Strainers

Strainers are extensively used to trap foreign materials from different major rotary equipments mainly like pumps, compressors, fans, blowers etc or it may be used for protection of major instruments like meters, valves, and seals.

These are mainly neglected piece of equipment which are mainly important not only for protection but are MUST for many services and many chemical processes can not run without them. Still we do not focus on use of suitable design of these strainers.

Its a closed housing with cleanable screen element designed to remove & capture foreign particles.

Strainers are called strainers because they are used to strain or filter out debris / particles from liquid streams. They basically have one housing and one filter element nothing more than this. The discharge port is usually the intermittent outlet from it.

The main function of these strainers is to capture all particles above design specs reliably & in an uninterrupted manner with very little maintenance ans spare parts.

Currently the wedge wire construction of filter screen is very effective for all strainer applications. The advantage of wedge wire usage in any filter application is that it is non-clogging in nature as it is hard steel mesh of V-Shape in place of cloth and hence there is no pores choking during any sticky or slimy application.

Now the salient feature of a good strainer is that

1. It should have sufficient operation time before choking or clogging. Use wedge wire mesh for easy online cleaning.
2. Easily back washable. Wedge wire system can be easily washed online (in place with just one back flow). In case of cloth etc it has to be opened and closed after manual cleaning. So it actually becomes CIP filter easily.
3. It should pose minimum pressure drop in the system which is possible with wedge wire very easily.
4. long life span.
5. Wedge wire based Duplex system can be a very good option for continuous operation in non acidic media.
6. The only disadvantage of wedge wire is that currently we don't have any option to have it in nonmetallic MOC. I mean if nonmetallic MOC is required wedge wire is not possible today.


In next article, I will post about selection of strainers.

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Heat Pumps - 1

Industrial heat pumps are a class of active heat-recovery equipment that allows the temperature of a waste-heat stream to be increased to a higher, more useful temperature. Consequently, heat pumps can facilitate energy savings when conventional passive-heat recovery is not possible.

Therefore I am putting some basics for this useful device which can be utilized very effectively.

1. Introduction A heat pump is a device that can increase the temperature of a waste-heat source to a temperature where the waste heat becomes useful. The waste heat can then replaces purchased energy and reduce energy costs. However, the increase in temperature is not achieved without cost. A heat pump requires an external mechanical- or thermal-energy source.

The goal is to design a system in which the benefits of using the heat-pumped waste heat exceed the cost of driving the heat pump. Several heat-pump types exist; some require external mechanical work and some require external thermal energy. For the purpose of discussing basic heat-pump characteristics, this brief will first introduce the mechanical variety, and then address the thermal types.

2. Why can a heat pump save money? Heat pumps use waste heat that would otherwise be rejected to the environment; they increase temperature to a more effective level. Heat pumps can deliver heat for less money than the cost of fuel. Therefore, the cost of fuel of different types is very important in the selection of heat pumps.

Heat pumps operate on a thermodynamic principle known as the Carnot cycle. To aid understanding of this cycle, it is helpful to contrast the Carnot cycle with the more familiar thermodynamic cycle that underlies the operation of steam turbines, the Rankine cycle.

Degrading high-grade thermal energy into lower-grade thermal energy creates shaft work, or power, in the Rankine cycle. In a steam turbine, this is accomplished by supplying high-pressure steam and exhausting lower-pressure steam. In contrast, mechanical heat pumps operate in the opposite manner. They convert lower temperature waste heat into useful, higher-temperature heat, while consuming shaft work. See figure below.

The work required to drive a heat pump depends on how much the temperature of the waste heat is increased; in contrast, a steam turbine produces increasing amounts of work as the pressure range over which it operates increases. Heat pumps consume energy to increase the temperature of waste heat and ultimately reduce the use of purchased steam or fuel. Consequently, the economic value of purchasing a heat pump depends on the relative costs of the energy types that are consumed and saved.


3. How does a heat pump work, and how much energy can it save? Several types of heat pumps exist, but all heat pumps perform the same three basic functions:

a. Receipt of heat from the waste-heat source.

b. Increase of the waste-heat temperature.

c. Delivery of the useful heat at the elevated temperature.

One of the more common heat pump types, the mechanical heat pump, will be used to show how these functions work. Below is given a picture of typical system for energy saving.



Waste heat is delivered to the heat-pump evaporator in which the heat-pump working fluid is vaporized. The compressor increases the pressure of the working fluid, which in turn increases the condensing temperature. The working fluid condenses in the condenser, delivering high-temperature heat to the process stream that is being heated.

A key parameter influencing the savings that a heat pump achieves is the temperature lift realized in the heat pump. Temperature lift is the difference between the evaporator and condenser temperatures.

For example, if natural gas costs $3.00/ (MMBtu), the cost of delivering heat from fuel at 80% efficiency will be $3.75/MMBtu. Figure 1.3 shows that the effective cost of heat supplied by the heat pump is lower than the cost of purchased fuel that otherwise would be consumed.

However, this advantage erodes as the temperature lift increases, because more work is required to obtain the higher lifts. Also, because electricity is the work source for this heat pump, lower power costs result in greater benefits.

Under the right circumstances, a heat pump can reduce energy costs and provide an attractive cost-reduction project, particularly when:

a. The heat output is at a temperature where it can replace purchased energy such as boiler steam or gas firing.

b. The cost of energy to operate the heat pump is less than the value of the energy saved.

c. The net operating cost savings (reduction in purchased energy minus operating cost) is sufficient to pay back the capital investment in an acceptable time period.



In the next post we will discuss about different type of heat pumps with specific variations.

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Basics of Ion Exchange Resin - 1

Resins are generally used for Ion exchange reactions which is a powerful technology to not only treat water to extremely good quality but to process many industrial operations also today.

This ion exchange technology is now well proven for many chemical industry applications also.
It was developed initially in 1950s, and today, it is still the best to produce ultra-pure water, i.e. to remove all traces of contaminants. For example, it can be used for

• color removal from sugar syrups to make white sugar
• Purify of antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals
• Extract uranium from ores
• Separate metals
• Remove harmful substances from solutions
• Catalyse reactions

Let us start this post with basics only for understanding of ion exchange resins. So I will start with some terminology and types of resins and how do they work?


So first focus is what is ION?

Ion is nothing but small ionised substances present in water, which are electrically charged atoms or molecules. The positively charged ions are called cations, and the negatively charged ions are called anions. Because water is neutral electrically (Else it would give electric shock) the number of positive charges are same as the number of negative charges.

