CPG20111101

N
O
V
E
M
B
E
R

2
0
1
1
Pump Up
Energy Savings
Control Level
with a Cascade
Ethanol Plant Boosts
Operating Margin
Tackle Tray Trade-offs
Many misconceptions muddle
manuevers to manage risks
Myths
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5 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM O NOVEMBER 2011
NOVEMBER 2011 | VOLUME 74, ISSUE 11
Chemical Processing (ISSN 0009-2630) is published monthly by Putman Media Inc., 555 West Pierce Road, Suite 301, Itasca, IL 60143. Phone (630) 467-1300. Fax (630) 467-1109. Periodicals postage paid at Itasca,
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CONTENTS
40 32 20
COVER STORY
20 Kiss Off Safety System Myths
Safety and productivity at process plants suffer because
too many engineers believe myths concerning design,
implementation and operation of safety instrumented
systems. This article dispels leading myths.
FEATURES
MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS
29 Pump Up Energy Savings
Cutting energy use has never been more important for
chemical companies, now striving to deal with rising
costs, while lowering environmental impact and improving
sustainability. Motors and pumping systems often offer
ample opportunities.
INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL
32 Control Level with a Cascade
Using a level controller in a master loop to provide the set
point for a f low controller in a slave loop may make sense
for level control. However, applying the approach requires
different thinking about the two loops.
MAKING IT WORK
40 Ethanol Plant Boosts Operating Margin
Faced with razor-thin margins, a bio-ethanol facility
turned to model predictive control to stabilize operations
and improve efficiency across the entire plant. Higher
yields and lower energy consumption are just two of the
benefits achieved.
COLUMNS
7 From the Editor: Italian Trial Covers
Some Shaky Ground.
9 Chemical Processing Online: Read the
Safety Signs.
11 Field Notes: Dont Devalue Isometrics.
17 Energy Saver: Save Energy in Water
Systems, Part I.
19 Compliance Advisor: EPA Issues Final
Weight-of-Evidence Guidance.
44 Plant InSites: Tackle Tray Trade-os.
50 End Point: Gulf Faces Lasting Impact
From Spill.
DEPARTMENTS
13 In Process: Reagent Powders Promise Solid
Benets | Material Traps Anionic Pollutants

42 Process Puzzler: Chillers Require Cold-
Eyed Review.
45 Equipment & Services
47 Product Spotlight/Classieds
49 Ad Index
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Escaping steam means lost energy
and lost profits. If only I could monitor
my steam traps without running all
over the plant.
7 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM NOVEMBER 2011
FROM THE EDITOR
Achieving an
appropriate
balance in
communicating
risk is tricky
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS in Italy certainly have
made the news lately. Te appeals trial of Amanda
Knox, an American university student who was con-
victed of killing her roommate, and several moves to
prosecute Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi because
of ongoing revelations including lurid details of
his personal life have received wide international
coverage. However, what interests me more is a trial
of six technical experts and a government ocial
that began in late September because it might
signicantly impact how risks are communicated to
the public, and not just in Italy.
Te seven face manslaughter charges as a conse-
quence of a severe earthquake that hit central Italy in
April 2009. If convicted, they might serve a decade or
longer in prison. In addition, civil suits seek nancial
damages from them.
Te earthquake devastated the area around the
town of LAquila. Te quake, which had a 5.8 mag-
nitude on the Richter scale, destroyed or damaged
thousands of buildings, including many medieval
ones, and killed more than 300 people. It followed a
series of smaller tremors that had hit the region during
prior months.
Te seven defendants Enzo Boschi, president of
Italys National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanol-
ogy (INGV) at the time of the quake; Franco Barberi
of Roma Tre University; Mauro Dolce, head of the
seismic risk oce at Italys Department of Civil Protec-
tion; Claudio Eva of the University of Genoa; Giulio
Selvaggi, director of INGVs National Earthquake
Center; Gian Michele Calvi, president of the European
Center for Training and Research in Earthquake Engi-
neering; and Bernardo De Bernardinis, a government
ocial who was vice-director of the Department of
Civil Protection at the time served on a disaster risk
committee for the LAquila area. Tey met just days
before the earthquake hit. Following that meeting,
Barberi, De Bernardinis and some local ocials held a
press conference that basically downplayed the risk of
a major quake occurring soon and didnt promote the
need for earthquake preparedness.
Te move to prosecute the seven, when revealed
last year, drew condemnation from a number of
prestigious scientic groups, including the American
Geophysical Union and the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. Basically, such groups
argued that because its still impossible to predict
earthquakes, the committee members had no reason
to warn an earthquake was imminent and were being
made into scapegoats.
A recent column by Stephen S. Hall in Nature
provides a lot of background, including com-
ments from Italy and elsewhere, (www.nature.com/
news/2011/110914/full/477264a.html) and gives the
perspective of local prosecutor Fabio Picuti:
I know they cant predict earthquakes. Te basis
of the charges is not that they didnt predict the earth-
quake. As functionaries of the state, they had certain
duties imposed by law: to evaluate and characterize
the risks that were present in LAquila. Part of that
risk assessment, he says, should have included the
density of the urban population and the known fragil-
ity of many ancient buildings in the city centre. Tey
were obligated to evaluate the degree of risk given all
these factors, he says, and they did not.
Tis isnt a trial against science, insists Vittorini,
who is a civil party to the suit. But he says that a
persistent message from authorities of Be calm, dont
worry, and a lack of specic advice, deprived him and
others of an opportunity to make an informed deci-
sion about what to do on the night of the earthquake.
Tats why I feel betrayed by science, he says. Either
they didnt know certain things, which is a problem,
or they didnt know how to communicate what they
did know, which is also a problem.
In an earthquake-prone area like the region
around LAquila, if experts were too liberal in assess-
ing hazards, warnings might occur fairly frequently
and the public might start downplaying or even
disregarding them. Achieving an appropriate balance
in communicating risk is tricky.
Tis dilemma should sound familiar to chemical
makers. Today, thank goodness, its no longer ac-
ceptable to keep the public in the dark about hazards
posed by operations. So, many plants undoubtedly
struggle with what and when to communicate about
risks and appropriate measures to mitigate them to
people in neighboring communities.
It will be interesting to see how this case plays out
and whether it oers any real insights.
MARK ROSENZWEIG, Editor in Chief
mrosenzweig@putman.net
Italian Trial Covers Some Shaky Ground
Case about advising public on earthquake risk has broader implications
B
E
T
Y
C
H
E
M
R
E
A
D
Y
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CHEMICAL PROCESSING ONLINE
Read the Safety Signs
You never can get enough information about ensuring safety
This machine
has no brain,
use your own.
YEARS AGO I was touring a plant to
gather information for a story. Te plant
had a great safety record and I was there
to nd out how it achieved this success.
Te one thing that still sticks out in my
mind after all those years is a sign I saw
on a piece of equipment: Caution Tis
machine has no brain, use your own.
Obviously, that wasnt the factorys
only safety initiative. But I bet it did
make an operator pause before doing
something risky.
Stories on safety are often the ones
that get the most attention. Add to that a
provocative twist (Kiss O Safety System
Myths, p. 20), and you see that wanting
to stay out of harms way is good reading.
Author Angela E. Summers of SIS-TECH
Solutions, whos active in key safety
groups, should be no stranger to readers of
Chemical Processing. Several of her articles
are peppered in among the nearly 800 ar-
ticles related to safety on ChemicalPro-
cessing.com. Her other articles include:
Keep Chemical Operations Safe
A four-phase risk reduction strategy
can play a crucial role. (www.chemical-
processing.com/articles/2008/106.html)
Achieve Continuous Safety Im-
provement Enhancing safety perfor-
mance requires diligence and unrelent-
ing eort. (www.chemicalprocessing.
com/articles/2007/063.html)
Dont Underestimate Overllings
Risks High level can pose serious
hazards but seven simple steps can pre-
vent them. (www.chemicalprocessing.
com/articles/2010/143.html)
Another article certainly worth read-
ing is Make Safety Second Nature,
www.chemicalprocessing.com/ar-
ticles/2011/make-safety-second-nature.
html, in which Mike Gambrell of Dow
Chemical provides insights on how to
achieve an eective safety culture.
Weve also tackled safety in our online
panel discussion series. You can access all
on-demand events via this link: www.
chemicalprocessing.com/webinars. Our
most recent web event discussed process
safety, including how to avoid common
hazards that are often overlooked.
Another important safety topic
covered in an on-demand session is dust
control and how to mitigate risks of an
explosion at your chemical processing
facility. In addition, our discussion on
alarm management is important in the
ght to make the workplace safe.
If you dont have time to watch a
60-minute web event, we also have
podcasts dedicated to safety. You can
access all podcasts via this link: www.
chemicalprocessing.com/podcasts.
One youll want to pay attention to is
Inherently Safer Design, which aims to
eliminate or signicantly reduce haz-
ards, rather than managing them with
hardware and procedures.
Dealing with safety issues can involve
sophisticated techniques for hazard analy-
sis and prescriptive measures for plant
design and operation. It also can involve
rethinking a process to make it inher-
ently safer. It demands an understanding
of tradeos and nuances, which makes
getting expert advice the safe approach.
Dennis Hendershot, principal process
safety specialist, Chilworth Technology
Inc., serves as the process safety expert.
You can access all experts via this link:
www.chemicalprocessing.com/experts.
We strive to bring you as many
safety-related resources as possible. We
hope you take advantage of them.
TRACI PURDUM, Senior Digital Editor
tpurdum@putman.net.
WATER RESOURCES
Many chemical companies regard water treatment and
conservation as an imperative in their sustainability
efforts. Visit the Industrial Water/Wastewater Resource
Center for the latest information, case studies, products
and solutions for ensuring compliance with industrial
wastewater regulations, improving operational ef-
ciency, reducing water disposal costs and more. www.
chemicalprocessing.com/resource_centers/wastewater
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FIELD NOTES
Dont Devalue Isometrics
They sometimes can tell you a lot more than P&IDs
THE REFINERYS documentation was organized
and generally pretty good but its isometrics were
terrible. Over the next few months our eorts to
upgrade its desalter were stalled several times because
of incomplete, conicting and often dead-wrong
isometrics.
Isometric drawings can be the most valuable
construction aid available besides Process and
Instrumentation Diagrams (P&IDs). Stick gures
and familiar symbols can easily represent construc-
tion details sucient for a welder to build a process,
a contractor to bid a project, and an engineer to
evaluate process feasibility.
Unfortunately, some people consider isometrics
an anachronism. During a hydrotreater expansion
the overall contractor was convinced 3D model-
ing would solve all problems with our layout. I was
amused. Te rest of the team were not when I asked
if 3D modeling would be available to the welders
actually building the plant. Te isometrics when
reviewed highlighted numerous support issues
overlooked by the modelers.
However, isometrics wont solve any problems
if done poorly. Bad isometric drawings could cost
your company a fortune. Heres an example from
one hydraulic study of a 2,500-ft brine line we
completed.
Our analysis should have required about two
weeks. Instead, it took about six weeks and hun-
dreds of man-hours. Why? Instead of pipe lengths,
I had to work with distances between columns; a
convenience if youre building but not if you want
to analyze later. Existing valves were marked as
demo-ed. Elevations were given as vague measure-
ments between objects; a specic datum such as
distance above sea level would have been useful.
Over 400 feet of the pipeline was based on a plan
view because no isometric drawings existed. Te
analysis involved three mechanical engineers for
three weeks and a chemical engineer for the models
for six weeks. In addition, department oversight
and quality control took, maybe, two weeks. It
probably wound up costing around $60,000. In
comparison, with good isometrics, the job would
require two mechanical engineers and a chemical
engineer for a week and a week of quality control
which would run about $20,000. Worse yet, the
renery will have to repeat this experience for every
future project.
