November 2021
Special Focus: Process Controls, Instrumentation and Automation
For safe and smooth operations of petrochemical and refining facilities, it is vital that they are continuously run within defined operating limits, ensuring high reliability of the plant and equipment and delivering per rated capacities throughout their lifecycle.
In process automation, multivariable control has always been considered an area of specialization and a luxury for those companies with sufficient scale and resources to justify its high costs of ownership.
Engineering and Construction
In Part 1, the broad concept of materials management was discussed, along with materials management as an investment and attitude.
Procuring equipment, materials and services are very important to a project’s financial success.
In today’s competitive world, new ways of more efficiently executing a project are being developed every day: one of these is modular construction.
Maintenance and Reliability
Corrosion is one of the most insidious challenges in the oil refining industry.
Mean time between repairs (MTBR) is an index for judging the performance of a specific piece of equipment.
Hydrocarbon Processing 2021 Awards WINNERS
<i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i>, the downstream processing sector’s leading technical publication for nearly 100 yr, has announced the winners for its fifth annual <i>HP</i> Awards, which celebrate innovative technologies and people that have been instrumental in improving facility operations over the past year.
Sustainability
Traditional hydrocarbon nitridation and oxidation technologies, such as caprolactam (CPL) and propene oxide production technologies, present low atom utilization and serious environmental pollution problems.
Environment and Safety
Industrial facilities, especially those operating in the chemical, oil and gas and petroleum industries, contain inherent risks in operations due to the processing of materials that are hazardous in nature.
Hydrogen
Process monitoring is an indispensable practice to keep track of KPIs of an H<sub>2</sub> plant.
Water Management
Water-in-oil content is an important parameter for both the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.
In Part 1 of this article, the authors covered techniques for minimizing corrosion and contaminant ingress from condensate return and feedwater to industrial steam generators.
Bonus Report: Digital Transformation
Have you noticed that many articles about artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) or digital transformation likely include an image of a human brain?
Valves, Pumps and Turbomachinery
Green (or renewable) diesel is a biofuel that offers several advantages over biodiesel, so many refineries are increasingly including it in their production portfolios.
The objective of this article is to share industry experience related to the reliability challenges with vertically suspended molten sulfur pumps. Due to the operating temperatures and the unique chemical properties of sulfur, several operational and reliability challenges are inherently present across the industry.
Critical and severe service applications demand automated valves that perform reliably under punishing conditions, such as high temperatures, high cycle rates, high shutoff pressures, high velocities, very long required service lives and zero-leakage requirements.
Columns
In late September, <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i> hosted the International Refining and Petrochemical Conference (IRPC).
The state of understanding science and facts on one side and distinguishing these from anecdotes and far-fetched opinions on the other side, should be concerning to us.
Thermowells are widely used in industrial applications for measuring temperature; however, with new, high-accuracy, non-invasive alternatives available, it is time to move on from thermowells and embrace more innovative measurement techniques.
Digitalization is fundamental to Repsol’s strategy for the future.
Trends and Resources
As detailed in the Editorial Comment of the October issue of <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i>, the nominees for the 2021 Top Projects Awards have been announced, with voting ongoing at HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
As new low-carbon diesel fuels and blends become more readily available, it is important to understand the differences between them and how each impacts engine performance.
- Digital Exclusive (sponsored): NXRe™: A novel recycling technology to support the plastics industry in creating efficient and effective circular value chains 12/22
- Portugal's Galp plans to start producing biofuels in 2026 12/20
- Prax and Shell call off deal on stake in PCK Schwedt oil refinery 12/20
- Nigeria's Dangote Refinery hits 85% refining capacity 12/20
- India's BPCL buys first Argentinian crude oil cargo for Feb. delivery 12/20
- Sinopec's Zhenhai oil refinery expands capacity to 40 MMtpy 12/20