In oil/gas production, refining and storage operations around the globe, flare gas systems are used to burn-off and dispose of waste, excess or off-gases, and as a safety system. The accurate, responsive and reliable measurement of flare gas is essential in order to assure proper operation of the flare gas system, which protects people and equipment from potentially hazardous combustible gas to maintain a safe working environment and to avoid environmental contamination.

To date, the bulk of analysis on the U.S. fracking industry has largely centered on well counts and oil and gas production.

A long-standing staple — water — is rapidly becoming a major issue for companies, not merely as a risk or line item expense, but for the potential it has to significantly impact shareholder value.  

Produced water (PW) is salty water trapped in the reservoir rock and brought up along with oil or gas during production. It subsists under high pressures and temperatures, and usually contains hydrocarbons and metals. Therefore, it must be treated before being discharged to surface water. Different techniques are being used to treat PW through phase separations, system control and design, and chemical treatments. In this paper, we discuss our experimental results on treating PW through electrocoagulation (EC).

The fuels that propel modern society have been found in water supplies all over the world. Some fuel-related contaminants can be found at a majority of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) National Priority List Sites, where they pose a potential threat to human and environmental health.

This is the second in a series of articles and case studies examining the emergence of sustainably-driven innovation within the wastewater treatment functions of the food and beverage industry as sustainability and production issues intersect and influence how companies manage their wastewater.

When a major pork producer sought cost-effective pumping solutions to one of its Kansas facility's wastewater systems, the search led to the installation of a Smith & Loveless above-grade pump station.

Civil engineering doctoral student George William Kajjumba on his journey from Uganda, diversity in STEM, and what it means to represent UNLV at national and global events.

One of the United States’ newest dairy processing plants features advanced wastewater treatment technology that not only radically improves biomass recovery and effluent quality, but also harnesses green energy from waste streams to drive production processes and reduce its carbon footprint.

The versatile, green-friendly ST75 air/gas flow meter from Fluid Components International (FCI) accurately and reliably measures natural gas, carbon dioxide (CO2), and mixed waste gases in small line sizes to optimize brewing fermentation processes, product quality, and overall plant efficiency.

Reverse osmosis (RO) systems offer power plant owners and operators a reliable and well-proven water treatment solution. However, designing and caring for an RO system requires a thorough understanding of a plant’s water supply and the technology’s capabilities. Part one of this series will review the importance of water samples and pilot studies as plant engineers begin to design an RO system to match their needs.

The power sector looks to zero liquid discharge and taps municipal reclaimed water as a water reuse strategy.

Power plants and refineries around the world must manage and treat complex effluent waste streams from the Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD) process. Flue gas is generated by the combustion process of fossil and fossil-derived fuels, such as coal, oils, and natural gas in power plants. Petrochemical refineries may generate flue gas from a number of different processes, including Catalytic Cracking, Steam Methane Reforming, and Heaters or Furnaces.

It’s no secret that Texas is currently in the midst of a multi-year drought – yet the vast majority of our electricity comes from sources that contribute to this prolonged drought, namely coal, nuclear, and natural gas. All of these energy sources require copious amounts of water to produce electricity.

Wastewater treatment facilities have a tremendous opportunity to utilize the biogas they generate to lower energy costs and minimize odors. However, the practice isn’t as widespread as it could be, as the precision gas flow and methane content readings required to optimize the process often clash with the misconception that biogas is messy and difficult to measure reliably. With the proper equipment, it is possible to accurately measure biogas to cut emissions and reduce or eliminate the energy bill.

Choosing the right dosing pump requires collaboration across engineering, operations, and procurement. Prioritizing total cost of ownership over price leads to better mining performance and ROI.

This one's not on you, plant operators. Rather than a charge for utilities to aim higher in performance, the latest regulation to impact water treatment operations, as well as others, falls on equipment manufacturers — those who make pumps.

This is the second in a series of articles and case studies examining the emergence of sustainably-driven innovation within the wastewater treatment functions of the food and beverage industry as sustainability and production issues intersect and influence how companies manage their wastewater.

Steel Fire Equipment in Ontario, Canada needed help with their polymer production. The plant produces polymer for fire extinguishers. The pneumatic production system processes chemicals that often clump and sometimes even form into stone. They needed a crusher that could break up these chunks or the material would not flow through the system and the entire process would come to a halt. Steel Fire also needed the machine to be able to handle their production rate of 3000 – 4000 pounds of material a day and be powerful enough to break up very hard chunks.

The Franklin Miller DIMMINUTOR was selected for the state-of-the-art sewage system infrastructure project built to accommodate the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. After an intensive construction project, multiple Model DM36XF DIMMINUTOR® open channel comminutors were employed throughout the new sewage system. Each unit has the capability of 29 million gallons of raw sewage per day.

A manufacturer of railcar bearings, wheels, and axles needed a wastewater system upgrade to treat for oil, grease, suspended solids, and dissolved metals in a mix of process water and storm water runoff. The existing wastewater treatment system in place at the facility consisted of a small equalization tank, traditional clarifier and sand filter. 

When we think of pumps, we seem to focus on what material is being pumped, how fast, how efficient and overall reliability. However, what we tend to not think about as much are the little heroes inside the pump that are making it all go around, no pun intended.

Ventura County, California, is an agricultural powerhouse. In 2017, its revenues from agriculture were an estimated $2.1 billion. It also faces extraordinary population pressure, with nearly 450 people per square mile — about five times the average population density of the United States. Both agriculture and infrastructure are dependent on, and impacted by, the availability of water — which has itself been impacted by California’s rapidly-diminishing groundwater reserves.

Sought after in a variety of market sectors for their performance and utility, industrial vacuum evaporation systems are in the midst of a surge. For the unacquainted, this primer explains the reasons why.