In late January, I moved to BNP Media’s Deerfield, Ill. I faced a sizeable pile of files, magazines and other materials to sort through. What would I need ready access to? What could be sent to long-term storage? And what had I been holding on to long past its expiration date?

It’s that last category that can often surprise you.

In late January, I moved to BNP Media’s Deerfield, Ill., office to reduce my commute. Over the years, I’ve streamlined my office materials, transitioning to mostly electronic files. Nonetheless, I faced a sizeable pile of files, magazines and other materials to sort through. What would I need ready access to? What could be sent to long-term storage? And what had I been holding on to long past its expiration date?

It’s that last category that can often surprise you. What determines whether something is useful and necessary or simply rubbish doesn’t rely solely on how long you may have owned it. In fact, I have materials such as our bound copies (a single year ofProcess Heating made into a book) that will only increase in value as time goes by. I also have hundreds of CDs containing the source materials for those same issues of Process Heating. Though it may surprise some, I threw out many of the CDs and other disks while I carefully packed the bound issues and boxes of magazines. Why? Many of the CDs were incremental, incomplete backups of any given issue. While it is important for any writer to keep notes, source materials and other “back reads,” I do not need dozens of electronic copies. By contrast, the printed copies of the magazine represent the final product -- essential for answering reader questions, research and other tasks.

At times, process equipment can have the same short shelf life that those incremental CDs had in my office. As explained in “Oxidizers ‘Can’ Do,” by Mike Scholz of Milwaukee-based Anguil Environmental Systems, one can-maker found that a decade-old recuperative thermal oxidizer could not meet strict compliance limits without repairs and regular maintenance. Replacing it with a regenerative oxidizer allowed the can-maker to meet emissions limits with fewer repair bottlenecks.

Also in this issue, Peter Zagorzycki of CPM Wolverine Proctor, Horsham, Pa., explains two strategies that can help reduce energy usage in convection dryers. In “Make It Hotter or Make It Bigger: How to Save Energy in Convection Dryers,” Zagorzycki notes that moisture removal through thermal drying is one of the most energy-intense unit operations in a processing plant. Raising a dryer’s operating temperature and increasing the dryer size are two ways to make it more efficient.

In “Flotation Drying: Reasons for Change,” Michael Sellers of Advance Systems Inc., Green Bay, Wis., explains how noncontact flotation drying enables a printer or converter to print or coat both sides of a web simultaneously while avoiding scratching delicate substrates.

NOX is a pollutant formed in nearly all combustion reactions, including fired equipment such as ovens, heaters, dryers, boilers and furnaces. Chuck E. Baukal, Ph.D., P.E., the director of the John Zink Institute, the educational and training division of John Zink Co. LLC, Tulsa, Okla., offers a primer on controlling this highly regulated pollutant with “NOX 101.”

Finally, cast-in heaters will provide long life and trouble-free service if properly installed, operated and maintained. With “Cast-In Band Heaters,” Dennis Padlo of Wood Dale, Ill.-based Tempco explains how these process heaters withstand vibration, abuse and contamination.

Linda Becker
Associate Publisher & Editor
BeckerL@bnpmedia.com