Ions can have one charge or more, the most usual range being 1 to 3. Ions can be made of one atom only (monoatomiic ions) , or several atoms linked permanently together, like molecules (polyatomic ions). For Example...

1. Monovalent - Monoatomic Ion - Such as Na+, K+
2. Divalent - Monoatomic Ion - Such as Mg2+, Ca2+
3. Trivalent - Monoatomic Ion - Such as Al3+, Cr3+
4. Monovalent - Polyatomic Ion - Such as NH4+, NO3-, NO2-
5. Divalent - Polyatomic Ion - Such as SO4--, CO32--

Now I am explaining the basics one by one. So What is an Ion Exchange Resin first of all. The resin as name suggests are basically small polymer molecule which you can visualize as small plastic beads or granule. Now these beads are made of one fixed component which is generally polymer part and longer in chain (not necessary but effective if it is) and the second part is mobile and can leave the structure with other similar type of ion only.

Now for the purpose of making it simple, the general ion exchange use is for softening of water in any process plant because hard water can not be used directly for many reasons. So simply the hardness means Ca++ ions are removed and replaced with Na+ ions thus calcium ion from water is removed. The equation can be represented as below.

2 RNa + Ca++ ---> R2Ca + 2 Na+

Now let us see how resin looks like. it is clear from the two pictures given below.

Once you are ready to study more you can go thru the following website

Learn to Do It Right the First Time: Guidelines for...

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Boiler Efficiency - Parameters affecting it

Energy savings does not always imply efficiency improvement in boilers therefore, we need to understand the factors which are affecting it. So basically one should know all those parameters that influence efficiency.

For this one should know how to calculate the energy savings from parameters that do not influence thermal efficiency.

For very clear understanding between an increase in steam generation and improvement in efficiency, I have always emphasized that process engineer should be very clear about his options, definitions, & actual process happening due to modification proposed in the name of energy efficiency.

Recall the general efficiency equation of a boiler

(1) Eff = Absorbed Heat / Energy Input

The equation says nothing about the fact that not all adsorbed heat is useful heat. For instance the blow down is certainly “adsorbed” heat but rarely “useful”. In other words the energy in the blow down will be lost to ambient but any change in the blow down rate will not affect the system efficiency.

Equation (1) was converted into another equation


(2) Eff = 1 - Losses / Energy Input


It was shown that equation (1) and equation (2) are equal and should give the same result.

The energy input to the system is in the most simple case the energy of the fuel and the enthalpy of the combustion air. However one may add to the ener0gy input the steam necessary to atomize the fuel, or the electricity needed to power all electric motors of the boiler. In large power plant boilers it is especially important to draw a system boundary and prepare a list of all energy flows that enter and leave the system boundary.

Similarly the sum of losses depends on what we call a loss. Some obvious losses are the energy in the stack gas, the radiation and convection loss, and the refuse loss. However blow down is not considered a loss and therefore excluded from the sum. In fact the norms state no blow down is allowed during efficiency testing.

Using the efficiency simulator one will notice that system efficiency does not change at all if the following parameters are changed

• The steam pressure
• The steam temperature
• The blow down fraction
• The percentage of condensate return
• The condensate return temperature

The above parameters do not enter equation (2) and consequently the system efficiency will not change.

Nevertheless lowering the steam pressure or temperature or increasing the condensate return and temperature will certainly save fuel. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the definition of efficiency except the fact that we may save fuel by not changing the system efficiency at all.

Whenever Ps , Ts, xBD, xcon,Tcon, change the steam output changes as well, but the efficiency stays the same. Consequently we cannot calculate the fuel savings by the equation

(3) Fuel Saving % = ( Eff new - Eff old ) / Eff new


Another peculiarity are the savings one may achieve by preheating the air or the feedwater. The efficiency definition does not provide for entering the temperature of preheated air or feedwater, because preheating devices such as an economizer and air preheater are inside the system boundary. In other words preheating of the combustion air and the feedwater is taken into account through lowering the stack gas temperature.

So basically, the major purpose of writing it to again clarify that fuel saving does not necessarily mean the increase in efficiency. Currently I have worked an oil water emulsion technique which makes nano particle mix of fuel saving 3-5% fuel but there is no change in the efficiency of the system as none of the boiler parameter is changing. This makes saving just by using water as fuel.

So be Careful.


This Article is reproduced from the paper of GTZ from BEE India website.

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CIP Filters: Popular Types

In the first part of selection criteria of CIP filters, we have discussed about the cost factors while in the second part of it we have mentioned about some important benefits. In this post I am sharing few types of CIP filter which may be useful for all process engineers.

This is a very short post with few details on various common & popular type of CIP filters.

In this category of filters that is CIP (or Cleaning in Place), the following are the major type of elements.

1. Candle Filters
CIP polish filters for fine filtration up to 1 micron with the help of precoat or body feed. this type of filters are ideally suited for carbon removal or catalyst recovery type of application where very fine particles are involved and if you use any other media it may clog easily.

It protects operator from hazardous handling and pyrophoric solids if involved.

2. Auto Self Cleaning Filter
For filtration of cheaper fluids like water at high flow rates and filtration requirement of 50 micron and more, this is the best CIP filter. It can be used for process fluid also, waste water treatment, utilities etc. Cleaning is generally done by the same filtrate to avoid any effluent generation even in the chemical processes.

3. Auto Cleaning with Scrapper
Now new technologies are coming up day by day for all process operations. For various viscous liquids like sugar, oil etc the filtration is always very tough and is the biggest cost consuming item. Now technologies are available for such operations e.g. scraper mechanism for cleaning of filter surface.

In the above sketch you will realize that top left of drawing is having a baffle shape plate which is a scrapper and rotates continuously at slow speed. This helps in removing the choking and continuous removal of solids.

4. V Sep Filters
V sep filters are used in very large scale handling like sewage treatment plants, coal washeries, Municipal waste and CETPs where large scale general operation of main bulk separation is required.

5. Basket / Strainers
Last but most used category is the filters used for pumps which are more commonly known as basket filters or strainers. They may be in different shapes & sizes and will be in many different options.

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CIP Filters: Selection Criteria - 2

In the first post on CIP, we have listed few options which are essential to be evaluated for the economic and beneficial selection of CIP filters compared to conventional type.

I hope it was good and easy to understand for all those who are looking for useful information on filters.

In this part, I am putting some facts related to payback or economics understanding for replacement decision and I will also cover various other factors apart form major cost items which works out in favor of CIP.

