Engineering & Design
Haffner Energy, Bambbco partner to optimize biomass procurement for clean fuels production
The signing of this partnership will enable Haffner Energy and Bambbco to offer a turnkey solution for the production of green energy, with guaranteed feedstock availability and cost all year round. It builds on Haffner Energy’s strategy to diversify sustainable biomass procurement.
Thermal decomposition of particulate mercury sulfides in petroleum—Part 1
Traces of particulate mercury sulfide (HgS) in stabilized crude oils transform to elemental mercury below 400°C in refinery distillation units. The authors evaluated this transformation and measured reaction rates and activation energies in crude oil and Hg-spiked mineral oil, using glass vessels at atmospheric pressure and a microunit at 1,000 psig.
Deliver sustainable benefits through site-wide process digital twins
Refiners have used offline process models for decades. The next generation of solutions is anticipated to operate automatically, integrate with legacy systems and provide transparency site-wide.
Prompt engineering: Extracting operational excellence knowledge from AI—Part 1
Prompt engineering is an emerging discipline at the intersection of AI and process engineering and will undoubtedly contribute to the hydrocarbon and green molecules processing industries. Parts 1 and 2 (October 2024) of this article explore and provide a glimpse of how this technique can help process engineers and operators to manage the power of advanced AI models to optimize processes, contribute to solve complex problems, and improve operational efficiency in refineries and petrochemical plants.
Seven tips to achieve a smoother plant turnaround
This article provides seven best practices that should be kept in mind for successful plant turnaround management.
Monitoring cyclone reliability in fluid catalytic crackers
The authors’ company has developed a novel approach with a digital algorithm to effectively estimate the current cyclone erosion and predict future erosion based on operating conditions. With this approach, refiners get an automatic way to better predict abrasion lining erosion for both reactors and regenerator cyclones daily from digital analytics, thus helping refiners quantify their monitoring.
YECC awards ECI Group licensing contract for 150,000-tpy copolymer plant
ECI Group has signed a licensing agreement with Shaanxi Yanchang China Coal Yulin Energy & Chemical Co., Ltd. (YECC) to deliver a 150,000-tpy copolymer plant project, using ECI Group’s proprietary hybrid reactor technology.
Rio Tinto pilots Pongamia seed oil as a feedstock for renewable diesel
Rio Tinto will develop Pongamia seed farms in Australia as part of a new biofuels pilot. The project will explore the potential of Pongamia seed oil as a feedstock for renewable diesel.
SAFFiRE Renewables breaks ground on SAF pilot plant in Kansas (U.S.)
The SAFFiRE plant, located at Conestoga Energy's Arkalon Energy facility in Liberal, Kansas, will ultimately be capable of processing 10 tons of corn stover daily, yielding cellulosic ethanol that can be upgraded into SAF with a carbon footprint at least 83% lower than conventional jet fuel.
ABP awards CONSER tech licensing contract for 50,000-tpy maleic anhydride plant in Oman
MAIRE announced that NEXTCHEM (Sustainable Technology Solutions), through its subsidiary CONSER, has been awarded by Al Baleed Petrochemical Company the technology licensing, the process design package and catalyst supply for a 50,000-tpy maleic anhydride plant in the Salalah Free Zone, Oman.

- LanzaJet expands partnership with Microsoft to strengthen the company’s global growth 6/13
- Phelan Green Group's $2.6-B eMethanol project remains on schedule 6/13
- Algeria launches $7-B investment plan to expand hydrocarbon processing 6/13
- AFPM/API: President Trump officially overturns California (U.S.) gas car ban 6/12
- Decision on oil refiner Italiana Petroli's sale expected around end-June 6/12
- EIA: U.S. crude stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise as refining activity increases 6/12