October 2004

Understand these pitfalls to avoid problems

It enabled PetroChina to increase production safety and efficiency

Fourteen more rules that, if followed, will ensure that advanced control will drive the unit further away from optimum operation

Control projects can be more easily justified for smaller plants

Target flow nonlinear control and target opening nonlinear control offer advantages in some applications

A parametric approach produces accurate models

Here's how the five popular methods work

Consider these guidelines to predict the performance of open rack vaporizers during normal and abnormal conditions

Here's how to better automate and integrate the process

Rethinking current systems can eliminate many analytical problems while improving costs

Follow these guidelines to avoid pump damage

Steam ejectors as part of the auxiliary water circuit can optimize energy and improve reliability

Implementing this approach can save money while meeting required regulations

Here's how to apply mist eliminators for higher throughput and efficiency

"When reform becomes the status quo," says Frederick M. Hess, executive editor of Education Next and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, "then you'll encounter symbolic activity rat..

In IEC61508, the international standard for functional safety, there are requirements for "Competence of Persons." The general statement from IEC61508 Part 1, Appendix B, reads, "All persons involved ..

Almost since the beginning of the concept of automatic control, there have been process alarms. For most process plants, automatic control has progressed far beyond early control devices that operated..

What I like about reading Isaac Asimov (I'm on the last book of his classic sci-fi series) is the way it gets me to see the history in current events. This month, I've had a think about how history mi..

Shell Martinez Refinery has a $5.3 million contract with Honeywell to modernize its Flexicoker unit. Under agreement terms, Honeywell will install a process control system and provide engineering and ..

GE Energy has a $50 million contract to supplying two compression modules to Petrobras Netherlands BV. The agreement is for a new floating production unit (FPU) to be located in the Campos Basin, off ..

BASF Aktiengesellschaft (BASF) and Dow Chemical Co. have finalized plans to build a propylene oxide (PO) plant in Antwerp, Belgium. The new plant will implement the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to PO (HPP..

Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (HPCL) is licensing UOP's CCR Platforming technology for its Mumbai and Vishakapatnam (Vizag) refineries to produce high-octane reformate, an ultra-clean gasoline blendi..

Aker Kvaerner has a letter of intent (LOI) with Agip Kazakhstan North Caspian Operating Company N.V. to perform fabrication, outfitting and testing of seven barges for oil production in the Kashagan o..

  LPG outlook for Latin America The world LPG industry is..

Inadequate software interoperability in the capital facilities industry cost $15.8 billion in 2002 due to lost efficiency. A new report from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) p..

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report that presents a detailed overview of structural changes in the petroleum industry and describes commission law enforcement activities related to p..

In spite of declining grassroots power plant construction in the US, recent upswing in coal-fired power plant retrofit and upgrade projects, as well as environmental compliance in the heavy manufactur..

For the past four years, 12 leading international automotive and energy companies have worked together to consider how global mobility patterns might evolve in the period to 2030 and beyond, what stra..

Breaking with conventional thinking on the effects of coal price on gas price, new research by consultancy Wood Mackenzie finds that rising spot Central Appalachian coal (CAPP) prices will not lead to..

The distributed control systems (DCS) market in Asia is expected to grow 6.3%/yr through 2008. The market was $2.6 billion in 2003; it will exceed $3.5 billion in 2008, according to a new outlook by A..

The world has emerged from recession and this has unleashed expenditures to expand and maintain production. However, there is a marked difference in the activity depending on the region, according to ..

Chrysler Group is using B5 – a 5% blend of biodiesel – for the first tank of fuel in its new Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicle. Biodiesel is an alternative fuel that can be made from f..

You should know what needs to be done but not necessarily how to do it

Controlling emissions is another vital component for revamp projects