Useful Tips to Save Your Petrol
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Following are some useful tips to consider when you are filling up your petrol tank. I did not make up this. A friend forwarded me an email I thought it is worth sharing. According to the email, someone who has been in petroleum pipeline business for about 31 years and is currently working for the Kinder-Morgan Pipeline in San Jose, CA wrote the following information:
We deliver about 4 million gallons in a 24-hour period from the pipe line; one day it's diesel, the next day it's jet fuel and gasoline. We have 34 storage tanks here with a total capacity of 16,800,000 gallons. Here are some tricks to help you get your money's worth.
1. Fill up your car or truck in the morning when the temperature is still cool. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground; and the colder the ground, the denser the gasoline. When it gets warmer gasoline expands, so if you're filling up in the afternoon or in the evening, what should be a gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and temperature of the fuel (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products) are significant. Every truckload that we load is temperature-compensated so that the indicated gallonage is actually the amount pumped. A one-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for businesses, but service stations don't have temperature compensation at their pumps.
2. If a tanker truck is filling the station's tank at the time you want to buy gas, do not fill up; most likely dirt and sludge in the tank is being stirred up when gas is being delivered, and you might be transferring that dirt from the bottom of their tank into your car's tank.
3. Fill up when your gas tank is half-full (or half-empty), because the more gas you have in your tank the less air there is and gasoline evaporates rapidly, especially when it's warm. (Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating 'roof' membrane to act as a barrier between the gas and the atmosphere, thereby minimizing evaporation.)
4. If you look at the trigger you'll see that it has three delivery settings: slow, medium and high. When you're filling up do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to the high setting. You should be pumping at the slow setting, thereby minimizing vapors created while you are pumping. Hoses at the pump are corrugated; the corrugations act as a return path for vapor recovery from gas that already has been metered. If you are pumping at the high setting, the agitated gasoline contains more vapor, which is being sucked back into the underground tank, so you're getting less gas for your money.
Hope this will help ease your 'pain at the pump'!
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
Labels: Learning Curve, News, Oil and Gas
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 5:41 AM,
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Chemical/Process Engineering Personality: JoeWong
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Hi, I'm back after a very busy and tight schedule. I would like to introduce a new category which is Chemical/Process Engineering Personality. In this section, I will conduct an e-interview with real practicing and successful chemical/process engineer. I hope from this section we can learn, understand and share various fields associated to chemical/process engineering.
For the first personality in this section, he preferred to be known as JoeWong. I have known him a few months back from the virtual world and since then we've been online buddies. Besides a career as a process engineer for more than 13 years, he also maintains his blog Chemical and Process Technology. I found his blog very informative and I personally learned a lot from it. If you want to contact him, you're welcome to visit his site and leave a comment. He'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Chemical/Process Engineering Personality: JoeWong
1. Name: JoeWong
2. Degree/University: Chemical & Process Engineering
3. Professional membership: Member of IEM & AICHE, PE
6. Description(s) of current job: Conduct process design and engineering for new/revamp/ debottleneck plant.
8. What do you enjoy most about your job:
10. What subject(s) is/are related to your job:
11. What is your most challenging moment ever happened at work:13. What is your career plan in the future?
14. What are the required skills in your opinion for an engineer to sustain and become successful in his career?
16. Life philosophy or principal?
Instead of reading, why not share your writing of chemical engineering knowledge and experiences here, in Chemical Engineering World blog? It will be interesting. It doesn't matter if you are still a chemical engineering students or you just work as an engineer or you are a very experience engineer. Sharing your story would be great. I am also still learning and would like to learn something from you. Just email me to share something in this blog. You can share stories, articles, photos, infographics, podcast, videos etc.
