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Asia/Pacific

Update temperature control for a Claus unit with neural networks

North-West University, School of Chemical and Minerals Engineering: Schabort, C. J.  |  Neomagus, H. W. J. P.

The Natref oil refinery in Sasolburg, South Africa, had experienced refractory problems in the sulfur recovery unit’s (SRU’s) combustion chamber since startup (Fig. 1). Even though the SRU w..

HP Reliability: Maintain proficiency in root-cause-failure analysis

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

Earlier in the year, the author attended a series of client and organizers’ presentations at the 2013 TapRooT Summit in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. TapRooT is a structured failure analysis and trouble..

HP Integration Strategies: Operational integrity management at Statoil

ARC Advisory Group: Reynolds, P.

Asset-intensive industries continue to suffer from unplanned downtime, failure to meet planned production rates, and too many safety and environmental incidents. Until companies can manage and mitigat..

HP Automation Safety: MTTR: Reality vs. calculation

exida LLC: Goble, W.

Many reliability engineers trained before IEC 61508 know the acronym MTTR as “mean time to repair.” I certainly learned that definition. Naturally, I think of the time it takes to repair som..

HP Industry Perspectives: Is it too early to be optimistic for 2014?

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Romanow, Stephany

The increased availability of natural gas supplies are redefining energy conditions. New natural gas reserves are shifting the order for producing nations. Shale gas reserves, once difficult to extrac..

Chevron Phillips sells China polystyrene business

“The polystyrene plant is a productive and valued asset, but as a standalone operation for Chevron Phillips Chemical in China, the company has determined the asset is not a strategic fit,” said Dan Coombs, senior vice president of specialties, aromatics and styrenics for Chevron Phillips Chemical.

Osaka Gas Chemicals to acquire Jacobi Carbons

Jacobi is the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of coconut shell activated carbon. The transaction, which has an enterprise value of $400 million, is expected to close in January 2014.

Honeywell’s UOP plans new China plant to produce catalysts, adsorbents

The initial phase of the investment will include catalyst and adsorbents production capacity for Honeywell UOP, a PMT business that is a leading supplier of catalysts, adsorbents, equipment and process technology for the petroleum refining, gas processing, petrochemicals and renewable energy industries.

DuPont expands China R&D hub for biomaterials

With this expansion, the DuPont China R&D Center in Shanghai will add 17,500 square meters and house an additional 150 researchers. Those researchers will focus on new material applications in solar energy, bio-based materials and automotive materials and testing capabilities.

Air Products to extend Singapore gas pipeline hub

Air Products plans to further extend its existing industrial gas pipeline network to the Tembusu area from its existing pipeline network in the Sakra area on Jurong Island, Singapore, to support the growth of chemical and petrochemical customers with cost-effective and reliable industrial gas supply.