April 2013

The abundant supply of North American shale energy resources is proving to be not only a boon for exploration and production (E&P) companies and energy consumers, but it is also changing the profitabi..

With the prospect of abundant low-cost ethane, several producers have announced intentions to build new ethylene capacity.

The analysis results indicate that, while investment capital for new plants favors LLDPE, plant profitability—which is a function of product slate (revenue) and cost—is, in many cases, higher for LDPE plants.

As most owners do not have adequately skilled engineering teams to study these scenarios, engaging an experienced, qualified engineering contractor to support the conceptual study is often warranted.

At a Saudi Aramco refinery, a revamp was planned for processing a different crude oil blend to meet Euro 5 diesel and gasoline specifications. The refinery, which processes semi-light crude oil, is sc..

The case history discusses conditions occurring in delayed coker operations at two refineries in Louisiana, the impacts on valve performance, and a solution that offers extended life, better reliability and other benefits.

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most versatile and profitable upgrading processes in a refinery. FCC has maintained its place in the refinery through a series of evolutionary changes to m..

The design of a reliable blowdown system for a large sour gas-processing facility is one of the most important aspects of plant design. Safe design is vital for facility operation. With the developmen..

Webster’s unabridged dictionary defines accident as “Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one’s foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden and unexpected event..

Since the mid-1950s, much progress has been accomplished in the development, design and production of shaft-riding brushes for turbomachinery applications. The machinery includes steam and gas turbine..

Whenever HP editors attend technical conferences, their primary goals include observing industry practices, finding facts and spotting trends. Fact or fictionUnfortunately, presenters sometimes relate..

With the “bring your own device” (BYOD) trend beginning to take hold in the process industries, plant managers and IT groups are taking more interest. Not only do they have legitimate securi..

Ethylene is the key building block for the petrochemical industry. This olefin supports 70% of petrochemical industry production and is used to manufacture a wide variety of products for industrial an..

Nearly all owners of industrial cooling towers feed oxidizing biocides—chlorine (Cl) and bromine (Br)—to kill bacteria in the recirculating cooling water. Minimizing the populations of bacte..

LyondellBasell plans to expand North American ethylene capacityLyondellBasell will raise its ethylene capacity in North America by 18% in coming years through several debottlenecking projects. Locatio..

Key industry officials answer a poll question from HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Amid the Asia-Pacific region’s growing reliance on imports, a report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) identifies obstacles and opportunities for establishing a gas market that reflects ..

With a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 23% over the next five years, the future of the US re-refined basestocks market looks promising, according to a recent study by Kline & Co..

According to a new IHS Chemical global market study, global methanol demand increased 23% during the two-year period of 2010 to 2012, primarily driven by Chinese demand.Annual demand for the product i..

Flowmeter uses Coriolis force in measurementThe Sitrans FC430 flowmeter from Siemens AG is capable of measuring liquids and gases using the Coriolis principle. Flows can be measured with a precision o..

Website’s heat exchanger segment is innovative and customer-oriented  GEA Heat Exchangers Division has launched its new customer website and presents its complete product portfolio on one we..

Flanged valves feature OSHA lock-out/tag-out service High-performance, full-ported Series B41 flanged ball valves are certified to an API-607 fire-safe design with an anti-static stem. The B41 va..

A process unit at BASF’s Geismar, Louisiana manufacturing facility contains a series of six packed-bed reactors filled with a proprietary catalyst. This catalyst promotes an exothermic reaction, ..

Planning and scheduling must work hand-in-hand for a turnaround, outage or shutdown to be executed to budget and schedule. Unless proper diligence is given up-front to planning and scheduling, no amou..