Sunday, January 30, 2011

Chemicals information at ThomasNet

As a chemical engineer professional or students, we might come across a situation where we need more information on certain chemical or products, the suppliers etc. Sometimes, it is tough to obtain those information. However, recently, I found a site that is capable of providing us with quite a number of useful information on certain chemicals or compounds.

Thomasnet is an industrial search engine that provides one source for finding the exact product, service, or supplier –quickly and efficiently. ThomasNet provides direct access to the detailed information needed to make a purchasing or specifying decision, including line-item product details, CAD drawings, and more.Chemicals are produced through a combination of reactive elements, and can be found in solid, liquid, or gaseous states. The term “chemical” refers to a vast number of substances and processes that cannot be fully addressed in a single comprehensive manner, but by focusing on those in the pharmaceutical and industrial fields it is possible to derive some general information. In natural or artificial forms, these specific chemicals play a crucial role in the production of industrial components and medicines. Although chemicals are common in day-to-day life, proper care must also be taken when handling them, particularly those with the potential for harmful or volatile reactions.

Chemicals are integral to modern society, whether in medicine, industrial manufacturing, or the production of foods, glues, and plastic. Chemical substances can be broadly categorized as metal, non-metal, compound, element, and covalent types. Manufacturers have used the chemicals in these categories to not only create products, but also a wide range of specialized professions, such as engineers, scientist, and chemists.

Thomasnet.com one place to find out about everything related to chemicals and chemical related information. At thomasnet one can find for Chemical related articles, Chemicals suppliers, chemicals specifications and chemical product catalogs for any kind of Chemicals at Standard and Custom blended Chemicals. Thomasnet has recently posted new Need-to-Know guides for Chemicals related topics at http://www.thomasnet.com/articles/. There are more than 3500 suppliers listed on Thomasnet. Thomasnet also has a navigation bar where you can search for specific chemical related info, chemical related companies, chemical related news and white papers.

Photo credited to: http://www.greenplanet.com/we-are-what-we-eat-and-processed-food/

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Wednesday, December 22, 2010

I want FREE sustainable ENERGY... Can you give me?

No matter where we are or we work, either in an office, refinery plant or any building, we need it. What is it that is so important to us and our work? The second most important utility after water is for me the electricity.

I still remember the chaos in my plant when suddenly my plant which was operating smoothly suddenly black out. Yeah…the power supply from the power station and also the power grid was disrupted. The supervisor, shift leader and operators rushed to switch of the pumps and close valves in our 8 storey refinery. It’s not easy to handle a sudden power failure such as that for a huge plant. Imagine the lost resulted from the power failure. It’s tremendously huge. Then the funny thing is after 5 minutes, the power resumed. It’s not a joke!!! Although the power failure took 5 minutes, but it took more than 8 hours to stabilize the plant and get the product within specification.

So, who is responsible for such lost? Who will bear the cost?

If I’m running a business, company or factory, I’ll have to swallow the lost which is not even my fault. But that is the reality. What can we do?

If we install a generator or uninterrupted power supply (UPS) system, it can’t cope with the huge power demand of the plant. There is need to outsource for an energy that can back up the present power supply.

For a smaller scale, let say a house, a short power failure would not be such a hassle. The worse you can experience is a total darkness if it happen at night and the hot atmosphere you will face because you cannot switch on your fan or aircond. Or you will be attack by mosquito because you cannot switch on the mosquito repellent.

For several years I have thought of learning about alternative energy to replace the costly electricity and also the fuel to run my cars. Recently I have purchased several information product about solar installation – DIY at home. I have also thought of using the waste cooking oil from my kitchen to prepare biodiesel. However, I’ve not done both yet. I am compressed with tones of work around me from all angle… haha….

The funny thing is, 3 or 4 days after I purchase the ebook on making my own solar at home, I stumbled upon the idea of retrieving free energy from the air. The energy is actually obtained from the invisible wavelength that is abundantly available around us.

I make a swift research to investigate the potential of this free energy. I found out that the free energy systems can provide electricity from energy sources around us. Once we install the free energy devices, interestingly, we won’t have to pay monthly electricity bills ever again! This has triggered me to explore this energy a little bit further.

