May 2009

Archive

Special Report: Maintenance/Reliability

What's new in vertical enclosed shaft-driven sump pumps
Bloch, Heinz P., Hydrocarbon Processing Staff; Franklin, R., Emile Egger & Cie

Advanced designs incorporate axial-spiral design casing internals and fully recessed impellers

Proper gasket removal and replacement can reduce maintenance and increase uptime
Burgess, D., Hurley, T., Garlock Sealing Technologies

Follow these guidelines for trouble-free performance

Risk-based inspection, panacea for plant failures?
Pullarcot, S. K., International Inspections Centre W.L.L.

Understand the limitations for an effective implementation

Engineering Case Histories

Case 50: Gearbox input shaft failure analysis
Sofronas, A., Consulting Engineer

Make sure the same failures are not repeated at your affiliated plant sites

Heat Transfer

Rethink planning for heat-recovery systems
Ganapathy, V., Consultant

Better early design of steam generators can save lots of money in operating cogeneration plants

Instrumentation

How to select the better liquid-level measurement system
Aiken, L., MTS Sensors

Here is a closer look at commonly used sensors

Maintenance and Reliability

Improve cooling tower gear drive reliability
DeBaecke, J., Philadelphia Gear Corp.

Applying commodity products instead of engineered solutions can cause premature failure

Petrochemical Developments

Consider new feedstocks for dimethyl ether production
Ansari, S., Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology; Ansari, S. K., International Chemlast (Pct.) Ltd.

This methanol-based petrochemical has growing options within energy markets

Piping/Fluid Flow

Explicit friction factor correlations for turbulent fluid flow in noncircular ducts and polymeric fluids
Goudar, C. T., Bayer HealthCare; Sonnad, J. R., University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

New equation provides highly accurate estimates

New explicit friction factor equation for turbulent flow in rough pipes
Sasan-Amiri, A., Bouali Sina Petrochemical Company

It is more reliable and accurate than existing equations

Project Management

Sustainable cost cuts in capital spending
Siddiqui, A., Engineered Project Services LLC

A reduction program based on your company's unique nature can ensure that budget slashes implemented today will not jeopardize the ability to deliver projects tomorrow

Safety/Loss Prevention

Facility siting—balancing risk vs. cost
Walker, B. A., Brad Adams Walker Architecture, P.C.

Companies should take a second look at identifying and analyzing hazards associated with temporary buildings

Columns

HP Reliability: Getting all the facts is more important than ever
Bloch, Heinz P., Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

An old friend once told me that even the thinnest pancake has two sides. He meant to say there are at least two sides to any argument and listening to only one will be a mistake. In harmony with this..

HP Water Management: Got risk? Cut costs safely
Huchler, L. A., MarTech Systems, Inc.

In this environment of cost cutting, plant personnel are reviewing ALL expenses including water treatment. Operations personnel often target water treatment costs for reductions for two reasons: 1) th..

HP Integration Strategies: Creating a sustainability culture in HPI plants
Hill, D., ARC Advisory Group

Most companies are looking to contain costs and preserve cash. At the same time, manufacturers are being pressured to reduce energy usage and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Most process manufacturers..

HP Construction: North America
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

 Mustang has completed its low sulfur gasoline project at Placid Refining Co. LLC's refinery in Port Allen, Louisiana. Mustang provided the engineering, design, procurement and construction mana..

HP Construction: South America
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

   CB&I has an approximately $50 million contract with Flota Petrolera Ecuatoriana (FLOPEC) to design and build storage facilities for a grassroots liquefied petroleum gas marine terminal in..

HP Construction: Europe
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

 BASF has idled the smaller of its two steam crackers at its site in Ludwigshafen, Germany, due to continuing weak demand. The temporary shutdown of the cracker, which has a capacity of 220,000 ..

HP Construction: Middle East
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

 Chiyoda and Technip joined with Qatargas to celebrate the inauguration of the Qatargas 2 project in Ras Laffan, Qatar. The recently completed trains 4 and 5 have a unit capacity of 7.8 million t..

HP Construction: Asia-Pacific
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

 Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) has awarded Larsen & Toubro (L&T) two large project orders for Rs 1344 crores, including a 3.7 MMtpy diesel hydrotreating unit and a 70,000 tpy..

HP In Brief: HPIn Brief
Weirauch, Wendy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

US refiners ending maintenance season By April, refiners in the US are typically coming out of maintenance and ramping up production of gasoline fo..

HP Impact: HPImpact: China: New domestic capacity to shrink some petrochem imports
Weirauch, Wendy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

After 17 years of continuous strong growth, China has become the world's third largest economic power and the country's economy has been more integrated into the global economy than ever in its histor..

HP Impact: HPImpact: US refiners' utilization down 5%; East Coast plants 'most vulnerable'
Weirauch, Wendy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

US refineries, particularly those in the East Coast and Gulf Coast regions, are most vulnerable to utilization cuts and will have to reduce throughputs further as a result of the economic downturn, ac..

HP Impact: HPImpact: Demand for plant asset management shows surprising resiliency
Weirauch, Wendy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

The worldwide 2008 market for Plant Asset Management (PAM) systems has grown an average of over 13%/yr since 2006. The PAM system market expanded over $400 million dollars since 2006, according to a ..

HP Impact: HPImpact: Renewed interest for US IGCC, carbon-capture coal power plant
Weirauch, Wendy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

A proposal to build a futuristic coal-burning power plant in central Illinois that languished under the Bush administration has received a fresh look from the new US Energy Secretary Steven Chu. Suppo..

HP Associations: The US refining industry is still alive and vital
Thinnes, Billy, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

  The US refining industry is still alive and vital The 107th NPRA Annual Meeting took place in San Antonio, Texas, last month. Global economic..