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

Environment

Industry Perspective: IRPC Americas ONLINE: A sincere thanks

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Each year, <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i> hosts events to bring together professionals in the oil and gas industry to share ideas and knowledge on the latest advancements in processing technologies and operations.

Hydrocarbon Processing 2020 Awards WINNERS

<i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i>, the downstream processing sector’s leading technical publication, has announced the winners for its third annual awards.

When toxic risk cannot be prevented, mitigate consequences of H2S with fluid curtains

Megaris, Ltd.: Benintendi, R.

Toxic risk preferably should be controlled according to Kletz’s inherent safety principle, which consists of some preventive golden rules, notably <ital>minimize, substitute, moderate</ital> and <ital>simplify</ital>.

How valve upgrades can improve tank and terminal facility operations

Emerson: Leavitt, D.  |  Arroyo, M.

Tank and terminal facility profitability ultimately rests on a handful of key performance indicators (KPIs). The ability to maximize tank capacity utilization—while minimizing the time it takes to load and unload ships, trucks and rail cars—drives the bottom line. All those transfers must happen quickly and accurately, while avoiding product contamination.

Hydrocarbon Processing Awards 2020—FINALISTS

This special section details all finalists within each category for the fourth annual <ital>HP</ital> Awards. The winners will be announced on Oct. 1.

Driving FCCU value through fresh and flushing catalyst activity modeling

BASF: Shackleford, A.  |  Tan, A.  |  Eren, B.

Refiners are continually challenged to maximize economic gain in the face of cost pressures and plant operating constraints. The fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) plays an integral role in the optimization of the facility. FCC catalyst is often one of the largest budget items in the refinery. Therefore, the balance between FCCU performance and catalyst costs has a significant impact on refinery profitability.

Catalytic processes operation during downturns in aromatics complexes

ExxonMobil Chemical Co.: Andrews, J.  |  Hung, J.  |  Molinier, M.  |  Lim, Y. T.

Paraxylene production is a highly cyclical business that is subject to changes in the global economy and dependent on feedstock costs, alternative dispositions for aromatics, utilities costs and plant locations, among other factors. With the large PX capacity added by recently started crude-to-chemicals complexes and the expected impact of the economic recession on commodities demand, many aromatics complexes face a significant slowdown in the coming months or, possibly, years.

Business Trends: Autonomous operations in process manufacturing—Part 1

IBM Corp.: Agnihotri, R.

Progress in the driverless car segment has served to illuminate one of the major future goals in industrial and process manufacturing: autonomous operations in process plants—in other words, the autonomous plant. While AO for process plants has received interest from the process automation and control industry, limited serious discussion has taken place in the process operations and IT domains.

Optimize the “molecule management” of butanes for transportation fuels and petrochemical applications

Sulzer GTC Technology: Liu, Z.
Sulzer GTC (Beijing) Technology: Feng, X.  |  Sun, B.
SIE Neftehim: Karpenko, T.  |  Demidova, E.

With new legislative measurements implemented to combat global climate change, global environmental protection regulations are becoming more stringent. Tighter specifications are being enforced on gasoline pool components.

Editorial Comment: Optimizing operations and recognizing achievements

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

Over the next two months, <ital>Hydrocarbon Processing</ital> will host two separate events for a global audience. One will gather the brightest minds in the industry to share the latest innovations and technologies in the industry, while the other will recognize the leaders in advancing the industry toward safer and more reliable, sustainable and profitable operations. Both events—<ital>Hydrocarbon Processing’s</ital> IRPC and the HP Awards—will be streamed on digital platforms and free to view.