After deciding to go for CIP type filters as per criteria in first part of this post, please look for following parameters which can justify your decision based on cost payback. They are.

1. Capital cost of proposed new filtration system.
2. Filter element life & cost of spare elements.
3. Manpower reduction or increase and cost impact of it.
4. Product loss - Saving or Increase.
5. Space requirement - Saving or increase
6. Capacity of the system.
7. Downtime and production loss.
8. Energy cost including all aspects as described in Part-1 of this post.
9. Cost of cleaning system.
10. Cost of disposal.
11. Change in Cost of Consumables
12. Other cost factors if any.

It is always recommended to make a tabular comparison with comprehensive study as it is not very easy to decide about the replacement of any filtration system because it is the toughest unit operation and further you need of lot of re-search work on trying new system's suitability for your fluid, for your process. So be careful and give appropriate weight to each important factor without any preoccupied decision.

Generation of waste and associated management cost factors are very high now in any chemical plant so be careful that all such cost factors are included in your evaluation.

Now to achieve the reduction in such cost factors like waste management etc. CIP is the first switch from disposable media such as cartridge or bag filters. the initial cost of such disposable filters is less and therefore, they are the first choice in general but in the long run if we analyse the life cycle cost including all cost factors as indicated in the first post, the CIP filters are more advantageous.

Following are the major factors which can lead to significant improvement.

1. No Waste Disposal
With cleanable filters, there are no spent cartridges, or bags for landfill or to incinerate. This saves lot of cost on waste disposal in terms of used bags / filter elements. In case of cleanable filters, you need to dispose only solids and wash liquid which can be re-used to reduce the overall load on ETP.

2. Cleaning frequency Vs change out frequency
Generally disposable media is discarded at fix frequency which is usually higher than required to safeguard the production and to maintain uninterrupted operation. On the other hand cleaning generates less effluent due to precise requirement whenever it is indicated based on differential pressure. This avoids unnecessary load on ETP by doing the cleaning activity at right time. So overall cost is less.

3. Reuse of Waste
In general, the cleaning fluid is compatible with the process so in most of the cases it can be recycled back to the process system without any effluent load. Even if it is very diluted washing it can be recycled in the next cleaning operation and thus reduction in overall effluent load can be achieved.

4. Loss of Product
Generally if you are using disposable media, mostly the process liquid or solid are lost with it and that is a direct loss of yield. This is mainly due to drainage of dead volumes, opening of seals etc.

5. Environment
As explained in the first post, many possibilities of spillage, exposure of workers, landfill liabilities etc etc are associated with disposable system where frequent opening of the entire system is required specially in pharma & food industry.

Apart from above direct benefits many indirect cost items are always there in proportion to the manual activities. So naturally those costs are very high for disposable media compared to CIP filters.

In next article I will try to describe few CIP filter in a short post.

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CIP Filters: Selection Criteria - 1

Hi Friends, I am really sorry for coming back so late this time. It was really a very tough experience of life for me in last 2 years as I lost my job, struggled a lot, regaining it now in 3 steps. Very tough….Very Very tough to survive. But good also as it gave me a clear picture of about real friends and those who pretend to be your friend but actually are not even a human being…….Anyway. 

 I am now starting the topics on tougher issue of process engineering i.e. Filtration. It’s not in a sequence as I am not in a position to find my papers one by one during this turmoil. So this one is related to selection criteria of CIP filters. How to choose them and what are the factors affecting selection. 

The concept of CIP dates back to 1950 when it was first developed & applied in Dairy Industry. 

The conventional definition of CIP (Cleaning In Place) as name suggest is the removal of process contamination and cleaning of process system by re-circulation or spray application of flush, wash & rinse solution without removal or dismantling of process equipment’s. 

Now first let us understand the factors important for CIP filters.

1. Clarity of Filtrate 
This decides the no of stage required in a filtration system. The higher the no of stage of filtration, higher will be the filtrate clarity. More the no of stages, it is difficult to handle the filtration process / system in terms of maintenance etc. Hence, it’s better to use CIP filters to reduce various cost components as given below. 

2. Cost of Operation 
What are the factors contributing towards cost of filtration? Other than indirect cost factors some direct cost components are more important to work out for the overall cost of filtration. These factors are 

a. Cost of Filter Element 
In general, the costs of operation are generally lesser in case of cleanable filter elements as compared to single use type or use & throw type. This is simply because of higher material processing output in the same cost. The disadvantage of using a single use type element is mainly the disposal cost and safety aspects. 

b. Cost of filtration aid (if applicable) 
Lot of lab work is required to find out suitable aid before going into commercial operation. Then optimization of its quantity is required and then cost optimization is required. 

c. Energy Cost 
The cost of energy to operate the feed system, pumps, filter itself, cleaning system etc. etc. is to be calculated. The point is that it is not only main filtration system but all the paraphernalia is to be included in energy cost. 

d. Cleaning System The cost of cleaning the entire filtration system includes, the downtime cost, the consumption of cleaning media, the power consumption during cleaning and re-assembly. The re-charging of the entire system, the losses, the time consumed in making pre-filtration bed etc. is a cost of operation of selected filters. 

e. Manpower
Generally, during main operation cost of manpower is less as today we have many automatic systems in all types of filtration's but the major manpower cost comes during cleaning where time is an important factor and hence excess manpower is required. Generally this manpower is than adjusted in some other jobs as compromise. 

f. Loss of Product 
Every time the filter is stopped for any activity like cleaning etc. there is some spillage loss, some loss due to dead volumes in the vessels filter etc., some losses in the form of liquid content of solids, pipeline drainage etc. All these factors contribute to a significant yield loss of product in general. Here the concept of CIP is very useful in such scenarios. 

3. Filter Size 
In general, if frequent cleaning requirements are there batch cycle time (unproductive) goes high and to compensate for that process engineer will select larger size of filter. This increases space requirement, cost of structure to hold it, higher capital cost. This also means high downtime and high production loss in case of failures. So again CIP is better. 

4. Safety 
Safety of operator is most important part of any chemical process so is the case with filtration as well especially when material is hazardous or toxic in nature. The importance of a closed system is of utmost priority due to such nature of process fluid. The minimum operation in manual mode e.g. opening and cleaning of filtration system is never permitted and CIP is the best solution in such cases. 

