October 2020

Archive

Special Focus: Plant Safety and Environment

FTO: An enabling emission control technology for petrochemical plant expansions
Armstrong, P., Predatsch, E., Selas-Linde North America

For the petrochemical industry, the U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) has the locational advantage of proximity to cheap feedstock, and to an abundance of pipeline infrastructure and terminals for export markets.

Protect your assets and our environment
Ruitenberg, R., Nalco Water, an Ecolab company

Process cooling usually comprises the largest part of the water footprint of a refinery or petrochemical plant.

Optimize flare gas recovery system design to reduce emissions
Lu, S.-G, CTCI, Corp.

Emissions from flares worsen air quality and produce waste gas. A flare gas recovery system is designed to facilitate CO2 reduction.

Achieve process safety, asset integrity and reliability with an integrated HAZOP study
Chakravorty, S. L., Independent Consultant

Abnormal situations in refining and petrochemical plant operations can interfere with plant reliability and efficient operations, especially for highly complex processes.

Reboiler pinch: An approach to optimize flare system design during FEED
Amin, H., Saudi Aramco; Dhote, P., Kanade, S., Siemens

A process plant’s pressure relief and flare systems are critical safety elements.

When toxic risk cannot be prevented, mitigate consequences of H2S with fluid curtains
Benintendi, R., Megaris, Ltd.

Toxic risk preferably should be controlled according to Kletz’s inherent safety principle, which consists of some preventive golden rules, notably minimize, substitute, moderate and simplify.

Refining Technologies

Shape the refinery of the future through integration—Part 2
Maiti, S. N., SNC-Lavalin Inc.

Part 1 of this article, which appeared in the September issue, discussed various aspects of evaluating options that enable an existing refiner to make investment decisions to optimally diversify into petrochemicals through integration. Part 2 will detail a case study that illustrates the synergies of refinery-petrochemical integration through a propylene recovery unit from an FCC-based refinery, as well as financial, configuration and sensitivity analyses.

Catalysts

Maximize FCC product yields with a specialty catalyst formulation
Kukade, S., Kumar, P., Ramachandrarao, B., Hindustan Petroleum Green R&D Center, Hindustan Petroleum

Fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) is one of the most important conversion processes used in petroleum refineries and has been in use for more than 75 yr.

Process Control, Instrumentation and Automation

Reduce gasoline blending giveaway with inline blending and online analyzers
Curcio, E., Barsamian, A., Refinery Automation Institute, LLC

With best available technology, how much practical reduction in giveaway can be achieved, with the caveat that there is no such thing as “zero error” in value measurements? Also, can those numbers change if inline blending is used? This article seeks to answer both questions.

Valves, Pumps and Turbomachinery

Mitigate transient/hydraulic surge in liquid pipelines with nozzle check valves
Khiani, G. N., GAPV Inc.

Liquid pipelines often come across hydraulic transients, which can damage pipelines and associated equipment (i.e., pumps, valves, stations, etc.).

Columns

Editorial Comment: Hydrocarbon Processing’s 2020 Top Projects award nominees revealed
Nichols, Lee, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

Hydrocarbon Processing has announced the nominees for its annual Top Projects awards.

Reliability: Tips on marketing to the reliability-focused
Bloch, Heinz P., Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

Technical writers and other communicators occasionally have cause to think about matters having to do with publication practices and why some publications have higher quality or more reader-relevant illustrations than others.

Maintenance: Zero-based, custom-built, reliability-driven—A new kind of maintenance organization
Reed, D., Eastman Chemical Company; Thompson, M., Consultant

In the October 2018 issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, the authors published an article—“Improving plant performance by changing a maintenance culture”—describing the first two years of Eastman Chemical Co.’s Longview, Texas site’s journey to maintenance excellence, which began in 2016.

Safety: Strategic considerations in contemporary process safety management
Shah, G. C., Wood Group

During this unprecedented industry crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, the process industry’s response has been multi-faceted, showing its generosity and humanitarian side, as well as its collective resilience to an environment filled with formidable challenges.

Safety: Addressing corrosion at petrochemical plants starts with carbon
Dalton, B., Thermo Fisher Scientific

Maintaining the structural integrity of a pipeline is a significant investment of time and resources for organizations in the oil and gas industry.

South America: State reform to boost investment attractiveness of Brazilian refining
Gerden, E., Contributing Writer

Brazil’s refining industry is on the verge of large-scale change. Its recent steps toward de-monopolization and liberalization, as well as the divestment of refining assets by state-owned oil major Petrobras, are propelling Brazilian refining in a more attractive direction for investment.

Automation: Significant improvement of soft sensor estimation by automation in bias correction

The main objective of any industry is to operate as close as possible to the point where profits are maximized.

Digital: Enable reliable operations in a volatile oil and gas market
Covino, L., GE Digital

Hydrocarbon processing businesses increase profitability and survivability by optimizing production and/or reducing expenses to maximize profitability—or in the extreme, cash flow.

Industry Perspective: IRPC Americas ONLINE: A sincere thanks
Nichols, Lee, Hydrocarbon Processing Staff

Each year, Hydrocarbon Processing hosts events to bring together professionals in the oil and gas industry to share ideas and knowledge on the latest advancements in processing technologies and operations.

Business Trends: Autonomous operations in process manufacturing—Part 2
Agnihotri, R., IBM Corp.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate an autonomous operations (AO) vision, along with its feasibility, by conceptualizing a roadmap where meaningful progress can be achieved in a horizon of 3 yr–20 yr.