Environment & Safety
Albemarle opens environmental R&D facility in US
US-based specialty chemicals producer Albemarle has opened its new environmental research and development facility at its headquarters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This new facility will allow the newly-formed Albemarle Environmental Division to expand its capabilities into multi-pollutant control, while significantly growing its capabilities in environmental research, the company said.
Neste Oil plans €60mn process safety upgrade for Finland refineries
Neste Oil will spend about €60 million in 2012 on process safety improvements for its Porvoo and Naantali refineries in Finland. Investments will focus on further improving process, fire, and personnel safety by modernizing process automation and automated safety systems, the company said.
Fine-tune diesel hydrotreating operations
This refinery used a simulator to train operators effectively
HPIn Europe: Europe warily prepares to enter a newly globalized age of biofuels
Biofuels are growing up in Europe. From an exotic outlet for European Union (EU) agricultural product in the 1990s, to a boutique fuel for the green consumer in the 2000s, now today’s industry ha..
HP Impact: European refiners’ safety performance in 2010
European oil company association CONCAWE started compiling statistical data on safety performance for the European downstream oil industry 17 years ago. The group recently released its safety report f..
Linde wins top award for chemical railcar safety
The North American business of gases and engineering firm Linde has been awarded the top chemical safety award for 2010 from Norfolk Southern. This is the fourth year in a row and the 10th time that Linde in North America has been recognized by Norfolk Southern since the award was instituted 15 years ago.
Shell shuts down large Singapore refinery after fire
Shell is in the process of shutting down its 500,000 bpd refinery in Pulau Bukom, Singapore, following the recent fire at the facility, company officials said on Thursday. The fire, which began on Wednesday and may have been started during maintenance work, has been extinguished. However, there are still traces of fuel vapor, according to Shell officials.
API seeks delay of US EPA refinery emissions rules
The American Petroleum Institute (API) is asking the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for additional time to make comments on EPA's proposed rules for emissions from the production of oil and natural gas. API also asked for the EPA to delay its proposed rule for refinery emissions to allow adequate time for EPA to review emissions data submitted by industrial facilities this month, it said.
Albemarle forms new pollution control division
US-based specialty chemicals firm Albemarle has formed an environmental division, seeking to enhance what it called an “important market segment” within the air pollution control industry. Albemarle’s environmental division is focused on expanding the product and service offerings for the company’s environmental business through the development of multi-pollutant control technologies, it said.
European process safety guru says 'macho culture' creates more accidents
Trevor Kletz, one of the world’s most revered experts on process safety, has cited industry’s ‘macho culture’ as one of the main causes of recent accidents. Kletz, who spent almost forty years at ICI before forging a second career as an author on process safety and loss prevention, says that while there has been no deliberate decision to spend less on safety, many senior managers have taken their eye off the ball and that a macho approach to ‘get stuck in’ has been the underlying cause of recent incidents.
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