Here we explore in more detail work expansion as the default refrigeration solution for very low temperature industrial cryogenic processes.

Refrigeration at the low temperatures needed to liquefy the ‘permanent gases’ required new approaches based on insights of pioneers like Lord Kelvin, after whom the absolute temperature scale is named.

The Joule-Thomson or Joule-Kelvin effect discovered by the two eponymous pioneers of cryogenics in the 19th century form the basis for many of todays refrigeration processes

Why does a cryogenic process require refrigeration? Because the process operates at well below ambient temperature and heat leaks in from the surroundings. This article in 4 parts reviews refrigeration process options, plus basic thermodynamics.

For those less familiar with the terminology and concepts of cryogenics and cryogenic heat transfer or heat exchangers this article provides some background and context.

Following on from the introductory article on Distillation Fundamentals, this article delves a little deeper into some of the methods used in distillation column process design focussing mainly on ‘binary systems’.

Lets try to answer this fundamental question – what is gas Processing, and why do it?

A cryogenic process operates well below ambient temperature. The article mainly for the non-specialist introduces some terminology and concepts of cryogenic engineering.

Like many words, ‘Pressure’ has found its way into everyday language, as we unconsciously adopt analogies from some unrelated field to help us describe something. In physics and engineering it’s an important characteristic or ‘property’ of a gas.

This is an important theme for process engineers / chemical engineers. The ability to ‘model’ parts or most of a chemical process constitutes a vital powerful tool in design, operations and troubleshooting.

Most resources are finite. If not there would be no issue, but our world is not like that. There are typically a number of opportunities to deploy any finite resource. In simple terms some provide more benefit than others.

Distillation is still the most widely used method to separate chemical species in the process industries. This introductory article covers some distillation basics for the non-specialist.

Safety in design requires a good understanding of the conditions in all interconnected elements of a plant.  These do not vary significantly with time in a continuous process plant – except during start-up or shutdown, or serious upset. Based on this, a new approach to HAZOP studies is introduced to speed hazard identification.

As an aviation fuel, liquid hydrogen’s intrinsic merits are its high energy per unit mass and zero CO2 emission from combustion. In contrast conventional jet fuel incurs a significant parasitic payload mass with a mass heating value of 37% of liquid hydrogen. However other factors must be considered.

The developed and developing world has rapidly growing energy demand. With pressure to reduce use of fossil sources, renewables are a partial solution, alongside energy storage for renewables variable availability. A tool is needed to objectively evaluate, challenge and improve the efficiency with which we use the energy we produce - enter EXERGY.

Helium is present in atmospheric air at 5.2 ppm. It is uneconomic to recover this except perhaps in the very largest air separation plants. Fortunately, it may also be present at fractions of a percent up to a few percent (rarely) in natural gas and this represents a valuable and essentially a depleting resource.

This article is as written in the spring of 2020 at the start of the initial wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Europe.