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

Economics

Global: Is India ready for the BS-6 changeover?

Contributing Writer: Kanwar, R.

India is the seventh-largest country in the world by land mass. Urbanization is taking place at a rapid pace: According to the country’s 2011 census, more than 377 MM Indians live in nearly 8,000 towns and cities. This count represents more than 31% of the country’s total population.

Refining: Europe’s refineries: Walking dead or happy valley?

Opportune LLP: Mars, T.

Unloved and increasingly unneeded, Europe’s oil refining sector has been under duress for an astonishing four decades.

Automation Strategies: Next-gen automation services support operational excellence and reduce project cost

ARC Advisory Group: O'Brien, L.

Major suppliers are expanding their automation-related service capabilities from project and engineering services through services for operations and maintenance. This is happening partly in response to overall automation market conditions, but largely in response to evolving user challenges and requirements.

Use the right model to unlock utility system potential

KBC Process Technology Ltd.: Gómez-Prado, J.  |  Hutton, D.

Although we have entered a new era of low energy prices, energy still represents one of the largest, but most easily managed, operating costs in the hydrocarbon industries.

Reduce coke formation and save operating costs with optimization of DMDS into ethane cracking furnaces

Virtual Materials Group Inc.: Hay, G.  |  Rasouli, G.  |  Carbognani-Arambarri, L.
JX Nippon: Suzuki, R.  |  Urata, K.  |  Inoue, M.

Steam cracking furnaces produce olefins, which are high-value feeds in the petrochemical industry. Coke formation is an unavoidable part of a thermal cracking furnace.

Commercialization of pyrolysis oil in existing refineries—Part 1

AOTA Energy Consultants LLC: Arbogast, S.  |  Bellman, D.  |  Paynter, D.  |  Wykowski, J.

In Part 1 of this article, the incentives and information needed to relax the constraints of being O<sub>2</sub>-free are outlined. The authors hope that this perspective provides new directions for improving the economics of using pyoil to produce advanced biofuels (ABFs).

Engineering Case Histories: Case 94: Why mentors are important for industry

Consulting Engineer: Sofronas, A.

When I started working in industry 50 years ago, it was management’s job to have a senior engineer watch over my work. Much of the quality of my analytical work and technical discipline were formed early in my career with help from these engineers.

Reliability: Reliability and the EPC contractor

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

In this column, I have often elaborated on critical information related to reliability thinking. However, reliability thinking is continually subverted by approaches that concentrate excessively on project cost and completion.

Business Trends: India’s natural gas demand—a welcome sign for LNG exporters

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Nichols, Lee

India is emerging as the world’s new oil demand center. Complementing its thirst for crude oil, the country has the potential to become a hotbed for natural gas consumption over the next few years.

Key design considerations for vacuum process condensers

Graham Corp.: Lines, J. R.

The crude oil refining and petrochemical industries make extensive use of condensers that operate under vacuum (i.e., below atmospheric pressure). Distillation is the most common process using these condensers, either as a process precondenser ahead of an ejector system, or as an intercondenser within an ejector system.