December 2012

The cross-discipline integration of modeling and analysis tools can help select the best design options and ensure the safe and profitable operation of process plants.

Indexing is a key activity in CAD modeling. Arbitrary indexing of the models invariably leads to problems, as discussed in this article.

Due to faster depleting natural gas reserves and more abundant coal reserves, coal gasification and CTL are solutions to produce liquid fuels over the long term.

Lean construction can raise competitiveness for an EPC business, thereby increasing its profitability and improving its delivery success rate and brand image.

HPI companies in a progressive culture strive for failure-free operations with defect elimination and uninterrupted operation.

Click here to read Improve integration opportunities for aromatics units—Part 1Reformed petroleum naphtha (reformate) is the largest source for aromatics. Integrating refineries and petroche..

The overall mechanical design of most API-style vertical-column pumps (Fig. 1) comes close to meeting the expectations of modern pump users. Such pumps are often equipped with self oil-lubricated bear..

Remote operations management (ROM)—management of automation assets and resources that are geographically dispersed—is one of the fastest growing segments of the process automation business (..

Throughout this year, Hydrocarbon Processing (HP) has investigated the last 90 years of the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) through its monthly editorial, Insight. The HPI has a rich history; th..

The journey through the last 90 years as chronicled by the headlines of Hydrocarbon Processing has been a unique experience. As in any quest, the high points are too quickly followed by downturns. Som..

Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline unveiledAir Products recently completed its 600-mile Gulf Coast Connection Pipeline (GCCP) project and also started up operations at a dynamic customer service center.The ..

Scaling up the production of biofuels made from algae to meet at least 5% (approximately 39 billion liters) of US transportation fuel needs would place unsustainable demands on energy, water and nutri..

The Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions recently released a report, “Energy independence and security: A reality check,” which examines whether or not energy independence is necessary to ac..

The excitement about natural gas as a useful industrial tool has spread to the Scottish countryside. A collection of whisky distillers in the Speyside area of Scotland plans to invest £7.6 MM to ..

ENERGY TIME: CHARTING A COURSE FOR THE FUTUREThe hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) is a global business with a 100-year history. Much has changed since the early days when crude oil was stripped t..

Invensys acquires Spiral SoftwareInvensys Operations Management has acquired Spiral Software, a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, UK. Spiral Software provides integrated solutions ran..

For four days in October, Hydrocarbon Processing was on call at the Gastech Conference and Exhibition in London. The magazine’s editorial staff was selected to produce the official show daily new..

Westlake Chemical Corp. will perform planned maintenance and an expansion of the Petro 2 ethylene unit at its complex in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in the first quarter of 2013. This expansion will incr..

ICA Fluor, the industrial engineering partnership of Fluor and Empresas ICA, is part of the joint venture (JV) that was awarded a multibillion-dollar engineering, procurement and construction contract..

Alfa Laval has won an order for compact heat exchangers from a refinery in Russia. The order, valued at approximately SEK 70 million, was booked late September 2012, and delivery is scheduled for 2013..

JGC Corp.’s wholly owned Saudi Arabian subsidiary, JGC Gulf International Co. Ltd., has been awarded a contract for an aromatics plant project from Sadara Chemical Co. (Sadara), a joint venture b..

KBR was awarded a license and process-design package contract for a new olefins-recovery unit in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, China.The client owns an existing commercial plant of coal-to-olefins, which w..

Educational videos on battery topicsThe first set of Trojan Tips educational videos is now available on the Trojan Battery Co. website. The video tutorials provide in-depth information focusing on var..

Reaction furnace mixing technology for improved Claus plant yields Field results from new installations of new mixing checker walls in dozens of reaction furnaces reportedly improve cost-savings throu..

For nine consecutive years (2003–2011), the Argentinean gross domestic product (GDP) continued to increase at an impressive annual rate of 7% to 8%. However, this trend was expected to change in ..

The German chemical industry has an outstanding position inside Europe. Nearly 25% of chemical product sales in the European Union (EU) are by German chemical companies. Ranking behind China, the US a..

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced in its January 2012 “World Economic Outlook” that the global GDP growth rate was 3.8% in 2011. However, Asian-Pacific nations bucked this tren..

Fig. 1 illustrates the annual gross domestic product (GDP) and inflation from 2006 to 2011 for Venezuela. High crude oil prices have helped domestic GDP growth, suggesting a healthy economy. ..

Brazil’s economic improvement was remarkable over the past decade, following many years of slow growth. On average, the Brazilian gross output of goods and services increased at an annual average..

The Indian economy has come a long way since the 1991 economic reforms. A decade and a half of economic reform and globalization is yielding returns that cut across all income groups. The domestic eco..

The Japanese economy showed steady recovery for 2003–2007. However, due to the global recession in late 2008, Japan’s GDP growth decreased to –1% in 2008 and to –5.5% in 2009. Due ..

The United Kingdom (UK) is Europe’s fourth largest chemical economy, after Germany, France and Italy. It accounts for 8% of the European Union’s (EU’s) $900 billion overall chemical pro..