So, now that you understand whats at stake, con-
sider ten steps that can improve isometrics: 1) Identify
each run of pipe in lengths of a common unit. Avoid
mixing inches and feet for small sections use
inches. 2) Include equipment lengths, excluding pipe
anges and gaskets, separately. 3) Ban the term eld
verication it leads to sloppy design. Remember,
if you cant design for it you cant build from it. 4)
Allow some slop for construction and threading.
5) Keep demo drawings separate. 6) Add supports
with reference to specic, uniform details, such as
dummy support for carbon steel pipe. 7) If youre
not sure how a pipe is connected and its not part of
your immediate concern, dont guess leave it blank
on the drawing with a note to describe the problem.
8) Coordinate the isometrics with plan and elevation
drawings. Ideally, you should have a plan view grid of
individual isometric drawings. 9) Take advantage of
new technology by integrating, rather than replacing,
the old. Use 3D modeling to spot obstructions. 10)
Learn by doing. Try setting up a hydraulic model of
the piping using the isometric chances are youll
nd missing details youll want to add pipe drawings.
Also, consider including basic drawing symbols
for pipe assembly: two vertical parallel lines for
anged pipe; an enlarged dot for welded pipe; and
a single vertical line for a threaded connection. You
might have to get more specialized for construc-
tion that involves butt-welding, socket-welded pipe,
NPT or DIN threading, and a variety of anges
(slip-on, raised-face, weld-neck, lap, threaded, etc.).
Dont forget to specify the gaskets! Using three
-in. gaskets instead of three -in. ones adds
in. to the overall pipe length. Tis might not sound
like much but it aects thermal expansion and even
constructability if the piping is tight. Be specic.
Tese details are best handled in a Bill of Ma-
terials table; make sure the measurements on the
drawing are true to the actual ttings. Tis is one
dierence between P&IDs and isometrics. You can
show a 6X2 reducer on a P&ID, but on an isomet-
ric drawing no such thing exists a 6X2 reducer
becomes a pair of 6X3, 3X2 reducers or 6X4, 4X2
reducers. More detail is required.
Being involved in the piping details will im-
prove your chances of project success.
DIRK WILLARD, Contributing Editor
dwillard@putman.net
Relying on eld
verication leads
to sloppy design.
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IN PROCESS
ORGANOZINC REAGENTS potentially can play
an important role in producing a variety of com-
plex organic compounds. However, susceptibility to
degradation from air and moisture has hindered use of
such reagents, which only have been available in liquid
form. Now, though, researchers at Ludwig Maximil-
ians University (LMU) in Munich, Germany, have
developed a simple one-pot method to make salt-
stabilized organozinc solids that retain their activity
for months when stored in an argon atmosphere
(Figure 1). Tey can even be exposed to air for short
periods without loss of activity, notes Paul Knochel, a
chemistry professor who leads the team.
Te researchers prepared aryl, heteroaryl and
benzylic zinc pivalates under mild conditions and at
high yields. Te materials, recovered as easy-to-han-
dle powders after evaporation of solvent, show excel-
lent reactivity in Negishi cross-coupling reactions
and undergo smooth carbonyl additions, they report
in an article in Angewandte Chemie International.
Te solids reportedly are compatible with a
broader array of functional groups than comparable
organolithium and organomagnesium compounds.
Basically, these zinc reagents should be able to
undergo cross-couplings with almost all types
of organic halides or sulfonates bearing all kind
of functional groups (ester, nitrile, nitro, ketone,
amines), says Knochel.
Tis new class of organozinc pivalates makes it
possible to employ dierent solvents in the Negishi
cross-coupling reaction and greatly extends the
spectrum of coupling partners it can be applied to,
notes Sebastian Bernhardt, lead author of the article.
Te new reagents contain magnesium salts, which
also facilitate the addition of organozinc pivalates to
carbonyl groups.
Te organozinc pivalates will be suited to make
a range of polyfunctional products which may be of
interest as pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, or useful
in materials science. Te scope of application will be
similar to the one of boronic acids or esters with
the dierence that organozinc pivalates are much
more reactive in cross-couplings, explains Knochel.
Furthermore, the fact that technical-grade solvents
like AcOEt [ethyl acetate] can be used in combination
with these organozinc pivalates might make Negishi
cross-coupling even more attractive for industry.
Reagent Powders Promise Solid Benets
Cross-coupling reactions may particularly gain from new zinc compounds
Sep 10 Oct 10 Nov 10 Dec 10 Jan 11 Feb 11 Mar 11 Apr 11 May 11 June 11 July 11 Aug 11
$

M
i
l
l
i
o
n 79.0
78.0
77.0
76.0
75.0
74.0
%
Shipments (NAICS S325) Capacity utilization
80.0
53,000
54,000
55,000
56,000
57,000
58,000
81.0
82.0
83.0
84.0
85.0
86.0
59,000
60,000
73.0
72.0
71.0
70.0
61,000
62,000
63,000
64,000
Economic Snapshot
Both shipments and capacity utilization edged up slightly.
Source: American Chemistry Council.
Organozinc Pivalate
Figure 1. Powered reagent should boost interest in using
Negishi cross-coupling to make chemicals. Source: LMU
Munich.
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IN PROCESS
A key challenge is to expand structural diver-
sity by including important heterocyclic structures
and organic building blocks of general utility,
he says. Te team also hopes to improve the air
stability of the materials. Tis is an important
property which should make these reagents very
practical for synthetic applications in industry and
in academia.
Te researchers have achieved yields as high as
84%. Fine-tuning of reaction conditions should
enable yields exceeding 90%, he believes.
Pilot-scale testing should begin in early 2012,
and powders should be commercially available in
the spring, Knochel expects. A range of materials
should be available within a year, he adds.
LMU has led a patent application on the syn-
thesis method and currently is negotiating a non-
exclusive license to the technology with Chemetall
GmbH, Frankfurt.
Material Traps
Anionic Pollutants
A CATIONIC inorganic layered material pro-
vides high-capacity removal of metallic anionic
pollutants that now are dicult and expensive
to eliminate from water, say its developers at the
University of California Santa Cruz. Te material, a
copper hydroxide ethanedisulfonate dubbed SLUG-
26 (Figure 2), boasts high adsorption capacity and
thermal and chemical stability, is easily recovered
by ltration, requires no pretreatment, and doesnt
suer interference from carbonate, the researchers
note. It represents an entirely new transition-metal-
based cationic metalate, they add.
Our goal for the past 12 years has been to
make materials that can trap pollutants, and we
nally got what we wanted. Te data show that
the exchange process works, says Scott Oliver, an
associate professor of chemistry.
Te material can trap radioactive species, as
well as industrial pollutants and pharmaceutical
residues. Te researchers initially are focusing on
removing technetium from radioactive waste, and
perchlorate and chloride from industrial wastewa-
ter. Tey have conducted some experiments with
organic anions, salicylic acid and ibuprofen.
Te team must address to two key issues: the
cost of the material and its regeneration, says Oli-
ver. We are trying to move to cheaper metal as
the building block copper is cheaper than silver
but still expensive Ethylenedisulfonate is pricey
as well but could be recovered after synthesis
and exchange, he explains. Our earlier material
based on silver regenerated nicely [but thats]
not the case yet with the Cu-based SLUG-26.
Initial eorts for regenerating perchlorate-loaded
material will focus on heating and sonication, he
expects.
A number of companies already have expressed
interest in cooperating on development of the ma-
terial, he notes. Producing it on an industrial scale
shouldnt pose issues, he adds.
More details on the synthesis and performance
of SLUG-26 appear in an article in Angewandte
Chemie International.
Novel Material
Figure 2. SLUG-26 represents an entirely new transition-met-
al-based cationic metalate. Source: University of California
Santa Cruz.
6.6%
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11.8%
Slightly
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Somewhat
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Signicantly
Responses (%)
More than two-fths
of respondents
foresee signicant
impact.
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ENERGY SAVER
Save Energy In Water Systems, Part I
Plants often miss opportunities to more fully use hot water
WATER IS a critical utility at process plants,
often serving both as a heating and a cooling
medium. In this first of two columns about op-
portunities to cut energy consumption in water
systems, well focus on hot water. Many process
plants rely on this water for processing and other
applications. Providing the water, usually by
heating via steam coils or direct steam injection
nozzles, takes significant energy. So, here, we will
cover five useful tips to cut energy use.
Tip 1: Recover waste heat, wherever available,
to maintain the hot water system. Stack gases at
high temperatures, chillers, and air compressor
cooling are typical waste-heat sources that are
applicable to the hot water system. In a few cases,
deviating from conventional approaches like add-
ing economizers to boilers also may make sense.
For instance, a medium-sized chemical plant in
Oklahoma, instead of installing an economizer
to heat boiler feed water, as was initially recom-
mended, uses the unit to heat the inlet line to the
hot water tank. With a lower inlet-water tem-
perature than the boiler feed water, the hot water
system recovers more waste heat using the same
economizer.
Tip 2: Insulate all bare and exposed hot water
piping and tanks. Unfortunately, at too many
chemical plants, sizable sections of hot water
return lines are left un-insulated. The hot water
and condensate return lines only get short lengths
of personal-protection-type insulation. When
one medium-sized chemical plant was designed
20 years ago with coal as the main fuel, insula-
tion couldnt be justified for the hot water tank
and the return lines. However, when the plant
replaced the coal-fired boiler with natural-gas
and diesel fired boilers, it still left the hot water
lines bare.
Tip 3: If steam condensate cant serve as boiler
feed water, use it as hot water. Some plants that
fire liquid fuels and heavy oil in their boilers heat
the liquid fuel and heavy oil with steam before
sending them to the burners, to improve atomiza-
tion. Usually the condensate from these heaters
isnt returned to the boiler due to worries about
contamination but instead is simply is drained
to grade. Consider routing this off-specification
condensate to the hot water tank catering to
wash water demand. The same action applies to
condensate drained at tank farms. In a lubrica-
tion oil plant in Illinois, we suggested sending
the steam condensate to the firewater tank rather
than draining it to grade. This firewater tank
was heated with steam during the winter months
every year.
Tip 4: Replace conventional gas-fired indirect-
contact hot water boilers with direct-contact hot
water generators. In conventional hot water boil-
ers, the f lame and f lue gases travel through tubes
inside a water drum and finally exit through the
stack. These units typically are designed for 85%
thermal efficiency. In contrast, the more recently
developed hot water generators directly contact
water and hot f lue gas to transfer the heat, and
are designed to achieve 95+% thermal efficiency.
These hot water generators are most suitable
when no hot water or only a small portion of it is
re-circulated.
Tip 5: Match the hot and warm water needs
in the plant with the hot and warm water drains
in the plant. Most batch processing operations
need hot or warm water for periodic cleaning of
equipment and for the shop area. Plants generally
heat city water with steam (directly or indirectly)
for such washing or cleaning duties. However, hot
or warm water drain streams such as blowdown
water from boilers and seal water from vacuum
pumps could handle such chores. Collecting
and routing the hot/warm water drains to the
hot water tank would save both heat energy and
fresh water addition to the hot water tank. One
medium-sized chemical plant used about 40,000
gallons of 170F water every day for equipment
washing and f loor cleaning. That same facility
drained about 8,000 gallons/day of clear, not tur-
bid, 210F blowdown water from the boiler to the
grade. Because the washing process required only
clear hot water, we suggested routing the blow-
down water to the wash water tank. The plant
implemented this suggestion and saved significant
energy.
Hot water isnt inexpensive. So, consider
ways to make fullest use of its heat, and thus cut
energy consumption. Next month, well look at
some energy-saving tips for cooling water.
