14 entries
Featured article
Process Device or Safety Device? The Question We Never Ask About Check Valves
Is a check valve a process device or a safety device? A shared-helium reverse-flow incident shows why the distinction matters for valve selection, maintenance, and verification.
Excess Flow Valves in Practice: Swagelok, Parker, and Malema Compared
A practical comparison of Swagelok XS, Parker FS190, and Malema M-VF excess flow valves, including trip selection, reset behavior, installation, and verification.
Troubleshooting an Online GC Baseline Problem: A Real-World Case Study
A real-world case study of methodically isolating a recurring online GC baseline problem in a reactor system.
A Bypass Can Help Startup—and Defeat Control
A small bypass line around a control valve can make startup easier—but can also defeat the control strategy if left open.
Control Loop Performance Diagnostics
A practical starting point for separating tuning problems from instrument, valve, process, and measurement problems.
Don't Overlook Dead Legs in Sampling Systems
Don't overlook dead legs in sampling systems. They can create slow response and misleading analytical readings.
Alarm, Interlock or Trip?
A practical way to decide whether an abnormal condition needs operator awareness, automatic action, or a shutdown response.
What Happens When Gas Enters a Liquid Feed Pump?
Why small amounts of entrained gas can destabilize low-flow liquid feed systems and how to think about the problem.
Where to Place the Control Thermocouple on a Heat-Traced Reactor Line
How to choose a control thermocouple location by comparing component heating rates, temperature limits, and verification measurements.
Selecting Pumps for Low-Flow Reactor Feed Systems
A practical framework for choosing pumps when low flow, high discharge pressure, gas entrainment, and controllability matter more than nameplate flow rate.
Pressure Doesn't Disappear When the Pump Stops
One thing I look for immediately when reviewing a reactor feed system is what happens when the pump stops but reactor pressure remains.
Pressure-Decay Leak Testing a Reactor System: What Is an Acceptable Leak Rate?
A practical guide to pressure-decay leak testing, temperature correction, instrumentation, test boundaries, and a defensible acceptance criterion for lab reactor systems.
How to Size a Furnace for a Lab-Scale Reactor
A practical guide to selecting heated length, furnace zones, bore diameter, and power for continuous-flow lab reactors.
Why Regulator Outlet Pressure Can Rise as a Gas Cylinder Empties
Why a regulator's outlet pressure can drift upward as cylinder pressure falls, and how two-stage regulation reduces the effect.
No writing matches these filters. Try another topic or format.