Economics
Update on lubrication systems
Several case histories illustrate the pros and cons for maintaining rotating equipment under various plant conditions.Example 1In late May 2013, a US oil-mist provider in one of the Great Lakes states..
Control moisture in ‘wetted’ rotating equipment
In turbomachinery, water is one of the most deleterious contaminants. Left unchecked, moisture can severely reduce the service life expectancy of oil-wetted rotating and reciprocating components by as..
Wide design margins do not improve engineering
Engineers use design and safety factors in sizing and specifying instrumentation or major process equipment, such as pumps, valves and compressors. Design factors are applied to cover the uncertainty ..
Optimize viscosity control in refining operations
Petroleum is one of the most important hydrocarbons in the global marketplace. It remains the primary source for liquid and transportation fuels, and it is the building block for product manufacturing..
HP Reliability: Was that a failure or ‘just a repair’?
Purists among reliability professionals are sometimes concerned about the accuracy of the measurement of the mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of an asset. There are many ways to conduct this failure f..
HP Automation Strategies: ISA108 Intelligent Device Management focuses on work processes
Over the last decade, field instrumentation and analytical chemistry device suppliers have made tremendous progress incorporating value-added functionality into intelligent devices. This includes enha..
HP Water Management: Best practices for RO operations
Widespread use of reverse osmosis (RO) technology in industrial applications began in the late 1980s, following the introduction of polyamide materials that had a significantly higher permeate flow an..
HP News
US, Norway seek to improve CO2 capture The US and Norway have announced their commitment to support the global carbon capture and storage (CCS) test center network. In a joint release, the two co..
HP People
Melissa Hockstad has joined The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) as vice president of petrochemicals. Ms. Hockstad comes to AFPM as the association expands its petrochemical divisi..
Chemical-grade operation—or not?
The quality of transportation fuels has evolved. Earlier, the fuel quality was based on octane to power larger engines for automobiles and cetane for commercial trucks. As lead was phased out of gasol..

- Digital Feature (sponsored): Three questions oil and gas companies should ask to improve their operations risk management 3/6
- Nextchem awarded engineering/technology services contract from SATORP (Saudi Arabia) 3/6
- PBF Energy's Martinez refinery (California, U.S.) repairs to cost $30 million 3/6
- Lummus Technology, Resynergi announce commercialization of microwave-powered plastic pyrolysis technology 3/6
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas to use sustainable carbon fiber composites in Formula 1 racecars 3/6
- Vopak to build ethane tanks to support Thailand's petrochemical production 3/6