February 2000

Trending processing information – pressure, temperature – provides 'clues' on the reliability of critical equipment and catalysts

Apply these guidelines for best communication between technology and business fields

This successful approach for a refinery revamp uses shared benefits and losses based on aggressive schedule, cost, quality and safety goals

Model defines work phases and indicates where team decline is most likely

Simulations can be effective in focusing attention on good – and bad – project management behaviors

Here's how to ensure that technical, cost and schedule objectives are met

Use these guidelines for a successful installation

Ensure your system includes these capabilities

If you read Wendy Weirauch's editorial, you know Gulf Publishing will be getting into electronic-commerce (e-commerce). Our first project involves putting our Composite Catalog of Oilfield Equipment a..

Not long ago, a dedicated team of reliability professionals met to discuss what it takes to become a "best practices" or "best-of-class" company. In summary, the team considered that top quartile comp..

Here is a fantastic Web site for those of you interested in natural gas. It provides a lot of information at one location, making it one of the best resource pages I've seen (http://www.naturalgas.org..

Commodity petrochemicals are a "love/ hate" business. When margins and profits are high, HPI operating companies are blissful and eagerly embark on spending sprees. They plan and build new capacity to..

Open, recirculating cooling systems require large volumes of fresh or treated water to replace water lost through evaporation, drift and blowdown in the cooling tower. Some chemicals that are used for..

In Britain's north Yorkshire, there is a curious well in which the water regularly – and mysteriously – rises and falls. Not surprisingly, it is known as the Ebbing and Flowing Well. While n..

ADB Systems (ADB), Houston, Texas, has acquired the Consulting Services division of Bonner & Moore Assoc., Inc., including COMPASS, its Enterprise Asset Management software system. The division wil..

Barco, Kuurne, Belgium, a leading developer and manufacturer of multi-screen monitoring solutions, has announced that a two-year sales agreement has been undersigned with ABB Automation. Barco's pr..

Expansion joint selection Witzenmann GmbH has developed new, state-of-the-art, expansion joint selection software. FLEXPERTE helps industrial plant designers cut time and cost when selecting the ap..

ABB and Sofresid selected for basic design of IGCC facility ABB Lummus Global B. V., The Netherlands, and Sofresid S. A., France, have been awarded a lump-sum contract by TotalFina, Paris, France, ..

Safety-instrumented system Moore Process Automation Solutions has produced a four-color poster providing step-by-step reference information on the design of a safety-instrumented system (SIS). An S..

Are fuel cell vehicles challengers or challenged? National governments and the transportation industry are increasingly focusing on research and development initiatives directed toward fuel cell vehi..

In the HPI, the project management discipline has gained credibility as an implementation methodology that successful corporations use to accomplish their goals. However, to ensure future qualified wo..

Demand for petroleum refining catalysts totaled $1.1 billion in 1998 and is forecast to increase $250 million/yr over the next five years. A study from The Freedonia Group says that the "poor performa..

The Gas Research Institute (GRI) has published the 2000 Edition of its "Baseline Projection of U.S. Energy Supply and Demand to 2015." It describes steady growth in overall U.S. energy consumption and..

When it comes to the battle between the regulators and the innovators, one side yells for more regulation to hold back the technological juggernaut and protect the environment; the other wants to abol..

A variety of economic models estimating the cost to implement the Kyoto Protocol on global warming show that the economic burden will likely be greatest on Canada and the U.S., according to an analysi..

The ultrasonic flowmeter market is going through "the most dramatic revolution since the introduction of the first Doppler ultrasonic flowmeter." Advances in technology will spur rapid double-digit gr..

In 1999, U.S. shipments of chemicals and allied products rose 5.25% to $412 billion. This growth was driven by gains in life sciences and specialty chemicals. Shipments of industrial chemicals rose on..

Does working more mean working better? Not necessarily, says a new global study by the International Labour Office (ILO). The study suggests that increased productivity is not the only indicator that ..

Choosing cutpoints to optimize product yields After reading "Choosing cutpoints to optimize product yields" by R. W. Brooks, F. D. van Walsem and J. Drury, as published on p. 53 in the November 1..

Many forces are shaping the HPI worldwide: fluctuating oil, gas and petrochemical prices; increasing merger and acquisition activity; advancing process technologies; proliferating government regulatio..