Free energy products work on different principles, developed by free energy specialists all over the world. Out of a wide variety of techniques, some free energy methods have been found to be more effective and dependable. One of these techniques involve the generation of electricity from TV and radio waves around us. Another involves the production of electricity from electrostatic charges in the atmosphere. Yet another method focuses on the conversion of radiant energy ever present in the atmosphere to electrical energy.

Whatever the technique used, free energy systems are reliable and easy to set up. The installation process is so simple that you can easily do it yourself, without the help of any professional electrician. To set up a free energy system for your home, you would need a few auxiliary devices such as a charge controller, a battery, and an inverter. You could also use a system meter between the battery and the inverter, to determine how much electric charge is left in the battery.

The free energy device is connected to a charge controller for regulation of electric charge from the device. The charge controller is then connected to a battery for storage of energy produced by the free energy system. Batteries tend to work better in warm temperatures, so it might be a good idea to encase the battery in a battery box. The battery box also helps you keep things clean and organised.

The battery, with or without the battery box, is then connected to an inverter. Once done, the output of the inverter can be connected to the mains of your house. That is all the set up required for a free energy device. Once done, you can say good bye, and happily too, to your electricity bills!

If you are interested to learn more about this free energy and the person who develop it 100 years ago, you can download a 25 page FREE ENERGY report. You need to fill up your name and email address and the report will be delivered to you straight away. This report will provide an overview of the energy or preliminary information on understanding the concept.

First Name:
Email address:
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Monday, December 13, 2010

10 Essential Components For a Safer Working Environment

No matter where you are or work, safety is crucially an important issue that cannot be ignored. I have experienced a number of accidents throughout my years as an engineer and that's why I must emphasize this seriously. Luckily the accidents I was involved in were not fatal. On top of my personal accidents, I also witness some fatal accidents and also near death incidents.

That is why every time before commencing a job/project or event a shift, it is important to conduct safety briefing. It doesn't matter if it is a short meeting or a casual one (normally in between shift in a plant). For huge project, a more intense meeting / documentation such as Job Safety Analysis (JSA), Method of Statement (MOS) plus filling up permit to work (PTW) and hot work /cold work permit is imperative. As an engineer, it is our duty to ensure the safety of the entire project or area under our responsibility. Safety involves our manpower, equipment and so on.

So, what and how do we create a safety working environment? To answer that question, I consulted with Mr. Mitchell, an experienced guy who specializes in workplace behavioral change through performance management.

According to him, a safe working environment is a condition or state, it is not necessarily an event like an incident of an accident. This means that the low number of incidents or accidents doesn't mean that the workplace is particularly safe. What really counts is the process of safety because it is an integral part of every day activities in the workplace. There are a number of activities which are clear indicators of a safe working environment and this article lists 10 of them.

  1. Daily safety briefings. Every morning at the beginning of the work day or the shift, the leader holds an interactive safety briefing with his or her team. It lasts less than 10 minutes and has contributions from the team members.
  2. Weekly inspections to identify unsafe conditions. Every staff member participates in turn and conducts a regular safety inspection where they look for hazards and unsafe conditions. This can occur weekly or twice a week.
  3. Weekly inspections to identify unsafe behavior. Each week two staff members carry out a regular inspection where they are identifying unsafe behavior. The objective is to identify the unsafe behavior and mention it at the next daily safety briefing. Of course no names are mentioned.
  4. Accident and incident investigation. Every accident or near accident is investigated with the sole objective of prevention in the future. The process of investigation is not a witch hunt to apportion blame
  5. Constant improvement. During the daily safety briefings, the group members have an opportunity to recommend and discuss improvements to the workplace and the processes that are carried out within it
  6. Reporting near hits. Every single near hit (this is an incident where no damage or injury occurs) is investigated and prevention measures are put in place so it will not happen again.
  7. Positive reinforcement. Each day the leader goes into the workplace and gives positive reinforcement to those members of staff for working safely. This encouragement and enthusiasm for safety is a great motivator for safe working practices.
  8. Blame. It is noticeable that all safe working environments do not use blame or punishment as tools for creating safe behavior. Instead, they use positive reinforcement, encouragement and recognition.
  9. Practical on-the-job training. Group members are continually receiving on-the-job training from experts within the company and outside.
  10. Effective leadership. Is no coincidence that all safe workplace environments have good leadership. This means that the leader is prepared to listen and has the skills to create followers. These leaders engender cooperation and most of all discretionary effort. They are the main reason why people are working safely. They are not invisible and spend between 30 and 50% of their time with their team members.

