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Refining

Global: Is India ready for the BS-6 changeover?

Contributing Writer: Kanwar, R.

India is the seventh-largest country in the world by land mass. Urbanization is taking place at a rapid pace: According to the country’s 2011 census, more than 377 MM Indians live in nearly 8,000 towns and cities. This count represents more than 31% of the country’s total population.

Commercialization of pyrolysis oil in existing refineries—Part 2

AOTA Energy Consultants LLC: Arbogast, S.  |  Bellman, D.  |  Paynter, D.  |  Wykowski, J.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Baldwin, R. M.

In Part 1 of this article, economic incentives were estimated for relaxing the requirement that biocrude entering the refinery infrastructure be oxygen (O2)-free. It was concluded that an accurate estimate of these incentives is not possible without a significant amount of additional data. Part 2 examines key issues that must be addressed and the associated data needed for this constraint to be relaxed.

Refining: Europe’s refineries: Walking dead or happy valley?

Opportune LLP: Mars, T.

Unloved and increasingly unneeded, Europe’s oil refining sector has been under duress for an astonishing four decades.

Automation Strategies: Next-gen automation services support operational excellence and reduce project cost

ARC Advisory Group: O'Brien, L.

Major suppliers are expanding their automation-related service capabilities from project and engineering services through services for operations and maintenance. This is happening partly in response to overall automation market conditions, but largely in response to evolving user challenges and requirements.

Reliability: The risks of deferred compressor maintenance

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

At a recent conference attended by failure investigation professionals in San Antonio, Texas, a participant spoke about an explosion and fire event on a multistage horizontally opposed compressor in oxygen (O2) service. He had scant data, but he knew the machine did not have cylinder lubrication.

Editorial Comment: The future of refining lies in clean fuels

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Each year, <sub>Hydrocarbon Processing</sub> devotes an issue to the topic of clean fuels—and rightly so. As the world continues to welcome more vehicles on the road, and as emerging economies invest in civil, industrial and energy projects, global fuels demand is forecast to increase through the end of the decade.

Improve metering pump reliability through maintenance training

Milton Roy: Louque, K.

While equipment reliability is not a new concept in hydrocarbon processing facilities, it is increasingly becoming the top priority for plant managers. Plant managers realize that operational efficiency is far from being a passing trend, and is closely linked to the quality and reliability of the equipment used.

Design operations-and-maintenance-friendly skid-mounted units

The Augustus Group: Murti, D. G.

Skid-mounted units are omnipresent in the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI), as facilities are scattered in remote locations, and site construction is time-consuming and expensive. Skid units are equally popular in downstream refineries and the chemical processing industry (CPI).

Determine the standard hoop density of spiral-wound gaskets on flanges

SK Energy: Lee, S. H.  |  Lee, S.  |  Jeon, S.

The use of spiral-wound gaskets on flanges has resulted in good sealing performance. However, most gaskets do not perform well when the flange is improperly installed.

Performance testing: The key to successful revamps

Process Improvement Engineering: Lieberman, N.

Process unit revamps often do not result in a refiner achieving its desired objectives. This is typically not the result of mechanical defects with process equipment.