December 1999

Many forces are reshaping the worldwide hydrogen market; refiners have several options to receive steam and electrical power from a hydrogen plant

Under a cooperative agreement with partners, a Chilean refinery installed a delayed coker and hydrotreater to improve refining flexibility, produce ?clean' fuels and receive utilities from a cogeneration unit that burns plant waste byproducts

The National Petrochemical and Refining Association held its annual Computer Conference and Showcase November 14–17 in Kansas City, Missouri. The topic of the question-and-answer session was syst..

Major machinery often suffers bearing damage due to shaft currents. Common sources of shaft currents are electromagnetic, static charge buildup and electrical equipment related. Such damage can appear..

As I write this column in mid-November, I hope that you will never need the links I've posted here. The opinions over Y2K readiness vary from "non-event" to three-year disaster. Many articles and Web ..

December's Special Report focuses on the "lack luster" plant area – utilities. This processing area is too often treated as a "stepchild." However, if problems arise with the supply of utilities ..

As water systems reach the end of their service life, facilities must replace or repair these water systems. Sometimes, a plant expansion may necessitate enlarging the water system. A conventional sol..

Earlier, I was jotting down notes for this column while eating a greasy, undercooked breakfast, in an unheated, alcohol-free, departure lounge, waiting to board an aircraft, which had its last full se..

Ashland Energy Services, Dublin, Ohio, an operating unit of Ashland Specialty Chemical Co., Dublin, Ohio, and Energy Marketing Services, Inc. (EMS), Columbus, Ohio, a pioneer in natural gas marketi..

ABB to construct grassroots facility for Monsanto ABB Lummus Global has been awarded a lump sum turnkey contract by Monsanto Co. for a grassroots chemical intermediate facility. The new complex wil..

Hydrocarbon Processing adds water management column. Beginning this month, "H P In Water Management," will focus on issues impacting plant utilities and energy systems (see page 107). Loraine A. Huch..

A series of steam-related case studies developed for the Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) by Mobil Corp., documents several steam systems improvements. Mobil's approach may be able to benefit o..

The ethylene oxide (EO)/mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) markets continue to be "healthy and show excellent growth prospects," according to a study from TECNON (UK) Ltd. Those looking for signs that Asian F..

The e-commerce tidal wave has been rolling through many industries within the past year, but the petroleum industry is under siege. An analysis of public Web sites of the top global petroleum companie..

A new report investigates the increasing investment opportunities throughout Asia and the increased scope for further penetration by natural gas into the many energy markets. With continuing growth in..

Ethernet has the potential for spanning all levels of industrial application, from the supervisory level, down through the control and device levels and finally to the I/O level. Ethernet competes wit..

An industrial lubricant user study surveys the attitudes, needs and future purchasing plans of users and specifiers across the U.S. manufacturing marketplace. Synthetic and hydrocracked lubricants are..

Fueling station availability and fuel price represent key constraints in the expansion of the natural gas powered vehicle (NGV) market. The Gas Research Institute has prepared a report providing infor..

The U.S. market for advanced chemical waste treatments is estimated at nearly $5.5 billion in 1999, according to a study from Business Communications Co., Inc. By 2005, the total is expected to be $8...

Gilliland plot revisited Fig. 1 in the "Letters to the editor" section of the September 1999 issue of Hydrocarbon Processing was inadvertently excluded. We apologize for the error and any inconve..

As we prepare to enter the last year of the millennium, many of us will use some time to audit – Where are we are and what do we want to do? This inventorying helps us to meet our personal goals ..