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

Rotating Equipment

Optimize operating parameters for C3 splitters to accommodate feed changes

Contributing Writer: Sami, M.

In the oil and gas sector, fractionation is a vital part of every plant.

Troubleshooting the repetitive failure and shaft seizure of a hot oil circulation pump

Saudi Aramco: Allah, W. K.  |  Al-Abood, A.  |  Ballard, F.  |  Brashler, K.

The Shaybah NGL recovery plant has a single-stage, double-suction between bearings, radial-split design for hot oil circulation.

Reliability: Choices—Treat the symptom or define and eliminate the cause?

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

In an urgent communication, a paper plant customer reported that the mechanical seals in one of its ANSI pumps were moving axially whenever an unexpected process problem caused the normally liquid pumpage to turn into a thick, odorous gel.

Revamp fired heaters with a common air-preheating system to increase capacity

Bechtel Corp.: Ahamad, S.  |  Vallavanatt, R.

In any process plant, fired heaters are generally considered to be one of the most optimally designed pieces of equipment.

Analyzing axial cooling fans’ high noise, vibration and failures

Saudi Aramco: Allah, W. K.

Shipping pumps with 1,800 hp are equipped with five cooling fans that cool the oil going to the lube oil pumps to lubricate the bearings.

Case study: Improve vacuum tower operation with VFD addition

Saudi Aramco: Alshaye, A.

The bottom pump in crude vacuum units is an area of concern for almost all petroleum oil refineries. The harsh operating parameters in which these pumps operate, including high product temperature and significant vacuum suction pressure, have resulted in frequent vacuum tower upsets and low mean time between failures (MTBF) for vacuum bottom pumps.

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.

Equipment critical analysis: The need for an effective maintenance program

Toyo Engineering Canada Ltd.: Zardynezhad, S.

Oil refineries and large petrochemical plants contain thousands of pieces of process and utilities equipment that are subject to wear, erosion, deterioration, aging, etc., resulting in increasing breakdowns and outages. Imagine being a maintenance engineer and receiving 50 work orders during an overhaul with a limited budget, time, labor, spare parts, tools, machines, etc. How does that engineer prioritize the work?

Automation Strategies: Adopting the IIoT: How the industry needs to rethink IT and OT relationships

Stratus Technologies: Fryer, J.

For the connected enterprise, what was once just a futuristic ideal is now becoming a reality. Step by step, organizations are beginning to put together the pieces of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Reliability: Understanding right-angle gear backlash

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

By definition, all gear units have teeth. These teeth are designed and produced to a certain strength, or a defined force-on-tooth, or an allowable pressure-load on tooth.