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Jobs, Learning Curve, Personality
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 5:04 PM,
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Disappointing New Plate Heat Exchanger
Monday, September 17, 2007
We have waited for the new heat exchanger for more than 6 months. It safely arrived last month. We managed to installed the heat exchanger and connect the pipeline. Thanks to the hard work by the maintenance fitters. The insulation work for the pipeline is in progress. That is important to avoid heat and energy lost. Everybody was eager to use the new heat exchanger. We installed pressure gauges, pressure transmitters, RTDs and temperature gauges along the new line. We fixed ball valves and bellow seal globe valves. We performed air test. Everything seems good and promising. We finally used the heat exchanger few days ago. Unfortunately it leaks and we have to stop it. We tightened the plate heat exchanger. Run it again, but it still leaks. We stop it and retightened it again, and run the heat exchanger. It still leaks. It leaked at the end of the plate next to the frame. We suspected the end plate is leaking and it don't look good. Maybe the gasket is glued unevenly to the plate surface. We were so furious because a new plate heat exchanger that just arrived from Germany is leaking. Is this a manufacturing defect? Lets see what's going to happen tomorrow.
Labels: Equipments, Heat Exchanger, Problem
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 10:53 PM,
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Compressed Natural Gas Animation
Saturday, September 15, 2007
This interesting and excellent video presents a graduation project. I'm not sure which university the students are from, but from the video we know they are Mechanical Engineering students. According to the video description, this project handles the transportation of Natural gas from Sidi krir, Egypt to Vasilikos, Cyprus, utilizing modern technology of compressing the gas "CNG". The project discusses the new concept of using Compressed Natural Gas technology, which lets the gas under the conditions of 250 bars, 25 deg C, and to be shipped to Cyprus by a normal-modified container ship. The Video is created by 3D Max by Ahmed Fathy and Yasser Fathy. For more info contact: yaser.fathy@yahoo.com
Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) is a substitute for gasoline (petrol) or diesel fuel. It is considered to be an environmentally "clean" alternative to those fuels. It is made by compressing natural gas (which is mainly composed by methane (CH4), in a percantage range of 70% to 98%). It is stored and distributed in hard containers, at a normal pressure of 200/220 bars, usually in cylindric of spherical shapes to maintain equal pressure on the walls of the containers.
CNG is cheaper as fuel for our car compared to petrol/gasoline. I wonder when will I use CNG for my car? The biggest obstacles are the cost to install a CNG engine and the lack of petrol station supplying CNG in this country. I hope and pray the cost of CNG engine and its installation can be cheaper as well as to see more petrol station supplying CNG.
Read related articles about CNG:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas
http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/altfuel/natural_gas.html
http://www.altfuels.org/backgrnd/altftype/cng.html
http://www.consumerenergycenter.org/transportation/afvs/cng.html
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
Labels: Animation, Learning Curve, Oil and Gas
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 1:16 AM,
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What is P&ID?
Friday, September 14, 2007
As engineers/engineering students, we always heard about P&ID. But what is actually P&ID? Well, for the benefit those of you who are not sure on this, P&ID is piping and instrumentation diagram/drawing (P&ID). It is defined by the Institute of Instrumentation and Control as follows:
-A diagram which shows the interconnection of process equipment and the instrumentation used to control the process. In the process industry, a standard set of symbols is used to prepare drawings of processes. The instrument symbols used in these drawings are generally based on Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society (ISA) Standard S5. 1.
-The primary schematic drawing used for laying out a process control installation.
For processing facilities, it is a pictorial representation of
- key piping and instrument details
- control and shutdown schemes
- safety and regulatory requirements
- basic start up and operational information
- Piping and instrumentation diagram - a schematical diagram showing piping, equipment and instrumentation connections within process units in oil refineries, petrochemical and chemical plants, natural gas processing plants, power plants, water treatment and similar plants.
- Process and instrumentation diagram - a family of functional one-line diagrams showing hull, mechanical and electrical (HM&E) systems like piping, and cable block diagrams.
A P & ID is a full diagrammatic representation of a process plant. Each piece of equipment is shown along with its connectivity to other equipment. It may be regarded as an enhanced process flow diagram which shows, in addition to the process itself, details such as control and instrumentation equipment, pump and pipe sizes etc. Each instrument / piece of equipment is shown by a symbol denoting its type (pump, sensor, valve etc.) and a unique identification number or tag for differentiation from others.
