March 2018
Special Focus: Clean Fuels
Due to the growing popularity of family automobiles in China, the country’s domestic oil market is experiencing a rise in gasoline consumption and a reduction in diesel consumption in recent years.
Global sentiment has been moving toward a call to develop innovative technologies that address environmental preservation and limit the use of hazardous materials.
In the past few decades, new technologies, including both carbon rejection methods and catalytic conversion methods, have emerged.
Environment and Safety
NASA’s 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster investigation brought the term “normalization of deviance” into the spotlight.
Project Management
The demolition of a refinery site is a complex, large-scale project.
Process Optimization
Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) operates the world’s largest refinery complex, with a combined crude processing capacity of 1.24 MMbpd that is split between two refineries: a Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) refinery and a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) refinery in Jamnagar, India.
Typically, opportunity crudes require more rigorous desalting to yield high-quality products due to high levels of naphthenic acids, basic sediment and water (BS&W) and filterable solids, among others.
The cost-effective revamp experiences of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) removal systems in three different ammonia plants, and the resulting attractive payback of just a few months are detailed here.
Fluid Flow and Rotating Equipment
This work details the operation of a 21,000-HP, five-stage barrel pump utilized for seawater injection service.
The vacuum tower is a critical part of many crude distillation units, and the vacuum heater transfer line is a critical part of vacuum tower operation.
Terminals and Storage
Users of large liquid hydrocarbon storage tanks at refineries and terminals must solve a variety of problems and make trade-offs related to vapor emissions and general structural integrity for these massive containers.
Most cone roof tanks are designed with roof-supporting structures inside the tank.
Columns
According to multiple industry reports, crude oil consumption will continue to increase over the short term.
If, in days past, you have questioned why hard piping was used for mechanical seal flush lines and seal support configurations in process pumps, you are certainly not alone.
The last several years have seen significant advances in, and acceptance of, new automation technologies.
Russian fuel producers aim to ensure regular supplies of oil products to both the domestic market and foreign importers in the coming years by building new refineries and modernizing existing plants across the country.
Consumers are continuously looking for healthier, safer and more environmentally sustainable products.
Without a doubt, digitalization is the engine fueling the growing adoption of operational excellence (OE) in hazardous industries.
Trends & Resources
Although the refining industry is expected to add more than 7 MMbpd of new distillation capacity by the early 2020s, the global refining industry will witness a boost in secondary processing capacity, as well.
Business executives and project managers are grappling with challenging business environments and a 20-yr legacy of failing megaprojects.
US refining margins showed slight gains on the top of the barrel as a result of cold weather-related refinery outages, rebounding slightly from the previous month.
According to <i>Hydrocarbon Processing's HPI Market Data 2018,</i>’ total capital expenditures (CAPEX) are expected to reach $144 B in 2018.
Hawk Measurement Systems has announced a new OptioLaser S300 that can be used for the detection of all types of liquids, regardless of their dielectric properties.
Metso’s board of directors has appointed CFO Eeva Sipilä as Metso’s interim President and CEO, succeeding Nico Delvaux.
- ARA gasoline exports to West Africa hit multi-year lows in September 10/3
- Singapore's middle distillates stocks snap three-week fall 10/3
- Update: U.S. crude oil inventories rise as refining activity dips 10/3
- Repsol supports ECI Group in licensing first 150,000-tpy copolymer plant using ECI Group’s hybrid reactor technology 10/3
- INNIO Group welcomes strategic partnership between Heaten and AI Alpine 10/3
- BCCK and Carbon Clean sign agreement to deliver carbon capture solutions across U.S. 10/3