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Maintenance & Reliability

HP Automation Strategies: Energy management lessons from Europe

ARC Advisory Group: Güldner, F.

ARC Advisory Group research indicates that, by applying appropriate energy management measures, energy-intensive companies can reduce their energy consumption by 30% to 40% over a 15-year timespan. Th..

HP Reliability: Advances in gasket designs making progress

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

Long service life and maintenance cost avoidance for equipment are of great interest to reliability professionals in the hydrocarbon processing industry. These goals are supported by a renowned gasket..

HP Engineering Case Histories: Case 80: Sudden temperature change in a centrifugal compressor

Consulting Engineer: Sofronas, A.

A process upset occurred that caused the gas temperature of a centrifugal compressor to increase from the design condition of Tstart = 300°F to Tinf = 600°F in t = 0.25 hours. Some engineers..

HP Reliability: Things to know and do before starting new initiatives

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

HP editors frequently attend technical conferences to keep informed on the many factors impacting the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI). The focus of these conferences often differs. However, one ..

What is the ‘refinery of the future’?

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Romanow, Stephany

For years, technology experts and engineers have discussed the elements and operations that will define the refinery of the future. The refining industry has made great progress from the early days. H..

Improve performance of exchangers in quench-water services

Wieland-Werke AG: Lang, T.  |  El-Hajal, J.
Technip: Provost, J.

Dual-enhanced (DE) tubes are widely used in shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HEXs) in a range of industries. They have become a standard in multiple clean services for the hydrocarbon processing indust..

A chemist’s perspective on organic fouling in ethylene operations

Nalco Champion: Hancock, J. M.
SABIC Technology & Innovation: Van Zijl, A. W.  |  Robson, I.  |  Vachon, J.  |  Hashmi, A.

Since organic fouling cannot be completely eliminated, ethylene producers must use operational, chemical and mechanical methods to minimize heat transfer losses and equipment downtime.

HP Reliability: Normalization of deviance can kill

Hydrocarbon Processing Staff: Bloch, Heinz P.

On January 28, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger (mission STS-51-L) broke apart just 73 seconds after launch. The seven-member crew of the shuttle lived until 3 minutes and 58 seconds after launch, w..

HP Water Management: What should cooling tower owners do about legionella?

MarTech Systems, Inc.: Huchler, L. A.

The first awareness of the risks of legionella bacteria in cooling water was the outbreak of Legionellosis at the hotel hosting the Legionnaires’ Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1976..

HP Engineering Case Histories: Case 79: Integral compressor failures

Consulting Engineer: Sofronas, A.

Recently, the author received information regarding the failure of a large reciprocating compressor. In this example, the pistons for power and compressor cylinders are powered by the same crankshaft...