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Maintenance & Reliability

Phillips 66 shuts gasoline-producing unit at Westlake refinery

Phillips 66 shut a gasoline-making reformer unit at its Westlake, Louisiana refinery earlier this month, and advanced planned work on the unit.

Saudi's Sipchem says production back to normal

A technical problem at Sipchem’s International Gases Co. unit, which had disrupted operations at two other units since mid-August, had been resolved and production was back to normal.

AESSEAL obtains 5-year service agreement with SABIC Geleen in the Netherlands

SABIC has awarded AESSEAL a 5-year managed reliability contract for their mechanical seals and seal support systems at the Geleen petrochemical complex in the Netherlands.

Exxon's Baton Rouge refinery delays shutdown

ExxonMobil Corp. put off plans to shut its Baton Rouge, Louisiana refinery after it managed to start a LPG processing unit in the adjoining chemical plant.

BP Whiting refinery reformer production cut for repairs

BP Plc. curtailed production on the reforming unit at their refinery in Whiting, Indiana, for repairs.

Take steps to achieve lubrication maintainability

Des-Case Corp.: Barnes, M.

Do not accept that what the OEM delivered, or how the equipment has been configured for the past 30 years, must be maintained into the future. Optimize yourPM program and look for maintainability improvements to ensure that the right work can be performed in the right way and at the right time.

Failure prevention—The ultimate asset management strategy

Small Hammer Inc.: Snider, B.

The primary cause for losses and lost opportunities at refineries, chemical complexes, pipeline networks and gas processing facilities is equipment failures.

Editorial Comment: Maintenance spending to jump in 2016 as refiners catch up with turnarounds

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Blume, Adrienne

The number of scheduled refinery turnarounds in North America is anticipated to rise this year after declining sharply in 2015, as refiners delayed maintenance shutdowns to capitalize on abundant quantities of low-priced feedstock.

Reliability: Principles are more important than strategies

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

A number of US oil refineries have recently asked the question, “When should an equipment repair be classified as rework?”

Reliability: Transform ODR-OPPM into a worthwhile initiative

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

ODR, which stands for operator-driven reliability, has recently morphed into a new arrangement of letters: OPPM.