Loss Prevention
Thermal decomposition of particulate mercury sulfides in petroleum—Part 1
Traces of particulate mercury sulfide (HgS) in stabilized crude oils transform to elemental mercury below 400°C in refinery distillation units. The authors evaluated this transformation and measured reaction rates and activation energies in crude oil and Hg-spiked mineral oil, using glass vessels at atmospheric pressure and a microunit at 1,000 psig.
Deliver sustainable benefits through site-wide process digital twins
Refiners have used offline process models for decades. The next generation of solutions is anticipated to operate automatically, integrate with legacy systems and provide transparency site-wide.
Prompt engineering: Extracting operational excellence knowledge from AI—Part 1
Prompt engineering is an emerging discipline at the intersection of AI and process engineering and will undoubtedly contribute to the hydrocarbon and green molecules processing industries. Parts 1 and 2 (October 2024) of this article explore and provide a glimpse of how this technique can help process engineers and operators to manage the power of advanced AI models to optimize processes, contribute to solve complex problems, and improve operational efficiency in refineries and petrochemical plants.
Seven tips to achieve a smoother plant turnaround
This article provides seven best practices that should be kept in mind for successful plant turnaround management.
Monitoring cyclone reliability in fluid catalytic crackers
The authors’ company has developed a novel approach with a digital algorithm to effectively estimate the current cyclone erosion and predict future erosion based on operating conditions. With this approach, refiners get an automatic way to better predict abrasion lining erosion for both reactors and regenerator cyclones daily from digital analytics, thus helping refiners quantify their monitoring.
Cybersecurity: A discussion on the EU's NIS2 Directive with ABB's Global Cybersecurity Lead Tobias Nitzsche
Hydrocarbon Processing sat down with Tobias Nitzsche, Global Cyber Security Practice Lead, ABB, to discuss the European Union’s (EU’s) NIS2 Directive—the EU-wide legislation on cybersecurity—and how it will affect the hydrocarbon processing industry.
Emerson to join the Margo initiative, an open-standard pathway to optimize edge applications
Emerson is joining the Linux Foundation’s Margo, a new open-standard initiative designed to make edge applications, devices and orchestration software work together seamlessly across multi-vendor industrial automation environments.
Oil and gas web client computing devices facilitate integration of web-based HMI/SCADA applications
Operators in oil and gas manufacturing facilities have long depended on human machine interfaces (HMI) to offer a visual summary of process systems that simplifies the monitoring of crucial status and control data. A well-crafted graphical user interface enhances situational awareness, decreases workload and empowers operators to oversee the entire process, facilitating their focus to quickly address any abnormal scenarios.
Effective inventory management during a turnaround
Nothing will impede a successful plant turnaround like improper planning. One aspect of this planning is effective inventory management, and the keys to achieving this are properly identifying and communicating maintenance needs.
Russia's idle oil refining capacity in September seen up 34% vs August
Russia's offline primary oil refining capacity in September is set to jump 34% from August due to technical outages, Ukrainian drone attacks and seasonal maintenance. Offline capacity is seen at 3.87 MMt this month, or 14.5% of Russia's total oil refining capabilities. That is up from 2.95 MMt in August.
- NAPCOR releases 2024 PET recycling report highlighting system efficiency gains and continued strength of PET circularity 12/12
- OQ courts other partners for petrochemical complex in Oman as SABIC drops out 12/12
- Brazil's BNDES approves $71 MM for carbon storage project 12/12
- Cuba on edge as U.S. seizure of oil tanker puts supply at risk 12/12
- China oil demand to plateau between 2025 and 2030 12/12
- Germany's PCK refinery says no impact from pipeline leak 12/12
