Safety
Is your plant vulnerable to a brittle fracture?
Much of the process equipment operating today was designed to construction codes that did not require a formal evaluation for low-temperature considerations. Metal temperature highly influences the fr..
HP Automation Safety: It is easier to sit on the couch than go exercise
I like a routine each morning where I get up early and work on long-term projects—important tasks that lack the urgency of a short deadline, like reading that new safety critical systems book, wr..
HP Industry Perspectives: Cyber bullies continue to be a menace
Cyber security is still a critical issue that the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) must address. Speaking at the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Q&A and Technology forum in Denver, ..
HP News
EPA: GHG emissions from refineries increase 1.6% in 2013The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released its fourth year of GHG data, with over 8,000 large facilities reporting 2013 emissions..
HP Innovations
Software helps optimize energy performanceIn November, Yokogawa Electric Corp. is releasing Energy Performance Analytics (EP-Analytics), a software tool (Fig. 1) that uses energy performance indicator..
Wanted: Future leaders
The hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) has known for some time that a great shift change is eminent. The experienced engineers, chemists and crafts hired in the 1970s and 1980s are reaching retirem..
HP Petrochemicals: PVC process gets technology and control updates
KBR has formed an alliance to sell the exclusive license for JNC Corp.’s PVC process technology, which it inherited from CHISSO Corp.’s business, a pioneer in the Japanese chemical industry.
HP Project Management: Case history: Hurdles in dismantling a vintage ammonia plant
Dismantling an ammonia plant is a daunting task under any circumstances. It is even more problematic when the facility is located in a remote place such as central Pakistan and managed by local contra..
HP Reliability: Consider technology-based specialized industrial services
Most downstream professions have heard of (or personally experienced) glitches in activities involving offshoring and outsourcing. Too often, some maintenance and purchasing agents travel the “go..
HP Viewpoint: Improve safety and performance: Abnormal Situation Management Consortium celebrates 20 years
This October and November represent two milestones in the process industries. The first is unfortunate: Twenty-five years ago, on October 23, 1989, a major polyethylene plant on the Houston Ship Chann..

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