November 2014

As a part of an initiative to conserve energy and other valuable resources, an independent petroleum refiner began a two-year training program in the summer of 2013 for more than 900 operators at six ..

Processors should instead grasp some understanding of the costs and benefits by asking themselves: “How much will these changes really cost, and what’s in it for me?”

Especially when handling hydrogen, reciprocating compressors must provide ruggedness, operating flexibility and energy efficiency at pressures up to 3,000 psi (200 bar).

With these accidents, has refining internationally fallen sub-standard in terms of safety? Such a question is likely best addressed by examining the existing HPI standard.

The safe warehousing of hazardous chemicals is a design challenge in chemical and petrochemical projects. A methodology is provided for designing a safe warehouse, and a case study shows the high level of analysis and integration required.

Much of the process equipment operating today was designed to construction codes that did not require a formal evaluation for low-temperature considerations. Metal temperature highly influences the fr..

Petrochemical yields from the FCCU is an area of increasing interest as more companies try to integrate refining and petrochemical operations.

Solids in crude oils present refiners with many challenges. Processing higher-solids-content crude oils increases the need for the management of such solids even more. The Canadian Association of Petr..

A recent HP webinar answered a number of compressor-related questions. This same webinar also generated a few additional ones. A viewer thought that two statements from this presentation were in contr..

Virtualization involves separating an information technology (IT) resource from specific physical hardware. This is usually managed by a specialized software layer called a hypervisor, which provides ..

2013 was a dismal year for European refining in terms of record low crude runs, which reflect weaked demand outlook and increasing competition from other regions. Out to 2020, we envisage European ref..

I like a routine each morning where I get up early and work on long-term projects—important tasks that lack the urgency of a short deadline, like reading that new safety critical systems book, wr..

Vietnam is developing six large-scale refinery projects with the potential to add 1.36 MMbpd of new domestic refining capacity at a total cost of over $50 B. This would reverse the country’s status from a net importer of refined products to a net exporter by 2020.

Cyber security is still a critical issue that the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) must address. Speaking at the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Q&A and Technology forum in Denver, ..

EPA: GHG emissions from refineries increase 1.6% in 2013The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its fourth year of GHG data, with over 8,000 large facilities reporting 2013 emissions..

Mid–October crude oil prices slumped as the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced a slight increase in global oil demand by 700 Mbpd. In contrast, oil production is forecast to increase by ..

Software helps optimize energy performanceIn November, Yokogawa Electric Corp. is releasing Energy Performance Analytics (EP-Analytics), a software tool (Fig. 1) that uses energy performance indicator..

Willbros Group has announced that Robert R. Harl, who joined Willbros in 2006 and has served as CEO of the company since January 2007, is retiring as CEO and director when his current employment agree..

Strip chart recorders with SD card slot for electronic data recording Yokogawa Electric Corp. has added an SD card slot to its μR10000/μR20000 series strip chart recorders, enabling the..

All-digital online standard product catalog  Gems Sensors & Controls’ (Gems’) fully digital ‟living” online standard product catalog (www.GemsSensors.com) is said to be the o..

The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) has known for some time that a great shift change is eminent. The experienced engineers, chemists and crafts hired in the 1970s and 1980s are reaching retirem..