IHS Engineering360 – Page 2 – Yours truly, Yasmin

Propylene in Demand: Roadblocks and Opportunities

Originally published 05 February 2015 on IHS Engineering360.

The petrochemical industry is made up of seven building blocks: synthesis gas, the three olefins— ethylene, propylene and C4 olefins—and the three aromatics— benzene, toluene and the xylenes. Among the olefins is propylene, one of the most significant chemical building blocks produced industrially for polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile, propylene oxide derivatives and other uses.

Two-thirds of the world’s propylene goes to PP production. Demand for PP has been high for the past decade due to its versatility and reasonable price. Since its invention in 1954, PP has evolved into one of the most widely used products of the olefins industry. It is used in day-to-day products such as plastic parts, carpeting, paper and material found in loudspeakers and similar electronics. PP is also used in thermoplastic fiber, reinforced composites and laboratory equipment.

At present, global propylene demand is roughly 90 million metric tons (MMT) and is estimated to rise to 130 MMT by 2023, approximately 30% of which will be on-purpose production based according to IHS Chemical.

Propylene is largely produced in traditional processes such as steam cracking and fluid-catalytic-cracking (FCC) units. In the U.S., refinery-based production makes up a large portion of the supply given the many FCC units located in the country, says Chuck Carr, Global Olefins director at IHS Chemical.

Algal Biofuels: Closer to Sustainability?

Originally published 16 December 2014 on IHS Engineering360.

To tackle concerns driven by carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, chemical majors are using bio-process engineering technologies to convert carbon sources into new energy forms.

Presently, organic materials like plants, agricultural waste, forest residues, microbes and other sources otherwise known as biomass are being transformed into useful biofuels such as methane or transportation fuels: ethanol and biodiesel to meet environmental sustainability goals. To encourage those efforts, the U.S. Department of Energy recently announced a $25 million fund for biofuel research with one target: to drive down the cost of algal-derived biofuels to below $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (GGE) over the next five years.

Biofuels are split into four generations based on their biomass source. The first generation is produced from food crops such as sugars and vegetable oils. The second one (also known as advanced biofuels) is generated from non-food crops like agricultural waste and lignocellulosic biomass.

Membrane Technology & Industrial Applications

Originally published 13 November 2014 on IHS Engineering360.

Membrane technology like pervaporation (PV) and membrane filtration has been getting a lot of attention in the industry because of its energy efficiency and ability to break azeotropic systems.

The principle behind this technology is simple: the membrane behaves like a fixed filter that will allow water to pass through, while it catches suspended solids and other materials. Membranes are manufactured in a variety of configurations, such as hollow fiber, spiral, and tubular shapes. Each configuration offers a different degree of separation depending on the membrane process and the mixture to be separated.

PV in particular has been the only membrane process largely utilized for chemical purification over the last few decades with application in three primary areas: organophilic separation, removal of organic compounds from a dilute solution like water and dehydration of aqueous mixtures.