Reactors
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Country spotlight: KazakhstanAccording to data from the Kazakhstan Ministry of Oil and Gas, the country’s three oil refineries processed nearly 14.3 million tons (MMt) of crude in 2013. The 2013 ..
Case history: Characterization of shale oils and heat exchanger performance
LTOs are paraffinic, low in asphaltenes but high in filterable solids. Understanding the impact of these mechanisms can shed light on preheat exchanger performance and the prediction of fouling rates.
Improve the isomerization of alkanes by catalytic distillation
The isomerization of light gasoline fractions is crucial to producing high-octane fuels and to reducing the benzene content in gasoline. One of the most promising options for isomerization is catalytic distillation.
Wide design margins do not improve engineering
Engineers use design and safety factors in sizing and specifying instrumentation or major process equipment, such as pumps, valves and compressors. Design factors are applied to cover the uncertainty ..
HP Reliability: Was that a failure or ‘just a repair’?
Purists among reliability professionals are sometimes concerned about the accuracy of the measurement of the mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) of an asset. There are many ways to conduct this failure f..
Mitigate fouling in crude unit overhead—Part 3
CASE STUDYThe basis for this case study is shown in Fig. 18; it is a crude unit with overhead heat integration. This is a one-drum overhead system with heat integration and no water wash. In an attemp..
Recommended guidelines can help prevent fires caused by static electricity
For any person working in the oil and gas industry who is responsible for the safety of employees, colleagues, plant equipment and property, one of the most potentially confusing aspects in providing ..
Mitigate fouling in crude unit overhead—Part 2
Up to 50% of the refinery’s entire corrosion expense may occur in the crude unit. The root causes of the fouling and corrosion issues are often linked to the basic unit configuration choices, as ..
Update temperature control for a Claus unit with neural networks
The Natref oil refinery in Sasolburg, South Africa, had experienced refractory problems in the sulfur recovery unit’s (SRU’s) combustion chamber since startup (Fig. 1). Even though the SRU w..
Case history: Optimization of FCCU with multivariate statistical modeling
Process models and simulation methods can be used to simulate the fluidized-bed catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) process.a,b Likewise, kinetic or multivariate statistical models have been used. Rigorous..

- AFPM/API: President Trump officially overturns California (U.S.) gas car ban 6/12
- Decision on oil refiner Italiana Petroli's sale expected around end-June 6/12
- EIA: U.S. crude stocks fall, gasoline and distillate inventories rise as refining activity increases 6/12
- AB Foods holds off bioethanol plant closure decision until June 25 6/12
- EU to subsidize high volume of greener aviation fuel to boost airline demand 6/12
- Solvay, Veolia inaugurate new unit for recycling industrial flue gas treatment residues in Meurthe-et-Moselle, France 6/12