of the investments
announced since 2010 are either under construction or
have been completed.
The report estimates that chemical production volumes (excluding
pharmaceuticals) were up 0.8% in 2017 despite interruptions to production
in the Gulf Coast region due to the severe hurricanes experienced
in August. Production volumes are poised to go up more in the
near future - by 3.7% in 2018. " In addition, " the report says, " a second
wave of investment is on the way. " And, the oil-and-gas sector,
which had been in a slump, is said to be on the rebound. Most of the
CPI growth in the U.S. is expected to be in the Gulf Coast region, the
Ohio Valley and the Southeast. Increased production would generate
materials for export, so any changes in trade policy, however, could
have a strong effect on projected growth.
On a global view, the report cites a strengthening in manufacturing,
and in fact says, " Outside the United States, a synchronized upswing
among major and regional economies is occurring for the first time
since the mid-2000s. "
In this issue
The overall optimistic message of the year-end report gives the CPI a
strong starting point for 2018. The challenges, however, are many -
particularly in keeping up with growing competition. Companies are
looking to innovative process and product improvements, as well as
implementing new developments, such as in digitalization, to maintain
a competitive edge. Our two-part Cover Story this month (pp. 22-32)
takes a close look at a select group of innovative processes that have
been developed, and commercialized in the past two years. The road
to commercializing a new process can be long and difficult, and so,
in addition to covering the impressive process and product developments,
we compiled some of the best practices for commercialization
that were used in these accomplishments.
You will also find articles on pumps, pressure
measurement, career guidelines for young engineers,
high-shear mixing and more in this issue. We
look forward to bringing you the variety of topics
that we have planned for this year. We hope you
find the articles informative, and as always, we welcome
your feedback.
Our best wishes to all of our readers for a happy,
healthy and prosperous new year.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
JANUARY 2018
■
Dorothy Lozowski, Editorial Director
3
http://www.americanchemistry.com http://www.accessintel.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM
Chemical Engineering January 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering January 2018