VEN V. VENKATESAN, Energy Columnist
VVenkatesan@putman.net
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COMPLIANCE ADVISOR
The Final
Guidelines
provide much
more information
on WoE
considerations.
ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2011, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) published its nal guidance
on the weight-of-evidence (WoE) analysis it will use to
evaluate the results of data submitted in response to test
orders issued for Tier 1 screening under the Endocrine
Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). What follows is
a brief overview of the Final WoE Guidance, which is
available at http://www.regulations.gov.
On November 4, 2010, EPA issued a draft docu-
ment entitled Weight-of-Evidence Guidance Docu-
ment: Evaluating Results of EDSP Tier 1 Screening
to Identify Candidate Chemicals for Tier 2 Testing.
According to EPA, the purpose of this draft was to set
forth some general principles, criteria, and consider-
ations EPA generally believes to be relevant using a WoE
approach to evaluate data submitted as part of EPAs
EDSP Tier 1 screening assays. Unfortunately, the
Draft WoE Guidance provided little actual scientic
guidance that could be used to evaluate results of Tier
1 screening assays or to identify candidate chemicals for
Tier 2 testing and so provoked much criticism.
FINAL WOE GUIDANCE
In the new document, EPA provides much more infor-
mation on WoE considerations. It lists the four Tier 1
assays capable of detecting a chemicals androgenic or
anti-androgenic eect, what the in vitro androgen-recep-
tor binding assay examines, and how the three in vivo
assays can be used to evaluate the androgen pathway.
Te Draft WoE Guidance noted EPA would use a
WoE approach for other scientically relevant informa-
tion (OSRI). However, it did not discuss specic studies
or other information EPA might consider OSRI nor
provide additional guidance as to how the agency would
conduct the WoE analysis for OSRI or how that would
compare to WoE analysis for Tier 1 screening data. In
the Final WoE Guidance, EPA describes two sources
of OSRI: results from EPA or OECD equivalent test
guideline studies and information from published or
publicly available peer-reviewed studies.
EPA also states that published or publicly available
peer-reviewed studies may be used in a WoE evaluation.
However, the agency notes: For non-guideline, as well
as guideline studies, to be considered as primary or sec-
ondary sources of information in a WoE evaluation with
Tier 1 screening results, EPA would generally evaluate
the quality and relevance of the information indicated
in EPA Information Quality Guidelines. Despite this
enhanced discussion of what OSRI EPA may consider
relevant, it also is clear that EPAs determinations about
whether a chemical is a candidate for Tier 2 testing will
be primarily based on the Tier 1 assays.
A new section in the Final WoE Guidance pertains
to how EPA will evaluate the quality of information pro-
vided. It references the Information Quality Guidelines.
EPA also discusses its Science Policy Council recom-
mendations for the use of ve general assessment factors:
1) soundness; 2) applicability and utility; 3) clarity and
completeness; 4) uncertainty and variability; and 5)
evaluation and review. EPA doesnt describe which con-
siderations may receive more weight or how it will factor
these considerations into any WoE determinations.
SCREENING APPROACH
EPA will begin determinations by assembling and
evaluating the pertinent individual studies. It intends to
tabulate the results of individual studies by study type
and by endpoint to provide a structured and transpar-
ent approach to facilitate the WoE determination.
It will determine whether Tier 2 testing is warranted
for a substance based on the totality of the evidence.
Once EPA identies and assesses all the assays and
scientically relevant information, and develops a data
evaluation report or other review, it will conduct an in-
tegrated analysis to evaluate whether or not the toxicity
database is internally consistent with the purported or
hypothesized endocrine interaction. EPA discusses how
it will review data to determine whether eects are con-
sistent or isolated, and states that a consistent pattern
of responses could support a recommendation that a
chemical be considered as a candidate for Tier 2 testing.
Te Final WoE Guidance for EDSP Tier 1 assays
includes a description of EPAs guiding principles, the
criteria for evaluating studies, and the methods for
weighing evidence and reaching conclusions. Readers
with interests in EDSP matters are urged to review the
document because any determination to conduct Tier
2 testing will be a costly one with many commercial
implications.
LYNN BERGESON, Regulatory Editor
lbergeson@putman.net
Lynn is managing director of Bergeson & Campbell, P.C., a Wash-
ington, D.C.-based law rm that concentrates on chemical industry
issues. The views expressed herein are solely those of the author.
This column is not intended to provide, nor should be construed
as, legal advice.
EPA Issues Final Weight-of-Evidence Guidance
Document addresses analysis for endocrine-disruptor Tier 1 screening assays
20
AFETY AND productivity at
process plants suer because too
many engineers believe myths
concerning design, implemen-
tation and operation of safety
instrumented systems (SISs). So,
lets dispel the leading myths.
1. Using certied equipment
and personnel ensure a safe system.
Te IEC 61511 international standard doesnt even
use the word certied. Teres no requirement for
certied equipment or personnel. However, a lot of
companies sell safety certication services for both
equipment and personnel.
Its important to remember that certication is no
substitute for experience, specically prior-use history for
equipment and project background for personnel. Many
mistakenly seem to think that taking a certication class
makes them an instant expert in the safety lifecycle.
Questions and comments on safety discussion lists
posted by certied but inexperienced people underscore
this fallacy on a weekly basis. Likewise, buying parts
with certication to a SIL 3 Claim Limit isnt sucient
to full SIL 3 requirements for a safety function.
For eld equipment, the selection guidance in
ISA-TR84.00.04 Annex L emphasizes the importance
of understanding how well equipment works in the
operating environment under its specic mechanical
integrity (MI) program. Certied equipment may
appear acceptable but you cant assume it will perform
dependably in the eld.
Simply put, certication is no substitute for
experience.
2. Failure detection is more important than failure
prevention. Te IEC 61508 international standard
emphasizes the need to identify and correct danger-
ous failures that increase the potential for an incident
or a near-miss but short-changes failure prevention.
While detecting failures is extremely important, a better
approach is to design the SIS with a low total failure
rate. Tis minimizes work orders, spurious trips and the
eort required to restore normal operation.
IEC 61508 favors equipment with high diagnos-
tic coverage over equipment with a low failure rate. If
Device A has a mean time between failures (MTBF)
of 5,000 years with all its failures being dangerous
undetected, and Device B has a MTBF of 5 years
with 99.9% diagnostic coverage, the IEC 61508
Safe Failure Fraction calculation would indicate that
Device B is better.
Tus, IEC 61508 rewards equipment for fail-
ing detected rather than working. Te failure rate of
Device A would meet SIL 3 with minimal spurious
trips but, because of its low safe failure fraction, it
couldnt be certied above SIL 1. Device B would
generate many work orders and signicantly increase
the potential for spurious trips but could be certied
to SIL 3 due to its high safe failure fraction.
Go ahead and use Device A in an SIL 3 function
if it is the right device for your process.
3. Vendor-supplied diagnostics can detect all dangerous
failures. Often vendor-supplied diagnostics only apply
Many misconceptions
muddle manuevers to
manage risks
By Angela E. Summers,
SIS-TECH Solutions
to electronic failure and not to process interfaces. Some diagnostics can detect special conditions like
magnetic-ow-meter probe coating.
Unfortunately in most cases, you cant know whether the vendor diagnostics are even working because
therere no means to test them. Verication and validation of vendor diagnostic claims and associated data
is currently a topic under discussion at the IEC 61511 and ISA-TR84.00.03 working group meetings.
Te best diagnostics are those you implement independently to verify the process connection and
eld device are working from a total system and
application perspective. No matter the diagnostic,
the only way to be certain that an SIS
device is working is to proof test it.
4. Partial testing is good enough.
Partial testing only identies spe-
cic failure modes of equipment.
Its not a substitute for a complete
function check that proves the
equipment does what it needs to do as
and when required. Major process industry
incidents have shown that what you dont
maintain eventually fails.
For example, the push-to-test feature on
some electronic sensors only checks the elec-
tronics and doesnt determine whether the sens-
ing elements are working properly. Partial stroke
testing validates the valve actuator but not the
ability of the valve to close fully or to meet leak
tightness requirements. Partial tests can detect
some failure modes. You must perform full
proof testing, though, to demonstrate the
specied operation of the equipment.
5. Te main purpose of proof testing
is failure detection. Unfortunately, IEC
61511 has encouraged this concept
because it denes a proof test as an
opportunity to detect dangerous
undetected failures. However, detec-
tion isnt the primary goal of proof
testing its main purpose is nding
weaknesses in your MI strategy and
triggering root-cause identication
with subsequent change in the specica-
tion, design, installation or strategy. You
should consider any failure found in a
proof test as a serious problem, requir-
ing immediate investigation to prevent
future failures.
Many incident investigations point
out that a company had found and
repeatedly corrected failures prior to
an incident but didnt prevent the
failure from recurring by determin-
ing and addressing the root cause.
6. Proof testing suces to ensure
mechanical integrity. Te proof test
only validates MI, which depends
upon inspection and preventive
maintenance (Figure 1).
You should perform periodic
inspections to identify and correct
incipient issues and degraded
conditions; this often is called
proactive or condition-based
maintenance. You can conduct
some inspections externally during
operation but others require more-
rigorous internal inspection, such
as looking at a valve seat or pulling
wires to see if theyre loose.
Also, perform regular preventive
maintenance to replace parts with
a shorter life expectancy than the
major equipment components. Tis
reduces the failure rate and extends
the useful life of the equipment.
Proof testing demonstrates
the MI plan consisting of inspec-
tion and preventive maintenance
suces to sustain the equipment in
the as good as new condition.
7. Relay-based safety systems
arent as good as safety programmable
logic controllers (PLCs). Relays have
extensive prior-use history in many
industry sectors, very low failure
rates, and readily predictable and
well-understood failure modes.
Relays can be installed locally with
no need for climate-controlled
enclosures (Figure 2).
Safety PLCs are more exible
and easier to modify but this of-
ten leads to ad hoc programming.
Without a detailed application
program specication, a rigorous
software development process
and extensive testing, safety PLC
programs can have signicant
undetected problems.
Safety PLCs have extensive
diagnostics, but largely because they
have many components that can fail.
Simplex safety PLCs have overall
failure rates an order of magnitude
greater than those of relays, and so
need diagnostics and hardware fault
tolerance to oset these higher rates.
You can expand a safety PLC to
protect an entire facility or imple-
ment multiple distributed PLCs.
Covering the facility with one does
yield the lowest cost per I/O point;
however, it also means putting all
your eggs in one climate-controlled
basket. A safety PLC failure could
put the whole plant at risk. In ad-
dition, necessary maintenance or
testing potentially could impact the
entire production unit.
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Relays can be a cost-eective distributed safety
system that is local to the specic equipment being
controlled and monitored. Maintenance and testing of
distributed safety systems only aect the local equip-
ment these systems are designed to protect.
8. Application programming for modern safety PLCs
is so easy that anyone can do it. With drag-and-drop
interfaces, function blocks and some training, almost
anyone can program a PLC in some fashion. But
translating critical safety logic into the PLC applica-
tion program requires close cooperation among pro-
grammers, process control engineers, and operations
and maintenance personnel.
Tis cooperation should include an upfront
program specication agreed to by all prior to PLC
programming. A non-existent or poorly documented
application program specication can lead to badly
executed programming with a signicant negative
impact on the risk reduction due to systematic fail-
ures. Disorganized and complex programming yields
an application program thats dicult to understand,
properly test and safely modify.
9. Only process safety must be under a management
system that ensures its integrity. Regulations for the
protection of workers and the public mandate safety
measures. No directives govern equipment protection or
overall loss prevention so, companies view such ef-
forts as an optional business decision. However, a major
non-safety-related event often can pose potential danger
to personnel and equipment just like a safety-related
one. Even when a non-safety-related event doesnt result
in injury, a company can incur devastating losses from
business interruption, equipment damage, repair costs,
harm to its reputation, and disruption of supply to
customers.
