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

Engineering & Design

Sempra Energy's IEnova Unit, Valero sign contracts for liquid fuels projects in Mexico

SAN DIEGO — Sempra Energy announced that its Mexican subsidiary, Infraestructura Energética Nova, S.A.B. de C.V. (IEnova), signed long-term contracts with a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corp. for the storage capacity of the liquid fuels marine terminal to be constructed in Veracruz and two inland storage facilities to be constructed in Puebla and Mexico City.

Petrofac JV awarded $2-B refinery contract in Oman

(Reuters) — Petrofac Ltd said Oman's Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries awarded a $2 billion contract to the British oilfield services company's 50:50 JV with Samsung Engineering, sending its shares up as much as 9.5%.

Jacobs to acquire CH2M to create $15 B global solutions provider

DALLAS & DENVER — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. and CH2M HILL Companies Ltd. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Jacobs will acquire all of the outstanding shares of CH2M in a cash and stock transaction with an enterprise value (EV) of approximately $3.27 B, including approximately $416 MM of CH2M net debt.

INEOS Phenol to invest in world-scale cumene unit in Germany

The construction of a new cumene plant will support customer demand improve the security of raw material supply to INEOS phenol and acetone plants located in Gladbeck and Antwerp.

Jacobs signs global enterprise framework agreement with Shell

DALLAS — Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has signed a global Enterprise Framework Agreement (EFA) renewal with Shell Oil Company to provide concept, front-end engineering, detailed design, procurement, project management, construction management and construction services for Shell projects globally.

The lost art of proportional band, and the accidental art of performance monitoring

APC Performance LLC: Kern, A.

Most control engineers know that proportional band and controller gain are largely interchangeable terms—both terms refer to the proportional setting of a proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller and are commonly used by control system manufacturers.

Does your control valve talk?

Palmela: Almas, A.

Pneumatic operated control valves (POCVs) are consistently the most used control final element for process control across most industries—in some cases, they are also part of the safety instrumented systems (SISs) layer.

Considerations for revamping shell-and-tube heat exchangers

Summum Projects: Garrido, E.

Revamp projects are complex in nature, and demand a great deal of resources for successful completion.

Revamp fired heaters with a common air-preheating system to increase capacity

Bechtel Corp.: Ahamad, S.  |  Vallavanatt, R.

In any process plant, fired heaters are generally considered to be one of the most optimally designed pieces of equipment.

Analyzing axial cooling fans’ high noise, vibration and failures

Saudi Aramco: Allah, W. K.

Shipping pumps with 1,800 hp are equipped with five cooling fans that cool the oil going to the lube oil pumps to lubricate the bearings.