Chemical Engineering September 2010 - 25

Hydrogen-rich syngas
to gas cleaning system
T
he first ChemInnovations 2010
Conference and Expo (www.
cpievent.com) is designed to
provide engineers in the chemical
process industries (CPI) with tools
and knowledge for solving today's
complicated processing challenges.
Scheduled to take place at the Reliant
Center in Houston October 19-21,
ChemInnovations is expected to attract
over 150 exhibitors and more
than 2,000 attendees.
ChemInnovations is focused on
fostering innovative thinking and on
delivering the innovative technologies
and approaches that are vital in
addressing current processing challenges.
The event was put together to
help attendees anticipate market and
regulatory trends in the CPI.
Conference keynote speakers will
address various aspects of innovation,
including how to cultivate innovative
thinking and support innovation
while meeting the regulatory demands
placed on the CPI.
The ChemInnovations conferences
are organized into seven tracks, with
track titles including the following:
* Business insight for engineers
* Process design and operations -
nurturing your plant production
* Energy efficiencies and the use of
alternative energy sources
* New horizons in automation
* Environmental, health and safety -
let's talk regulations and operations
The ChemInnovations 2010 event program
also features poster sessions,
CPI training seminars, workshops
and a host of special activities.
CHEMENTATOR
LIGHTNING ROUND
Further in keeping with the innovation
theme, ChemInnovations 2010
will showcase a unique track called
the Chementator Lightning Round.
This track parallels a monthly editorial
department in Chemical Engineering.
Using a fast-paced, interview-style
format, the Chementator Lightning
Round will provide a look at newly
proven technologies and approaches
that could lead to breakthroughs in
CPI applications. The interviews will
be led by the Chemical Engineering
editorial staff. The following technoloSolid
waste
feed
Thermal
residence
chamber
(TRC)
Liquid waste
Plasma-arc
graphite
electrodes
Steam/oxygen
injection
Molton glass
Molton metal
Thermal valves
FIGURE 1. InEnTec's PEM uses a direct-current plasma arc
to generate syngas from waste and other materials
gies are among those to be presented
within this track at ChemInnovations
2010. The date and time of each presentation
follow each writeup.
Plasma-enhanced gasification
offers improved waste disposal
Plasma-enhanced melter (PEM) gasification
technology developed by InEnTec
Chemical LLC (Fleming Island, Fla.;
www.inentecchemical.com) employs a
direct-current plasma arc and an alternating-current
glass melter to generate
synthesis gas (syngas) from hazardous
and other wastes (Figure 1).
As waste is fed into the primary vessel,
it contacts the plasma and is immediately
broken down into its atomic
and molecular constituents. The dissociated
products of organic waste
recombine to form the components of
synthesis gas, while inorganic materials
are entrained or dissolved in the
glass phase. Since steam and oxygen
are also fed into the PEM gasification
reactor, the PEM essentially conducts
an almost instantaneous steam-methane
reforming reaction.
The company says the syngas produced
is of high purity, and the PEM
works well on nearly all forms of biomass
and waste material, including
hazardous waste from chemical plants,
municipal waste, non-hazardous industrial
waste and medical waste. The initial
commercial site for this technology
is operating at Dow Corning's Midland,
Note: For more information, circle the 3-digit number
on p. 62, or use the website designation.
Source: InEnTec Chemical
Mich. site. In addition to being convertible
to other products, the syngas produced
by the PEM can also be used as
a fuel to produce energy, a scheme with
attractive energy balances, the company
says. - Oct. 21, 12:30 PM
A steam thermocompressor
with improved efficiency
Through a careful redesign informed by
computational-fluid-dynamics (CFD)
modeling, a research team at Kadant
Johnson Inc. (Westford, Mass.; www.
kadant.com) has developed a steam jet
thermocompressor that improves performance
and energy efficiency compared
to conventional units.
Thermocompressors use high-pressure
steam to entrain flow from a
lower-pressure steam source in order
to boost pressure for reuse. By optimizing
the thermocompressor geometry,
entrainment-ratio improvements of
15 to 25% over conventional designs
have been observed. Thermocompressors
have been applied widely in the
CPI to boost low-pressure steam, but
are often oversized and operate at
higher differential pressures than are
needed. The results are energy waste,
operational problems and poor control.
- Oct. 20, 11:50 AM
A new refractometer
compensates for drift
A novel refractomer developed by
Flexim GmbH (Berlin, Germany;
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHE.COM SEPTEMBER 2010 24D-1
Plasma-arc
heating zone
Volumetric resistance
heating zone
Side entry electrodes
Hydrogen-rich
syngas to TRC
http://www.cpievent.com http://www.inentecchemical.com http://www.kadant.com http://WWW.CHE.COM
Chemical Engineering September 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering September 2010