For much more information on this and related subjects, you are welcome to visit the http://plmitchell.com/.

Bottom line, in what ever you do no matter during work or out of work, think about safety. Think about those love ones who are waiting for you at home... :)

For further reading on this Safety Working Environment topic, I highly recommend you to get this article: Support OSHA Compliance and Create a Safer Work Environment.

Find out how automating workforce management policies help to improve workplace safety and allows you to meet documentation requirements for OSHA compliance. With workforce management solutions, energy companies can create a safer work environment and maintain compliance. Download this brief to learn more about how you can put safety first while complying with OSHA.

Get the FREE article HERE.


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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Chemical Engineering Chat Via Facebook

Today, while working in my lab, a reader of my blog (Chemical Engineering World) or maybe Facebook Chemical Engineer Rocks Group, approached and chatted with me. Let's identify him as OKN. He is currently a final year chemical engineering student and is planning his future. I have not able to ask him further but I think he is from the African continent.

OKN, you know who you are. I hope you are all right that I share our informative chat here for the sake of other chemical engineering students. I have edited/improved some of the sentences to make it clearer for you to read. Check it out...

OKN - 5:26pm: Good morning. How are you?

Zaki - 5:26pm: Hi, fine thanks

OKN - 5:26pm: Cool

Zaki - 5:27pm: :)

OKN - 5:27pm: What are you working on right now

Zaki - 5:27pm: I'm testing my new temperature controller. Looks like it works fine... ;)

OKN - 5:28pm: Nice work. On what field do u specifically base on?

Zaki - 5:28pm: Catalysis and reaction engineering. Trying to convert glycerol to some useful product.

OKN - 5:30pm: I am a chemical engineer but still in school my final year.

Zaki - 5:31pm: Oh! That's cool. Good luck to you.

OKN - 5:31pm: What advise do u have for me on my futher studies?

Zaki - 5:37pm: Choose which field you are interested in. Get a good supervisor whom have lots of research grant/money. Explore the area of renewable energy.

OKN - 5:38pm: But u can serve as my supervisor...since we study related course

Zaki - 5:39pm: Hmmm... I'm still doing my Ph.D. Maybe later, after I complete my Ph.D I can be your supervisor. Hahaha...

OKN - 5:40pm: U really inspire me a lot....u start now cos i really appreciate the little u have

Zaki - 5:40pm: Oh... Thanks... But what do mean by start now?

OKN - 5:41pm: While still doing ur phd. I am seriously confuse of my field.

Zaki - 5:42pm: O ok. So, what is your interest?

OKN - 5:42pm: I am seeing it as if i have waisted my time studying chemical eng.

Zaki - 5:42pm: Oh no. You are doing great. You just need somebody to help and guide you show the way...

OKN - 5:43pm: I am tinking of going into oil sector but i think i nid advise from someone to put me back in my field cos i rily want to be self dependent.

Zaki - 5:44pm: Oil and gas is lucrative sector. If you can be an expert in certain areas in the oil and gas, that's fantastic. Work with somebody, and then after few years, build your own company.

OKN - 5:46pm: But i have no much knowledge about dat sector,if u can help me i will appreciate

Zaki - 5:46pm: Oh... maybe you can be an expert in specialty chemical for offshore oil and gas application. Since you are a chemical engineer, that suits quite well. Try and google what is specialty chemical.

OKN - 5:47pm: It's ok. I will do dat.

Zaki - 5:48pm: You can also try to cover some other areas such as safety and health, as well as maintenance, or process engineering for oil and gas application or corrosion aspect or NDT.

OKN - 5:54pm: What suggestion of field of chemical eng. Do have for me to study for my masters degree.

