Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

March 2011

Archive

Special Report: Corrosion Control

Improving pH control mitigates corrosion in crude units

Equipment and pipe failures can be avoided through better desalting practices and inhibitor injections

Avoid brittle fracture in pressure vessels
Chagalesh Consulting Engineers: Khazrai, F.  |  Haghighi, H. B.  |  Kordabadi, H.

Key points identify effects from auto-refrigeration on steel vessels

Updates on improving refractory lining service life
SABIC Technology Centre: Maity, M.

Tips help maintenance and operations care and maintain refractory products in high-temperature operations

Flare stack structure revamp: A case history
Reliance Industries Ltd.: Singh, S.

An innovative approach was used to repair an older flare structure online without an extensive shutdown

Bonus Report: Plant Safety

Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard turns four: What’s next?
ADT Advanced Integration: Loughin, R.

An in-depth look at the standard

Process safety: Blind spots and red flags
Mustang Engineering Inc.: Shephard, T.

Improving safety for organizations involve more than technological solutions; understanding processes and plant interactions are a must

Consider new design criteria equipment modules
Lectrus Corp.: Cole, D.  |  Austin, D.

Construction offers cost-effective protection of critical systems

Engineering Case Histories

Case 61: Pressure loss in a reactor
Consulting Engineer: Sofronas, A.

Much information is available from a simple analysis

Instrumentation

Avoid these top-10 instrumentation headaches
AVEVA: Gibson, D.

Visual engineering program solves designer and engineer issues across the industry

Columns

HP Reliability: Oil mist and electric motor windings
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

We often get questions relating to oil mist and how it affects electric motor windings. For a quick answer, contact us at Gulf Publishing via e-mail. We’ll steer you in the right direction by exp..

HP Integration Strategies: Terminal automation: More challenging than it looks

Due to increasing market, competitive, regulatory and social pressures, terminal automation is more important today than ever before. Nevertheless, many smaller petroleum-product terminals continue to..

HPIn Europe: China enters and Russia deepens its influence in European refining
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Wright, Tim L.

Like for the local couple that went long-distance ice skating here on the Swedish west coast recently, there are disconcerting rumblings of change underfoot in the European refining industry. This cou..

HP Water Management: Passivation in cooling water circuits
MarTech Systems, Inc.: Huchler, L. A.

Passivation—the formation of a corrosion-resistant oxide on a clean metal surface—is the key to optimizing system reliability on the waterside of heat exchangers. Most plant personnel are aw..

HP In Brief: HPIn Brief

Refineries for sale BP is looking to sell two of its US refineries. The company has officially put a “for sale” sign in front of its refineries in Texas City, Texas, and Carson, California. ..

HP Impact: Pipeline safety bill introduced in US Senate
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Two US senators have introduced legislation to enhance pipeline safety in the country. The bill strengthens pipeline safety oversight by the US federal government and addresses long-standing safety is..

HP Impact: 2010 midstream M&A activity hits $49 billion
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Worldwide mergers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions involving midstream energy assets, which include natural gas pipelines, gas-gathering and processing facilities, as well as tankers and diversifie..

HP Impact: Association says CFATS should be made permanent
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

In written testimony before a US congressional panel, the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association (NPRA) said existing Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) are effective and shou..

HP Impact: US demand for activated carbon growing
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

US demand for activated carbon, including both virgin and reactivated products sold by activated carbon suppliers, is forecast to grow 15.8% per year to 1.2 billion pounds in 2014. The main driver of ..

HP Construction: North America
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Meche, Helen

Sasol plans to construct what is said to be the world’s first commercial ethylene tetramerization unit, capable of producing over 100,000 metric tpy of combined 1-octene and 1-hexene at its Lake ..

HP Construction: South America
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Meche, Helen

Albemarle Corp. and Petrobras have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a world-scale hydroprocessing catalyst (HPC) production plant on the site of their existing joint-venture Fabrica Cario..

HP Construction: Europe
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Meche, Helen

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Sojitz Corp., Japan, jointly with China National Chemical Engineering Corp. (CNCEC), have received an order from Joint Stock Co. Ammoni of the Republic of T..

HP Construction: Middle East
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Meche, Helen

GE has been selected by Saudi Aramco, for agreements totaling nearly $500 million, to supply a broad range of equipment and services for an expansion of the Shaybah gasoil processing facilities. Valua..

HP Construction: Asia-Pacific
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Meche, Helen

Synthesis Energy Systems, Inc. (SES) has successfully completed a commercial-scale demonstration test in which more than 2,000 tons of high-ash coal from Queensland, Australia, was gasified at its Zao..

HP Associations: Maintenance, securing the cloud and a pep talk
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Microsoft’s Global Energy Forum was held in January at the Westin Galleria in Houston. The gathering offered a little bit of everything for interested parties: some upstream, some downstream, lot..

Free Literature

Solid-state purge controller  Applied Analytics, Inc. (AAI) offers a brochure on its ePurge X next-generation solution for air-purging electronic enclosures. Unlike conventional purge controllers..

New Developments

Water-treatment product extends carbon life and reduces life-cycle costs AquaCarb 1240CAT’s specially processed coconut-shell-based carbon is said to offer enhanced performance capabilities ..

Turnaround and Maintenance 2011 Supplement

How would you rate leadership of your capital projects?
Consultant: Patty, R. M.  |  Denton, M. A.

To achieve substantially improved benchmarks in project performance, profound change is needed

What are the ‘magnificent seven’ elements to successfully pick a contractor?

Valuable pointers help industrial plant managers minimize downtime, maintain quality and safety to improve operations