November 2020

Pondering the history of industrial incidents, it would be incorrect to assume that most failures occur randomly.

A goal of all process industries is to run the plant in a steady-state zone of operation, improving optimization and control, and producing more benefits.

Today’s terminal operators are facing several challenges related to the profitability of their bulk terminal, petrochemical and oil field storage sites.

Product quality directly drives price and where hydrocarbons can be delivered.

Technology is constantly developing, and the competition is intense.

Thermocompression-equipped propane-propylene (PP) splitters are used to upgrade large quantities of refinery-grade propylene (RGP) to polymer-grade propylene (PGP).

As stay-at-home orders and state mandates to shelter in place made waves around the globe in early 2020, nearly every industry was severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oil, gas and petrochemical organizations generate vast amounts of data throughout their operations, from exploration and extraction to refining, testing and real-time monitoring.

Most oil and gas companies are investing in digitalization; however, they often fail to move beyond proof of value (PoV) or pilot projects.

The oil and gas industry has overcome many challenges by keeping up with technology advances, achieving cost-effective practices and meeting energy efficiency requirements.

The process industries, which include chemicals, metals and mining, oil and gas, petrochemicals, pulp and paper, and refining, are very energy intensive

API 653 Annex B is the standard for evaluating tank bottom settlement.

The Khurais producing department (KhPD) consists of four oil trains: each oil train is responsible for receiving, stabilizing and purifying the crude oil from the wells by removing sand, water, gas and hydrogen sulfide (H2S) contents to make the oil ready for use and shipment to refineries.

We should learn from our own mistakes and experiences, but it is wiser to keep track of and learn from all past mistakes and experiences, including those made by others.

The primary function of a control valve is to regulate flow. Accurate, consistent and reliable performance of this task affects many important process unit or plant metrics,

Centrifugal and axial compressors are some of the most critical components used within a process plant to handle gases.

For many years, manufacturers have emphasized low price over high reliability.

When driving by or visiting a refinery or petrochemical plant, one cannot help but gaze at the expansive sea of metal towers.

When a reliability professional located halfway around the world asked for guidance on how to reverse declining equipment reliability at his world-scale fertilizer plant, we answered.

Periodically, I receive questions from engineers around the world on why a piece of critical machinery is vibrating excessively.

Digital online platforms offer significant potential benefits across the oil and gas value chain by employing advanced analytical tools and near-real-time access to technical expertise to improve day-to-day plant performance.

As mentioned in the editorial comment of the October issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, the nominees for the 2020 Top Project Awards are out.

With the prominence in the oil and gas industry around sustainability, it is worthwhile to examine what it means to be “sustainable.”

Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database is tracking nearly 1,400 projects around the world.