Zaki - 5:54pm: OK ... another interesting and lucrative area is safety, health and environmental
If you focus on some specific areas under environmental...that will be good as well. People expert in environmentals make lots of money.

OKN - 5:58pm: So u mean i shud study environmental as a course.

Zaki: 5:58pm: Yep... Maybe you can also study some specific areas under environmental...such as Water, Air, Safety etc. Once you be an expert, example: Water expert, those who are concern with water impact, environmental will seek for your advise etc. Maybe they want to analyze water river etc.

OKN: 6:01pm: In drilling, guess i will be of more relevance.....how?

7:48pm: Yes. Drilling is relevant to you too. However, you need to learn more about it
that will be pretty much covered in Petroleum Engineering.

The chat ended because suddenly I have something coming up. I hope OKN got something from the short chat. Cheers...
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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Ethanol Production Industry

Do you know who is the largest ethanol producer in the world? America? Some country in Europe? South Africa? It actually depends on the geographical area that you are speaking about. Let's check out who they are...

Largest ethanol producer in the world

Brazil is currently the world's leader in ethanol production. Because of government subsidies, large sugarcane crops, and high sales taxes on gasoline, Brazil has built a profitable national ethanol industry. Sugarcane is grown in the country as the climate presents perfect conditions for its cultivation and production. It converts very easily to ethanol, and provides Brazil with huge supplies of ethanol.

Largest producer of ethanol in the U.S.

The largest producer of ethanol in the U.S. is a company that many of us have probably never heard of. The company is Archer Daniels Midland. ADM is a company that is an agricultural giant in the United States, and has decades of experience. They have a vast network of railcars, trucks, storage facilities, and barges that are capable of delivering high-grade ethanol.

Hmmm... there are actually more to discuss and more to share about the Ethanol Producers. It's tough to share all those technical, economical and other related information about ethanol producers in a short blog post like this. To have a clearer and precise information sharing on ethanol business, I would like to recommend Ethanol Producer magazine.

The magazine is known throughout the ethanol industry for its authoritative plant construction lists, compelling profiles and engaging features on production, research, science, technology, equipment, environmental and safety compliance, marketing, policy and industry events. Most importantly it is free... Yep..no cost at all. However, I'm sorry to say only those in US, Canada and Mexico is eligible to request for it.

To get the Ethanol Producer magazine, click here.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Four Basic Engineering Related Trainings in October

October was a really hectic month for me. Not only that I'm hooked up with my research studies but also I attended four (4) Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) trainings. 3 of the trainings were categorized as mandatory training which I have to attend as demanded by Boards of Engineers Malaysia (BEM). It is definitely not an easy route or task to be a professional engineer in Malaysia, but that is a challenge all engineers in this country should dare to take. For the first 3 training mentioned below, I have to travel to Petaling Jaya in Klang Valley and stay a night there on each occasion. The 4th training was just in my vicinity, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai.

Followings are the trainings that I have recently attended in the month of October.

1. Engineering Code of Ethics (12 CPD hours) 4 & 5 October, IEM Building, PJ.

2. Engineering Management Practice (12 CPD hours) 19 & 20 October, , IEM Building, PJ.

3. Safety and Health at Work (12 CPD hours) 25 & 26 October, IEM Building, PJ.

4. Engineering Failure Analysis (7 CPD hours) 23 October, Faculty of Mechanical, UTM.

All of the trainings mentioned above have certain fees to be paid and that is part of the commitment to be and maintain ourselves as a professional engineer.

During the Engineering Failure Analysis training, on the tea break, I have a chat with Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ir. Shuhaimi (who also is a committee member for the IEM Southern Branch) from Mechanical Engineering Faculty, UTM. He told me that an engineer chatted with him about him spending more than RM4000 already that year just to attend trainings to maintain his CPD hours and maintain his title as a professional engineer. The cost includes training fees, fees, food, accommodation etc.

Basically, this message shows that to maintain professional engineer status it requires certain amount of cash. It is very good that engineers attend training to strengthen and enhance their knowledge. It is also good that as engineers, we can learn other disciplines, information, field of engineering. On top of that, we can mingle around and do networking with other engineers.

