May 2005

Consider these factors to ensure a continuous supply

Three essential objectives gain the performance level needed to obtain and sustain business success

Better dynamic control of the temperature in an exothermic chemical reactor allows increasing the injection of reactants

Consider these options to reduce capital, energy and maintenance costs

Programmable automation controllers can give added performance

A major European refiner installed an advanced wet scrubbing unit to reduce SO2 emissions

Advanced fluid dynamics modeling fine-tunes vacuum separations that improve products' qualities and increase unit reliability

A stream of e-mail that followed my January and February editorials1,2 has convinced me that an advanced process control (APC) tutorial would be beneficial. First, a conceptual discussion: What does..

Selecting from among the many pump manufacturers may be tricky. That said, picking the right bidders may well be an important prerequisite for choosing the best pump. Three principal characteristics i..

For years, there has been a schism between IT departments and operations. This divide is a product of the different needs and uses of IT in the business and manufacturing environments, along with the ..

Greenergy will go ahead and build its first biodiesel plant in the Humber Estuary in the UK, near the ConocoPhillips refinery. Greenergy may be a seasoned "early bird" in new fuels, but it certainly w..

First seal designed expressly for oil mist applications A US West Coast consulting engineer estimated that over 50% of all US refineries are using oil mist. Oil-mist lubrication is a key part of an ..

Comprehensive simulation solution for processing plants The UniSim simulation solution, a family of software and engineering services, claims to improve performance throughout a processing plant's ..

Valero Energy Corp. has selected UOP hydroprocessing technologies to produce ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) at its St. Charles, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, refineries, plus treated FCC feed at the ..

Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) and Axens finalized license agreements for 10 Prime-G+ units to be installed in eight refineries: Cubatão, Duque de Caxias, Araucaria, Betim, Porto Alegre, Pa..

CB&I has a lump-sum turnkey contract with South Hook LNG Terminal Co. for Phase II of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal to be built near Milford Haven, Wales, UK. Phase II is valued in..

Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Shell have a heads of agreement (HOA) to develop a large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) project located in Ras Laffan City, Qatar. The project is called Qatargas 4, and is ..

Foster Wheeler (WA) Pty Ltd., a Foster Wheeler Ltd. Subsidiary, in a joint venture with WorleyParsons Services Pty Ltd., has a letter of intent (LOI) from Woodside Energy Ltd. The agreement is for the..

Specialty gas and equipment Catalog from Airgas, Inc., provides details about its specialty gases and equipment. It includes guidelines for specifying, measuring and managing gases for various appl..

  LNG spending to surge The LNG business is poised for a ..

Despite staggering blows, the global economy has held together and is growing at sustainable rates. Consequently, the industry is in a welcome period of excess capacity absorption. This translates int..

Global ethylene demand grew over 5% in 2004. Ethylene unit utilization in all regions increased significantly, and prices in all regions were sustained at historically high levels. Profitability impro..

Western Canadian crude production has been growing steadily. Incremental Canadian crude production is expected to be predominately the heavy sour crude grades, with a significant contribution from swe..

One of the most important physical changes in the global energy industry over the past decade has been the rapid growth of natural gas markets. This has been primarily driven by gas-fired power genera..

Asia is clearly the focal point for the future growth of demand in the chemical, fiber and plastics industries. It has a substantial population that is forecast to increase in purchasing power, and a ..

LORAINE A. HUCHLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR       Comments? Write: editorial@HydrocarbonProcessing.com ..

Understanding the basics helps solve field problems

Using this methodology can save costs and time