Maintenance & Reliability
Refinery tower inspections: Discovering problems and preventing malfunctions
A previous survey identified installation mishaps to be one of the top five causes of tower malfunctions.
Water Management: Minimize white rust in galvanized cooling systems
Galvanized coatings for cooling tower systems (cooling towers, evaporator tube bundles, etc.) have been used in the industry since the 1950s due to their relatively low cost and long service life.
Refining: Despite decline, Group 1 base stocks are here to stay
Given increasingly stringent automotive specifications and the advent of the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 sulfur regulations, the continued decrease in Group I base stocks demand should come as no surprise for anyone in the industry.
Maintenance: How to conduct successful turnaround maintenance at refineries
PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that, since 2014, the oil and gas industry has put off noncritical spending to reduce costs.
Reliability: Reliability engineering on offshore platforms
Offshore platforms have had their fair share of successes and failures over the years, and to say that their reliability experiences contain lessons for all of us is an understatement.
Root cause analysis for low yield of p-diethylbenzene produced by catalytic alkylation
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) manufactures para-diethylbenzene (PDEB) at one of its plants by alkylation of ethylbenzene (EB) with ethylene, using RIL's own technology and super-selective catalyst.
Industry Perspectives: The Main Column podcast: Crucial topics shaping the industry
In the February issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, the editors asked our global readership what topics they would like to hear on the publication’s new podcast series: The Main Column.
Variable capacity control technology facilitates efficient operation for reciprocating compressors
Reciprocating compressors are used extensively in refinery and petrochemical operations to keep feedstocks and products moving through miles of piping.
Improving plant operations with control valve simulations
In today’s business climate, where project budgets and schedules are under cost and time pressures (and where installed valve applications must perform reliably under increasingly severe conditions), valve simulations are enabling new capabilities.
Design of very-high-flow coefficient centrifugal compressor stages
Centrifugal compressors are widely used in the oil and gas and petrochemical industries, with more than 15,000 operating in the U.S. alone.

- OC Global signs MoU with Passo Fundo for greenfield ammonia plant in Brazil 8/8
- India's E20 fuel rollout marked by widespread criticism 8/8
- Argentina's YPF to invest $400 MM in sustainable jet fuel venture 8/8
- South African tax authorities extend jet fuel lifeline to airports 8/8
- MOL Group successfully completes another SAF and HVO production test 8/8
- India approves $3.4-B payout to state-run refiners for cooking gas losses 8/8