Compressors, pumps, heaters and boilers have
Since 1968
Figure 1. Avoiding failure requires inspection, preventive
maintenance, periodic repair/replacement of parts, and
proof testing to identify problems.
Ensuring Mechanical Integrity
Proof test (or incident)
Inspection and preventive
maintenance
Working
Good as new
Incipient
condition
Degraded
condition
Failed
Time
F
u
n
c
t
i
o
n
a
l

p
e
r
f
o
r
m
a
n
c
e
NOVEMBER 2011 CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM 24
many shutdown systems intended to prevent losses.
While these systems arent specically covered by IEC
61511, you still should design and manage them to
lower risk of a loss. IEC 61511 recognizes this benet in
Clause 1k, stating that it may be applied in non-safety
applications such as asset protection. Where the equip-
ment is process-critical, its best to opt for a conservative
design and use low-spurious-trip architectures.
Leading companies have found that comprehen-
sively examining all potential losses and following
sound loss-prevention practices generate value to
their stakeholders.
10. As long as the SIS is designed to fail-safe, the
design is optimal. Tis concept became prevalent after
the issuance of IEC 61511, which focuses on the safety
aspects of the instrumentation design and management.
Te standards concentration on failing safe is appropri-
ate given its underlying purpose to support worldwide
process safety regulations but reliability is just as
important as safety for many chemical processes.
Plant operators need trustworthy and reliable in-
strumentation. Many incidents have occurred because
operators ignored information from instruments they
perceived to be untrustworthy or because unreliable in-
struments had been bypassed to keep a process online.
Te Center for Chemical Process Safetys Guide-
lines for Safe and Reliable Instrumented Protective
Systems (CCPS IPS) considers reliability a key factor
for process safety instrumentation. Tis book advises
treating reliability as equal in importance to IEC
61511s safety integrity for instrumented systems.
11. If the SIS is congured to alarm on detected failure,
the process is safe as long as repair is completed within the
assumed mean time to repair. An inherently safe design
congures detected failure toward the trip condition
and uses redundancy to achieve reliability. Congur-
ing an SIS to alarm often increases the risk of loss of
containment by at least an order of magnitude, because
the SIS either is degraded in the case of a fault-tolerant
SIS or disabled when no fault tolerance is provided.
IEC 61511, ISA-TR84.00.04, and CCPS IPS
discuss the use of compensating measures to temporar-
ily manage the risk. Recognize that the fault repair and
compensating measures often result in higher occu-
pancy and a greater likelihood that ignition sources
are present. Tis increases the potential consequence
severity should an incident occur during repair so
conduct a hazards and risk assessment to review and ap-
prove the choice to congure detected faults to alarm.
Te requirement for safe operation demands cov-
ering the risk gap from the time of failure discovery
until the fault is corrected and equipment returns to
service. You must address continued process opera-
tion with a degraded or disabled SIS via procedures
that dene the compensating measures sucient to
maintain safe operation.
12. If a process hazard analysis (PHA) indicates
that risk criteria have been met, the process is safe. Te
hazardous events identied during the PHA are
limited by the evaluation teams assumptions, which
are restricted by their collective experience, knowledge
and available information. Any risk estimate is limited
by the quality assurance and the feedback process that
ensures the data are relevant in the real world; bias
potentially can creep in.
A 2005 analysis of incident data by the U.K.s
Health and Safety Executive determined that more
than one in four hazardous events were attributed
to poor hazard and risk assessment and follow-up. A
2003 analysis by the U.K.s Health and Safety Labora-
tory found that more than one in three incidents
that occurred due to process deviations from normal
operation werent adequately considered as potential
hazards or causes of equipment failure.
Quality design and management practices are
absolutely essential to achieve real risk reduction and
incident prevention. Without continuing eorts,
latent conditions appear over time, causing failures in
the safety layers like holes in Swiss cheese. Without
proactive action, the holes may eventually align to
present a challenge to safe operation when process
deviation occurs (Figure 3).
13. An acceptable probability of failure on demand
average (PFD
avg
) is sucient proof of a safe system. Te
PFD
avg
is only as good as the model of the safety
system and the data used for calculations. Most safety
professionals can perform the calculations with a good
tool but in many cases experience and expertise
are needed to see the forest for the trees. Failure rate
Role for Relays
Figure 2. Extensive prior-use history coupled with simple and low-cost local
installation favor continuing use of relays in safety systems.
data often come with large associated uncertainty.
Correctly modeling the functions and applying the
data require good engineering judgment. Te usual,
almost-exclusive focus on the sensor, logic solver and
nal element leads many to discount other poten-
tially important contributors to failure. Te PFD
avg
calculation must include all equipment that can cause
a failure to function as specied.
Vendor data alone dont suce to determine
PFD
avg
. Vendor failure rates assume perfect operating
conditions and perfect MI, ignoring the process and
operating environments contribution to equipment
degradation and failure. Actual failure rates highly de-
pend on the operating environment and MI, and can
be orders-of-magnitude higher than vendor reported
rates. Consequently, you should base reliability data
on eld feedback the less the feedback, the more
the uncertainty in the data.
Draft revisions of ISA-TR84.00.02 and
ISA-TR84.00.03 encourage development of user
databases to formalize actual operating experience
and feedback. IEC 61511 Clause 5.2.5.3 requires
evaluating SIS performance in the operating envi-
ronment against assumptions made during design.
In the absence of detailed feedback data, you
should be more conservative when verifying SIL
ratings, and shouldnt use the PFD
avg
calculation to
supersede the fault tolerance requirements of IEC
61511 or good engineering judgment.
14. Te basic process control system (BPCS) and the
SIS can be easily and safely combined into one system. Its
possible but there are many caveats because sharing
BPCS equipment with the SIS violates inherently
safer principles. IEC 61511 Clause 11.2.4 states that
unless the BPCS is qualied in accordance with the
standard, the SIS must be separate and independent
from the BPCS. Qualifying the BPCS to IEC 61511
is more detailed than SIL verication, hazard rate
analysis or calculations. ISA-TR84.00.04 Annex F
and IEC 61511 Part 2 provide numerous reasons for
not combining the systems.
Justifying the sharing of equipment requires carry-
ing out additional failure and security analysis to ensure
the overall hazard rate can be met for random failures
and to provide adequate fault tolerance for systematic
failures. Equipment also must have a prior-use history
that demonstrates its dependability in both applications.
Independent and separate systems reduce common-
cause, common-mode and systematic failures and
minimize the impact of BPCS failure on the SIS.
Separate systems also ease making changes, performing
maintenance, testing and documenting the SIS.
Since 1968
Separate systems facilitate identifying and manag-
ing the SIS elements and, thus, simplify and clarify
validation and functional safety assessment. Tey sup-
port access security and enhance cyber security for the
SIS because revisions to BPCS functions or data dont
impact it. Finally, separate systems reduce the amount
of analysis needed to ensure the SIS and BPCS are
properly designed, veried and managed.
Common systems can reduce training but
ultimately not design, operations and maintenance
manpower requirements for the reasons stated above.
15. Te BPCS can serve as a process safety defense for
risk reduction without a management system. Regula-
tions as well as insurance and industry practices gen-
erally demand that all safeguards or protection layers
have a management system to ensure proper operation
when needed.
A safeguard implemented in BPCS hardware is no
dierent than one implemented in the SIS; it must be
covered by specication and MI, both with associated
management systems. Upcoming publications from
CCPS and ISA will provide detailed requirements in
this area.
16. BPCS and SIS independence is a simple matter.
You must demonstrate independence in the hardware,
software, and personnel and management systems.
Any hardware or software the BPCS and SIS share
could possess dangerous failure modes that make both
systems vulnerable. Such modes could aect the abil-
ity of the common hardware and software to operate
as required for both functions.
In terms of personnel and management, you
must examine the entire lifecycle to see where shared
personnel and management procedures, especially in
the areas of design and maintenance, could contribute
to systematic failure.
17. Safety systems arent as important as the BPCS.
Many companies spend a great deal of time and eort
trying to justify that certain safety instruments, valves
and other components arent required. Such argu-
ments rarely arise when it comes to the BPCS.
Its important to remember that the investment
in safety systems is very small compared to that in
the BPCS, and nearly negligible compared to that
in the process equipment. Yet, the safety systems
are the most dependable means to protect the total
investment.
Proper design and management can yield eective
and reliable safety systems. Leading companies have
found that comprehensively examining their overall
BPCS and safety strategy reveals opportunities to
reduce unplanned events and emergency work orders,
improving safety and productivity.
ANGELA E. SUMMERS, P.E., Ph.D., is president of SIS-TECH
Solutions, LP, Houston. E-mail her at asummers@sis-tech.com.
Figure 3. Without
ongoing efforts,
latent conditions
can defeat layers
of protection and
present a challenge
to safe operation.
Dangerous Alignment
Causes
Incident
R
e
g
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to
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ss P
ro
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sp
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sib
ility
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iftin
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te
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ssa
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RELATED CONTENT ON CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
Understand Safety System Tradeoffs, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2011/understand-safety-
system-tradeoffs.html
Dont Underestimate Overllings Risks, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/143.html
Do You Really Need SIL 3?, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2010/015.html
Keep Chemical Operations Safe, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/106.html
Achieve Continuous Safety Improvement, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2007/063.html
Meet SIS User Approval Mandates, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2006/068.html
Can You Safely Grandfather Your SIS?, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2005/521.html
STRENGTH
1 800 235 8320
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V
Y
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O
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c
WHERE QUALITY
MEETS PERFORMANCE
CHEMICAL & CORROSION
RESISTANT MATERIALS
When its formed from
CUTTING ENERGY use has never been
more important for chemical companies. Re-
ducing consumption not only helps cope with
ever-increasing energy costs but also generally
decreases carbon dioxide emissions and thus
lowers environmental impact and improves
sustainability of processes.
A comprehensive energy-reduction program
should recognize that virtually every busi-
ness decision has possible energy implications,
and should involve measuring, managing and
sustaining energy savings. Achieving maximum
success demands an organized and dedicated
program that incorporates ve key principles:
1. commitment to a specic and quanti-
able target;
2. full assessment of energy management
status, tools and technology;
3. appointment and empowerment of en-
ergy champions with well-dened responsi-
bility and accountability;
4. visible program execution across the
organization; and
5. monitoring and tracking of results. (You
cant manage what you dont measure.)
At the plant level, you usually can discover
many potential energy savings. Motors and
pumping systems, which represent major energy
consumers at most sites, often present signi-
cant opportunities, as well discuss.
ELECTRIC MOTORS
Pumping systems, fans, compressors and a
wide range of other assets at plants rely on mo-
tors. Electricity accounts for as much as 98%
of the cost of an electric motor over a 10-year
service life. An analysis focused on a motors
cost per kWh to operate, driven load require-
ments, scheduled hours of use, and environ-
mental factors inuencing performance,
coupled with process knowledge, can help
uncover areas of potential energy savings.
Savings can come from steps as
straightforward as turning o or putting a
motor into standby mode when possible.
Simply put, the motor using the least
amount of energy is the one that is turned
o. Sometimes a motor
is operating needlessly,
not providing work. For
instance, agitators on
empty vessels and pumps
on full recirculation
oer opportunities to
idle motors without
negatively impact-
ing operations.
You can gain
energy savings by reducing the driven load
through operational and maintenance pro-
cedures. Misapplication and poor mainte-
nance practices can rob motors of eciency.
