January 2006
Special Report: Gas Processing Developments
Overview of licensors and selected process descriptions
This novel approach can save money and improve energy usage efficiency
New methods maximize heat transfer to regasify natural gas with minimum environmental impacts
Designing for temperature variations does impact operating costs and unit efficiencies
This accounting technique can provide more accurate results than traditional practices
Costs Management
It is possible to significantly better a firm's bottom line through reliability and maintenance. However, this has rarely been the reality and needs to change
Instrumentation/Safety
Transient analysis is required to verify their effectiveness
Process Control/Instrumentation
This simple analytical method provides PID parameters to give a desired closed-loop response while available for any class of time-delay processes
Refining Developments
Here are some major operating issues to evaluate in the front-end design
New hydrocracking methods upgrades bitumen into low-sulfur diesel
Rotating Equipment/Reliability
Here's how the plant personnel overcame the unique and complex problem of residual magnetism
Columns
Goel and Shah of Reliance Industries in India published a recent article, claiming that spreadsheet regression is the preferred choice for inferential modeling based on price considerations.1 Since co..
Many dual mechanical seals found in centrifugal pumps use either pumping rings or pumping screws to move barrier fluid. Typical flowrates achieved with pumping rings are extremely low, with most of th..
For a long time, the focus of safety instrumented system design has been on the logic solver. For many, including myself, this started when I first heard about a "certified" safety programmable logic ..
Interest in performing rigorous hazard and risk analysis and applying certified safety instrumented systems (SISs) has increased considerably since the publication of the IEC 61508 safety standard and..
In my November column, I asked if the good times will keep on rolling. And since then, they have. From what I could learn at the European Refining Technology Conference in Vienna, there's a year or tw..
Trends and Resources
The Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and the State of Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) have signed an agreement to develop hydrogen fueling station technology. GTI is teaming with a Texa..
New CNG transport system validates prototype testing EnerSea Transport has completed a two-year comprehensive testing to confirm the functionality, operability and safety of its proprietary VORTANS co..
Software solution for the plant engineer AlarmAnalyst Process Suite is an interactive, graphical user interface software product. It claims to benchmark performance of plant operations. The default sc..
ConocoPhillips is installing its proprietary S Zorb sulfur removal technology (SRT) at its Wood River, Illinois, refinery, representing the fourth company-owned site to utilize the gasoline desulfuriz..
CB&I has a lump-sum contract to supply a natural gas processing plant in Malvinas, Peru, as part of an expansion for the Camisea gas project. The agreement is valued at more than $45 million. CB&I's c..
Lurgi AG, a GEA Group subsidiary, has five new contracts to build biodiesel plants in Germany. The orders are worth approximately €70 million in total. Two plants, which will be located in Rostoc..
Foster Wheeler South Africa (Pty.) Ltd., a Foster Wheeler Ltd. subsidiary, has an engineering, procurement and construction management contract with Sasol Technology (Pty.) Ltd. (Sastech). The agreeme..
Fluor Corp. has a contract providing engineering, procurement and construction and commissioning services for the Habshan gas complex expansion project by Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd. (GASCO). Contra..
Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) will modify its ethylene plant at the Oita petrochemical complex to increase non-naphtha feedstock usage to a maximum of 50% of the total requirement. The non-naphtha feedstock,..
Stoppers and plugs for a range of pipe diameters In addition to its range of white nylon plugs for pipes of 0.5-in. to 6-in. diameter, the Pipestoppers Division of Huntingdon Fusion Techniqu..
Key features of the global oil market were recently assessed by Mr. Mohammad Alipour-Jeddi, head of the Petroleum Market Analysis Department for OPEC. Presenting at a plenary session during ERTC's ann..
An estimated 35 active LNG production projects with a combined capital investment value of more than $50 billion are scheduled to begin production in the next five years, according to data from Indust..
In November, the European Parliament approved proposed chemicals regulations, known as REACH (which stands for registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals). The legislators made more than ..
The Distributed Control Systems (DCS) market, primarily buoyed by growth in developing countries such as China and India and a slowdown in hardware price declines, has experienced healthy growth betwe..
Within many businesses, enthusiasm for process management programs such as Six Sigma, ISO 9000 or their predecessor Total Quality Management (TQM) runs strong after two decades. Yet Mary J. Benner, ma..
An upcoming "oil price crash" is forecast by Michael C. Lynch, president of Strategic Energy & Economic Research, Inc. Speaking at a recent Independent Petroleum Association of America meeting in Hous..
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