Information outsourced from wikipedia.orgLabels: Chemical Engineering, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 12:53 AM,
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BioChemical Engineering Post Graduate Offer
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
After the Global Warming Challenges workshop in NACES 2007 last weekend, we (my wife and I) met up with an old colleague whom is currently attached with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). We were friends since our A-levels and first year university foundation in Malaysia. He pursued his degree in Leeds University while me and my wife studied in Bradford University. Later he continued his Master in University College London (UCL) and Ph.D in Imperial College (IC), London.
We had a really good chat and catching up. The last time we met was in the year 2000 in Johor Bahru. That time, I have not yet married. That night, after 7 years, he met up with my three highly energetic kids.
He is actually looking for post graduate student to work with him in the field of Biochemical Engineering. If anyone of you are interested in continuing your studies especially in the field mentioned above, please feel free to contact him. The informations are as shown below:
Application is open to all students who are finishing their under-graduate courses from local or overseas universities especially in the field of:
•Chemical/Biochemical Engineering
•Biotechnology
•Industrial Technology
•Other related engineering background
OR to those who have vast experience in any of the above fields,able to work independently, very good in English writing and have an interest to further their knowledge in the field of Biochemical Engineering, particularly in;
•biocatalysis
•biotransformation
•bioreactor design
•fundamental theory of diffusion inbacterial cells.
You are welcome to submit your complete CV to:
Dr. Mohamad Hekarl Uzir
School of Chemical Engineering
Engineering Campus
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Seri Ampangan14300
Nibong Tebal
Penang
MALAYSIA.
Email: chhekarl@eng.usm.my
Tel: 04-5996464 (Direct Line)Fax: 04-5941013
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 8:36 PM,
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NACES 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
Last Saturday evening was very interesting. I was invited by NACES 2007 (National Chemical Engineering Symposium) committee to become a panel (and judge) in their "Global Warming Challenge" Workshop. NACES 2007 is a national event for chemical engineering students in Malaysia which was hosted by Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The workshop is one of the program slotted inside the 3 day event. The students were divided into 4 sections which consists of Industry, Public, Government and NGO. Each section have 5 groups inside it brainstorming and presenting their ideas in providing solution for the global warming crisis. I became the panel for the industry section and evaluated student acting role from Petronas, BHP, Shell, Schlumberger and Exxon-Mobil. It's very interesting watching and learning from their presentation. Ideas like "pressure swing adsorption", "carbon capture storage (CCS)", "hybrid car", "biodiesel" and others were highlighted. It's really good seeing our new breed of junior chemical engineers working, discussing and presenting their ideas. At the end of their presentation, I commented and analyzed each groups performance before announcing the winner. It was not an easy pick. However, I finally chose Schlumberger to represent the industry section in the debating stage.
The debate session was really fun and I enjoyed watching it. Government representative, Mass Media, WWF from NGO and Schlumberger pointed out their stand and ways in overcoming the global warming challenges. As one of the judge for the debate session, I chose a group which had been slightly outstanding in all aspects. However, I don't know the actual winner. Anyone of you who attended NACES 2007 know? Maybe you can let me know in the comment area.
On overall I can't really measure the success of NACES 2007 because I only attended the 3-4 hours workshop. However, from that fraction of time spent, I observed and noticed massive room for improvements. To next years' host/committee, I hope they can manage and improve the standard of NACES.
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Chemical Engineering, Environmental, Learning Curve, News, Problem, Review
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:41 PM,
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Daily Life of A Chemical Engineer Video!!!
Check out this interesting and funny video that I found in Youtube. The following is the description from the short video:
"A school project for chemistry class. Our assignment was to make a creative video illustrating a day-in-the-life of our chosen subject; in this case, the chemical engineer. Sorry to say it's not much of a day-in-the-life type of thing... We know it's sort of corny, but it's supposed to be like that. Feel free to point and laugh."
