January 2004

Process engineers can calculate absorption of H2S and CO2 in triethylene glycol to optimize operations

New mechanical advances enable compression solutions for evolving gas-to-liquids processes

New methodology may enable reducing cost to produce stranded gas

Critical factors to consider in design options

Combining storage and receiving offers advantages

Consider using these practical troubleshooting and design techniques when optimizing liquid/ liquid contactors

Follow these guidelines to reduce operator overload and mistakes

Follow these guidelines to improve reliability and reduce emissions

Tests reveal the best choices

Compressor “surge” is a low-flowphenomenon known to exist in “dynamic,” i.e., centrifugal and axialcompressors found in petrochemical plants, liquefied natural gas(LNG) facilities ..

I received an interesting question in a recent e-mail: "How can I design a safety instrumented function when I cannot buy safety-certified field equipment?" The designer went on to state that in his o..

Dick Hill,Contributing Editor       Comments? Write: editorial@Hydrocar..

After a year in which the Elf scandalwas finally laid to bed in Paris, eyes are now firmly focused onRussia. Observers continue to try to make sense of what ishappening there with regard to Yukos. Whi..

Thin, high-capacity flexible insulation for refineries Over the past 10 years, Aspen Aerogelshas perfected the science of aerogels, commercializing them in1996. Since then, the pro..

Exclusive sales agreement SimSci-Esscor, an Invensys plcoperating unit, has a 10-year exclusive agreement withKoch-Glitsch, a mass transfer and mist-elimination technologyprovider...

Dispersers set standard for scalability, flexibility The IKA ULTRA TURRAX UTL 2000 single-stage dispersing machine claims to offer the refining and petrochemical industry a high degree of fl..

Enterprise Products Partners L.P.expanded its Norco natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionator capacityby 40% to accommodate larger volumes of mixed NGLs. Capacity wasincreased from 53,000 bpd to 75,000 b..

Foster Wheeler South Africa (Pty) Ltd.,a Foster Wheeler Ltd. subsidiary, has a $45 million engineering,procurement and construction management (EPCm) contract with SasolSynfuels (Pty) Ltd. (Sasol) for..

BP and China PetrochemicalInternational Co., a Sinopec Corp. unit, have an agreement tolicense BP’s Innovene gas phase polypropylene process technology.The process will be used to upgrade Sinopec..

CB&I has a lump-sum turnkeycontract valued at $50 million for all tankage at the grassrootsSohar refinery in Sohar, Oman. The refinery is owned jointly by theSultanate of Oman and the Oman Oil Co. CB&..

Estech GmbH & Co. KG, a jointventure between Celanese AG, Kronberg, Germany, and Hatco Corp.,Fords, New Jersey, started a synthetic ester plant in Oberhausen,Germany. The 7,000-metric-ton plant, which..

Made-to-order products and capabilities A new six-page brochureprofiles “made-to-order” (MTO) ball-bearing product capabilitiesand tech support available from MRC Bea..

  Improve maintenanceperformance ..

After a drawn-out period of fits andstarts, a palpable recovery has finally taken hold across membernations of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD). “The strong momentum..

Oil demand is forecast to drop by alittle over 1% by 2030. However, its consumption in absolute termswill increase from the current 77 million barrels/day (MMbpd) to120 MMbpd. To satisfy demand, a min..

The worldwide market for plant-levelexpenditures in the chemical industry, which totaled more than $214billion in 2003, will reach almost $241 billion by the end of 2008.This totals a modest cumulativ..

An effective international response toglobal climate change requires a more flexible approach so thatcountries can take on different types of commitments best suited totheir domestic circumstances, ac..

In 2002, global propylene productionreached 52.8 million metric tons per year (MMtpy) and is valued at$17 billion. The bulk of propylene production and consumption isconcentrated in North America, Wes..

Working collaboratively, three leadingorganizations dedicated to control network technology havecompleted the initial phase of development for key extensions toelectronic device descriptions (EDD). ..

US oil and gas producers continue toenjoy relatively high prices for their production. “While this isbeneficial for the upstream industry, it is pressuring consumers ofenergy and feedstocks,”..

Enhance control performance I am responding to “ Enhance process control performance,” (October 2003) by C. L. Smith, in particular to the second “Two-tank recycle pro..