Environment & Safety
Lifting of US crude export ban will impact process safety management
Since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, the US government has restricted the export of crude oil to curb dependence on crude oil imports.
Engineering Case Histories: Case 90: Precautions when working near equipment
Most machines and pressure vessels are designed with safety in mind, but they can release large amounts of energy if not constructed, maintained or operated correctly.
Innovations
Planned shutdowns, turnarounds and outages (STOs) are often scheduled for preventive maintenance and new equipment installation that must be performed to keep a plant running and in regulatory compliance.
GE to provide wastewater treatment for Chinese coal-to-chemical plant
GE’s ZLD evaporator and crystallizer system will eliminate liquid discharge of waste and enable water reuse at the Shaanxi Future Energy Chemical Co. coal-to-chemical plant in China.
Death toll from Mexican chemical blast rises to 32
The massive explosion took place on Wednesday afternoon at the facility's chlorinate 3 plant in the Gulf state of Veracruz, sending a black cloud of smoke hundreds of meters into the air and giving off a powerful smell of ammonia.
Pemex petrochemical plant explosion kills dozens, injures hundreds
At least 32 people died and 136 were injured after a leak caused a deadly explosion at the plant, and the death toll could still rise further, according to the CEO of oil giant Pemex.
Petroecuador halts Esmeraldas refinery on quake
Petroecuador said it would assess when to restart operations during the day after verifying that no infrastructure was damaged by the 7.8 magnitude quake which struck off the country's Pacific coast.
Cheap oil is blunting drive for fuel efficiency
Now that the costs of transport fuel have dropped sharply and appear set to remain low for several years, the focus will shift from efficiency to speed, power and convenience.
API poll: High ethanol mandates worry US voters
“Across the political spectrum, voters are concerned about the significant damage the RFS mandate and higher ethanol blends could cause to automobiles, motorcycles and almost every type of gasoline powered engine,” said Frank Macchiarola, downstream group director at the API.
Lyondell cuts Houston refinery output after fire
A large fire broke out Friday morning at LyondellBasell’s 263,776-bpd Houston refinery in Texas. It is the second major refinery fire in two days in the metro Houston area.
- Aramco signs MoU with Microsoft to help advance industrial AI and digital talent transformation 2/23
- Chandra Asri's chlor alkali-ethylene dichloride project reaches 50% completion 2/23
- Solvay to reduce production at Torrelavega soda ash plant due to market conditions 2/23
- Zeon Corp. holds groundbreaking for new cyclo-olefin polymers plant 2/23
- Honeywell adjusts acquisition agreement for Johnson Matthey's Catalyst Technologies business down to £1.325 billion 2/23
- Indorama Ventures and AMB Spa introduce industrial-scale breakthrough for recyclable multilayer trays 2/23