5. Environment 
This is another neglected aspect which is now in focus in all chemical industries. Whether it is CIP or no CIP it has to use lesser amount of cleaning fluid to generate less effluent. This is also the reason of avoiding use & throws filters as they pose serious threat to environment if disposal is not safe & not regulated. In EU countries, due to strict norms of disposal, the cost of disposal of used filter element is higher than new one and that is right in a sense that if we do not care for our environment one day it will be full of waste. So we have to regulate it. 

Above issues and factors are to be considered during a new selection of filter type and are more prominent if we are planning for replacement study. In general, if safety & environment is the major concern OR material is toxic or hazardous it is simple to decide to go for CIP filters. Once decided, plan for the replacement of old filters quickly. For the economic evaluation / justification criteria for the management shall be given in my next post CIP – Filter Selection Criteria – 2.

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7 Great Green working practices

Being greener at work means less impact on the environment, a more productive work force, and increased profits. Whether you’re the owner of the business or just an employee, whether your office is already green or becoming that way, there are steps you can take to lighten your carbon footprint. From telecommuting to investing in green technology, here are some ways to run a more environmentally friendly company. Use less energy at work.In many offices, computers are central; changing energy settings for PCs, printers and other equipment can mean modest energy savings. It’s also a good idea to shut them down at the end of the day, as standby mode draws power even when the computer isn’t being used. A simple way to save energy is to plug all computer hardware into a power strip with an on/off switch, to unplug appliances that aren’t used often, and to turn off lights when you leave the room.
Digitize your data: In the digital age, it seems counterintuitive for offices to consume large amounts of paper- especially as most of it only gets used once. The more you store your information online, the less paper you’ll need. Review documents as they’re on a screen, or send emails and PDF files rather than printing documents.
Make commuting more green.The average worker spends almost fifty hours per year commuting to and from work, adding up to billions of gallons of wasted fuel per year. Ease some of the environmental strain by carpooling, using public transit, or walking. Larger workplaces can benefit from programs which reward employees for getting to work in a green way, such as cycling. If getting rid of automobiles isn’t practical, consider switching to a hybrid, a scooter, or a car sharing service.
Take your work home with you, or change your work week. Unified communications, instant messaging, Skype and other tools make it easier than ever to telecommute. If it’s practical for your business, telecommuting will save time, and it will lessen harmful carbon emissions. Another good idea is to switch from the traditional five-day, eight-hour work week to a four-day, ten-hour schedule; it can save 20% or more in time and energy, and it offers employees a welcome three-day weekend every week!
Change your work environment.“Greening up” your workplace is simple- all you need is eco-friendly lighting and furniture, as well as clean air. Replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs, or open windows to let more natural light in. Cleaner air makes for healthier employees; ensure adequate ventilation, and use low-VOC paints, furniture and carpets.
Green your lunch. If you pack your lunch, bring it in a reusable container. If you order takeout, get together with your co-workers and put together one large order rather than a few small ones. Workers that go out for lunch should walk or bike, rather than drive.
Get others thinking green, too.Share the above information with your colleagues, or ask your higher-ups to consider buying carbon credits to offset plane and car travel. Arrange office-wide remote working, or set up a group cycling commute. Get fair-trade coffee for your break room, and place recycling bins around the office. These simple tips can help your business do its share to make the world a cleaner place to live.

This guest post was contributed by Amy Fowler for Maintel, experts in unified communications and remote working technologies. Click here or here to find out more. Alternatively, you could 'like' their Facebook page.

Post by Guest Author - Amy Fowler

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8 Reasons Why Some Green Roofs Are White

The city of Chicago has been setting up what it calls “green roofs,” which is literally covering city rooftops in vegetation. While this may be a great idea for some buildings, it’s just not practical for all situations. How do you do maintenance on a building topped with greenery? It’s not nearly as simple as doing maintenance on one that is sans verdure.

However, a building surface that is both environmentally friendly and easy to care for is a cool roof. This option is both reflective and emissive, and it is specifically designed to be eco-friendly without creating an ecosystem on the roof itself.

Below are some specifications for this type of environmentally-friendly option:

• A green roofing system will help keep those under it cool on a hot summer’s day.

• It is made of vinyl and feather light, while traditional options can be quite heavy.

• It can house solar panels—or, if you so choose, even rooftop vegetation.

• They use green roofing materials that are 100% recyclable. There is minimal waste created from its setup, and the waste that is created is recycled back into building materials. At the end of the rooftop’s life, the whole thing can be recycled.

• Eco-roofs have a longer life than traditional ones. Since a large portion of the damage done comes from heat absorption, and cool roofs absorb less heat, this building surface option will live long and prosper. With the appropriate maintenance (which really is just infrequent cleaning), it will last much, much longer than a traditional choice.

• They have ENERGY STAR labels. This means that they are designated as a product that uses an amount of energy that is 20-30% below federal standards.

• A sustainable rooftop will help a building earn a favorable Green Globe rating and a favorable Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating. These ratings can translate directly into more business for you and your company.

To be environmentally friendly, the top of your building does not actually have to turn the color green. Many of these surfaces are actually white, which is the color that is most reflective and emissive. These white materials are highly sustainable, adaptable and recyclable, like those that are made by quality companies, such as Duro-Last Roofing. This makes them the ideal choice for people who care deeply about the planet, their city and the bottom line.  

Laura enjoys writing about green living. If you'd like to learn more about Duro Last, please visit http://www.duro-last.com/

By Guest Author - Jessica Lane

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Spray Drier - Another view

Hello Friends, I am late again due to shifting to some very interesting industry this time making very useful product Furfural from Bagasse.

The incident of yesterday's interaction forced me to come back to the blog for sharing.

Yesterday I met vice president of a growing mid size company in Gujarat. He told me that spray driers can not be counter current and I should learn this fact. The reason he explained is that dried powder shall be carried away by hot incoming air and therefore you need a cyclone separator at the top for separation of solids & air.

Quite interesting ......This forcefully made me to think about fundamentals of drying......but later on. Before that I thought about creativity of Human mind. its brilliant......it's unlimited......it's really really much much bigger than what we can think of.

Yes dear, all of you should take this as a challenge on this blog itself that how to prove this wrong & how to prove it right.

In the beginning I thought I should re-think on the basics of spray driers and then searched on net also. So I found so many picture / images here.

He may not be fully wrong also, but the word 'Spray driers can not be countercurrent' was not right I am sure.

Really its very difficult for me to write any thing on this topic now. The basic reason he mentioned was that if flow is counter current solid particles will go up with the air & you need a cyclone separator for recovery. Is it really so??

