For many years, reliability-focused engineers have observed flawed procurement processes for mechanical equipment. Many requirements are supposedly aimed at the lowest possible lifecycle cost; however..
In this case history, a new monitoring system was installed on a critical service hyper compressor for a Middle East (ME) ethylene complex. This unit supported two 400 Mton polyethylene (PE) units; do..
Industrial centrifugal compressors installed in hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) complexes absorb significant amounts of mechanical power when compressing gases. A small part of the mechanical en..
A common root cause for compressor failure during first startup is a failure of the dry-gas seal (DGS) system. To avoid failures of gas compressors, the project team and end users must understand the importance and significance of the DGS very early in the basic design phase.
The US Energy Information Administration’s (EIA’s) “Today in Energy” brief evaluated how US refineries are processing record amounts of crude oil (Fig. 1), with Midwest and Gulf Co..
The federal government, through Pemex Gas and Petroquímica Básica, using the law that regulates Mexican oil, decided to promote private investment to build a new major petrochemical complex called Ethylene XXI.
Every style or type of compressor was developed to serve a particular process purpose. Collective references have devoted hundreds of thousands of pages on this topic. Two books have attempted to summ..
What is the definition of “first of kind” when discussing equipment and products? The definition used in this editorial is the “first built for your company,” and it can often have..
Many HP readers are very familiar with the Texas A&M Turbomachinery (TAMU Turbo) and Pump Symposia events. The Houston-based 2014 forum, held Sept. 21–25, set new records in both attendance and n..
All plant workers want to reduce the safety risk associated with turbomachinery operation while avoiding nuisance trips. The goal is to run machines in an efficient manner. In this context, safety ris..