Chemical Engineering October 2013 - 57

Fractionation Column
Environmental Manager
A booming interest in
separation technologies
istillation and absorption are
back. The AIChE Spring Meeting
(San Antonio, April 28-May
2) proved it and the fall meeting to
be held in November will muffle any
doubting Thomases.
During the late 1970s and early
1980s, I spent appreciable time on
acid-gas absorption. I knew the amine
and hot-potassium-carbonate processes
fairly well. I remember giving
an absorption presentation at a large
Canadian chemical engineering conference.
Seven speakers gave seven
presentations to an audience that was
comprised solely of: the seven speakers.
The applauses were less than deafening.
Oh, how times have changed.
At the AIChE Spring Meeting, attendance
at the Distillation and Absorption
(D&A) sessions was historic.
Henry Kister and Mike Pritchett did
an excellent job of arranging the associated
Topical Conference, but the waves
of attendees who showed up for the
Monday morning session honoring Tak
Yanagi had the organizers gasping and
scurrying for extra chairs. There were
at least 100 attendees; generally, 40 is
considered to be a good turnout. Tak is
popular, but not that popular. Attendance
at the D&A sessions was in fact
very strong all week long. The neighboring
Ethylene Producers Conference
was attended by hundreds. The Safety
Symposium was similarly popular.
The officers of the D&A group have
generally found that the fall D&A
sessions are not nearly as popular as
the spring sessions. Therefore, for the
AIChE Fall Meeting, they planned for
four D&A sessions. To their surprise, 75
abstracts were received for the four sessions.
The acceptance of all 75 abstracts
would have limited each presentation
time to less than a minute. The D&A
organizers beseeched AIChE headquarters
for extra sessions, and seven extra
sessions were graciously afforded.
So, what happened? The answer is
CO2. Of the 75 abstracts that were
received, 40 were regarding CO2 absorption,
adsorption, regeneration and
96974_1-3 square.indd 1
D
membranic separations. The majority
of the abstracts came from academia.
Global governments,
including the
U.S. government, are pouring money
into CO2 research to reduce global
CO2 emissions.
Global distillation- and absorptioncolumn
work is possibly at the highest
levels that I have seen in 40 years.
Global membership in the FRI distillation
consortium has been growing
steadily since 2007. For plant owners
and column operators, low U.S. natural
gas prices have reduced the costs
of feedstocks and energy. The new
profitability is spurring investments.
The end of this high level of distillation
and absorption activity is not in
sight. U.S. oil production is at a very high
Mike Resetarits is the technical director
at Fractionation Research, Inc. (FRI;
Stillwater, Okla.; www.fri.org), a distillation
research consortium. Each month,
Mike shares his fi rst-hand experience
with CE readers
level, especially because of hydraulic
fracturing in Oklahoma and West and
Central Texas. Six new pipelines are
planned to bring light sweet crude oils
to South Texas where the majority of
U.S. petroleum refineries reside. Many
of the columns of those refineries and
downstream petrochemical plants will
surely need to be revamped, to accommodate
feedstock changes, or to effect
capacity increases or to achieve energy
consumption reductions.
Students in global chemical engineering
programs should consider
careers in " conventional " separation
technologies and developing separation
technologies. But they had better wear
shades. Their futures will be bright. ■
Mike Resetarits
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Chemical Engineering October 2013

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