Europe
Why don’t we properly train control engineers?
While there are managers in the process industry that see training control engineers as a “no-brainer,” these are very much in the minority. They may send staff on courses covering configura..
Consider automated fault detection systems to improve facility reliability
Automated fault detection and diagnosis systems (AFDDSs) are well established in many consumer and industrial sectors.1 The conventional limit-value based (high/low alarms) fault detection and diagnos..
Optimize desulfurization of gasoline via advanced process control techniques
This case history describes the development of the inferential models used in open-loop and closed-loop applications, laboratory and analyzer update mechanisms, and APC model generation.
Maximize diesel production in an FCC-centered refinery, Part 2
Part two of this series focuses on the selection of FCC catalysts, methods for hydroprocessing light cycle oil (LCO) and the production of diesel fuel from FCC byproducts.
Optimize sulfur recovery in dilute H2S sources
The new direct oxidation process is an economic method for sulfur recovery from low-H2S content gases, converting H2S in a gas catalytic process directly to elemental sulfur.
Identify and control excess air from process heaters
Process heaters are the largest consumers of energy in most plants. A refinery, on average, burns approximately 2 billion Btu/hr of fuel in fired heaters. The total quantity of fuel burned (heat relea..
Apply new pump-drive software to test performance
Process control schemes involving fluid-flow machinery with traditional adjustable speed drives (ASDs) or modules encounter limitations such as control flexibility and accuracy. In this context, the t..
INEOS to source US shale ethane for European cracker feedstock
The company has agreed to a 15-year deal with Range Resources to take Marcellus Shale ethane from the Marcus Hook facility in Pennsylvania, beginning in 2015.
CB&I to upgrade Polish refinery coking technology
Once the coking technology from CB&I is implemented, the Gdansk refinery of Grupa Lotos will have the capability to process 2,400 to 3,840 tpd of a blend of vacuum resid and ROSE pitch, depending on the season. The Gdansk refinery is the second-largest refinery in Poland.
European refining outlook unlikely to improve for next two years
S&P executives say the depressed outlook for European refiners is unlikely to improve as the industry's export market shrinks and excess volumes of gasoline build.
- Veolia and SBM Offshore partner to deploy near-shore, floating desalination units 1/15
- Formosa Petrochemical extends Taiwan cracker shutdown due to weak derivative margins 1/15
- Cargill advances maritime Decarbonization with delivery of first green methanol dual-fuel vessel 1/15
- Key U.S. energy, power trends at home and on world markets 1/15
- U.S. to finalize 2026 biofuel quotas by early March, drop import penalties 1/15
- India's Nayara Energy buys only Russian oil in Dec for 5th straight month 1/15
