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u/ChemEnggCalc

Scientists converted discarded plastic bottles and old car battery acid into hydrogen fuel using sunlight
▲ 18 r/chemistry+1 crossposts

Scientists converted discarded plastic bottles and old car battery acid into hydrogen fuel using sunlight

Spent lead-acid car batteries + discarded PET plastic + sunlight = hydrogen fuel and acetic acid.

A Cambridge team just published this in Joule and the economics already work on paper before hydrogen sales are even counted.

The chemistry behind how this actually works is fascinating — full breakdown here: https://chemenggcalc.com/plastic-waste-and-dead-battery-acid-into-h2-fuel/

chemenggcalc.com
u/ChemEnggCalc — 14 hours ago
▲ 19 r/ChemicalEngineering+1 crossposts

I built a free Steam Table Calculator based on IAPWS-IF97 - hope it helps someone

Okay so this came out of pure frustration honestly.

Was working on a problem and had to look up like 6-7 steam properties back and forth. Textbook tables, then interpolating, then second guessing my interpolation. Took way longer than the actual problem.

So I just built a calculator for it.

It's based on IAPWS-IF97 - so the values are accurate and consistent with what industry standard simulators use. Not some random approximation formula.

🔬 Accurate - IAPWS-IF97 compliant. All thermodynamic regions covered.
⚡ Fast - Input T, P, h, s, or x. Get all properties instantly.
🛠️ Practical - Built for heat exchangers, turbines, energy balances & more.
🌐 Free - No paywalls. Built for engineers, students & researchers.

This is for every engineer who ever stayed up late with a steam table textbook. 📖

Try it. Break it. Tell me what to improve. 👇

Link: https://chemenggcalc.com/steam-table-calculator-iapws-if97-properties/

If something looks off or you want a feature added, drop a comment. Still improving it.

Hope it saves someone some time. 🙂

u/ChemEnggCalc — 2 days ago
▲ 0 r/ChemicalEngineering

Vessel Head Calculator for Surface Area, Blank Size, Volume & Weight

I built a free Vessel Head Calculator — Surface Area, Blank Size, Volume & Weight in one tool 🛢️

Designing pressure vessels means constantly juggling geometry — and it gets annoying fast when you're switching between head types (ellipsoidal, torispherical, hemispherical, conical, flat) and recalculating everything from scratch.

So I built this: a free online Vessel Head Calculator that handles all of it in one place:

✅ Surface Area (curved dish + straight flange)

✅ Volume for all ASME-standard head types

✅ Blank Diameter — the flat plate size needed before forming/pressing

✅ Weight based on material density and wall thickness

✅ Paint & Coating estimation with wastage factor

✅ Advanced Mode for custom knuckle radius (Kr) & crown radius (Rc) — ASME Section VIII compliant

It's particularly useful for fabricators who need the blank size quickly, or for engineers doing cost/material estimates early in design.

🔗 https://chemenggcalc.com/vessel-head-calculator-surface-area-blank-size/

Would love feedback — especially from anyone working with non-standard geometries or doing ASME code design. What other features would make this more useful for your workflow?

chemenggcalc.com
u/ChemEnggCalc — 4 days ago