New vs. Used Process Equipment – Part 2

CHOOSING USED VS. NEW PROCESS EQUIPMENT, PART 2 To help you determine if used equipment is right for your budget and process, here are some important items which need to be considered.1.       How important is the equipment to your process? For example, if you are planning a biofuel manufacturing facility and the key component to the process is the fermentation vessel, […]

Relief Valves

RELIEF VALVES & MAINTAINING OSHA REGULATIONS We’ve recently seen an uptick in the number of clients asking for support to complete the PSM (process safety management) documentation and calculations for relief valves. Although the reasons for the recent compliance efforts vary, we thought it would be worthwhile to review the regulations and requirements OHSA has established […]

Imported Thermal Oxidezers

FOREIGN-MADE THERMAL OXIDIZERS: LESSONS LEARNED Purchasing and installing a thermal oxidizer is a common solution for manufacturing facilities that need to neutralize toxic air emissions. We recently installed a foreign-made thermal-oxidizer for a client and encountered several issues that we thought would be worthwhile to share with others considering a similar solution. Consider these as lessons […]

Interview with a SPEC Engineer

STEVE FREITAS ON A LONG TERM CLIENT “We just want you to provide a P&ID for our new process.  Please provide accompanying line sizing and pipe specifications.  Also, please provide instrumentation specifications and purchasing for all automated instruments, as well as updated programming and control system modifications.  We will take care of equipment purchasing, as well as the […]

Distributed Control System Technology

DCS SELECTION, DISTRIBUTED CONTROL SYSTEMS Why would you choose one brand/model of DCS over another. At SPEC we have used, (for various reasons) Emerson DeltaV, with and without S88 Batch ABB 800XA, batch Siemens PCS7, non-batch (All the flagship products of leading companies) They each have their advantages and disadvantages: Price – Due to the […]

Electric & Hybrid Car Technologies

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY SUPPORTS NEW ELECTRIC & HYBRID CAR TECHNOLOGIES The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), recently awarded 2.4 billion dollars in stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to, “accelerate the manufacturing and deployment of the next generation of U.S. batteries and electric vehicles”. The goal of the stimulus money was […]