February 2004

Incomplete front-end engineering efforts can be costly oversights and contribute to project overruns and missed goals

Careful planning enabled the delivery, construction and installation of a replacement 860-ton reactor within a 64-day turnaround

The success of revamps is driven by accurate front-end process design. Performing feasibility studies controls cost estimates and ensures meeting goals for upgrades

This refiner used pilot-plant testing of actual refinery FCC streams to find the best technology for blending 10-ppm gasoline

Credits and allotments for early compliance with low-sulfur fuels can be effective business tools

New x-ray fluorescence methods enable real-time detection of low sulfur concentration in hydrocarbons

Confined water converted to steam develops high pressures

These guidelines can help avoid failures

By understanding our liabilities, we can limit them and convert the future from enemy to opportunity

Fluid processing industries have embraced the use of current- generation composite materials in centrifugal pumps to increase efficiency, improve mean-time- between- repair (MTBR), and reduce repair c..

For too long, automation resources have focused on manufacturing assets. Yet arguably a corporation's most valuable assets are its people. Companies that support a collaborative environment and share ..

At a time when some oil companies in Central and Eastern Europe are not quite sure what is happening, one company is advancing its plans to become a large player in this increasingly important area. T..

Part 1 of this column (November 2003) discussed operational complexity, waste stream characterization and free oil removal. This part discusses unit operations for emulsified oil, biological treatment..

Detector accurately finds levels in coke drums Ohmart/ VEGA has developed a side-mounted gamma radiation technology ? the coke drum level system. Coking is a batch operation; refiners strive to fill..

Future shortfalls of natural gas in North America (NA) can be mitigated if government and the energy industry act decisively to establish facilities for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), accordin..

Transport is developing into one of thefastest-growing consumers of energy. Recently published researchfrom the European Commission shows results of its investigationinto future driving habits. The re..

An agreement reached by the EuropeanParliament and Council conciliation committee will increase theminimum recycling targets for packaging waste from 25% to 55% by2008. The recent agreement is an upda..

ATOFINA Petrochemicals, Inc.’s Bayport,Texas, facility has been awarded the American Chemistry Council’s(ACC) Energy Efficiency Award for Significant Improvement inManufacturing at a Plant S..

Aiming to improve the accuracy andverifiability of greenhouse gas emissions data, the US Departmentof Energy (DOE) is proposing revised guidelines. Under the new rules, a wide range ofentities –..

Security system collaboration Dyadem International Ltd. (Dyadem), a software provider for risk professionals, and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), are collaborating on security ..

Intrinsically safe digital camera Robust housing and high-IP rating reportedly make this intrinsically safe digital camera (3.2 Mio pixel, 4x digital zoom) ideal for use in ..

The Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries(IHI) and ICA Fluorconsortium have a lump-sum, turnkey agreement with Terminal de LNG de Altamira S de RL de CV,to construct thefirst Mexican liquefied natural ..

Foster Wheeler Energy Ltd. (FWEL), a Foster Wheeler Ltd.subsidiary, has an engineering andprocurement services and reformer furnace supply contract with Petrom SA,the state oil company of Rom..

Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillipshave a statement of intent (SOI) to constructa gas-to-liquids (GTL) plant in Ras Laffan, Qatar. The SOIinitiates detailed technical and commercial pre-front-..

Aker Kvaerner Australia and its sister company Kvaerner Process Systemscompleted the gas processingfacilities expansion at the Ballera Gas Centre in SouthwestQueensland, Australia. Aker K..

Saab Rosemount, an Emerson Process Managementsubsidiary, is supplying Sonatrachwith radar-based tank gauging systems to beinstalled at two refineries in Algeria. NAFTECT Skikda will install12..

Vertical level switches for industrial applications KSR Kuebler offers a broad family of single- and dual-loop-powered vertical level switches. Measurement applications incl..

  China revises exportrebate policy ..

Refinery margins in the Atlantic Basinslipped lower in December compared to November averages, largely onthe failure of products to fully match crude price increasesthrough the first three weeks of th..

Argentina’s Chamber of CompressedNatural Gas – which joins providers and equipment makers – is atwork on a Latin American project to unify standards. “The aim is tocreate a contine..

The market for industrial valves isforecast to exceed $60 billion in 2007. This represents animprovement over the 1997 –  2002 period, reflectingaccelerating macroeconomic growth in the deve..

Structural challenges for the chemicalsindustry continue, but macroeconomic indications are that the USbusiness of chemistry finally is ready to grow again, says a recentstudy from The American Chemis..

Use these guidelines to evaluate the options

Producing low-sulfur transportation fuels involves more than selecting process options. Here are other vital key issues to consider

Converting low-value gas oil streams via hydrocracking yields high-value olefins feedstocks