For me, it's a nice attempt from the students to illustrate life of a chemical engineer. However, actually, it don't look that simple. Daily life of a chemical engineer is tougher and challenging than what you see in the video. A lot of reports, meetings, monitoring, planning, projects, manpower management etc are involved.
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
Labels: Chemical Engineering, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 12:00 AM,
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The Grandfather Of Pampers: A Chemical Engineer
Saturday, September 08, 2007
It was 1956, and Procter & Gamble (NYSE:PG) scientist Victor Mills was a new grandfather.
With the girl's birth, he learned the realities of baby care, including the unpleasant task of changing and laundering diapers.
His granddaughter, just like all infants, went through her share of diapers, and Mills was getting frustrated with it. "I just thought it was a mess," he told the Cincinnati Enquirer after he retired.
The bottom line was this: Mothers in the U.S. were using cloth diapers and plastic pants on their babies. They washed the diapers or used a diaper laundry service. Disposable diapers were on the market, but mothers used them on their babies only while traveling because they didn't work particularly well. They leaked and were uncomfortable.
Mills (1896-1997) also had a professional challenge. He was director of exploratory development for Procter & Gamble, and the company had just bought a large paper mill. One of his assignments was to come up with new products to produce using the paper mill's technology.
He got to thinking and, as Procter & Gamble knew, that often helped the company's bottom line and changed the way people lived.
The way Mills figured, wouldn't it be great if one of these new products could be a disposable diaper that mothers would be willing to have their babies wear all the time?
A Long Road
By the time Mills geared his team to develop Pampers diapers, he was in the home stretch of a 35-year career at P&G, which began in 1926 when he was 30 and ended in 1961.http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/
Other story about Victor Mills
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=2662
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/june97/mills.html
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/1997/11/07/bus_mills.html
Labels: Chemical Engineer, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 6:56 PM,
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Distillation Column Learning Video
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
This is a very interesting short video showing the internal part of a distillation column. We can see how liquid or fluid is distributed from a distribution tray. We can also see the structured packing in the column. There is also a short simulation as well. Check it out.
Ops....don't forget to check out the new Chemical-Engineering-Forum.com.
Labels: Chemical Plant, Equipments, Learning Curve
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:36 PM,
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Updates From Me
Monday, September 03, 2007
Suddenly it is a new month. It is September. Again, I'm busy preparing the production report. This is the most intense moment of the month (early week of the month). I need to carefully and swiftly prepare the report and submit them to the accounts department and HQ.
I'm monitoring few upgrading projects in the plant and some maintenance works that are still in progress. There are a lots of work.
Beside that, I was requested to be a jury in a domestic inquiry (which will be held tomorrow) for a serious case in my work place. I was reluctant to become one, but my superior politely asked me to look into the case. Hmmm.... at the end, I obliged.
The day after tomorrow, I was requested to deliver a 5S training. I wanted to delay the training because I need to settle my monthly production report first. I'm not sure whether the training team from human resource department still insists me on delivering the training. My works seem endless. Well, that's fine. That's part of my life as a process engineer. That's my responsibility and I'm glad and proud with my work. The most satisfying moment will be whenever any short term projects was successfully and smoothly carried out. Perhaps I can share those moments in future posts.
The Chemical Engineering Forum has been great. Not bad for a 9 days old forum. Up to the moment this post is written, there are 58 posts in 29 topics by 32 members. Thanks for registering and participating in the forum. To those of you who have not visited the forum, you are welcome to check out by clicking Chemical Engineering Forum.
Labels: Chemical Engineer
posted by Kipas Repair JB @ 11:19 PM,
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The Author
I’m Zaki. I used to be a project, process and chemical engineer. Few years ago I successfully became a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) and Professional Engineer (BEM). I'm now employed as a chemical engineering educator/researcher/consultant. Hope you like reading my blog. I welcome any feedback from you. My email: zaki.yz[alias]gmail.com. TQ!
