Safety
Safe and sustainable alkylation: Performance and update on composite ionic liquid alkylation technology
Market and regulatory factors are pressuring refiners to adopt safe and sustainable processes for the production of clean-burning and environmentally friendly fuels.
Engineering Case Histories: Case 109: Catastrophic failures and the human factor
A catastrophic failure is defined (for this article) as a failure where lives have been lost and human causes have been a factor.
Integration can enhance fire safety and protection systems
The world population is expected to reach 9.2 billion people by 2040,1 and the global GDP is also likely to double over that same period.
Optimization: Plan before main air blower disaster strikes
Weeks before a planned overhaul of its coker unit, a synthetic crude plant’s main air blower for the furnace failed, throwing the engineers’ plans into disarray.
Case study: Extend tube life in a waste heat boiler
The sulfur recovery unit (SRU) separates sulfur from sulfur compounds.
The importance of engineering and construction alignment throughout the project lifecycle
Construction is where the rubber meets the road. This phase historically is the most challenging time of the project, often characterized by problems with high levels of urgency and difficulty.
Project Management: Efficiently expanding a specialty chemical company
COIM, a specialty chemical company, decided to expand its production capacity in the U.S. to supplement growing market and economy.
Reliability: Strainers and thoughtful testing: Piping initiatives worth considering
In two separate cases, foresight in the use of strainers on piping and following proper procedures for hydrostatic testing are recommended to preserve the integrity of offshore platforms.
Effectively clean air fan coolers with water and steam
In many refineries and petrochemical plants, air fan coolers (AFCs) become a major bottleneck to increasing plant capacity. Many plants suffer from lower heat duty than designed, especially during the summer months, which can lead to lower plant capacity.
Leveraging modern flow technologies to improve safety in refineries
The refining industry is facing increased pressures, such as crude oil supply changes, changing product distributions and increasing regulations. These pressure points create a highly competitive market where refiners are looking for options that include digitally transforming operations and adapting new technologies to enhance safety and improve uptime, flexibility and efficiency, while securing their competitive position in a dynamic market. Improving personnel and process safety remains a top focus area for refiners.
- Digital Exclusive (sponsored): NXRe™: A novel recycling technology to support the plastics industry in creating efficient and effective circular value chains 12/22
- Portugal's Galp plans to start producing biofuels in 2026 12/20
- Prax and Shell call off deal on stake in PCK Schwedt oil refinery 12/20
- Nigeria's Dangote Refinery hits 85% refining capacity 12/20
- India's BPCL buys first Argentinian crude oil cargo for Feb. delivery 12/20
- Sinopec's Zhenhai oil refinery expands capacity to 40 MMtpy 12/20
