Equipment
Cannon Artes breaks ground on massive industrial wastewater treatment/water reuse plant in Qatar
Cannon Artes is building a large-scale, advanced wastewater treatment and water reuse plant in one of the top three petrochemical complexes in the Middle East region. The system will treat up to 25,000 m3d of effluent water and cooling-tower-blowdown water.
LyondellBasell to close Houston refinery (U.S.) in Q1 2025
Chemical maker LyondellBasell Industries detailed its long-announced plan to permanently shutter its 263,776-bpd Houston oil refinery in the first quarter of 2025, shutting the facility's CDU and coker train in January, followed by the shuttering of the second CDU-coker production train, which supplies the gasoline-producing FCC and ancillary units, ending motor fuel production
Sponsored Content: Demystifying industrial AI agents: What we can learn from Iron Man
An industrial agent is an agile and robust software entity that intelligently represents and manages the functionalities and capabilities of an industrial unit. This Digital Feature dives deep into industrial agents, and how they can be used to optimize plant operations.
Best practice guidelines for selecting types of compressors
This article discusses the best practices for selecting compressors for different applications in refining, petrochemical, chemical and carbon capture plants.
Utilize a process simulation digital twin to optimize condensate yield
With the aim to maximize profit, and contribute to sustainability targets by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, ADNOC Sour Gas has optimized condensate hydrotreater operation by adjusting Reid vapor pressure, which resulted in maximizing condensate yield. This article is a case study on using a process digital twin to optimize condensate yield.
Consortium introduces world's first pharmaceutical bottle partially made with wood-based plastics
UPM Biochemicals, Selenis and Bormioli Pharma have partnered to produce the world’s first pharmaceutical bottles made from partially wood-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
Thermal decomposition of particulate mercury sulfides in petroleum—Part 2
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.
Needle coke and synthetic graphite: Advance performance through technology application
This article looks at the global graphite market and future demand. In turn, it details the author's company's proven delayed coking technology through conventional and two-step processes to produce carbon precursors for synthetic graphite and needle coke for graphite electrodes.
SMR feed effluent hairpin exchanger: Once upon a time—An unusual thermal mix-point failure—Part 1
This article presents a review of a failure that happened in a hairpin heat exchanger type on the shell side in a hydrogen (H2) reformer unit. This mechanism was not identified during the design phase and led to a failure after only two years of operation. This article also reviews the situations encountered during the design stage and how they affected the material selection.
Refinery/petrochemical makeup water treatment: A general guide for technical personnel—Part 3
A very important—and sometimes overlooked—unit operation within hydrocarbon processing facilities is makeup water treatment for steam generators and other processes. Many cases have been documented in which makeup system upsets have led to boiler tube failures that partially or completely shut down unit processes. The three parts of this article (August, September and October 2024) serve as a guide for those employees who may be on a steep learning curve when it comes to makeup system understanding.
- Indian Oil buys first Colombian oil under Ecopetrol contract 12/31
- Ukrainian drone attack sparks fire, damages equipment at Tuapse refinery 12/31
- Chile's $2.5-B Volta green ammonia project wins environmental permit 12/31
- China begins issuing second batch of 2026 crude import quotas to refiners 12/31
- EIA: U.S. crude, fuel inventories rose in the week ended December 19 12/30
- Ghana's Tema oil refinery restarts after 9-yr shutdown 12/30

