The formal mechanisms for monitoring or even controlling greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the United States have not been defined. The EPA and the government have not yet implemented any meaningful legislation. But now is the time to start preparing, nonetheless.

Protection of the environment is a reality that we are going to have to deal with. We can run but we cannot hide: the United States houses approximately 5 percent of the world population, yet we are responsible for more than 25 percent of the world's pollution.

Use this review to better understand spray drying technology.

Reducing operating costs pays dividends that show up on your bottom line year after year.

Whether heated in tubes, drums, by paddles or cones, or on pans, indirect dryers extract moisture from the product through conduction rather than convection. What distinguishes one type from another?

The fantasy: Product quality is maintained and, other than routine preventive maintenance, the machine never stops. The reality can be far different.

Plastic processing is a major part of the process heating world. Among the process methods for plastics are thermoforming, compression molding and roto-molding.

In injection-molding, plastic pellets are introduced -- with or without other additives such as color, mold release agents and lubricants -- from a hopper into the molding machine. This feeding system is common to most plastic-forming processes.

By special request, the "What's That Process?" file is being extended to include other process heating topics that do not specifically relate to drying. This month, I’ll begin a look at extrusion.

Distillation involves the separation of components of a mixture, most commonly a liquid, by producing a gas or a vapor and then condensing the so-formed vapor. Distillation is used extensively in the fractionation of volatiles and other organic compounds. Multistage distillation is common to achieve the final or various intermediate fractions. How is this different than dehumidification?