July 2013

Securing the right quality of crude oil, increasing refinery competitiveness and adapting to fast-changing inter-regional trade dynamics are some of the area's key challenges.

Several improvements are on the horizon, which will add powerful optimization capabilities into the process modeler’s simulation work space in areas like heat integration, column optimization and economics.

As automation moves into asset optimization, it spans all elements of operations and can run your process as a business.

New monitoring protocols can provide advance warning of any negative aspects of shale oil processing, thus enabling the refiner to take corrective measures early.

One of the most significant outcomes of rapidly increasing computing power has been in three-dimensional (3D) visualization; oil discovery makes extensive use of it, for example. To a professional r..

The alkanolamine system in a refinery, better known as the amine unit, is used to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2) and mercaptans (collectively referred to as acid gases) from proce..

Diesel engines rely on effective dispersion of fuel to ensure efficient combustion. In cold weather regions, maintaining the fluidity flow of fuels can be difficult. Catalytic dewaxing is a selectiv..

The ability to recycle byproducts as feedstocks, rather than discard them as wastes, helps optimize refining efficiency and presents the potential for substantial environmental and economic benefits. ..

In Part 1, the basic principle of pinch technology and applications were presented. Pinch technology is a valuable tool in the design of greenfield HPI facilities. More importantly, such tools provide..

Consider that a major oil refinery was planning a substantial modernization project in 2008. Energy efficiency gains and the ability to process a more readily available crude slate were key motivating..

Virtualization, a computing approach that decouples hardware and software, is rapidly gaining traction in the traditionally conservative automation and control industry. With its roots in the informat..

Worldwide, refiners are investing billions in upgrading and modernization projects. These efforts are focused on:Increasing flexibility to process heavier, sourer crudesImproving energy efficiencyMeet..

Over the past 45 years, the author has pursued troubleshooting machinery and pressure vessels. It has also been the subject of this column. The troubleshooting tools used in this endeavor have been an..

The ethane advantage held by the US petrochemical industry is very real, but it may not last that long.Poll findingsOut of hundreds of votes cast in April and May by readers in a HydrocarbonProcessing..

Gazprom Neft refines Euro 5 diesel fuelGazprom Neft’s Moscow oil refinery has launched production of Euro 5 diesel fuel. Starting last month, all diesel fuel supplied by the Moscow oil refinery t..

A report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) forecasts Canadian crude oil production will more than double to 6.7 million bpd by 2030 from 3.2 MMbpd in 2012 (Fig. 1). This incl..

The US Treasury Department, acting in concert with the US Department of State, recently took action to target Iran’s petrochemical industry (Fig. 2). As Iran’s oil revenues continue to fall ..

In 2012, there were 905 natural catastrophes worldwide, 93% of which were weather-related disasters. In terms of overall and insured losses ($170 billion and $70 billion, respectively), 2012 did not f..

Health, safety and environment (HSE) concerns remain the top issue on the oil and gas industry’s risk agenda, according to a new report from Ernst & Young.“The industry is undergoing intense..

Training simulator to aid ethylene operatorsHyperion Systems Engineering has delivered to the Linde Group an operator training simulator (OTS) for ONGC Petro-additions Ltd.’s ethylene plant in Da..

At the Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi refinery, Eni is moving forward with leading-edge technological breakthroughs to produce “clean” transportation fuels. This refinery has a balanced 190,00..

High-performance valve manufacturer launches new website Conval’s upgraded website is said to help engineers and plant personnel find the information and contacts they need for new construct..

Dresser-Rand and Honeywell to jointly pursue turbomachinery control solutions Dresser-Rand and Honeywell have agreed to combine Dresser-Rand centrifugal compressor knowledge and experience with the Ho..

Financial pressures, combined with increasing safety and environmental requirements, have resulted in a significant increase in the need for valve-position monitoring in industrial plants. However, th..