Environment & Safety Gas Processing/LNG Maintenance & Reliability Petrochemicals Process Control Process Optimization Project Management Refining

December 2001

Archive

Special Report: Plant Utilities

Are you receiving the best value from your chemical water-treatment supplier?
MarTech Systems, Inc.: Huchler, L. A.

These three categories of service can help you evaluate your chemical-treatment suppliers’ performance

Optimize energy efficiency of HRSG
Consultant: Ganapathy, V.

With a better understanding of temperature profiles, plant engineers can increase steam production and minimize losses

Balance hydrogen consumption
Consultant: Hartmann, J.C.M.

Atomic, molar and energy-based models can improve refinery operation

Computer Technology

Seven rules for successful simulation
Borsig Technologies, Inc.: Knight, C.

Use these guidelines for better results

E-Business

A new breed of e-commerce engine drives profits

For technology to be valuable to HPI players, it must give them the tools to make and execute the right decisions, rather than provide a faster means of making the wrong ones

Engineering Case Histories

Case history 6: Keep those bolts tight
Consulting Engineer: Sofronas, A.

It’s important to keep operating loads less than the bolt preload

Instrumentation/Control

Novel neural fuzzy network for product quality monitoring
Research Institute of Automation, East China University of Science and Technology: Jia, L.  |  Yu, J.

Unique combination of the two technologies provided good results on reformer octane

Columns

HP Reliability: Consider disc pumps where impeller pumps fail
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

Until recently, finding a suitable pump was difficult for plants pumping viscous fluids or fluids that undergo viscosity change. Here, using conventional centrifugal pumps may lead to poor performance..

HP Automation Safety: Types of equipment certification
exida LLC: Goble, W.

It is clear that field equipment manufacturers are focusing development and marketing energy on the safety instrumented systems (SIS) market. The number of new product certification announcements in t..

HP Automation Safety: How are you treating your condensate?—Part 1
MarTech Systems, Inc.: Huchler, L. A.

Condensed steam, i.e., condensate, is valued for its heat contentand purity. To minimize operating costs, condensate should berecycled back to the boiler feedwater system. Equally important, itshould ..

HP Control: HPIn Control
GLF/Technology Consulting: Funk, G. L

Flow and level measurementTecfluid's product catalog includes plastic, glass and metal tubeflowmeters and constant flow regulators; mag, target, turbine andorifice plate flowmeters; flow switches; mic..

HPInformer: HP Informer, Domestic
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Jackson, Kim M.

Conoco Inc. has selected Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. as itsalliance contractor. Jacobs will perform supplemental maintenance,turnarounds and small capital construction projects at four U.S.refinerie..

New Developments: New Developments in products, services and software

        Vertical-welded ball valvesIKS A-1 forged steel welded ball valves' unique features include asim..

HP Construction: HPIn Construction
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Jackson, Kim M.

CMS to expand LNG terminalCMS Trunkline LNG Co., a subsidiary of CMS Energy Corp., isexpanding its Lake Charles, Louisiana, liquefied natural gas (LNG)facility. The terminal's send out capacity will b..

HP In Brief: HPIn Brief
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

Taiwan's government has opened the door for Taiwanese companies to develop large-scale chemical projects in mainland China. Under the previous regulation, companies were limited to investment spending..

HP Impact: Gas-to-liquids: much smoke, little fire
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

The initial gas-to-liquids (GTL) complexes implemented in the 1980sand early 1990s were not commercially successful for a number ofreasons - the main one was that they were far too expensive (Table1)...

HP Impact: What can help troubled owner / ECC relationship?
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

The long-term relationship between owners and the contractors thathelp serve their technical needs has been buffeted in recent years.Addressing this topic at Rice University's Global CompetitivenessFo..

HP Impact: HPI firms spend millions to produce own electricity
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

Co-production of electricity and steam are not new ideas, but theirpopularity in the U.S. is growing. Recent estimates have chemicalcompanies responsible for nearly one-third or 17,000 megawatts (MW)o..

HP Impact: EU directives: fueling growth for biodiesel market
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

The European Commission is expected to propose two new directivesto ensure that biofuels make an important contribution to the totalautomotive fuel consumption in the region. This impendingannouncemen..

HP Impact: API elects new chairman and treasurer
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Weirauch, Wendy

Lee R. Raymond, chairman of the board and chief executive officerof ExxonMobil Corp., Irving, Texas, has been elected to a one-yearterm as chairman of the board of the American Petroleum Institute(API..

Misc

Standards, openness, chaos and productivity

Industrial users are a driving force in demanding standards andopenness. Competition is forcing business to find ways to improveproductivity. A result is that businesses are calling forstandards, open..

Fuel property database

Now here is a database for all you downstream folks to bookmark anduse frequently! The Advanced Petroleum-Based Fuels Program's FuelProperty Database(http://www.ott.doe.gov/fuelprops) is a gift f..

Innovative approach for project simulation

Across industries and project types, there often can be a familiarpattern in project performance and management behaviors: Projectteams focus on schedule and budget because these are directlymeasurabl..

Got gas!!!!
Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Romanow, Stephany

The recent uptake for gas-to-liquid (GTL) projects is boiling up.Primary drivers for GTL announcements are fuel issues, environmentand, most important, money. So, why all the interest intechnologies t..

Enhance air-cooled heat exchanger performance
National University of Singapore: Karimi, I. A.  |  Rangaiah, G. P.  |  Shastri, S. S.  |  Yap, C.

Here are ways to improve heat transfer for ACHEs

Reliability management

"Toward better reliability management" (Oct., p. 13) states that:"The plants with the highest maintenance outlays are also the leastreliable (Fig. 1). Exploring the reasons will have to be postponedun..

Types of equipment certification

It is clear that field equipment manufacturers are focusingdevelopment and marketing energy on the safety instrumented systems(SIS) market. The number of new product certification announcementsin the ..