Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

Crude oil

Rapid crude yield: Merging DHAFE with HTSD

Chevron: Ingham, H.

Rapid crude yield (RCY) combines a detailed hydrocarbon analysis of the front end (DHAFE) with high-temperature simulated distillation (HTSD), creating a true boiling point (TBP) curve for a crude oil sample.

Refining: Despite decline, Group 1 base stocks are here to stay

ExxonMobil: Nadasdi, T.

Given increasingly stringent automotive specifications and the advent of the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 sulfur regulations, the continued decrease in Group I base stocks demand should come as no surprise for anyone in the industry.

Octane enhancement avoiding both high reformer severity and alkylation

CDE Projects Ltd.: Kauders, P.

An innovative refinery process arrangementa converts butane-rich, light paraffinic streams—preferably containing a high proportion of isobutane—into butylene by dehydrogenation.

Safety: Where foresight replaces hindsight: How AI impacts the future of oil and gas safety

Advisian Digital, part of the Worley Group: Stewart, H.
SaltGrid: Aitken, C.

According to the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), there were 31 fatal incidents across the industry in 2018.

Design of very-high-flow coefficient centrifugal compressor stages

Elliott Group: Jariwala, V.

Centrifugal compressors are widely used in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries, with more than 15,000 operating in the U.S. alone.

Industry Metrics

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Rhodes, Mike

High product inventory levels and weak heating oil demand continued to weigh on U.S. refining economics. European product markets, except gasoil, exhibited positive performance backed by firm exports and heavy turnarounds in the Middle East.

Business Trends: Rethinking the refining and petrochemicals industries

Burns & McDonnell: Price, J.

Crude oil has been the fundamental element of transportation fuel for many decades.

Construction

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Nigeria LNG (NLNG), a consortium comprised of Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), Shell, Total and Eni, has greenlighted the expansion of the Bonny Island LNG terminal.

Executive Viewpoint: Fuels and petrochemicals will continue to help humanity thrive

American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM): Thompson, C.

A 15-yr rise in U.S. exports of refined products continued in 2019 with the nation exporting more than ever, underscoring the importance of these products to fueling a growing world. In the latter half of the last decade, U.S. petrochemical production capacity increased—with more than $20 B invested in domestic petrochemical projects in the last 2 yr alone—and exports of petrochemicals and petrochemical feedstocks rose, as well.

Brazilian developments in the biofuels market

Since the 1970s, Brazil has been a world reference in automotive biofuels, especially bioethanol produced from sugarcane. In 1973, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forced a sharp rise in oil prices, triggering a massive slowdown in the country’s economic growth, which had been going through what was dubbed the “economic miracle,” with growth at an average of 12% of GDP. This study gives an overview of the biofuel sector in Brazil, along with the main business challenges and opportunities in this area.