Safety
Editorial Comment: Honoring the industry’s best … take 2!
Due to Tropical Storm Imelda, Hydrocarbon Processing issued its first force majeure in postponing the third annual HP Awards.
Improved cooling system performance begins with data
Refineries consume large amounts of energy and water to refine crude oil into products. Up to 10% of crude oil’s energy content is consumed during processing, and it takes 1.5 bbl of water to process one barrel of crude oil. Refining processes also generate large quantities of excess thermal energy that needs to be expelled into the environment using a once-through or recirculating cooling system.
When digital transformation hits all four sustainability buckets
Sustainability is emerging as a critical business topic, as many companies focus resources toward lowering emissions, waste and energy use in their production processes. This important concept can apply broadly to company operations, especially when considering the expansive view of the triple bottom line that measures the impact of company operations on profits, people and the planet.
Hydrocarbon Processing Awards Winners
<i>Hydrocarbon Processing,</i> the downstream processing sector’s leading technical publication, has announced the winners for its third annual awards. The <i>HP</i> Awards celebrate innovative technologies and people that have been instrumental in improving facility operations over the past year.
Pay attention: LockerGoga and Trisis/Triton demand an improved cybersecurity strategy
The need for a solid cybersecurity strategy has been discussed and debated for nearly half a century. However, the basic worm-type attacks first documented in 1972 are still with us today. Why? The reason is because even the most basic measures to protect control systems from these types of attacks are still not systematically employed.
Building industrial networks to serve IIoT and digitalization
Two of the terms growing in popularity over the past few years are “digital native” and “digital immigrant.” Natives are those individuals young enough to have known computers and the internet since childhood. For them, such technologies have always existed. Immigrants, either through age or circumstance, had no exposure until later in life. Hopefully, for them, such technologies are a welcome addition to work and life, but they can remember times when most activities were more manual, local and isolated.
Business Trends: One downstream—Strategic imperatives for the evolving refining and chemical sectors
Downstream executives will remember the present decade as a golden age for the industry, driven by low feedstock prices and healthy end-use demand.
Industry Perspectives: Hydrocarbon Processing honored with industry award nominations
In early September, <i>Hydrocarbon Processing</i> staff learned that the publication was nominated for several publishing awards by Folio magazine.
Cybersecurity: Crucial defenses for critical infrastructures
A colleague of mine once suggested to a chemical plant operator that it was a good idea to apply patches to Windows-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) servers as soon as they become available every month—after all, a lot of them fix security vulnerabilities.
Associations: Integrated vs. non-integrated safety systems: Does it really matter?
ARC Advisory Group’s 23rd annual Industry Forum included a panel discussion that explored the relative merits of integrated vs. non-integrated safety systems in an increasingly connected world.

- LanzaJet expands partnership with Microsoft to strengthen the company’s global growth 6/13
- Phelan Green Group's $2.6-B eMethanol project remains on schedule 6/13
- Algeria launches $7-B investment plan to expand hydrocarbon processing 6/13
- 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