A common cause of lost eciency is
running a motor in an overloaded condi-
tion. Te extra load results in increased
motor temperature, which degrades the
motor and lowers eciency. Conversely,
motors also will run at very low ecien-
cies if very lightly loaded. So, you should
survey motor loads actual versus
full-rated to conrm eciency
potential and expectations.
Motors and pumping systems often offer ample opportunities
By Eric Huston, SKF
If you send failed motors to an outside shop for
repair, carefully vet the shop and become familiar
with procedures and practices that ultimately impact
the eciency of a repaired motor and the system in
which it operates. If best practices arent followed
during the repair, the motor likely wont provide as
new eciency. Whenever benecial, consider buying
a new motor, because many now boast higher ecien-
cies than few-years-old models.
Consider integrating a variable speed drive
(VSD). It often can optimize energy eciency by
enabling you to match motor speed to the demands
of the system. Look for opportunities, for example,
to replace throttle valves or dampers used to restrict
ow. However, a VSD may not make sense if the
load on the motor is relatively small and constant
because speed changes will occur infrequently and
any benets from varying the speed will be negli-
gible. So, thoroughly assess the system load prole to
determine the scale and frequency of required speed
changes before deciding about installing a VSD.
PUMPING SYSTEMS
Figure 1 depicts a typical pumping system. Te energy
eciency of the system declines over time due to
factors such as the characteristics of the uid being
pumped, cavitation and scaling. Figure 2 shows
representative energy losses for various elements of
the system. By some estimates, you can improve the
energy eciency of a typical system by up to 20% by
taking appropriate steps.
Misalignment, imprecise balancing, hydraulics
problems, inecient bearings, and improper lubri-
cation or sealing will lower eciency. So, analyze
your system and then take called-for corrective
measures.
Check where the pump operates on its system
curve. However, dont assume that running at the best
eciency point (BEP) is enough to optimize system
eciency. If a control valve always is less than 50%
open or a recirculation valve never is more than 50%
closed, you are wasting energy.
Look for some telltale signs of likely wasted energy:
e pump usually doesn't operate at (or close to)
its BEP during its normal duty cycle.
e control valve constantly remains at less than
80% open.
e recirculation line valve always is open.
Multiple parallel (redundant) pumps in the same
system all are operating continuously.
e pump operates continuously in a batch system.
e pump (or another component in the system)
exhibits excessive noise or vibration.
You generally can improve the eciency of a
pumping system by matching capacity to actual de-
mand. Unnecessary energy demand will occur when
ow is higher than required or when a control valve
or another piping component absorbs a high propor-
tion of energy. Many pumps dont operate close to
their BEP, especially when they are oversized for the
job. Matching pump capacity with actual production
needs can deliver signicant energy savings.
To reduce energy demand to match process or
production needs, take these actions:
Switch o the system when not needed.
Eliminate any system leaks.
Reduce recirculation or bypass now by trimming
the pump impeller.
Minimize head losses from the pump to the
system outlet.
Install parallel pumps for highly variable loads.
Replace a throttling valve or recirculation loop
with a VSD.
You can achieve other benets by conducting a full
system analysis. Tis requires a thorough understanding
of the duty cycle of the pump and how ow changes
with time or production patterns. Operators can con-
tribute from the front lines by supplying information,
Typical Pump System
Figure 1. All the components of the system deserve careful analysis.
Suction line size
and length
Discharge line
size and length
Miscellaneous
equipment
Heat
exchanger
Control
valve
Feed tank/
location
Destination tank/
location
Filter
Pump
Filter
Flow
meter
Suction
elevation
Discharge
elevation
Common Culprits
Figure 2. Signicant energy losses often occur throughout the pumping system.
Transformer
Begin with 100 Energy Units Remaining Energy Units End with 34 Energy Units
Throttle valve
(partially closed, assume a
19 energy unit loss)
Motor Pump
13
Energy losses
19 27 6 1
100 99 93 80 61 34
which can augment data provided
by instrumentation and chronicled
in an operating log.
CONDITION MONITORING
Ensuring that machinery is operat-
ing properly can play a vital role
in improving energy e ciency (as
well as system performance and
reliability). Tis requires eective
condition monitoring. It involves
regularly and non-invasively mea-
suring physical parameters, such as
vibration, noise, lubricant properties
and temperature, to help ascertain
equipment health. Such monitor-
ing enables detecting machine and
component problems before they
can result in unscheduled downtime
and the high costs associated with
interruptions in production.
For example, periodic monitor-
ing of heat loss can yield signicant
dividends. Inspections using a ther-
mal imaging camera can pinpoint,
e.g., gaps or deterioration in insula-
tion and poor electrical contacts.
Other condition-monitoring
tools that can help identify
energy e ciency opportunities
include ultrasonic probes (for
leak identication, steam trap
inspections and ow turbu-
lence), infrared thermometers
(for motor, heat exchanger and
steam trap inspections, and
bearing temperatures), and
strobe lights (for operating speed
verication, and belt and gear
inspections). Tere are many
others, too. Indeed, you can take
advantage of a wide range of
portable and online condition-
monitoring tools to spur energy
savings (see: Bolster Your Con-
dition Monitoring Toolbox,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
articles/2008/079.html).
No single technology, of course,
can provide all the data needed to
detect all energy-improvement op-
portunities. So, its best to consider
which assets or processes within the
plant represent logical targets for
monitoring energy consumption
and then to apply the appropriate
technologies for the job.
In some cases, outside expertise
may help in identifying and
examining areas where energy-im-
provement opportunities may exist.
Te SKF Client Needs Analysis
Energy and Sustainability is an
example of one such available
resource. Tis extensive web-enabled
plantwide assessment tool also can
evaluate potential improvements
to chemical treatments, lubrication
use, and other operating processes
to reduce environmental impact and
promote sustainability.
ERIC HUSTON, CMRP, is San Diego-
based vice president, asset and energy
management, of the Service Division of SKF
USA. E-mail him at Eric.Huston@skf.com.
RELATED CONTENT ON CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
VSD Stands for Very Signicant Dividend, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
articles/2011/VSD-stands-for-very-signicant-dividend.html
Dont Overwork Pumps and Fans, Part II, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
articles/2011/do-not-overwork-pumps-and-fans-part2.html
Dont Overwork Pumps and Fans, Part I, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
articles/2011/do-not-overwork-pumps-fans-part-1.html
Use Thermal Imagery for Process Problems, www.ChemicalProcessing.com/
articles/2009/202.html
Bolster Your Condition Monitoring Toolbox, www.ChemicalProcessing.
com/articles/2008/079.html
THE PREVIOUS articles in this series on level
control focused on proportional-integral control (Ne-
glect Level Control at Your Peril and Be Levelhead-
ed About Surge-Tank Control) and use of nonlinear
control equations (Avoid Vessel Level Trips). In this
nal installment, well look at cascade control.
In digital systems, proceeding from a simple
feedback to a cascade conguration requires only
one hardware component a device to measure the
inner loop variable. In level control schemes, the sen-
sor monitors ow through the nal control element.
Tis permits conguring a ow controller and imple-
menting a level-to-ow cascade. Te level controller
(in the outer or master loop) provides the set point to
this ow controller (in the inner or slave loop).
In most cascade applications the objective is to
improve control of the outer loop variable. Level control
diers in this regard. Especially when used with surge
vessels, the aim is to allow level to vary as much as pos-
sible within reason (meaning that no high or low level
trips occur during routine process operations). Rarely
can you justify purchase and installation of a ow me-
ter on the basis of improved control of vessel level.
Particularly with surge vessels, the level control-
ler intentionally is tuned to respond slowly with
the objective of maintaining as smooth a discharge
ow as vessel capacity permits. Any disturbance to
the discharge ow will aect vessel level but not very
quickly, thus exposing the downstream processing
unit to upsets from the altered ow.
FILTER ON DISCHARGE FLOW
In the process shown in Figure 1, the discharge
ow goes through one of two cartridge lters, with
only one in service at a given time. As uid passes
through, pressure drop across the lter slowly in-
creases. When this pressure drop attains a specied
value, the ow is switched to the other lter.
This requires different thinking about
master and slave loops
by Cecil L. Smith, Cecil L. Smith, Inc.
Feed #1
Feed #2
Feed #3
Feed #4
Filters
Discharge
FT
FT
LH
LL
LT LC
Alternating Filters
0 120 240 360 480 600 720
Time, minutes
200 liters/min
SP
K
C
= 0.4 %/%
T
I
= 120 min
No noise on level
measurement
D
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c
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a
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g
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o
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s
/
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i
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i
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c
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a
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v
a
l
v
e

o
p
e
n
i
n
g
%
V
e
s
s
e
l

l
e
v
e
l
%
100
75
50
25
0
100
75
50
25
0
400
300
200
100
0
Constant Feed Rate
Figure 1. Switching to a clean lter causes disturbance to
discharge ow.
Figure 2. Switching lters increases discharge ow,
spurring decrease in level.
On switching to the clean cartridge, the pressure
drop across the lters abruptly decreases. Te major
consequence is a sharp increase in discharge ow.
Tis aects vessel level but the impact, except for
possibly raising the probability of a process trip on
low level, is of no concern. What is of concern is
the potential repercussion of the higher ow on the
downstream unit.
Figure 2 illustrates the eect of switching the
lters (at an interval of approximately 8 hours) for a
constant feed rate of 200 liters/min and no noise on
the level measurement. Te discharge ow abruptly
increases, which causes the level to decrease. Te sub-
sequent drop in discharge ow stems partly from the
response of the level controller and partly from the in-
creased resistance to ow within the lter. When the
level controller is conservatively tuned, equilibrium
conditions arent established prior to the next switch.
Figure 3 illustrates the eect of switching the
lters for a varying feed rate and noise on the
level measurement. On each switch of the lters,
the discharge ow sharply rises. Tis is appar-
ent in the trend of the discharge ow but not in
the plots of vessel level or level controller output.
Variability of the feed to the vessel causes compa-
rable changes in the magnitude of discharge ow
during normal operations. However, the change
on switching the lters is sudden. For most unit
operations, abrupt changes to the feed are major
upsets; the same change over a longer time period
has fewer consequences.
Figure 4 presents the level-to-ow cascade con-
trol conguration. Te cascade consists of two loops:
1. Inner loop. Te ow controller positions the
discharge control valve so discharge ow is at or near
the set point provided by the level controller.
2. Outer loop. Te vessel level controller provides
the set point to the discharge ow controller.
Applications of cascade require more attention
to tuning. When the inner loop is a ow controller,
you can use typical ow-controller tuning, such as a
controller gain of 0.2 %/% and a reset time of 3 sec.
You must begin by verifying these coecients func-
tion properly. When the outer loop is very slow (as is
the case for the level controller), tightly tuning the
inner loop isnt necessary.
For the level controller, the tuning for the simple
feedback scheme was a controller gain of 0.4 %/% and
a reset time of 120 min (as detailed in previous parts of
the series). Adding the ow controller only nominally
aects the dynamics of the process, so a reset time of
120 min remains suitable in the cascade conguration.
However, the controller gain for simple feedback
isnt necessarily still appropriate. In the cascade
conguration, discharge ow varies linearly with
level controller output (which is the discharge ow
set point). But in the simple feedback scheme, the
relationship between discharge ow and level con-
troller output (the discharge control valve opening)
is more complex and rarely quantied. Depending
on valve sizing and ow system characteristics, the
control valve (and, consequently, the level controller
output) frequently operates over about half the full
range. For a properly sized equal-percentage valve,
the range is 50100%. For a grossly oversized equal-
percentage valve, a range of 050% is more likely.
Unfortunately, anything is possible. For cascade, a
higher controller gain probably is required, but not
necessarily one twice as high.
