Engineering & Design
HP Industry Perspectives: Tale of two continents
Growing supplies by non-OPEC countries has introduced some calm for crude oil prices. However, other factors are influencing profitability and margins. In the US, the abundance of shale oil and the 40..
HP News
API releases three new standards to improve refinery safetyThe American Petroleum Institute (API) issued three new first-edition standards to enhance refinery safety and inspection programs:RP 583, Co..
What is the ‘refinery of the future’?
For years, technology experts and engineers have discussed the elements and operations that will define the refinery of the future. The refining industry has made great progress from the early days. H..
Use crowdsourcing to boost process simulation
There are many ways to enhance the user experience of next-generation simulators by borrowing concepts from crowdsourcing, data mining and related fields.
Improve performance of exchangers in quench-water services
Dual-enhanced (DE) tubes are widely used in shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HEXs) in a range of industries. They have become a standard in multiple clean services for the hydrocarbon processing indust..
A chemist’s perspective on organic fouling in ethylene operations
Since organic fouling cannot be completely eliminated, ethylene producers must use operational, chemical and mechanical methods to minimize heat transfer losses and equipment downtime.
Automate furnace controls to improve safety and energy efficiency
Furnace firing is the biggest single operating expense in any refinery. Consider a medium-size refinery (250,000 bpd) that consumes 2,000 MMBtu/h. At a cost of $5/MMBtu, that’s $87.6 MM/yr being ..
Use online conditioning to monitor electric motors
Quality and health assessments of motor insulation are important aspects during the manufacturing, as well as the operation, of electrical motors. Today, there are several offline insulation quality a..
Targeted liquid injection improves shed deck performance
This case study shows how the installation of an unique piping and lance design achieved targeted liquid injection, quenched vapor hot zones and reduced resid entrainment into the heavy coker gasoil product.
Which margin levers impact Group I and Group II base stock competitiveness? Part 1
As much as the lubricants industry might wish it otherwise, base stocks production is becoming more commoditized, and it is intertwined inextricably with mainstream refining operations. The vast major..
- Bechtel greenlit for Sabine Pass Liquefaction expansion in Southwest Louisiana (U.S.) 5/29
- Philippines receives rare Iranian crude cargo after wartime disruption 5/29
- Gazprom and Sibur resume talks on possible ethane project to supply additional feedstock to the Kazanorgsintez petrochemicals plant 5/29
- European Commission debates policy shift to protect industry from China 5/29
- Mitsui seeks LNG investments to meet power demand from data centers 5/29
- Kenyan government backs Gulf fuel supply deals after opposition criticism 5/29

