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

Process Optimization

Improve H2O measurement in catalytic reformer H2 recycle streams

SpectraSensors: Engelhart, W. G.

Catalytic reformer units convert naphtha into high-octane aromatic compounds called reformates, which are used in gasoline blending and formulation. UOP developed the catalytic reforming process and brought the first unit into operation in 1949.

Modified revamp process to reduce energy use in an SDA unit

CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum: Kumar, S.  |  Nanoti, S. M.  |  Garg, M. O.
Chennai Petroleum Corp. Ltd.: Amutha, R.  |  Nandagopalu, N. V. N.

Solvent deasphalting (SDA) is emerging as a low-cost, bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading process to recover valuable oil from short residue. This oil can either be further processed to make lube-oil-based stocks or cracked in secondary processing units.

Innovations

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Andrew, Bob

Siemens has been working closely with the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on a cyber security project.

Business Trends: The digital frontier and the process industry

Contributing Writer: Gokhale, A.

Is a digital revolution underway in the process industry? For years, we have been hearing more and more about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industry 4.0, Connected xxx (plant, enterprise, field, performance, etc.), smart Clouds, smart devices and so on. These concepts share numerous similarities, usually with a slightly different twist depending on who is promoting or selling them. But is the hype and buzz rapidly spreading to day-to-day applications and implementations? Not quite.

Industry Perspectives: The digitalization of the downstream industry

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

The digitalization of the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) is in full swing. Numerous companies have created, and are optimizing, digital technologies to improve plant operations, increase energy efficiency and lower costs.

Digital: Transitioning from the spreadsheet to the Cloud

GE Digital: Renick, J.

The Industrial Internet of Things is expected to create a $225-B market by 2020, opening new opportunities for industrial organizations related to data and asset management.

Use of neural networks for naphtha feed characterization in a cracker plant

Reliance Industries Ltd.: Padmavathi, G.  |  Jasra, R. V.  |  Modi, M.  |  Parmar, K. K.
Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University: Dash, S. K.

Olefins are major building blocks for petrochemicals. Due to their reactivity and versatility, there has been tremendous growth in the demand for olefins, especially for light olefins such as ethylene, propylene, butenes and 1,3-butadiene, etc.

CFD study of mixing performance of redistribution systems for packed columns

Sulzer Chemtech: Jafari, S.  |  Yang, Q.  |  Bachmann, C.  |  Zhou, Q.

The maldistribution of liquid flow within long packed beds is a well-known phenomenon in distillation and absorption columns. In a packed column, the maldistribution of liquid results in differences in liquid concentration across the column.

Mammoet performs complex shutdown in limited time with limited space

Mammoet, the world’s largest service provider specializing in engineered heavy lifting and transport, completed heavy lifting, transportation and rigging activities at Chevron South Africa in Cape Town for their annual scheduled maintenance.

Emerson completes acquisition of MYNAH Technologies

AUSTIN, Texas — Emerson announced it has completed the purchase of MYNAH Technologies, a long-time Emerson alliance partner and a provider of dynamic simulation and operator training software.