Environment & Safety
Petroecuador declares emergency at Ecuador's biggest refinery after fire damages
Ecuador's state oil producer Petroecuador declared a 60-day emergency at the South American nation's largest oil refinery, its second emergency in one month, after a fire this week caused damage to some fuel tanks.
Proven methods to lower costs and boost safety in gas distribution operations
Gas distribution systems exist in a multitude of applications, including laboratories, test centers and industrial sites. A crucial element of proper system function is ensuring gases are transported safely, keeping critical processes in place.
Process safety management in transfer and stockpiling operations—Part 1
The stockpiling of assets requires a significant amount of energy that can be stored in tanks and pipes. Because of this, the most adverse scenarios related to process safety can occur in the transfer and stockpiling areas.
Greener cleaning solutions in oil and gas: A game changer for sustainability and efficiency
Cleaning and maintaining system components and equipment—such as heat exchangers—can consume significant time and resources. Conventional methods rely heavily on harsh, environmentally harmful agents. This article explores an innovative cleaning solution that offers faster, more-effective cleaning with wide-ranging environmental and operational benefits.
Enhance rotating equipment reliability: Implementing a bad actor program in the oil and gas industry
Bad actor programs—a process for identifying and addressing assets that are causing problems in a system—play a critical role in enhancing equipment reliability and optimizing maintenance costs within industrial plants. This article explores the implementation of such a program at Saudi Aramco’s Yanbu natural gas liquids Fractionation Department, focusing on rotating equipment such as pumps, compressors, turbines and motors.
Uniper, thyssenkrupp Uhde partner to build large-scale ammonia cracker in Germany
thyssenkrupp Uhde and Uniper are entering into a strategic partnership to bring a key technology for global hydrogen trading to industrial maturity: the large-scale ammonia cracker. In a first step, a demonstration plant with a capacity of 28 tpd ammonia will be built at Uniper’s Gelsenkirchen-Scholven site in Germany.
Ecuador's biggest oil refinery stops operating as precaution due to fire
A fire that erupted in a fuel oil tank on Monday at Ecuador's biggest oil refinery is under control, state oil company Petroecuador and the country's energy minister said
Hunt Refining's Tuscaloosa refinery (U.S.) expedites maintenance, repairs on fire-damaged coker unit
Hunt Refining has expedited and started maintenance and repairs on the fire-damaged coker unit at its 63,000-bpd petroleum refinery in Tuscaloosa, Alabama last week.
ExxonMobil Joliet refinery (U.S.) running unit at reduced rate
ExxonMobil was operating the catalytic cracker unit at its 275,000-bpd Joliet, Illinois (U.S.) refinery at reduced rates earlier this week. The refinery ran its 98,000-bpd catalytic cracker unit at approximately 50% capacity due to unspecified mechanical issues.
Suncor reports flare replacement project at the Montreal refinery in coming weeks
Suncor has announced that it will be erecting metal structures at its 137,000-bpd Monteal refinery for a flare replacement project that will begin in a few weeks.
- New catalyst breakthrough could make clean ammonia easier to produce 7/25
- U.S. Gulf refiners seek Middle East, S. American oil to offset Venezuela, Mexico losses 7/25
- CEO of Russia-backed Indian refiner Nayara resigns after EU sanctions 7/25
- PetroChina makes FID for new northeast refinery complex 7/25
- Valero Energy beats Q2 profit estimates as refining margins improve 7/24
- SWISS becomes world’s first airline to integrate Synhelion solar fuel into its flight operations 7/24
