Environment & Safety
HP Automation Safety: Getting your functional safety program started
Several operating companies know about relatively new functional safety standards like ANSI/ISA 84.01 and IEC61508. Many are convinced that the economic benefits of safety life cycle implementation ar..
HP Insight: Synchronizing people and tools
"Supply chain management" considers optimizing refinery operations, which includes supply and distribution. The diversity of upgrading and treating units, and the variety of processed products has sig..
HP Automation Safety: A safety culture
I have come to the conclusion that it is hard to maintain a good safety record in the HPI. I have met many topnotch control engineers with good safety orientation. They seem to be doing..
Predict contaminant concentrations in deaerator-vent emissions
Here is a tool to estimate maximum concentrations of contaminants in hydrogen-plant condensate
HP Automation Safety: The trend toward SIL2
A new market study I worked on shows that the percentage of SIL3 safety instrumented functions (SIFs) is decreasing. SIFs are getting classified more and more as SIL1 and SIL2. Why is t..
HAZROP: an approach to combining HAZOP and RCM
A single merged activity provides resource savings
HP Automation Safety: The safe failure fraction barrier
Two charts in IEC61508 are getting a lot of attention as engineers begin to implement design processes to meet the standard. These are the "Safe Failure Fraction (SFF)" tables located i..
HP Automation Safety: A lot of work
I was talking to an engineer from a major petrochemical company today about implementing the new safety standards. The discussion covered ISA 84.01 and the new IEC61511. Both are perfor..
HP Insight: E-biz and the HPI
Technology is a wonderful medium; it can push forward advancements. Equally important, it can also generate bewilderment and initiate chaos. Overzealous organizations rushed to be playe..
HP Automation Safety: Making decisions about risk reduction
Although we all make decisions every day, very few of us use a systematic process. When making decisions about things like risk reduction, a systematic process is essential. The nature ..
- Brazil to phase out subsidy for diesel more slowly than for gasoline, minister says 7/3
- Chinese independent refiners snap up discounted Mideast oil as supplies rise 7/3
- India refiner Nayara's gasoline sold to Russia via traders 7/3
- India seeks to quell public backlash on ethanol-mixed fuel after 'experiment' remark 7/3
- Venezuela's largest refinery in service after power outage following earthquake 7/3
- U.S.-Iran war still trails the 1979 oil shock by total losses 7/3

