Management
Use crowdsourcing to boost process simulation
There are many ways to enhance the user experience of next-generation simulators by borrowing concepts from crowdsourcing, data mining and related fields.
Improve performance of exchangers in quench-water services
Dual-enhanced (DE) tubes are widely used in shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HEXs) in a range of industries. They have become a standard in multiple clean services for the hydrocarbon processing indust..
Russian straight-run fuel oil supply collapse complicates Gulf Coast feedstock choices
In the next couple of years, collapsing Russian supply of straight-run fuel oil (SRFO) will undermine foreign supply of feedstock to the US Gulf Coast.
Targeted liquid injection improves shed deck performance
This case study shows how the installation of an unique piping and lance design achieved targeted liquid injection, quenched vapor hot zones and reduced resid entrainment into the heavy coker gasoil product.
Which margin levers impact Group I and Group II base stock competitiveness? Part 1
As much as the lubricants industry might wish it otherwise, base stocks production is becoming more commoditized, and it is intertwined inextricably with mainstream refining operations. The vast major..
HP Reliability: Normalization of deviance can kill
On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart just 73 seconds after launch. The seven-member crew of the shuttle lived until 3 minutes and 58 seconds after launch, w..
HP Project Management: Better strategies avoid project delays—Part 3
The first two parts of this series analyzed the root causes of project delays and proposed strategies to avoid schedule overruns. This final part reviews construction planning.Construction planningOne..
HP Water Management: What should cooling tower owners do about legionella?
The first awareness of the risks of legionella bacteria in cooling water was the outbreak of Legionellosis at the hotel hosting the Legionnaires’ Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1976..
HP Viewpoint: Transformation of downstream automation and information systems
One of the more interesting aspects about working in the energy sector, as I have done for the last 36 years, is that this industry is always changing—technically, economically and even political..
HP Industry Perspectives: Is the glass half full or half empty?
This year is nearly half over; however, the energy industry is more optimistic about the market and economy according to Ernst & Young’s (EY’s) recent 10th biannual Oil and Gas Capital Confi..
- INEOS to cease phenol production at German site, cites high European energy costs and CO2 tax policy 6/17
- Petrobras signs $892 MM in contracts to complete RNEST Train 2 refinery expansion 6/17
- China's May refinery throughput at 9-month low on plant overhauls (1) 6/17
- bp completes turnaround work at 250,000-bpd refinery in Washington (U.S.) 6/17
- Japan's Eneos restarts 77,000-bpd Kawasaki CDU after unplanned shutdown 6/17
- UPM Biochemicals receives triple sustainability certification for the Leuna biorefinery 6/17