I think it is always so whether it is counter current or co-current. Isn't it?? Most of the pictures on the above link are having cyclone separator. So this argument was also not so good for making spray dries co-current.

In fact, If I see the principle of drying and nature of most of the solids where spray drying is essential or most suitable, it is always better / preferable (Few Exceptions depending on nature of solids) to go for counter current as driving force is always higher and moisture content in dried product from the same size is less.

In fact, those applications where spray drier is generally used, I will not prefer to go for it as it is highly energy intensive & capital intensive compared to thin film drying which I have already done for a very highly hygroscopic material. I will try to put the data for that installation in one of the next articles.

I will prefer spray driers mostly for hygroscopic material with sticky nature in wet condition otherwise its better to go for other options.

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Easy way to find altitude of the Plant

Altitude of a plant location is very important in terms of designing of your vacuum systems, identifying boiling points for correct calculations & design of distillation system, boil-off systems etc.

It is also important in terms of correct sizing of condensers, reboilers due to change in enthalpies, significant change in LMTD will cause errors in design if percent variation is large specially when temperature difference are lower.

Therefore, it should be identified correctly.

Though the best method is to measure it at site location using barometers, however this is not always possible due to absence of such meters. The major problem in it is that normally designers are actually away from the location.

So here are two quick methods to understand the actual barometric pressure.

Method-1
Use any vacuum pump which is reliable & relatively new. if you are installing a new pump or have recently installed a new pump then run it on shut off condition with a pressure transmitter in the suction line. The shut off reading will practically be equal to the barometric pressure at site.

But you need to be sure in this case that pump should be designed for 1 torr or lesser shutoff pressure. if it is designed for higher shut off pressure, you need to subtract the design shut off from actual reading of pressure transmitter during test mentioned above.

So, if pump is designed for shut off pressure of 720 Torr and pressure reading during shut off test is 10 torr then barometric pressure will be 730 Torr at that site.

Method-2
Another method is use of google map service. For this you need to download the file altitude.html from the link Here.

Now you need to just identify your plant location and you will quickly come to know the altitude of your plant from MSL (Mean Sea Level).

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When to Use PSD system?

Today there was a comment on Name of specific Industries where we can use PSD (Pressure Swing Distillation) system on my previous article. Out of interest of few visitors I would like to suggest few points.

Also this post onwards, I will try to post very short posts but may be many on the same topic.

Request feedback from all of you on this kind of posts.

See, the pressure swing distillation means - More than one distillation columns in series but at different pressures to achieve the desired purity of one component due to shift in Azeo condition with respect to pressure.

Let me explain again.....with an Example of Ethanol & Ethyl Acetate mixture.
As per literature data, the composition at two different pressures are as below

Pressure Ethanol Ethyl Acetate
760 mm Hg 31% 69%
1500 mmHg 39% 61%
300 mmHg 23% 77%
25 mmHg 13% 87%

Considering the wide difference in Azeo composition in the given system, If I choose say 1500 mmHg pressure of first column & 25 mmHg pressure of second column then the first column top will be richer (Feed is 69% EA & 31% Ethanol at ambient condition which is generally expected from any system) in Ethanol.

This is because top composition will be azeo composition at 1500 mmHg pressure i.e. 39% Ethanol while feed is having 31% Ethanol, so bottom shall be More EA, thus it is possible to get pure EA at the bottom......Wait if you are not clear.....read more below.

Now top of first column which is 39% Ethanol & 61% EA is fed to second column which is operating at say 25 mmHg. Now at this pressure Azeo composition is 13% Ethanol. So most of the Ethanol will settle at Bottom & EA rich top will be (13% Ethanol + 87% EA) coming out from top.

Now this top stream of second column is fed back to first column along with feed. So feed will further get rich in EA. So more EA will settle at the bottom of second column. BUT top will remain same at Azeo of 1500 mmHG & will go to second column again.

Thus with this kind of cycling eventually you will end up with pure EA at bottom of first column and Pure Ethanol at the bottom of second column. All tops will be fed to next column through recycling. This is how PSD works for any system.

However, the limitation is if difference in the Azeo compostion is small then you may need more such columns OR it may not be possible to use PSD at all.

Hope it is more clear now....

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Process Intensification - 4, Loop Reactor

Process Intensification has been our focus since last few posts and I have already covered two most common and most discussed equipments under this topic. Static mixer - which are already in use by the industry and Micro Reactors which are still waiting for good response from industry.

Similarly the third one which is specifically used in few of the industries is Jet Loop reactors which also qualifies to PI category - One particular configuration developed by BUSS Chem Tech

So we are going to discuss loop reactors with different variations in the configuration e.g. simple circulation loop reactors, venturi reactors etc. & then finally Jet reactors which are derived from above systems.

Now let us start from the beginning on these reactors. In the beginning only CSTR were there & at that time need was felt of increasing the mass transfer as well as heat transfer but the invention of putting a circulation loop with one heat exchanger was only based on the objective of increase in heat transfer area so as to reduce the batch cycle time & this is how the concepts of various loops came into picture.

CSTR

The above CSTR configurations were developed around 1930s.

Simple Loop Reactor
So simple configuration was similar to the following diagram for a general circulation reactor. They were developed around 1950s.


Now as you see, the exchanger in the loop is for providing faster heat transfer outside the reactor due to limitation of heat transfer area in the given volume of CSTR type vessel. So basically it was due to very low surface area to volume ratio of CSTR (As shown in Micro Reactors article).

Another version was developed with static mixer in the upstream of exchanger for very quick reactions to remove the heat as soon as reactants react. They were developed around 1960s.



Loop With Spray at Top
The next generation of loop reactors was with spray type nozzle at the top as shown in the picture. In fact, they are designed for enhanced GAS LIQUID interaction by providing a top spray in the gas zone.




Loop Reactor with Venturi
Further improvements in the loop reactors were done by introducing a venturi in the system. This was slightly different than first picture of this post. The difference was in the discharge zone of venturi, the discharge in this type of reactor was at the inlet of reactor - no mixing in liquid zone as shown in the picture. This was mainly developed to enhance the circulation of gas from the top headspace of the reactor to minimize the safety issues with hazardous & explosive gases.

Jet Loop Reactor
The Next generation loop reactors are Jet Loop reactors as shown in the first picture from BUSS reactor. The difference here is that the Jet mixes with liquid with a very high speed & therefore the reaction speed goes very high in the mixing zone of the Ejector. For example, the reaction rate can be increased by a factor of say 25 - 40 times in a jet reactor compared to CSTR.

