Project Management
HP Reliability: Does Pareto’s 80/20 rule apply to reliability engineers?
In the 1970s, an oil refinery discovered that 7% of its 3,200 process pumps experienced a disproportionate share of the facility’s yearly pump outage events. Slightly over 60% of the money spent ..
HP Petrochemicals: Update on ethylene tube coating technology
Improving the efficiency of ethylene furnaces has been a long-time goal for olefin manufacturers. The steam cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbons to yield ethylene also coproduces unwanted coke that a..
HP Project Management: Outsourcing creates opportunities beyond engineering
The present “shale revolution” has generated opportunities in the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) industry that even a few years ago would have seemed fanciful. Billions of d..
HP Viewpoint: Going our way?—How the US will benefit from natural gas and fuel cell technology
A remarkable convergence is taking place in North America, as rising natural gas production meets the growing market for both stationary fuel cells providing power to businesses and the utility grid, ..
HP People
ABB’s board of directors unanimously nominated Peter Voser to succeed Hubertus von Grünberg as chairman.
Total inks new labor agreement with global union
A committee made up of members from Total and IndustriALL will meet annually to ensure that the agreement has been implemented and to identify and promote best practices.
DCS migration: Lessons learned
In 2005, TOTAL’s Port Arthur refinery (PAR), like many present-day refining and petrochemical facilities, found itself with an obsolete, at-capacity distributed control system (DCS). As shown in ..
Avoid counterproductive project management practices
For many years, reliability-focused engineers have observed flawed procurement processes for mechanical equipment. Many requirements are supposedly aimed at the lowest possible lifecycle cost; however..
Use a schedule confidence tool to manage project risk
On most industrial projects, the baseline schedule completion date and the indicated schedule completion date are typically the same, unless the schedule is forcibly re-baselined. Key learnings have indicated that a reevaluation of the scope, schedule and budget is essential.
HP Project Management: German refinery successfully modernizes safety system
In September 2014, the Heide refinery in Germany used two weeks of planned downtime at its pyrolysis plant to migrate to new safety systems. The new system emphasized high plant/equipment availability..
- Evonik expands distribution partnership with IMCD for VISIOMER® Specialty Methacrylates in the U.S. 3/13
- RWE to invest €17 B in the U.S. to power data centers 3/13
- EnEarth awards FEED contract to Kent for the Prinos CO₂ Storage Project in Northern Greece 3/12
- Axens joins consortium trying to develop an eFuels plant in Australia 3/12
- Southern Energy Renewables announce $1.4-B methanol and SAF complex in Louisiana 3/12
- Clariant successfully demonstrates advanced pyrolysis oil upgrading technology for circular plastics with Borealis and SINTEF 3/12
