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HP People

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Thinnes, Billy

Aggreko has appointed Chris Weston as CEO. Mr. Weston is currently managing director of international downstream at Centrica plc, where he is an executive director running the group’s largest div..

What is the ‘refinery of the future’?

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Romanow, Stephany

For years, technology experts and engineers have discussed the elements and operations that will define the refinery of the future. The refining industry has made great progress from the early days. H..

Use crowdsourcing to boost process simulation

Schneider Electric: Brown, S.

There are many ways to enhance the user experience of next-generation simulators by borrowing concepts from crowdsourcing, data mining and related fields.

Improve performance of exchangers in quench-water services

Wieland-Werke AG: Lang, T.  |  El-Hajal, J.
Technip: Provost, J.

Dual-enhanced (DE) tubes are widely used in shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HEXs) in a range of industries. They have become a standard in multiple clean services for the hydrocarbon processing indust..

A chemist’s perspective on organic fouling in ethylene operations

Nalco Champion: Hancock, J. M.
SABIC Technology & Innovation: Van Zijl, A. W.  |  Robson, I.  |  Vachon, J.  |  Hashmi, A.

Since organic fouling cannot be completely eliminated, ethylene producers must use operational, chemical and mechanical methods to minimize heat transfer losses and equipment downtime.

Automate furnace controls to improve safety and energy efficiency

Phillips 66: Mickity, D.

Furnace firing is the biggest single operating expense in any refinery. Consider a medium-size refinery (250,000 bpd) that consumes 2,000 MMBtu/h. At a cost of $5/MMBtu, that’s $87.6 MM/yr being ..

Use online conditioning to monitor electric motors

GE Measurement and Control: Wilhelm, B.
GE Global Research Center: Neti, P.

Quality and health assessments of motor insulation are important aspects during the manufacturing, as well as the operation, of electrical motors. Today, there are several offline insulation quality a..

Russian straight-run fuel oil supply collapse complicates Gulf Coast feedstock choices

ESAI Energy: Reed, A.

In the next couple of years, collapsing Russian supply of straight-run fuel oil (SRFO) will undermine foreign supply of feedstock to the US Gulf Coast.

Targeted liquid injection improves shed deck performance

Valero Benicia Refinery: Riley, C.  |  Wicklow, C.
Valero Energy Corp.: Hanson, D.  |  Brown Burns, J.

This case study shows how the installation of an unique piping and lance design achieved targeted liquid injection, quenched vapor hot zones and reduced resid entrainment into the heavy coker gasoil product.

Which margin levers impact Group I and Group II base stock competitiveness? Part 1

Kline and Co., Inc.: Moncrieff, I.

As much as the lubricants industry might wish it otherwise, base stocks production is becoming more commoditized, and it is intertwined inextricably with mainstream refining operations. The vast major..