So if you think you need higher capacity from your existing system of CSTR etc. OR if you are planning to design a reactor for slow gas liquid reactions then think on considering a loop reactor with circulation exchanger for faster heat transfer + plan for either a SM in the piping or plan for a eductor at the bottom of reactor which will thoroughly agitate your liquid mass.

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Process Intensification - 3, Micro Reactors

In the series, the next most interesting & commonly known equipment is the micro reactors, the buzz word of the current times in process engineering. First article on introduction of PI is Here & Second article on Static Mixers as PI equipment is Here.

As name suggests - Micro - means mini - reactor is a device in which chemical reactions take place in a confinement with typical lateral dimensions below 1 mm; the most typical form of such confinement are microchannels or capillaries. The microreactor is usually a continuous flow reactor. Microreactors offer many advantages over conventional scale reactors, including vast improvements in energy efficiency, reaction speed and yield, safety, reliability, scalability.



I am not going in to too much theory & I am directly putting up examples for quick understanding of underlying principles & benefits due to the changes.

So, Let us first see the advantages & disadvantages of Micro Reactor Technology (MRT).

Benefits

1. Very high surface to volume ratio

To see this more clearly, I am using one example from Sigmaaldrich website. Let us understand it by comparing a case of CSTR & MRT.

Case-1 CSTR
This is an example of CSTR of 1 KL at 500 rpm for an exothermic case with outside cooling.



In this case you can see that temperature distribution os very uneven & hence the reaction control, quality etc are not uniform.

Case-2 MRT

In this case, the temperature distribution is so uniform that quality is controlled in a much better way.

Therefore, because of very high surface area / unit volume of reaction mass, the control on heat transfer is very very good compared to CSTR. This is very important factor, if you can realize the importance of this aspect of any reactor. This factor alone can result into many significant differences e.g. very good conversion, lower level of impurities, higher yield etc.

Just to see the impact Do you Know, what are the typical values of surface area to per unit volume - This is

- 6 Sq Meter / cubic Meter of reactor volume for CSTR
- 100 Sq Meter / cubic Meter of reactor volume for 100 mL glass flask
- 20000 Sq Meter / cubic Meter of reactor volume for Micro Reactor.

Yes, it is almost 15 times more in Laboratory & this is the main area where most of the lab scale & bigger scale differences occur. AND Oh! my GOD - 3000 times more in MRT. My suggestion - Buddy forget Micro reactors, invent something which can just give you say 1000 Sq Meter / Cubic meter of volume, It can do wonders - believe me


2. Better mixing

Since, the micro volumes are mixed in a capillary, the mixing is instant & uniform. Due to very high length of the mixing path per unit volume compared to any other reactor the design is very effective. Therefore, the unformity of mass is almost same in the entire reactor and hence more uniformity in quality can be achieved.

This is very important aspect in some of the industries related to performance chemicals e.g. ethoxylates where more & more unformity (peak ethoxylates) is desirable.

Ultimately this results in very good purity of product by suppressing the impurities formation and very high yields due to the same factor.


3. Instant removal of the material out of the reaction zone

The holding volumes or system volumes are so low that they do not affect the reactions & therefore even equilibrium reactions can achieve higher per pass conversions due to very quick removal of products as soon as they are formed.

Therefore, this is very important in case of equilibrium driven reactions or where yield are impacted significantly due to side reactions and where the product is sequentially converted to other byproducts

Suppose you are conducting one reaction A -> B -> C & your final product is B. Also consider the case where A ->B & A -> C reactions are happening. Then in a CSTR you will either reduce the conversion of A to limit concentration of C or you will optimize parameters to suppress C in second case. But in MRT, there is very little formation of C in either case due to very low volumes especially in first reaction.

Hence, you can have very high conversion saving recycles of A and higher yield due to lesser formation of C.


4. Improved Safety

Since the volumes handled are very less - micro litres - the hazardous reactions can safely be carried out in MRT and very little efforts & investment is required in case of hazardous / run away reactions e.g. polymerisation or ethoxylation or explosive materials handling.

Therefore, investments required on safety systems, instrumentations, losses due to release of chemicals / pressures etc & hence they are environment friendly also.


5. Very High Heat Flux

Microreactors typically have heat exchange coefficients of at least 1000 kW / M3 / K to 500000 kW / M3 / K vs. a few kilowatts in conventional glassware (1 l flask ~10 kW / M3 / K). Thus, microreactors can remove heat much more efficiently than vessels and even critical reactions where exotherms are very high & instantaneous, can be performed safely at high temperatures.

This factor is also very important for example nitration is a very quick & highly exothermic reaction in general which can be safely carried out in MRT.


6. Continuous Processes

Microreactors are normally operated continuously. This allows no batch hold ups & higher time cycle before workup. Important aspect in case of unstable compunds where holding time results in more byproducts or side products formation & hence higher selectivity.

Mixing in a batch process causes a very different concentration profile compared to Continuous process. In a batch, reagent A is filled in and reagent B is slowly added. Thus, B encounters initially a high excess of A. In a microreactor, A and B are mixed nearly instantly and B won't be exposed to a large excess of A. This may be an advantage or disadvantage depending on the reaction mechanism.

So many reactions where batch is a forced neccesity due to full conversion desired, the MRT can be used as continuous option. In such cases there is no other technology available till date other than PI which can help in converting batch to continuous with 100% conversion.


7. No Scale Up Required

Since the MRT is just a module technology no further scale up is required form lab to commercial scale. Only addition of similar micro reactors will add up the capacity. This reduces product development cycle time & also losses in scale up during piloting, manpower, efforts & Energy is also saved.

Now let us understand disadvantages or rather problems in using MRT.
Concerns

1. Only Liquid Systems

MRT is still struggling in terms of handling gases & solids and only liquid liquid reactions are well performed. I see this as a area for improvement required in MRT rather than a problem. May be why solids in MRT is my first question OR when we are talking about Micro why not nano particles if any solid catalyst is required.

Yes, reactions with solids as reactants will still be a problem.

Regarding gases handling, the problem is not so critical its a matter of pressure handling but yes it is a concern as of now.

Hope it is useful for all of you & now you will start thinking on using them.

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ISO - Standard or Business - 5

Further, is it true that ISO is for people, their safety, their interest as consumer etc...etc.???

