October 2013

Wireless transmitters can offer a solution to many overlapping problems for refiners by providing a combination of benefits in process operations and equipment monitoring.

Advanced process control (APC) offers solutions to use full catalyst regenerator capacity safely and to generate substantial benefits. Significant yield increases and operating cost reductions can be ..

This algorithm, when properly tuned, can greatly reduce the quantity of off-spec material made from a process upset. It can be the largest contributor to the benefits captured by improved process control.

HR professionals who use these new approaches into their development platforms will be well-positioned to help their firms weather the current industrial environment, which is increasingly becoming real-time.

Advanced Process Control (APC) has been used extensively to assist in operating refinery and petrochemical processes safely and profitably. However, with the constantly increasing fuel and environment..

Due to tough economic conditions, refiners are pressed to improve profitability. There is greater pressure to optimize gasoline and diesel blending. What are the options to improve processing of trans..

The market price for ethane is well below historical values, and projections indicate that this condition will persist. What are the options to find economical applications for gas and related hydrocarbons?

In early 2012, a rotating equipment engineer was involved in a machinery quality assessment (MQA).1 Located halfway around the globe, this engineer’s new job was to oversee the engineering, procu..

The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) must address a number of potentially catastrophic safety issues. One issue, in particular, is the growing use of remanufactured equipment and components from ..

Mexico is constructing the first major private-sector petrochemical project in 20 years. Etileno (Ethylene) XXI is a $3.2 billion (B) greenfield petrochemical complex being built in Nanchital near Coa..

It is generally accepted that the health of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) loops and model predictive control (MPC) has a direct impact on a plant’s bottom line. Improved process control ..

Information technology (IT) includes conventional computers, operating systems, networking components and software platforms. All IT developments continue to increase in importance for industrial cont..

FOUNDATION Fieldbus is a very busy, proactive organization. In 2014, the group will celebrate its 20th anniversary. Foundation fieldbus specifications evolve both in terms of new technology projects a..

Turbomachinery, essential to refining and petrochemical operations, has significant impact on plant production, maintenance and energy consumption. One of the most effective ways to improve turbomachi..

Wear occurs frequently on machinery. In its simplest terms, it is the undesirable removal of material. When troubleshooting the root cause of wear in equipment, the engineer’s interest should be ..

While the Keystone XL pipeline project remains in limbo, the concept behind it is very much alive.Roughly 70% of industry respondents predict that pipelines will be the most popular crude oil transpor..

Changes on the horizon at Harburg refineryNynas has received approval from the European Commission to take over production and responsibility for the base oil plant and associated production units at ..

Lukoil recently offered an outlook on the long-term prospects for the global hydrocarbon processing industry. The outlook’s objective is to analyze trends that will (in Lukoil’s view) determ..

Statoil’s board has concluded an investigation into the terrorist attack at the BP gas plant in In Amenas, Algeria. The investigation team visited the In Amenas plant on April 16 and issued its f..

US asphalt demand is forecast to increase 3.7% annually to 27.9 million tons (MMt) in 2017. This is equivalent to 154 million bbl of primary asphalt, the vast majority of which is refined petroleum as..

Burner management system ideal for retrofitsPrincipal Technology Inc. offers a modern burner management system (BMS) (Fig. 1) specifically designed for the retrofit of legacy boilers, ovens, furnaces ..

New country website offers proximity for GEA’s Chinese customers  GEA Heat Exchangers has launched its new country website for China—one of its largest sales markets. With six locations..

State-of-the-art data management for shaft and geometrical alignment Alignment Center 2.2, PRÜFTECHNIK Alignment Systems’ all-in-one PC solution, takes care of all the data management n..

Ongoing concern about the sulfur content of natural gas and processed fuels is leading to tighter regulations and more stringent standards for sulfur emissions from processing facilities. In particula..