Safety
HP Reliability: Consider oil-resistant cable terminations to increase electric motor reliability
Most engineers are familiar with adhesive-coated insulating tape used by electricians in the field and maintenance shop. If we use this tape in the engine compartment of an automobile, it will soon be..
HP Petrochemicals: Fatal DuPont leak shows need for improved chemical safety systems
The November 15 chemical leak at DuPont’s plant in La Porte, Texas was the company’s third fatal US accident in five years and the deadliest of them all. The blast took the lives of four wor..
HP Project Management: Energy efficiency: Getting in early pays off exponentially
There are many situations and circumstances when it makes good sense to pursue energy efficiency for industrial processes. But when is the best time for such action?Better operating practicesIn existi..
HP Viewpoint: The data revolution
The world’s population is expected to exceed 9 B people by 2040, and the corresponding energy demand for many of these newly affluent consumers will rise similarly. For the industrial sector, mor..
HP Industry Perspectives: RFS—An endless loop
Renewable fuels remain a huge burden for the global refining industry. Today’s transportation fuels, when used with later-model vehicles, have dramatically reduced tailpipe emissions. With much p..
HP News
Qatar Petroleum and Shell cancel $6.5-B petrochemical project in Qatar Royal Dutch Shell and Qatar Petroleum (QP) have canceled the $6.5-B Al-Karaana petrochemical project in Qatar, which will signifi..
HP Innovations
AVEVA NET software is cloud readyAVEVA has implemented a number of improvements to AVEVA NET, its information management software (Fig. 1). Customer feedback has shown that these improvements enhance ..
DCS migration: Lessons learned
In 2005, TOTAL’s Port Arthur refinery (PAR), like many present-day refining and petrochemical facilities, found itself with an obsolete, at-capacity distributed control system (DCS). As shown in ..
Avoid counterproductive project management practices
For many years, reliability-focused engineers have observed flawed procurement processes for mechanical equipment. Many requirements are supposedly aimed at the lowest possible lifecycle cost; however..
Fine-tune monitoring of critical compressors
In this case history, a new monitoring system was installed on a critical service hyper compressor for a Middle East (ME) ethylene complex. This unit supported two 400 Mton polyethylene (PE) units; do..
- Kazakhstan to build a new $10-B, 10-MMtpy refinery 2/18
- U.S. EPA expected to send 2026 biofuel blending quotas to White House this week 2/18
- Kent awarded pre-FEED contract for Eq.flight, an advanced power-to-liquids SAF project 2/18
- ABB launches integrated carbon capture measurement solution to accelerate industrial decarbonization 2/18
- CONSER awarded technology licensing/PDP contract for DMS and BDO plant in China 2/18
- Singapore marine fuel sales maintain strong start in early 2026 2/18
