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

Middle East

Sasol eyes growth in North America, exit from Iran

Sasol's CEO said the company has a “huge strategy” in North America. In Louisiana, it is looking at building an $8 billion to $9 billion gas-to-liquids plant that would produce 96,000 bpd of mostly diesel. It is also looking at a 48,000 bpd plant in Alberta, Canada that would cost about $8 billion.

SK Energy, Kuwait agree to build Indonesia refinery, petrochemical complex

The refinery will have a capacity to produce between 200,000 and 300,000 bpd of Kuwaiti crude oil and will be located inside the petrochemical complex, which will be built in Balongan, West Java, according to KUNA.

Foster Wheeler wins engineering on monoethylene glycol project of Qatar, Shell

The MEG facility will be part of a new petrochemicals complex in Ras Laffan Industrial City being developed by a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and Shell. The two-train MEG facility, based on Shell’s OMEGA technology, is planned to produce 1.5 million tpy of MEG. The expected startup date was not disclosed.

Maximize diesel production in an FCC-centered refinery, Part 1

For refineries with an FCC unit as the main conversion vehicle, the debate is how existing refinery assets can best be used to economically increase diesel production.

Redefining reforming catalyst performance: High selectivity and stability

Axens: Le Goff, P.-Y.  |  Lopez, J.
Axens North America: Ross, J.

Highly developed CCR catalysts are more robust to ensure extended service over 7–9 years.

Upgrade heavy oil more cost-efficiently

Ivanhoe Energy: Cabrera, C. A.  |  Silverman, M. A.

A new technology can economically upgrade and significantly improve the properties of heavy oil by reducing viscosity, increasing gravity and removing contaminants.

Increase FCC processing flexibility by improved catalyst recycling methods

UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company: Wolschlag, L. M.
UOP LLC, a Honeywell Co.: Lippmann, M.

The dynamic global refining market emphasizes the need for greater operating flexibility in the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit.

Successful fouling control hinges on effective monitoring

GE Water & Process Technologies: Price, X.  |  Teran, C.  |  Vanhove, A.  |  Casanova, J.

Equipment reliability, processing flexibility and energy conservation are key objectives for modern refineries. Refiners today are routinely using lower quality, more difficult to process feedstocks t..

What are the benefits of rigorous modeling in heat exchanger design?

Aspen Technology Inc.: Cazenave, J.

This article examines three applications where rigorous heat exchanger models can boost value derived from process simulation and provide more accurate results.

Prevent external corrosion of boiler tubes under refractory lining

SABIC Technology Centre: Maity, M.  |  Biramov, K.  |  Al-Zahrani, E.
Eastern Petrochemical Co.: Kareem, M. A.

A leak developed on the water wall for several boiler tubes within five months of the commissioning of a plant boiler. In this case, the boiler tubes were partially covered with a castable refractory ..