I personally agree with the fact that all professional engineers need to attend trainings and courses, technical visits and tours. I can say this because I have personally experience it and felt the benefit. I am exposed to more engineering and industrial information besides learning some of it from Discovery channel!!!

I also managed to be friends with several dozens of engineers from various disciplines, background and industries when I attended those trainings. I have more contacts and I strongly believe that is beneficial for me. It is good for me to have new civil, electrical, mechanical and chemical engineer friends. Off course, we exchanged our name cards and other contact details.

Interestingly, with reference to the mandatory courses that I attended, I discovered that there were those of the age of 36 to 48 attending the course. These people, despite of their age, still have the desire to get an engineering degree (which obviously they earned it) and pursue their own quest to be professional engineer. I have full respect of them... These people still have the will power and desire to get themselves chartered and recognizable.

So, regardless of your age, get yourself chartered or have the professional engineer status if you still don't have it. If you are still young (just recently graduated), go for it. Get the right information, get yourself registered and follow all the necessary training program. Don't delay and hesitate. Time will not wait.

If you want to learn more about IEM, click here.
If you want to learn more on the trainings and courses organized by IEM, click here.
If you want to learn more about IEM Southern Branch, click here.
If you want to learn more about BEM, click here.


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Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Bioenergy - Renewable Energy

Energy obtained from Biological Organisms Bioenergy springs from biological sources like wood, waste, and alcohol fuels. In a narrow way it's a synonym to biofuel; the fuel obtained from biological sources. In its wider sense it includes biomass which is the biological material used as a biofuel. This is a typical myth among masses, as bioenergy is the energy removed from the biomass, as the biomass is the fuel and the bioenergy is the energy contained in the fuel. Burning wood for heat is an excellent example of Bioenergy.

In more involved terms, bioenergy can be created by utilizing genetically changed bacteria to create cellulose ethanol. Though oil and coal are made of organic matter, they aren't thought to be bioenergy as they weren't living lately. Bioenergy utilized in real-world circumstances Liquid Bioenergy; Bioethanol and Biodiesel, may be used to replace existing petrol and diesel, with small changes to the engine.

Some major car producers already support this technology and it's getting more widespread. Sugar cane, beet and maize are generally utilized to supply fuel. Biodiesel comes from eatable plant oils. Waste cooking oil can create biodiesel. Biogas is produced from methane and CO2, and is produced from biomass, for example fertilizer, sludge, sewage, feedstock, and other biodegradable waste.Bioenergy is been thought of as a potential appropriate alternative for fossil fuels in some applications, although the technology available is not actually acceptable yet.

Bioenergy is good for using in locations where there aren't much access to fuel import.

Plants can be grown in particular be utilised an as fuel, and can be grown exactly where they're required, which seriously decreases the monetary and environmental costs and the safety risks linked with transporting and storing fuel. Advantages and downsides of bioenergy though by burning or conversion of biomass the pollution of atmosphere aren't totally reduce.

Nonetheless it have some major benefits.In many regions, biomass is more unvarying than solar or wind power. This is as, the wind and solar energy are done by made technology, while the energy in plants is caught and stored. An additional advantage is that bioenergy is produced by organic waste material which helps to save the environmental and commercial costs of their disposal.

Maybe the most significant benefit of bioenergy is it is a doubtless replenish-able natural resource that would help supply energy wants indefinitely. But there are some disadvantages to using bioenergy. Biomass has tiny energy content for bulk use than carbon-based fuels. Therefore the expenses of labor, transport, and storage are relatively higher. Maybe the major difficulty with bioenergy is with recycling. Folk won't demand bioenergy till there's a big cost saving in doing hence but there may not be much savings till there's a much bigger requirement for bioenergy, or the non-renewable sources become seriously costlier.

For more information please visite: http://www.dpfnd.org/

Image credited to livingenergy.co.nz/technical/2/what-is-bioenergy.aspx

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Have you downloaded my free "Choosing Alternative Fuel" Ebook? If not, then please download it here. It's Free and on top of getting the free ebook, you'll get eCourse on Alternative Fuel. It's a good and easy way to add more valuable information to yourself.