Environment & Safety
Alternatives to ladders and platforms for inspection and maintenance of elevated flare tips
Flare systems are used in refineries and chemical plants as a last line of defense for the plant by burning all unwanted gases and liquid during any upset or emergency condition.
Highlights from a maintenance and reliability audit
Staffers in many plants in modern industry are assigned to job functions related to reliability assessment and implementation.
Refinery tower inspections: Discovering problems and preventing malfunctions
A previous survey identified installation mishaps to be one of the top five causes of tower malfunctions.
Refining: Despite decline, Group 1 base stocks are here to stay
Given increasingly stringent automotive specifications and the advent of the International Maritime Organization’s 2020 sulfur regulations, the continued decrease in Group I base stocks demand should come as no surprise for anyone in the industry.
Maintenance: How to conduct successful turnaround maintenance at refineries
PricewaterhouseCoopers reports that, since 2014, the oil and gas industry has put off noncritical spending to reduce costs.
Reliability: Reliability engineering on offshore platforms
Offshore platforms have had their fair share of successes and failures over the years, and to say that their reliability experiences contain lessons for all of us is an understatement.
Business Trends: The downstream dilemma: Past, present and future of downstream energy
The oil industry’s interest in the downstream segment of the business has known ups and downs. This article reviews the past, present and projected future of the downstream sector and its companies.
Industry Perspectives: The Main Column podcast: Crucial topics shaping the industry
In the February issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, the editors asked our global readership what topics they would like to hear on the publication’s new podcast series: The Main Column.
IMO 2020 and the importance of nonlinear blending properties calculation
With 2020 here, fuel blenders, shipowners, and fuel oil producers and users are concerned about what will happen this year, with the sulfur content in bunker fuel reduced from 3.5 wt% to 0.5 wt%, as per International Maritime Organization 2020 (IMO 2020) rules.
Octane enhancement avoiding both high reformer severity and alkylation
An innovative refinery process arrangementa converts butane-rich, light paraffinic streams—preferably containing a high proportion of isobutane—into butylene by dehydrogenation.
- Nextchem completes acquisition of Ballestra, expanding its technology portfolio in phosphates and fertilizers 6/25
- ABB's SensyMaster flowmeter receives SIL 2 certification for use in safety-critical process applications 6/25
- INEOS Oligomers announced two new product launches across its specialty chemicals portfolio. 6/25
- Phillips 66 CEO warns of refining, petrochemical earnings volatility from Hormuz disruptions 6/25
- Hynfra secures critical land rights for 120,000-tpy green ammonia plant in Jordan 6/25
- Maire signs MoU to explore SAF production in Kazakhstan 6/24