Figure 5 presents the performance of the cascade
conguration for a varying feed rate and noise on
the level measurement. A controller gain of 0.4 %/%
leads to occasional trips on low level, making a gain
of 0.6 %/% more appropriate.
On switching the lters, an abrupt decrease
occurs in the discharge valve opening. On the time
frame of the trend in Figure 5, the response of the
ow controller is instantaneous. However, theres no
eect on discharge ow. (Te decreased valve open-
ing merely compensates for the lower pressure drop
across the lters.) In the cascade conguration, the
ow controller completely isolates the level controller
from any consequences from switching the lters.
CONSTANT TOTAL DISCHARGE FLOW
Up until now weve focused on maintaining as con-
stant a discharge ow as possible given the variations
in feed ow to the vessel and the capacity of the
vessel to smooth these variations. Some applications,
though, add a complication. In them:
Two (or possibly more) discharge nows are pres-
ent, with the vessel level controller manipulating one.
Other factors determine the second discharge
ow and that ow isnt constant.
Any change in the second now must lead as
quickly as possible to an equal but opposite change
in the ow regulated by the vessel level control-
ler that is, the total discharge ow must remain
constant.
Distillation provides an example of such a
requirement. Figure 6 illustrates the upper section of
a column. Te overhead vapor is totally condensed.
Some of the condensate exits as distillate product; the
remaining condensate returns to the column as reux.
Feed #1
Feed #2
Feed #3
Feed #4
Filters
Discharge
FT
FT
LH
LL
LT LC
PV
PV
FT
Level-to-Flow Cascade
Figure 4. Level controller in outer loop provides set point
for ow controller in inner loop.
0 120 240 360 480 600 720
Time, minutes
Feed ow Discharge ow
SP
K
C
= 0.4 %/%
T
I
= 120 min
Noise on level
measurement
D
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s
c
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a
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g
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o
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s
/
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i
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a
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v
a
l
v
e

o
p
e
n
i
n
g
%
V
e
s
s
e
l

l
e
v
e
l
%
100
75
50
25
0
100
75
50
25
0
400
300
200
100
0
Varying Feed Rate
Figure 3. Higher discharge ow after switching lters isnt
apparent from vessel level.
Te control conguration consists of a temperature-
to-ow cascade. Distillate ow manipulation regulates
the temperature on the control stage in the upper
section of the column. Te temperature loop responds
slowly, so providing a controller for distillate ow is
advisable. Reux manipulation regulates vessel level.
Reux ow cant be zero;
the minimum depends on the
column internals. In the simple
feedback conguration shown in
Figure 6, you must convert this
minimum ow to a correspond-
ing valve opening and impose a minimum on the
opening. Te availability of a reux ow measure-
ment permits implementing a level-to-ow cascade.
Tis enables imposing the minimum reux ow via a
lower limit on the reux ow set point.
In developing control congurations for distilla-
tion, the rst priority is to establish how to regulate
product compositions. To maintain overhead
composition at its desired value, the scheme shown
in Figure 6 uses the temperature on a control stage
in lieu of an overhead composition measurement.
Experts in Spray Technology
Spray
Nozzles
Spray
Control
Spray
Analysis
Spray
Fabrication
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Tank Cleaning
Nozzle
0 120 240 360 480 600 720
Time, minutes
Feed ow Discharge ow
SP
K
C
= 0.6 %/%
T
I
= 120 min
Noise on level
measurement
D
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%
V
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s
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l

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v
e
l
%
100
75
50
25
0
100
75
50
25
0
400
300
200
100
0
Control Performance
Figure 5. Flow con-
troller isolates level
controller from any
consequences when
lters are switched.
When you must control both overhead and bottoms
compositions, interaction between these two loops
is a given anything that aects one composition
impacts the other (a consequence of the material bal-
ances). Using a steady-state separation model, you can
perform an interaction analysis to determine whether
to control overhead composition using reux ow or
distillate ow. When the answer is distillate ow, the
conguration in Figure 6 is appropriate.
Te steady-state separation model assumes the to-
tal material balance around the condenser and reux
drum is enforced at all times, i.e.:
V = L + D
where V is overhead vapor ow, D is distillate ow
and L is reux ow. Te reux drum level controller
is responsible for closing this material balance. It will
close the material balance over the long term but
not in the short term.
For the control conguration shown in Figure
6, the performance of the temperature control-
ler depends on changes in distillate ow quickly
translating into changes in reux ow, which is
the responsibility of the level controller. Suppose
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Since 1958
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TT
TC
LC LT
FC
D
Distillate Reux
FT
L
Condenser
Coolant
Reux drum
FT
Distillation Control
Figure 6. Manipulating distillate ow regulates temperature in upper stage of column.
the level controller is on manual, giving a constant
reux ow. Ten, the only eect of increasing dis-
tillate ow is to drain liquid from the reux drum;
changes in distillate ow dont aect overhead
composition or the temperature of the control stage
in the upper section.
Te term cascade as normally understood doesnt
apply to the relationship between the upper-stage
temperature controller and the drum level controller.
However, two attributes of cascade congurations do
come into play in the control scheme in Figure 6:
1. Te temperature controller totally depends on
the level controller (changes in distillate ow must
be translated to changes in reux ow).
2. Reux ow must change rapidly with respect
to the dynamics of the temperature loop.
Te dynamics of the drum level loop preferably
should be about ve times faster than those of the
temperature controller. How rapidly the level con-
troller can respond depends on the size of the reux
drum and how much noise is present on the drum
level measurement.
Alternatives to the conguration in Figure 6
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TT
TC
LC LT
FC FC
D
SP
D
Distillate Reux
FT
L
(L+D)
SP
L
SP
Condenser
Coolant
Reux drum
FT
Two Flow Measurements
Figure 7. This approach provides faster response than that with a temperature controller.
deserve consideration. Using two ow measure-
ments (distillate ow and one more), you can provide
logic that translates a change in distillate ow into
an equal and opposite change in reux ow. Te
dynamics will be typical of ow loops and, thus, far
faster than those of the temperature loop.
Figure 7 presents one approach. Its key attributes are:
e output of the drum level controller is
considered the target for the total ow leaving the
reux drum.
e measured value of distillate now is subtract-
ed from the total to give the set point for reux ow.
Tis conguration is a level-to-ow cascade
with a computed ow set point. You can impose the
minimum reux ow as a lower set point limit on
the reux ow controller.
Figure 8 illustrates an alternative approach. Its
key attributes are:
e output of the drum level controller is the set
point for a ow controller whose process variable (PV)
is the computed total ow from the reux drum.
e total now from the renux drum is com-
puted by summing the measured values for reux
and distillate ows.
Te conguration is a simple level-to-ow cas-
cade with a computed value for the ow.
Figure 9 shows yet another approach. Its key
attributes are:
e output of the drum level controller is the
set point for a ow controller whose PV is the mea-
sured total ow from the reux drum.
If a value for renux now is required, it must
be computed by subtracting distillate ow from the
measured total ow from the reux drum.
Te level control conguration is a simple level-
to-ow cascade.
With the congurations shown in Figures 79,
we can say the following about the performance of
the upper-stage temperature controller:
e now controller that drives the control valve
on the reux must be functioning. For the congu-
ration in Figure 7, it must be using the remote set
point computed by the summer.
Level controller tuning doesn't impact the per-
formance of the upper-stage temperature controller.
Switching the level controller to manual doesn't
aect the upper-stage temperature controller.
However, these advantages come at a price two
ow measurements are required. Older towers likely
lack the necessary ow meters. Newer installations
probably have them, as the trend is to provide ow
measurements wherever practical.
TT
TC
LC LT
FT FC
FC
D
SP
D
Distillate Reux
FT
L+D
(L+D)
SP
Condenser
Coolant
Reux drum
Still Another Approach
TT
TC
LC LT
FT FC
FC
D
SP
D
Distillate Reux
FT
L+D
(L+D)
SP
Condenser
Coolant
Reux drum
Another Option
Figure 9. This control scheme requires a measurement of total ow from the reux drum.
Figure 8. This conguration relies on a computed value of total ow from the reux drum.
A disadvantage of the congurations in Figures
8 and 9 is that you cant impose the minimum
reux ow simply by specifying a lower set-point
limit for the ow controller. Adding logic to impose
the minimum increases the complexity of these
congurations.
In these congurations as well as the simple feed-
back scheme in Figure 6, problems arise when reux
ow is much smaller than distillate ow (external
reux ratio L/D 1). Regardless of the conguration,
you are controlling the level with a minor discharge
ow and, thus, making large changes (on a percent-
age basis) in a small ow. In most cases, the control
valve repeatedly will be driven fully open or to the
opening corresponding to the minimum reux ow.
Fortunately, composition control analysis rarely rec-
ommends the conguration in Figure 6 when reux
ow is small compared to distillate ow.
CECIL L. SMITH is president of Cecil L. Smith, Inc., Houston.
E-mail him at cecilsmith@cox.net. This article is based on
concepts from his book Practical Process Control, published
by John Wiley & Sons.
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RELATED CONTENT ON
CHEMICALPROCESSING.COM
Avoid Vessel Level Trips, www.ChemicalPro-
cessing.com/articles/2011/avoid-vessel-level-trips.
html
Be Levelheaded About Surge Tank Control,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2011/level-
headed-about-surge-tank-control.html
Neglect Level Control at Your Peril, www.
ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2011/neglect-level-
control-at-your-peril.html
Treat Tanks with Care, www.ChemicalProcess-
ing.com/articles/2010/191.html
Dont Underestimate Overllings Risks, www.
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Look at Liquid Bypass, www.ChemicalProcess-
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Consider Cascade Control, www.ChemicalPro-
cessing.com/articles/2009/025.html
Succeed with Condensate Control, www.
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Achieve Effective Heat Exchanger Control,
www.ChemicalProcessing.com/articles/2008/041.html
MAKING IT WORK
Ethanol Plant Boosts Operating Margin
Model predictive control enables plantwide optimization
By Maina Macharia, Rockwell Automation
IMAGINE THAT you run a multi-million-dollar bio-
ethanol production plant. You have an excellent plant
design, experienced sta, and want to operate your
plant for the long term. However, you must contend
with a highly volatile market due to swings in corn
costs and ethanol prices. Tis is the situation Cardinal
Ethanol faced after starting up its plant in 2008.
Te $168-million facility in Union City, Ind.,
which has a sta of 49, annually processes more than
36 million bushels of locally grown corn to produce
100 million gallons of ethanol and 320,000 tons of
dry distillers grain and solubles (DDGS).
Formed by local farmers and investors, the com-
pany set four clear goals from the start:
1. Maximize value through strategic and e cient
plant operations.
2. Improve productivity with best-in-class
technologies.
3. Optimize production margin.
4. Fuel Americas economic development.
THE CHALLENGE
Within the rst nine months of operation, Cardinal
Ethanol ramped-up production to nameplate capac-
ity. However, just as the plant reached its production
targets, the economic downturn of 2008 occurred,
causing margins to become razor-thin. To survive,
the facility had to increase its operating margin.
Because all processes milling, fermenta-
tion, distillation, drying, etc. (Figure 1) were
integrated by energy or material ow, nding a way
to optimize the process and maximize operating
margin proved di cult. While existing propor-
tional-integral-derivative (PID) controller strategies
automated individual portions of the plant, these
simplied controls didnt capture all interactions
across the plant that could be optimized.
So, even with well-trained operators, accurate
laboratory measurements and best-in-class PID
controls, variations in key plant parameters were too
high, resulting in inconsistent production. Cardinal
Ethanol needed to capture, analyze and control all
parts of the plant under a single, unied model.
Te company turned to Pavilion8-based model
predictive control (MPC) technology from Rockwell
Automation to stabilize and drive peak e ciency across
the entire plant. Te system can be built and added as
a supervisory control system without modifying exist-
ing process equipment. Moreover, this technology has
proven itself in more than 30 ethanol plants, producing
signicant margin gains in each facility.
