May 1998

Seal friction causes inaccuracies. Here are some recommendations for better measurements

Use pass flowrates and outlet temperatures to identify inefficient performance

Editor's note: The following is in response to my March '98 column, "Controversy in control," which requested input from our readers on controversial issues. Fieldbus Foundation. Apparently the Intern..

At Gulf Publishing's Fifth International Process Plant Reliability Conference in 1996, Lincoln Electric's Jean Revelt provided valuable insight on electric motor efficiency. Having spent 40+ years in ..

We will take an entirely different direction this month with a review of Internet sites for job seekers. At some point in our careers, we all consider throwing in the towel and looking for another job..

In one of my lectures on process maintainability, I describe a plant complex: It has storage for large quantities of fuel, lubricants and explosives, all in close proximity; a nuclear power plant; a s..

Last month in the "Editorial," I discussed the new low-sulfur proposal presented by a coalition of U.S. refiners. I mentioned that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was due to release a d..

What if manufacturing plant designers omitted process simulation from the engineering approach? Would it be good business to own such a plant? This is how reliability and maintenance is being tackl..

Aspen Technology, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, a leading provider of Smart Manufacturing software and services for the process industries, has completed the acquisition of Contas Process Control S...

Cooper Industries, Inc., Houston, Texas, has completed its acquisition of INTOOL, Houston, Texas, a division of Global Industries Technologies, Inc. for $217.5 million. INTOOL, Cooper's third addition..

Tosco looks to Nooter to complete turnaround Connecticut-based Tosco chose Nooter Construction to perform a critical fluid catalytic cracker unit (FCCU) turnaround at the company's Trainer, Pennsyl..

The National Petroleum Refiners Association has changed its name to the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association. While the NPRA acronym remains, according to the organization, "the name change e..

The worldwide outlook for petrochemicals was addressed at the Chemical Market Associates, Inc. (CMAI) 13th annual World Petrochemical Conference. This year's meeting, April 1 – 2, in Houston, Tex..

The economic supply / demand forecast is varied for different HPI market segments. Recent presentations at the annual DeWitt & Co. Petrochemical Review conference, April 1 – 2, Houston, Texas, co..

As an industry, has the HPI made great progress? What areas need improvement? These are some of the issues we put before Trevor Kletz, a renowned process safety consultant. Dr. Kletz has authored many..