Maintenance & Reliability
A reusable sponge could ‘revolutionize’ oil spill, diesel cleanup
CHICAGO -- Scientists at the US Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have invented a new foam, called Oleo Sponge, that can be used to clean up oil and diesel spills in water. The material not only quickly adsorbs oil from water, but also is reusable and can pull dispersed oil from the entire water column—not just the surface.
Teel Plastics utilizing Kepware connectivity platform as IoT solution
PORTLAND, Maine -- Kepware, a PTC business developing industrial connectivity software, announced today that Teel Plastics, Inc. is utilizing the IoT Gateway for the KEPServerEX platform as its Internet of Things (IoT) solution. KEPServerEX provides Teel Plastics with a single source for industrial data—enabling increased productivity and product quality, reduced human errors and downtime, and a scalable IoT strategy.
Imperial continues restart after fire, flaring expected
Imperial Sarnia continues to restart units following last week’s operational issue. As a result, visible flaring is expected to continue over the next several days.
Implement proactive asset management techniques
The drop in crude oil prices since 2014 has impacted both upstream producers and downstream players. Upstream producers—those responsible for exploration, drilling and production—were the first to feel the effects. While refining margins benefitted from the drop in crude oil pricing, they began to suffer when record surpluses of gasoline and diesel flooded the market a year later.
Expand crude diet flexibility through comprehensive oil management
One of the primary means for refiners to boost profitability is to improve crude diet flexibility. Many refiners are challenged with increasing their margins while the quality of the global crude oil supply declines.
Enhance reliability of process pumps with lubrication management for antifriction bearings
Rolling bearings must be adequately lubricated to operate reliably and to prevent direct metal-to-metal contact between rolling elements, raceways, cages and other components. The choice of a suitable lubricant and lubrication method, and controlling contaminants, are important for improving the reliability of the machinery where these bearings are used.
EIA: Planned refinery outages through first half of 2017 not expected to affect availability
The US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) latest analysis of planned refinery outages during the first half of 2017 finds that such outages are not expected to cause a shortfall in the supply of petroleum products including gasoline, jet fuel, and distillate fuel, relative to expected demand, either nationally or within any US region. This result occurs despite the current high level of US gasoline demand, which in 2016 was as high as or higher than in any past year.
Driving innovation in the downstream: IRPC returns to New Delhi
Gulf Publishing Company and Hydrocarbon Processing are pleased to announce that IRPC 2017 will be held April 18–20 in New Delhi.
Engineering Case Histories: Case 95—How to avoid becoming overwhelmed in a failure situation
When you are involved with a major failure and find yourself staring at pieces of debris scattered all over the area, it can be easy to become overwhelmed.
Editorial Comment: Corrosion prevention starts at fabrication
Preventing corrosion begins with the choice of materials and methods used to fabricate the equipment, piping, valves and instruments that will be exposed to varying process conditions and weather. At present, designers and fabricators can select from a multitude of modern materials and methods. Once in service, effective asset integrity programs will use smart condition monitoring and, where needed, a treatment regime to sustain the useful working life of all components. In the Special Focus section of this issue, we provide several articles that illustrate good practices in vessel fabrication, corrosivity analysis and corrosion prevention treatment.
- Honeywell collaborates with SAF One and Tata Projects to enable sustainable aviation fuel production 1/29
- Casale and OMNI Sign MoA to jointly advance waste-to-green methanol and hydrogen technologies 1/29
- GIZ and thyssenkrupp nucera partner to advance green hydrogen and power-to-X markets in India 1/29
- IACS issues new Unified Requirement on ammonia release mitigation systems 1/29
- TotalEnergies and Mozambique announce the full restart of the $20-B Mozambique LNG project 1/29
- CF Industries, POET launch low-carbon fertilizer pilot to cut ethanol production carbon intensity 1/29