THE SOLUTION
To install the Pavilion8-based MPC solution,
Rockwell Automation application engineers came
on-site in December 2009 to build nonlinear
dynamic response models and Soft Sensor models
based on plant tests and historical data. Soft Sensor
models give inferential values that replace labora-
tory measurements; these then are integrated into
the solution to provide continuous control of key
laboratory measurements. Te models were devel-
oped for properties such as slurry solids, fermenter
high-performance-liquid-chromatography data, and
syrup solids.
Te Milling and Slurry Control application
reduced feed quality variation and helped the plant
safely run at mill amperage limits without tripping the
hammermills. It also helped ensure consistent quality
slurry, improving batch fermentation performance. In
addition, the application, which is linked to the distil-
lation sieves and the dryer/evaporator process units,
anticipated constraints and thus enabled operating at
higher energy e ciency and capacity.
MAKING IT WORK
Te Batch Fermentation Control application
adjusted temperature conditions and helped ensure
an optimal dynamic ratio of enzyme to feedstock and
the best trajectories to respond to changes in feedstock
quality. Tis led to a cut of more than 40% in the av-
erage of residual sugars and a drop in excess of 70% in
the standard deviation. A higher conversion of starch
to ethanol yielded more ethanol for the same amount
of corn, the key factor in the overall margin increase.
Te MPC technology identied energy ine ciencies
in separating and purifying ethanol. Optimizing energy
trade-os between the sieve and distillation operations
allowed the Distillation and Dehydration Control appli-
cation to cut energy use variability by more than 50%.
Te Dryer and Evaporator application, which
controls evaporator solids and dryer moisture while
managing stillage inventory and syrup usage, im-
proved both DDGS quality and yield, and mini-
mized energy use.
THE BENEFITS
Since its installation was completed in February 2011,
the Pavilion8-based MPC solution has greatly im-
proved overall plant stability and reduced variability
of all crucial process parameters especially in the
batch fermentation operations. Key gains include:
2.2% increase in ethanol yield per bushel of corn;
7.2% boost in overall ethanol production;
7.7% decrease in energy consumption per gallon;
better stability of all key process variables;
40-70% reduction in the standard deviation
for each variable, and
payback of less than 12 months.
In addition, it has achieved operator acceptance.
Overall, the project exceeded the expecta-
tions of Cardinal Ethanol. Due to its success, the
company contracted with Rockwell Automation
for sustained solution support. This will enable
incorporating minor plant-configuration changes
into the optimization solution. Today, the service
factor of the system exceeds 99% for all variables.
The significant increase in operating margin has
helped ensure that Cardinal Ethanol is a well-
positioned, low-cost producer. In addition, the
optimization has cut its carbon footprint to below
the industry average.
MAINA MACHARIA is Austin, Texas-based biofuels industry
manager for Rockwell Automation. E-mail him at mmacharia@
ra.rockwell.com.
Corn
Corn meal
Corn mash
Beer
Whole stillage
Thin stillage
Grain
receiving
Mash
preparation
Fermentation
Distillation
190 proof
ethanol
CO
2
Ammonia
Waterbalance MPC
Fermentation MPC
Distillation/Sieves MPC
MPC Objectives
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t.BYJNJ[FFUIBOPMBOE%%(4ZJFME
t.JOJNJ[FFOFSHZHBMMPOFUIBOPM
%SZFST&WBQPSBUPST.1$
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200 proof
ethanol
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ethanol
Wet
grains
DDGs DDGs
%FIZESBUJPO
1SPEVDU
storage
$FOUSJGVHBUJPO %SZFS DDGs storage
&WBQPSBUJPO
Thermal
PYJEJ[FS
4ZSVQ
Process
DPOEFOTBUF
Ethanol Plant
Figure 1. Model
predictive control
enables optimiza-
tion of the entire
facility.
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calProcessing.com/articles/2010/049.html
Biofeedstocks Still Grow, www.Chemical-
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Ethanol Plant Boosts Output and Saves
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ticles/2007/198.html
Our renery has a project to fully enclose all API
separators and other equipment to meet stringent
EPA regulations. This includes a concrete sump, 15-ft
long, 10-ft wide, and 7-ft 2-in. deep, built in 1944 and
buried in earth. We reckon the slop oil in the sump
consists of a mixture of 70 mol-% gasoline and 30 mol-
% water. The 8,000-gal sump has two pumps, each
eight feet below ground level, operating at 100 gpm
each. A structural engineer, with some trepidation, set
the pressure limit at 15 inches of water column (IWC)
and the vacuum at 1.5 IWC. The normal vent exits the
roof, which is 15 ft above the sump, and then must go
to an activated carbon bed (ACB) located 60-ft away;
the ACBs are on the ground. The bed has a pressure
drop of 0.5 IWC at 100 scfm air (60F). A ame arrestor
normally is installed upstream of the ACB and likely
would add a pressure drop of 35 IWC at 1,000 scfh air.
The emergency vent goes direct to the roof. How can
we design these vents?
Send us your comments, suggestions or solutions for
this question by November 11, 2011. Well include as many
of them as possible in the December 2011 issue and all on
CP.com. Send visuals a sketch is ne. E-mail us at Pro-
cessPuzzler@putman.net or mail to Process Puzzler, Chem-
ical Processing, 555 W. Pierce Road, Suite 301, Itasca, IL
60143. Fax: (630) 467-1120. Please include your name, title,
location and company afliation in the response.
And, of course, if you have a process problem youd
like to pose to our readers, send it along and well be
pleased to consider it for publication.
CONSIDER AN ICE BANK
It is most likely that this problem is reported from
a batch processing plant where wild swings of
refrigeration load are experienced. I can suggest
two solutions to this problem: 1) A programmable
logic controller (PLC) should be used to control
the Freon compressor bank. Depending on the
load, as sensed by return chilled-water tempera-
ture or return Freon pressure, the compressors
should start and stop automatically. Use an auto-
matic algorithm in the PLC to rotate the sequence
operation so that the load is shared among the
compressors. 2) If the system works by circulat-
ing chilled water cooled by Freon, an ice bank
system can be considered. Tis will even-out the
load on chillers. Te Freon will produce ice on the
coils in the ice bank when the plant load is low.
When the load is high, the return chilled water
will be warmer and will rapidly melt the ice, thus
suddenly releasing a lot of cold. Tis will have
a benecial load-leveling eect. Tis is a method
used in breweries where ammonia is used as the
refrigerant to cool circulating chilled water.
Either or both of the above solutions can be used
depending on the nature and severity of the problem
or availability of funds.
Sebastian Tomas, engineer
Sai Dem America, Houston
DO THE ANALYSIS
Tere could be a number of issues: aging chill-
ers, poor control and lack of operator training.
You may need more of them as a standby train
or 50%-on/50%-o concept if not implemented
already. Indiscriminate loading of the chillers is
proof of a need for improved operator training for
a better understanding of the system usage and
capabilities. First take some time to analyze the
system loads and make automation improvements.
Tis is important for a successful revamp your
people are planning.
Sameer Chawla, lead process engineer
Worley Parson, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
START WITH PROCESS CONTROL
As a minimum, sequence the units based on
temperature and pressure. Control the demand
for cooling by temperature and raise the pressure
as needed in response to increase in f low to meet
Chillers Require Cold-Eyed Review
Readers suggest ways to avoid temperatures swings and trips
An old bank of three Freon chillers provides cooling throughout our
plant. The units are manually controlled. Operators frequently turn on
too many units in preparation for anticipated heat loads, causing trips
in the chillers that delay production because of upward temperature
swings. As part of a corporate-sponsored energy campaign, funds are
available for the chillers. Where would you start? How can we get more
out of these old units?
PROCESS PUZZLER
PROCESS PUZZLER
the temperature. Its a simple cascade. (Using
this approach with a cooling tower, I was able to
cut electrical costs by 10%.) A step beyond this
would be a load-following PLC, separate but in
communication with the plant PLC.
But, a larger issue is at stake: production integ-
rity. As the gure (Sept., p. 48) shows (via the large
diamonds), the Freon chiller has a separate controller
from the PLC running the plant. Tis is typical of old
equipment. Either the controls are proprietary or the
project engineer was lazy. Te plant needs these key
inputs. So, its no surprise the chiller crashes unexpect-
edly given the secondary controller is responsible for
preventing freeze damage.
I have seen this before with chillers, furnaces
and heat tracing. Proprietary PLCs dont talk to the
distributed control system (DCS). Here, there isnt
even an alarm on the Freon temperature loop. It
appears a low-pressure alarm on the brine ow to the
evaporator is the only alert the board operator would
receive; there is always a lag in the temperature, so
the temperature indicators on the brine to and from
the evaporator wont respond until the chiller has
been down for several minutes. When systems fail,
the board operator is ying blind. Tese controls
must be paralleled o so status is reported at the
PLC or DCS.
Depending on the age of these units, it may be
more practical to scrap them. Newer systems are easier
to connect to plant controls and may be more energy
ecient.
You also might consider some equipment trouble-
shooting and revamping: 1) look at the entire system
chillers, cooling tower, pumps, compressors, etc.,
but focus particularly on the compressors, which rep-
resent 60% of operating cost; 2) check the compressor
inner cooler and all the heat exchangers for fouling;
3) verify the capacity of the cooling tower; 4) adjust
load by matching requirements with smaller units
and larger ones; 5) compare the cost of speed controls
for pumps versus impellers sized for operation at the
best eciency point dont ignore the possibility
of matching small pumps with large pumps; and 6)
consider replacing the shell-and-tube exchangers with
plate-and-frame ones, as these are superior for com-
pactness and eciency in clean service.
Dirk Willard, senior engineer
Ambitech Engineering, Downers Grove, Ill.
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PLANT INSITES
Tackle Tray Trade-offs
Find the right compromise between process and mechanical requirements
Ensure your tray
sections will
t through the
manhole.
SUCCESSFUL EQUIPMENT purchase involves
balancing process, mechanical, cost, schedule
and many other demands. For distillation trays,
specications include a number of highly interre-
lated process and mechanical requirements that can
conict with each other. To determine the most-
appropriate set of trade-os, you must understand
the mechanical issues. So, here, well look at some
common ones and provide general guidelines.
Strength. Tree factors are critical: point load,
distributed load, and uplift resistance. Point load
refers to the weight of a person standing or working
on the tray surface. Its normally dened at expect-
ed ambient conditions. If you dont specify a value,
the tray usually will be designed for a 240300-lb
point load. Distributed load is the weight of liquid
expected to be on the tray deck at a severe normal
operation. It may be dened at ambient conditions,
operating conditions, or both. Te industry default
value usually is 60 lb/ft
2
for a tray on a 2-ft spacing.
For larger tray spacings, the required load must be
higher. No allowance generally is made for uplift
resistance but severe services may require a
specication as high as 1 or even 2 psi.
Tickness. Tis has both mechanical and process
aspects. However, mechanical considerations con-
trol for most applications. Ticker trays are stronger
but also more expensive and slower to install
because the sections are heavier.
Tray spacing. Unless other factors over-ride,
cost and ease of inspection favor trays on a 2-ft
spacing. A gap in the range of 18 in. to 30 in.
usually is considered normal. With spacing less
than 18 in., inspection becomes dicult. Also, at
very tight spacing (<12 in.), designers must pay
more attention to weir heights and beam depths.
At spacing above 36 in., capacity benets from the
extra height decrease. Very tight or very wide spac-
ing may make moving through the tower during
inspection more dicult.
