Bloch, Heinz P.
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff, Montgomery, Texas
Heinz P. Bloch resides in Montgomery, Texas. He retired as Exxon Chemical’s Regional Machinery Specialist for the U.S. and has authored or co-written more than 780 publications, among them 23 comprehensive books on practical machinery management, failure analysis, failure avoidance, compressors, steam turbines, pumps, oil mist lubrication and optimized lubrication for industry. Mr. Bloch holds BS and MS degrees (cum laude) in mechanical engineering from the Newark College of Engineering (NCE). He is one of 10 inaugural inductees into NCE’s Hall of Fame, which honors its most distinguished alumni.
Compressors are widely used in the process industries to move fluids and gases within and outside the boundary of a process.
These days, regrettably, it is not unusual to encounter shallow thinkers.
Over the last 40 yr, centrifugal compressor manufacturers have compiled a vast array of impellers and associated stationary components, allowing for higher efficiency staging.
In the now almost 32 yr since this monthly column was first published, we have had more than a few occasions to highlight the pitfalls of trial-and-error solutions in plants that process toxic, flammable or explosive materials.
Good managers manage people who solve problems.
As a rule, equipment to be installed at a plant site initially arrives at an outdoor storage yard.
The state of understanding science and facts on one side and distinguishing these from anecdotes and far-fetched opinions on the other side, should be concerning to us.
A professionally presented course in pump fundamentals caught our eye recently.
Bearings are precision components; to survive, they require clean lubricants in adequate amounts.
A recent book1 describes novel approaches in applied process gas compressor technology.