Furnaces
HP Petrochemicals: Update on ethylene tube coating technology
Improving the efficiency of ethylene furnaces has been a long-time goal for olefin manufacturers. The steam cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbons to yield ethylene also coproduces unwanted coke that a..
Multi-faceted approach on energy efficiency methods
The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) is a high-energy-consuming business. After cost for feedstocks, energy is the next largest operating expense for an HPI facility. Since the first oil embargo ..
Two approaches to sulfur management
Sulfur is naturally present as an impurity in fossil fuels. When the fuels are burned, the sulfur is released as sulfur dioxide—an air pollutant that contributes to respiratory problems for human..
Choose the right metering technology for ethylene furnaces
An ethylene plant’s main purpose is to convert hydrocarbon feedstock, usually natural gas liquids or naphtha, into a “cracked gas” that contains ethylene and other higher value products..
Automate furnace controls to improve safety and energy efficiency
Furnace firing is the biggest single operating expense in any refinery. Consider a medium-size refinery (250,000 bpd) that consumes 2,000 MMBtu/h. At a cost of $5/MMBtu, that’s $87.6 MM/yr being ..
Micro-alloyed steel: New standard for reformer tubes
Reformer furnace tubes are designed to operate under high temperature and pressure. Historically, these tubes exhibit improved creep resistance at higher temperatures. The improvements in creep resist..
Improve the cracking of ethylene dichloride
The discovery and exploitation of shale gas in North America is providing a boost to the domestic petrochemical industry. In particular, commodity petrochemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are e..
Case study: Service life assessment of boiler superheater tubes
Boilers are used in petrochemical facilities to generate steam that can be used to meet process and utility requirements. Many industrial boiler designs can be shop assembled and are therefore referre..
Inspect steam reformers and catalyst tubes with infrared thermography
Infrared thermography is a useful inspection tool to help locate problems in steam reformers while the units are online and fired. There are three main areas in a reformer that can be efficiently insp..
Decrease tube metal temperature in vacuum heaters
Various options for reducing the TMT of a vacuum heater, such as changing the transfer line size and adding extra surface area in the radiation and convection sections, are examined here. The best option generally depends on the limitations under which the heater operates with regard to the process requirements and the downstream equipment limitations and flexibility.
- Meridian Energy Group’s Davis Refinery Project in North Dakota (U.S.) will be the world’s first net-zero carbon refinery 4/17
- Lummus expands R&D capabilities to enhance innovation and water and wastewater technologies 4/17
- Niger plans to build diesel refinery and increase supplies to Mali 4/17
- BASF, SABIC, and Linde celebrate the start-up of the world's first large-scale electrically heated steam cracking furnace 4/17
- U.S. crude stocks rise, gasoline, distillate inventories fall 4/17
- Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity revised up for April 4/17