Manhole dimensions. Little is worse than nd-
ing that your newly arrived tray sections dont t
through the manhole into the tower. In severe situ-
ations, trays have been cut apart and then welded
back together inside the tower; unless precisely
done, this can impact tray hydraulic performance.
Remember to specify the internal manhole dimen-
sions. Forgetting about cladding and lining thick-
nesses has caused problems. In a related vein, pay
attention to special dimensional requirements if
tray parts must be moved past internal obstructions
(piping) or restrictions inside the tower.
Manway dimensions and removal. Include the di-
mensions for the minimum-size internal manways
in trays. Also, dont forget to dene if the manways
must be removable from the top, the bottom, or
either. Industry practice has moved toward equip-
ment with manways removable from either side
but not every tray is built that way.
Assembly. Normally clamps attach the tray to
the tray ring. Panel-to-panel connections generally
involve either overlapping sections held together
with bolts and washers or a tongue-and-groove
design. If you have a preference, or a need, for one
type or the other, specify it. Standard practice
assumes trays are installed with available access to
both the top and bottom of the tray. Special assem-
bly requirements may include through-bolted trays
for high-strength applications.
Spare hardware. Vendors usually provide from
5% to 10% extra bolting and hardware parts. If
you want more (or none), you must include this
information in the specication.
Tower attachments. Standard industry practice is
to not include weld-in attachments for new trays in
new vessels unless you ask for them.
Leak rates. Trays assembled from sections will
leak. Gaskets, if used, can reduce but not elimi-
nate leaks. Process, not mechanical, requirements
determine if preventing leakage is important. If it
is, the only truly leak-free active tray is a bubble-
cap tray thats fully welded including the
bubble cap risers to the tray deck, the tray deck
sections to each other, and the tray to the tower or
tray ring.
Storage or shipping requirements. Include special
storage or shipping requirements, such as surface
treatment (oils or anti-corrosion additives), crating,
and protection from environmental conditions, in
the mechanical specication.
Additionally, for a revamp, the specication al-
ways should include the best available tower eleva-
tion and orientation drawings as attachments. Tey
will allow a quality vendor to verify dimensions for
proper equipment layout in the tower.
ANDREW SLOLEY, Contributing Editor
ASloley@putman.net
EQUIPMENT & SERVICES
Piping System Resists UV
Chem Proline is a crack-resistant
polyethylene piping system
suitable for harsh liquid chemi-
cal applications. Made from
PE resin (PE100-RC), the pipe
and ttings resist slow crack
growth. Tey have a design life
expectancy of up to 50 years.
Te thermally fused system uses
no glues and few threaded con-
nections. It is UV resistant and
can be installed above or below
ground using socket, butt or
electrofusion joining methods.
Asahi/America
800-343-3618
www.asahi-america.com
Dry Pump Suits Hazardous
Environments
Te CXS dry pump range can
pump up to one liter of liquid per
minute continuously and up to
25 liter slugs without stopping.
Te pumps are independently
certied for use in hazardous en-
vironments to ensure safe pump-
ing of ammable gases. Tey
also can pump corrosive gases
without corroding. Te range
initially includes two models
the CXS160 and CXS250, which
provide nominal capacities of 160
m
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Edwards
800-848-9800
www.edwardsvacuum.com
Cameras Monitor
Hazardous Areas
PTZ dome and ATEX PTZ
cameras support H.264 encod-
ing and can be installed in Class
I Division 1 and Class I Divi-
sion 2 environments. Users can
view and store high frame rate,
quality video over networks while
consuming less bandwidth and
storage. Tis makes these cameras
suitable for situations where video
might be transmitted over low-
bandwidth media such as wireless,
or where video shares the network
with other critical data. Te
H.264 Class I- and ATEX-rated
PTZ cameras are available with
an 18x, 26x, or 36x optical zoom
imagers. Teses cameras are also
available with a variety of copper
and ber IP connectivity options.
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617-467-3059
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Vibratory Screener Handles
Wet And Dry Materials
Te model K72-1K-SS vibratory
screener discharges oversize par-
ticles 360 around the periphery
of an External Kascade circular
screening deck, instead of through
15 to 25 openings of convention-
al discharge spouts. Te screener,
which has a 72-in. (1,829-mm)
diameter, handles screening of wet
or dry bulk materials contain-
ing a large percentage of oversize
fractions. Oversize particles ow
outward in a spiral pattern and
cascade at any point over the
periphery of the circular screen
onto a spiral vibratory trough that
directs the material into a high
capacity discharge spout.
Kason Corp.
973-467-8140
www.kason.com
Level Indicator Suits
Hostile Environments
Te Pro Remote point level
indicator is designed specically
for applications involving harsh
conditions such as high tempera-
ture or excessive vibration. Te
capacitance probe features
a split conguration
that keeps sensi-
tive electronics
away from extreme
conditions that may
interfere with proper
probe operation. Elec-
tronic components can be
mounted up to 75 feet from the
sensing probe. Te Pro Remote
can be used for high, mid and
low level detection of solids, liq-
uids or slurries using a variety of
Delrin, Teon, food grade, ush
mounted, stubby, or extended
probe options.
BinMaster Level Controls
402-434-9102
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Gas Pumps Deliver
High Flows
N0150 diaphragm pumps can be
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may produce excessive heat and
potentially shorten pump service
life. The pumps serve industries
ranging from specialty gases to
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others. The pump is
designed to deliver
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operates without oil
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can be equipped with a double
diaphragm system for increased
safety critical when handling
particularly dangerous gases.
KNF Neuberger
609-890-8600
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Rotary Lift Table
Conditions Materials
A new bulk bag material con-
ditioner utilizes hydraulically
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Each conditioning arm features
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bulk bag, as well as the top and
bottom. Te unit includes an ultra
compact footprint and machine
guarding for operator safety.
Material Transfer & Storage
800-836-7068
www.materialtransfer.com
Weigh Modules Fit Tight
Spaces
WMC weigh mod-
ules oer in-process
control and embed-
ded weighing for any
critical instrument
or system operation.
Tey feature a high
degree of minia-
turization, which
supports single or multisensor
integration in precision weighing
applications where installation
space is at a premium. Te mod-
ules include a 1-in.-wide sensor.
Tis sensor reportedly resolves 2
million divisions with high preci-
sion and quick stabilization. Te
sensors can be integrated as single
units or as parallel weighing arrays
and achieve highest throughput.
Mettler Toledo
800-638-8537
www.mt.com
Touchscreen Is FDA
Compliant
Te DXAdvanced Touch is a new
model series of DXAdvanced
R4 data acquisition and display
stations equipped with a new
pressure-sensitive touch screen
operator interface. An operator
can enter batch and message text
information on a full-screen touch
keyboard and readily access trend
history data with the calendar
search functions. Te advanced se-
curity option delivers full compli-
ance with FDA regulation 21CFR
Part 11, enabling all models to
be used in any FDA program
area that must comply with the
regulation. Tis is complemented
with a multibatch option that
allows channels to be grouped and
recorded to discrete batch records
with independent start and stop
control.
Yokogawa Corporation of
America
www.yokogawa.com/us
German Flat-Deck
Screeners Come to U.S.
A range of standard and custom-
designed sieving equipment,
including tumbler multideck
screeners and vibrating multi-
deck screeners, from a German
manufacturer now are available.
Particularly suitable for high feed
rates and multideck separations of
nes, lightweight products which
are dicult to screen. It features
patented manual deck lifters for
easy screen change and high ef-
ciency screening. Te screener is
100% statically and dynamically
balanced for vibration-free instal-
lation in steel structures.
Kemutec Group Inc.
215 788-8013
www.KemutecUSA.com
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39,109 38,609
653 424
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END POINT
Gulf Faces Lasting Impact From Spill
Study points to serious long-term effects on sh from Deepwater Horizon disaster
FOR DECADES scientists believed that oil spills did
most of their damage in the rst few weeks, as oil coated
animals, plants and terrain. Even today, to most observ-
ers it seems nature bounces back very quickly from such
disasters, as birds and sh repopulate areas and evidence
of oily deposits on beaches and rocks soon disappears.
But disasters such as the Bouchard 65 barge spill
near Cape Cod in 1974, Amoco Cadiz in France
in 1978, the Ixtoc 1 well blowout in the Gulf of
Mexico in 1979 and the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill
in Alaska have given scientists a chance to carry out
longer-term investigations.
In particular, the Exxon Valdez spill has gener-
ated a wealth of research into how such events aect
ecosystems. One of the key ndings is that sub-lethal
biological eects, particularly those associated with
reproduction, best predict the long-term impacts that
still are apparent in herring, salmon and the regions
many other aquatic species.
Now, similar ndings are emerging from a
combined eld and laboratory study carried out by a
research team at Louisiana State University (LSU),
Baton Rouge, La., into the impact that last years
Deepwater Horizon drilling disaster is having on
marsh sh species in the Gulf of Mexico.
Te research team is headed by LSU associate
professors of biological sciences Fernando Galvez
and Andrew Whitehead, with additional inputs
from scientists at the department of chemistry and
biochemistry at Texas State University, San Marcos,
Tex., and the department of biological sciences at
Clemson University, Clemson, S.C.
In the September 21, 2011, issue of the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org/
cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1109545108), the team reports
on a four-month eld study monitoring the biologi-
cal eects of oil exposure on sh in the Gulf s coastal
marsh habitats. Te researchers used killish as the
model species because they are among the most abun-
dant vertebrate animals in those marshes.
Te team sampled multiple tissues from adult kil-
lish from each of six eld sites during three periods
spanning the rst four months of the spill. Tey then
compared biological responses across time (before, at the
peak, and after oiling) and across space (oiled sites and
not oiled ones) and integrated responses at the molecular
level using genome expression proling with comple-
mentary protein expression and tissue morphology.
Te researchers characterized genome expression
proles for livers because that organ integrates xenobi-
otic eects from multiple routes of entry (gill, intestine
and skin), and because liver is the primary tissue for
metabolism of toxic oil constituents. Te team also char-
acterized tissue morphology and expression of CYP1A
protein, a common biomarker for exposure to select
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, for gills, the organ
that provides the greatest surface area in direct contact
with the surrounding aquatic environment. Te scien-
tists also exposed developing embryos to eld-collected
water samples to document bioavailability and bioactiv-
ity of oil contaminants for this sensitive early life stage.
Teir study shows that, despite very low to non-
detectable concentrations of oil constituents in the
water and in sh tissues, biological eects in sh
indicate dramatic responses indicative of exposures
to the toxic components of oil. Tat is, the biologi-
cal responses were much more sensitive indicators of
exposures and eects from the contaminating oil than
was the environmental chemistry.
Tough the sh may be safe to eat based on low
chemical burdens in their tissues, that doesnt mean
that the sh are healthy or that the sh are capable of
reproducing normally, says Whitehead.
Genome expression responses detected in liver
tissues were predictive of the types of responses associ-
ated with developmental abnormalities and death ob-
served in previous studies by Galvez and Whitehead.
Furthermore, responses were predictive of impairment
of sh reproduction, meaning the probable impact on
populations is signicant.
Additionally, gill tissues, which are important for
maintaining critical body functions, appeared damaged
and had altered protein expression coincident with oil
exposure; these eects persisted long after visible oil dis-
appeared from the marsh surface. Te controlled expo-
sures in laboratory settings of the developing embryos to
eld-collected waters induced similar cellular responses.
Tis is of concern because early life-stages of
many organisms are particularly sensitive to the toxic
eects of oil and because marsh contamination oc-
curred during the spawning season of many important
species, notes Whitehead.
Te LSU research group is now following up with
studies examining more-direct eects of oil exposure
on reproduction, development and growth.
SEN OTTEWELL, Editor at Large
sottewell@putman.net
Biological
responses of the
sh were much
more sensitive
indicators of
exposures.
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