No one knows everything, not even me

No one knows everything, not even me

I have a sister who has her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing along with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology and Sociology, and who also holds a MBA Degree. She is a gifted nurse, a great mother and a perfect mentor to the many women she leads. She is however,...
Clean up your Tank Specifications

Clean up your Tank Specifications

I have the opportunity to see a lot of tank specifications from projects.  Like many technical documents, specifications are living documents and they grow over time.  Specifications continue to be improved, areas of interest are sharpened with more depth of...
Pipe Stress Analysis of Nonmetallic Piping Systems

Pipe Stress Analysis of Nonmetallic Piping Systems

Plant Owners and Engineers are becoming much more knowledgeable regarding design concerns and expectations for nonmetallic piping systems. Performance and reliability continues to improve for these systems. It has begun to be recognized that engineering nonmetallic...
Dual laminate for Performance

Dual laminate for Performance

FRP is an excellent material of construction for handling a variety of corrosive fluids in chemical processing, although even FRP has its limitations. At elevated temperatures FRP can be challenged in some of the most severe chemical services, some as in chlor-alkali...
FRP Fabricator vs. FRP Manufacturer

FRP Fabricator vs. FRP Manufacturer

Suppliers of FRP piping and tanks have been called FRP Fabricators, forever. I think this comes from the early days when fabricators built anything and everything from tanks to pipes to washer hoods to feed troughs. Today, the FRP industry is much more refined in many...

There Are No Bad Materials

I’m sure most have heard someone say, “Oh, that’s just a bad material.” I would suggest that, “There are no bad materials, only bad material selections.” There is no silver bullet in materials, i.e. one material that is good for every application, and cheap too. Most...
Piping Leaks – The Cost of Failure

Piping Leaks – The Cost of Failure

In today’s climate of global economics, whether you are a small family business or a multi-national corporation, businesses need to be efficient to be profitable. This concept applies equally to the operation of heavy industrial plants, such as for chemical...
RAGAGEP for FRP Equipment

RAGAGEP for FRP Equipment

In June of 2015, OSHA instituted a new regulatory requirement for plant process equipment, commonly known as RAGAGEP, Recognized and Generally Acceptable Good Engineering Practices. This is a Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard, which basically says that all...