November 2009
Special Report: Plant Safety and Environment
Here's how to differentiate safety instrumented fuction demand modes
Sound practice, experienced-based judgment and teamwork are still needed for safety engineering success
Use these guidelines to determine the safety-critical elements and tasks
Bonus Report: Water Management
New 'fit-for-purpose' biocide program provides broad-spectrum biofilm control
This refiner used an in-house initiative to troubleshoot plant-wide process water problems
Engineering Case Histories
This technique allows transient torques in geared units to be determined
Process Analyzers
Follow these recommendations for correct analyzer calibration
Refining Developments
New processing alternatives enable upgrading vacuum residuals into higher-value products
Columns
While I have promoted proper control system performance indicators18–25 since 1964, like Dr. Y. Zak Friedman,1 I also am aware of some deeper problems with realizing its full commercial potential..
In early 2009, we responded to a reader's request for data; he wanted to use it in a site-wide benchmarking project for pumpf reliability. The reader was employed at a company location that encompasse..
Let's talk about how operators and engineers make decisions over utility water systems. Take this short quiz; give your plant one point for each "true" answer and zero for each "false" answer: 1. T ..
The plant asset management (PAM) market for production assets, which includes protection and prediction solutions, has spread from traditional turbomachinery to virtually every asset essential for eff..
The 20th century was a time of great technological change. Such changes that have forever altered how we live and work. The 1970s brought the creation of the US Environmental Protection Agency and the..
Trends and Resources
Sustainable hydrogen process announced The Linde Group is developing an innovative process for the sustainable hydrogen production from biogenic raw materials. Hydromotive GmbH, a subsidiary of The Li..
  BP recently announced that construction, equipment purchases and engineering related to an expansion of its refinery in Whiting, Indiana, is about one-third complete. Construction began in May ..
  CB&I has a contract in excess of $100 million with Petroterminal de Panama, S.A. (PTP) to engineer, procure and construct the Phase 2 expansion of the Trans-Panama pipeline facilities. The work..
  CB&I has a contract valued in excess of $60 million by Royal Dutch Shell for the engineering, procurement and construction of a diesel hydrotreater at the Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, The Neth..
  Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has a contract with Abu Dhabi Polymers Co. (Borouge) to develop front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a section of the "Borouge 3" project, a grassroots poly..
  Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals (GSFC) has given Burckhardt Compression an order for a compressor that will be used for oxygen compression in its methanol plant in Baroda, Gujarat, India...
  In the section of the October issue detailing HPI Construction Boxscore updates (page 29), the engineering company for Staatsolie's refinery expansion project in Suriname was incorrectly identi..
The potential for natural gas The president of BP shared his outlook on the role of gas in the future of energy during a speech at the World Gas Co..
The global MeOH market has more capacity than demand, according to remarks made by Jim Jordan at the 2009 Methanol Forum in Houston, Texas. A gap exists between global supply and demand and a number o..
Rice University convened its 12th annual global engineering and construction forum in mid-September. One of the featured speakers was Dr. Michael Economides, a professor of chemical and bimolecular en..
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Misc
Robert A. Ashworth, Guest Columnist Comments? Write: editorial@HydrocarbonProcessing.com Warming of the stratosphere is caused by the reaction of ultra..
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