ISO Claims - "They are useful to ...........and, ultimately, to people in general in their roles as consumers and end users"

Ha...Ha...Ha....Consumers, who do not even know what for this company is having ISO. is it for product or for finance or for purchase or ......?????

HAVE YOU EVER FELT ANY PROTECTION DUE TO ISO.........

See my previous articles on ISO - Part-1, Part-2, Part-3 & Part-4.

Consumers do not know anything about ISO coverage & even for a multi product company it is not clear If all the products of this company are covered under ISO or not. ISO is safeguarding them against harmful content in the product or not. The raw material which is used in this product is having or not having any quality issue which ISO can not guarantee as purchase process is not covered under ISO. All these facts are not known to any consumer in general & still ISO claim to safeguard & to be beneficial to the consumer & end user.

Company can enjoy good image in the market becasue they only publish "ISO:9000 Certified"........other info is missing. Why???? Because blindly every one is asking for only ISO certificate.........it doesn't matter if it is only for your HR (There is no link to product in this case but this is also sufficient).

I also know multi product / multi location companies where only one certificate is used for the entire company and therefore question comes - is everything covered?

The biggest flaw, still ISO claims for safeguard of consumers...HOW???? can anyone justify this?

Fed up man...Im impatient to write more on this topic. So will stop here & may come back later if I go through this subject in future.

Learning -4 It cannot be beneficial to consumers unless it is product & value chain focused. Currently it is process focused only that too with many exclusions permitted.

Disclaimer - This is a series of my personal views on ISO systems, its implementation, Effectiveness etc. They do not carry any legal issue related to my personal views under the human right of "Freedom of Speech".

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Process Intensification - 2, Static Mixers

My last post was focussed on general & brief overview of process intensification abbreviated PI. The term may be new to almost half of the population but we use it somewhere or somehow knowingly or unknowingly in our current life also.

As explained earlier, the miniaturisation is the key word for PI as best & smallest explanation. However, it can be simple on one side like static mixers and very complicated like immobilized solvents for absorption & desorption OR SDR (spinning disc reactor) etc. on the other side.

So instead of discussing it in general, let us go through these specific examples of PI equipments & how can we utilize them in our life...CHEMICAL life...; our first item is - Static Mixers.



According to wikipedia, the static mixers were invented by the Arthur D. Little Company in 1965. This device was licensed to the Kenics Corporation and marketed as the Kenics Motionless Mixer.

Static Mixers
A very simple piece of equipment & very easy to understand yet fully misunderstood by many of us. The basic image of an static mixer is the take a piece of pipe & fill it with any packing and your static mixer is ready. YES.....& ......NO.

YES.....because of its general construction......NO because improper design can lead to many failures and because of that you are not using it for real applications where it is more beneficial.

These mixers can be utilized for various purposes e.g. For slow Gas & Liquid Reactions where the BCT is very high & therefore, many benefits can be achieved by using SM for this type of slow reactions. Another example where we can use them effectively are homogeneous & quick mixing of liquid liquid systems.

In such cases, the benefits are many like BCT is reduced so the capacity can be enhanced from the same size of system OR the system volume can be reduced and hence the inherent safety is increased. The yields will be better due to complete or higher utilization of GAS, more uniform product due to lesser side product formation etc.

Can you think of any other good use of static mixers???

Now Let us classify SM in broad categories & how to estimate pressure drop.

1. LPD - Low pressure drop mixers for low viscosity applications.
2. ISG - Interfacial Surface Generator for high viscosity applications.

Now to estimate the pressure drop in a SM, following is the process.
First Assume the Mixer Diameter.

1. First Calculate the Reynold No as Nre = 6.31 w / mu D = 3161 Q sg / mu D


2. If Nre is < 500 the flow is laminar. Use either Fig.1 for LPD or Fig.3 for LLPD or Fig.5 for ISG mixers to estimate the pressure drop per element.









3. If Nre > 500 the flow is turbulent. The pressure drop per element is estimated from Fig.2 for LPD or Fig.4 for LLPD & Fig.6 for ISG mixers.









4. Multipy the pressure drop per element by the number of elements to obtain the estimated pressure drop through the mixer.


5. For turbulent flow, multiply the estimated pressure drop by the specific gravity and the correction factor K to obtain the actual pressure drop as below -
   
   K = 1.1 for mu upto 10 cp.
   K = 1.3 for mu from 10 to 100 cp.
   K = 1.5 for mu from 100 to 1000 cp.
   K = 1.6 for mu from 1000 to 5000 cp.



6. For laminar flow, the pressure drop is proportional to the viscosity. So for Figures 1, 3, & 5 which are based on a fluid having a viscosity of 10,000 cps, the actual pressure drop is calculated as follows
   
   Actual DP = Cal DP x Actual Viscosity / 10000


7. Now if calculated total pressure drop is more than allowable pressure drop use next higher diameter.

Some of the information & Graphs are from Staticmixers.com website.

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ISO - Standard or Business - 4

Continuing discussion on useless nature of ISO from previous post, the next one is on the actual spread of ISO business. This reflects how it can be utilized to earn quick money by many incompetent professionals just by using some jargons & those who are more vocal than others.

See my First Three Posts on ISO-1, ISO-2 & ISO-3

In fact, this is the best 'QUICK MONEY SCHEME' for everyone who are looking for some easy job, no actual output, only vocal & very good money for all collectively where the payee is also happy & reviever will always be happy in any case.

DO YOU AGREE.........

It is useful to suppliers to sell easily in the name of ISO systems. It is useful to so called (conformity assessment) professionals as they are very much essential in order to understand the code & implement it in the RIGHT way - hence so much employment is generated by ISO for those who can Interpret the code, it doesn't matter if they understand the technical process or value chain or not.

So purposefully the ISO code is written in such a manner that you can use the language as per your own interpretation and if you are more professional you hire some specialist & he will explain you the simple english in a complicated manner. (Without understanding your prcoesses, this is the beauty of the system that they don't need to understand your process).

And the purpose is to develop a community which can earn quickly & easily and in my personal opinion & view, this is the biggest & successful MLM system in the world. you earn & promote others to join as a consultant. Some may argue that they have a very good system of certification of consultants / experts & they are again regularly reviewed........So what......After all it is beneficial for them so they have to have some system in the eyes of customers, but no one failed.

So we can have any one as an ISO assessment specialist. The level of these specialist is such that they even do not know benchmarking - and anything told by operating person is accepted by them as a benchmark (Generally people start from worst achieved figures for continual improvement targets). Pitty???????? How can you be efficient & that's why I said this is not the fault of the system, it is implementation which is faulty. Error in the system is that it allows to take these side routes becasue of many reasons as listed one by one here and I will compile all of them at the end of this series, if possible for me because of time constraints.

