Handbook of Chlor-Alkali Technology

Tom O'Brien has spent approximately twenty-five years of his chemical engineering career in the electrochemical field. In addition to many technical studies, safety reviews, and consulting assignments, he has been deeply involved in the engineering, construction and commissioning of more than twenty-five operating plants in sixteen different countries producing chlorine, bromine, phosgene, ethylene dichloride, solid and liquid alkalis and sodium chlorate. Since his retirement in 1999, he has performed selected consulting assignments for worldwide clients.Dr. O'Brien is currently working on two other books, one dealing with Sherlock Holmes, the other a mathematical analysis of baseball statistics.Tilak V. Bommaraju received his PhD in Chemistry in 1967 from Banaras Hindu University in India. He was a post doctoral fellow at the state University of New York at Buffalo and at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Bommaraju has worked as a research chemist for the International Nickel Company of Canada, performing research and development in the electrometallurgy of Ni, Cu, and Zn. He has also worked as a Senior Scientist and Technical Manager for Chlor-Alkali and Chlorate Operations Support for Occidental Chemical.From 1973-1998, Dr. Bommaraju was Vice President of Research and Development for ICET, Inc. He has published over 85 papers and holds 27 patents. He was the co-editor of Technique of Electro-Organic Synthesis - Scale-up and Engineering Aspects: Part III.Currently, Dr. Bommaraju is the Vice President-Technology of Process Technology Optimization, Inc. The company's primary focus is contract research in the field of electrochemistry and chemical engineering, process evaluation and optimization, custom chemical engineering, and consulting in the chlor-alkali and chlorate technologies and corrosion.Born in Osaka, Japan, Fumio Hine, received his doctorate at Kyoto University in 1960 and was named Professor there in 1965. Dr. Hine joined the Nagoya Institute of Technology in 1969, and recommended as Professor Emeritus in 1991. Dr. Hine was a Fulbright Scholar and has received awards from the Kinki Chemical Society, Osaka and Japan Soda Industry Association for his activity in Chlor-alkali technology. Dr. Hine is the author of Electrode Processes and Electrochemical Engineering (1985), Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in the Chlor-Alkali Industry and other works on electrochemistry, inorganic chemistry, and corrosion engineering. He has presented more than three hundred papers and reviews and organized two symposia - Electrochemical Engineering in the Chlor-Alkali and Chlorate Industries and Performance of Electrodes for Industrial Electrochemical Processes.Dr. Hine is a member of numerous international societies and committees including the Electrochemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineering, the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, and the Chemical Society of Japan. He is a licensed P.E. for Chemical Process Industries. In 1988, Dr. Hine visited Argentina to improve the amalgam-type chlor-industry in the Bahia Blanca Chemical Complex as requested by United Nations Industrial Development Organization. A former news editor for Electrochemical Technology, he is presently the science advisor for the Japan Soda Industry Association and an industrial consultant in the USA, Japan and other countries.