March 2007

Benefits included less downtime and maintenance and improved accuracy

Using artificial intelligence-based sensors can improve costs

Demanding applications need rugged hardware to improve reliability

Here's how Shell upgraded from a pneumatic instrumented plant to a fully digital control system

The latest enhancement improves communication from the field to enterprise levels

This refiner lost communications during a hurricane. Here's how it solved the problem

Industry standard technology offers powerful new features

Advanced ceramics perform well in many applications

Advances in heat exchanger designs mitigate fouling problems with crude oil preheater trains while conserving energy and cutting operating costs

A quick look at symptoms can provide operational answers

Troubleshooting differs from design

New research improves estimating knock (octane numbers) by simpler methods

Debottlenecking towers involves close review of product yields while reducing tray flooding and energy consumption

Catalyst and tube performance should be monitored to prevent problems

A friend has asked me to help solve a dilemma. A neural net model developed in his plant had a near perfect fit against lab values but in spite of that the model's prediction ability was poor. I was s..

Deviations add up to become exponential failure risks

Very likely, but this requires an explanation. The need to change automation systems from control systems to control and information systems drove the last migration. The title relates to the impact o..

Gasification is to be a key topic during the upcoming discussion at European Council level of Europe's Strategic Energy Review. The review is ambitious in scope, dramatic in its language and clear in ..

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry continues to expand and diversify in response to growing demand and market flexibility. The technological improvements and cost reductions achieved throughout ..

ARCA Regler GmbH delivered an order for control valves to a new methanol plant in Oman. The contract covered about 100 control valves from the ECOTROL series with a nominal width of 1 in. to 16 in. an..

Diagnostics for early warning of abnormal conditions Emerson Process Management has advanced diagnostics on its industry leading Rosemount 3051S series of instrumentation for pressure, flow and level ..

Self-test technology for gas leak detectors SENSSONIC self-test technology is said to provide reliable and failsafe operation for Gassonic ultrasonic gas leak detectors. In field instrumentation, part..

CB&I has a $75 million upgrade contract at a Caribbean oil refinery. CB&I is providing engineering, procurement, construction and management services as well as fabrication services associated with re..

PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S.A. brought the Cidade do Rio de Janeiro floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) online. The FPSO is located in the Espadarte field in the Campos Basin. The vessel-..

Technip has a services contract with BP to expand production capacity of a purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plant located in Geel, Belgium. The agreement, which covers the engineering, procurement and..

Foster Wheeler South Africa (PTY) Ltd. has an engineering and project management consultancy contract with Globeleq to expand the Songo Songo Island gas processing facility in Tanzania. Contract value..

Aker Kvaerner has a letter of intent with Aker Floating Production ASA to deliver a complete subsea production system for a customer in India. Aker Kvaerner will also deliver the marine installation o..

Pressure/temperature switches and more United Electric Controls' new short-form catalog summarizes its electronic and electromechanical pressure, differential pressure and temperature switches, temper..

  China: tech's springboard The newest improvements in pumps, valves, filters, fans and other process eq..

The year 2006 was very favorable for the European chemicals industry. The European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) expects output by the industry (excluding pharmaceuticals) to tally a 2.5% growth i..

Refining has been transformed into an industry that is once again attracting significant investment. Demand is expected to outstrip capacity additions for the next three years, thus maintaining the cu..

The 2007 State of the Union Address from Pres. George W. Bush contained program initiatives regarding energy sources and applications that directly affect the US refining industry. Pres. Bush urged Co..

After experiencing robust growth in recent years due to rapidly rising prices, catalyst demand will moderate in the near term due to falling raw material and energy costs. Further out, growth will re-..

On March 23, 2005, the BP Texas City refinery experienced a catastrophic process accident. One of the most serious US workplace disasters of the past two decades, the accident resulted in 15 deaths an..

A new report researched by Energy Business Reports examines how coal liquefaction offers environmental benefits, cost savings and energy security. Road trials of coal-based fuels have shown that signi..

A new analysis tracks productivity for one of the HPI's major feedstocks. A key finding from the study is that rising production costs are causing diminishing returns for US natural gas producers. Des..

Global warming I read with interest the letter of Dr. Chevriere in HP's November 2006 issue and have looked at the material he recommends. I have to express some qualms at his choices. One is by an au..