These are only one or two points which I am raising through this Blog as & when they come to my mind. If I go in detail or anyone else (I would love to invite you to write your frank opinion on this issue as a guest writer) each point can become a single chapter covering its impact on entire value chain - May be in future I'll do that if time permits.

Learning -3 It is beneficial to many becasue it is made so. It should be taken as a system not as a saleable product & if MLM is stopped, it may be more useful.

Disclaimer - This is a series of my personal views on ISO systems, its implementation, Effectiveness etc. They do not carry any legal issue related to my personal views under the human right of "Freedom of Speech".

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Process Intensification - 1

Process Intensification is basically a miniaturisation of process equipments and is a revolutionary approach to process and plant design & is not very old concept, hardly a decade old.

The concept was originally pioneered in the 1970s by Colin Ramshaw and his co-workers at ICI, where PI was defined as a 'reduction in plant size by at least a factor 100'. PI is about providing a chemical process with the precise environment required which results in better products, and processes which are safer, cleaner, smaller - and cheaper.

PI (as practised at BHR Group) is a business driven approach - the focus is always on what business benefits are targeted and might be achieved.

Features of PI Solutions

Move from batch to continuous processing.

Use of intensive reactor technologies with high mixing and heat transfer rates (e.g. FlexReactor, HEX Reactors) in place of conventional stirred tanks.

Multidisciplinary approach, which considers opportunities to improve the process technology and underlying chemistry at the same time.

'Plug and play' process technology to provide flexibility in a multiproduct environment

Established PI Benefits

capital cost reduced by 60%.

90% reduction in impurity levels resulting in significantly more valuable product.

70% plus reduction in energy usage and hence substantial reduction in operating cost.

90% yield first time out - better than fully optimised batch process.

99% reduction in reactor volume for a potentially hazardous process, leading to inherently safe operation.

In simple words process intensification is the development of novel equipments and techniques, as compared to the present state-of-art, to bring dramatic improvements in manufacturing and processing, substantially decreasing equipment size/production-capacity ratio, energy consumption, or waste production.

Perhaps a simpler definition could be; any chemical engineering development that leads to a substantially smaller, cleaner, and more energy-efficient technology is process intensification but the development of new catalysts is not part of PI.

Image from University of Twente

It should be noted that many of the equipments are of type never known before but there are quite few equipments which have been available to the chemical engineer but their potential was never fully exploited. Examples are compact heat exchangers, static mixers, etc.

Examples of new developments are the HIGEE column, spinning disc reactor, oscillating flow reactor, loop reactors, spinning tube in tube reactor, Heat exchange reactor, supersonic gas liquid reactor, static mixing catalysts, microchannel reactors, microchannel heat exchangers, etc.

Process intensification involves the development of new compact devices and techniques that will lead to substantial improvements in the production processes, reductions in the size of production equipment, lower investment costs, lower energy use and waste production, and finally to more sustainable technologies.

So in short, Process Intensification is basically increasing the output by reducing equipment size & the associated benefits are the reduced energy consumption, lesser impurity formation, more selectivity & hence more yield, lesser waste, reduced hazards due to handling smaller volumes etc.

In my next post I will try to cover few equipments one by one in more detail.

Some part of this article is from BHR site

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ISO - Standard or Business - 3

Sorry friends, was away for quite some time due to my busy schedule & now I am partially back. Partially back becasue still busy but now trying to put some time as I got few ideas to share with. So going ahead from the last post ont he topic........

Now further claims from ISO:
"ISO standards contribute to making the development, manufacturing and supply of products and services more efficient, safer and cleaner."

Another example of escaping scope is - many companies cover only few manufacturing activities mainly technical part of it. They do not want to include other processes as TPM system specify for example, purchase, employee welfare, HRD, P&A, Accounts are seldomly involved in the implementation. Do you think, it is correct in total spirit of implementing a world class standard? Do you think it would be efficient without involving total value chain?

NO.........

your processes & hence quality can never be at world class level if your total supply chain or value chain is not involved in the combined process. Example: if you leave out your purchase to non-standard or substandard quality how can you call it of world class standard & safer? Then re-working on it, so how it can be efficient also?

Here is one more quote from ISO which itself says that in the entire system there is no mention about employees - "The International Standards which ISO develops are very useful. They are useful to industrial and business organizations of all types, to governments and other regulatory bodies, to trade officials, to conformity assessment professionals, to suppliers and customers of products and services in both public and private sectors, and, ultimately, to people in general in their roles as consumers and end users".

So contribution of ISO towards making not only manufacturing & supply of products but services also efficient & better is totally an imaginary thing & is beyond somebody’s brain to believe on such statements & claims. Tell me is it possible to have better services if one of your main or supportive function is not covered under ISO. But you can’t show me any single company where all the functions or sub processes have been covered.

I am totally puzzled when I think why is it permitted? Or why the provision is kept to permit such exclusions & then only answer I repeatedly get is that ISO is not meant for any systems – it is just to sell their own business / certificates - & again it’s a two way business for some American / European companies or whosoever sells it – HOW………ISO sells the certificate & to help them in selling these certificates, the companies demand you to be certified by ISO (because it is BETTER) & as a result the product / service from their competitor also become costlier. Therefore, ISO is not a certification now it’s a business organization which is running with the help of many companies.

Any standardization process can not be by choice that too for a so claimed world class standard. How can you think of a company manufacturing process be at world class while the person who is running it, is exploited or is not working under minimum working atmosphere guidelines for example – Companies normally ask employees for overtime during shutdown periods etc and long stay hours can extend up to 16 Hrs a day. Yes of course an off is also given or some double gap is allowed however, do you think if somebody stretches himself beyond 8 hrs that too in night shift can work safely. Can ISO justify this? It is my direct question to any of ISO consultants / experts – can they justify it? In the name of business needs we are exploiting them & no company would like to loose such opportunities and therefore, ISO permits such exclusions’ so that both are happy……Company is also happy having ISO & ISO is also happy after selling – else no one will buy it.

Learning -2 Without considering all aspects i.e. Man, Machine & Material, standard cannot be implemented in totality and it cannot be safer & efficient.

Disclaimer - This is a series of my personal views on ISO systems, its implementation, Effectiveness etc. They do not carry any legal issue related to my personal views under the human right of "Freedom of Speech".

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