Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

Economics

Catalytic processes operation during downturns in aromatics complexes

ExxonMobil Chemical Co.: Andrews, J.  |  Hung, J.  |  Molinier, M.  |  Lim, Y. T.

Paraxylene production is a highly cyclical business that is subject to changes in the global economy and dependent on feedstock costs, alternative dispositions for aromatics, utilities costs and plant locations, among other factors. With the large PX capacity added by recently started crude-to-chemicals complexes and the expected impact of the economic recession on commodities demand, many aromatics complexes face a significant slowdown in the coming months or, possibly, years.

Conventional FCC to maximum propylene production

TechnipFMC Process Technology: Singh, R.  |  Lai, S.  |  Dharia, D.
W. R. Grace: Cipriano, B.  |  Hunt, D.

Fluid catalytic cracking is one of the most important conversion processes used in refineries. This process converts heavy petroleum fractions into lighter, higher-value products, such as gasoline, propylene and others.

Business Trends: Autonomous operations in process manufacturing—Part 1

IBM Corp.: Agnihotri, R.

Progress in the driverless car segment has served to illuminate one of the major future goals in industrial and process manufacturing: autonomous operations in process plants—in other words, the autonomous plant. While AO for process plants has received interest from the process automation and control industry, limited serious discussion has taken place in the process operations and IT domains.

Editorial Comment: Optimizing operations and recognizing achievements

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Over the next two months, <ital>Hydrocarbon Processing</ital> will host two separate events for a global audience. One will gather the brightest minds in the industry to share the latest innovations and technologies in the industry, while the other will recognize the leaders in advancing the industry toward safer and more reliable, sustainable and profitable operations. Both events—<ital>Hydrocarbon Processing’s</ital> IRPC and the HP Awards—will be streamed on digital platforms and free to view.

Project Management: Four tips for navigating a shutdown, turnaround or outage successfully

Prometheus Group: Veen, M.

In the oil and gas sector, managing a shutdown, turnaround, or even an outage is an unavoidable requirement.

Business Trends: Managing risk and uncertainty: The importance of optimizing your value chain

AVEVA: McMullen, J

No doubt exists that COVID-19 is disrupting the oil and gas industry. Oil prices are falling, demand is down, supply is up, and storage capacity is limited. In these difficult times, the industry must swiftly act to keep business viable to come back strong when conditions improve.

Executive Viewpoint: How to develop a successful asset management strategy during the coronavirus downturn

T.A. Cook Consultants Inc.: Hess, F. U.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has disrupted all sectors of the oil and gas industry, including asset management.

Advanced cooling tower water treatment—Part 1

ChemTreat: Post, R.  |  Kalakodimi, R. P.  |  Buecker, B.

Refineries, petrochemical plants and similar facilities rely on a significant number of heat exchangers for process control and product formulation throughout the plant.

Best practices for aromatics extractive distillation in integrated complexes

Sulzer GTC Technology: Liu, Z.  |  Wang, Y.  |  Zhao, L.

Integrated refining/aromatics/olefins complexes are an efficient and effective configuration to maximize crude oil feedstock value and optimize the value of the entire product chain.

Maximizing diesel hydrotreater profit by multivariable optimization: A case study

Haldor Topsoe: R. Bandyopadhyay  |  Alkilde, O. F.

A diesel hydrotreater (DHT) is a critical unit within an oil refinery. A DHT processes the diesel range fractions obtained from different units of the refinery—such as from the crude distillation unit and the delayed coker unit—to adhere to diesel fuel market specifications.