March 2009

The updated specification relies on Web services for its data transportation providing significant advantages

Smart instruments and secure wireless communications enable enhanced operations and asset management

Here are guidelines for proper construction

Combining detection systems improves safety

An in-depth look at NIR spectroscopy

Building and operating natural gas plants in the high latitudes pose numerous challenges

Optimizing caustic concentrations and reactor temperatures improved acidic compound removal without installing new equipment

Instructional design strategies and delivery methods for bridging the DMC chasm

A good simulation model is a tool that reveals critical operating conditions and can be applied to daily operations

Proper system design and operation are critical to plant uptime and reliability

Fig. 1 shows one of many CDU overhead configurations, with naphtha cutpoint control accomplished by a column top temperature controller manipulating a top pumparound (TPA) circuit heat removal. This c..

Allow us to suggest that you engage in a "reality check" on the subject of equipment unreliability, global procurement and your own role in the matter. Please examine, realistically and objectively, t..

The ISA S18.02 standard provides a much needed, standardized framework for implementing an effective and sustainable alarm management strategy in refineries, petrochemical plants and other process pla..

Because of the shortage of an artificial commodity known as money, people who produce a real commodity known as oil will shortly be losing their livelihoods and, quite possibly, their homes. We're use..

Past Letters to the Editor:   February | January Debating biases I am a senior consultant with Honeywell and have over 20 years of experience in the areas of advanced process cont..

2009 Industrial Automation Safety and Security Symposium The 2009 Industrial Automation Safety and Security Symposium will take place April 22–..

Regenerable SO2 scrubbing eases environmental pressures To manage growing strategic pressures from green fuels and environmental issues, refiners will be required to direct more attention to their ref..

     Total's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, recently added some equipment as part of an ongoing $2.2 billion upgrade. The upgrade, known as the Deep Conversion Project, includes ..

 INEOS Technologies has granted two polyethylene technology licenses to Polimérica S.A. These plants will form part of Polimérica's cracker and derivatives complex in José, Venezu..

 Total Petrochemicals recently started up a revamped styrene unit at its petrochemicals facility in Gonfreville-l'Orcher, France. With capacity expanded by 210,000 metric tpy, the 600,000-metric..

 Invensys Process Systems (IPS) has signed a multimillion dollar contract with Qatargas to complete a major automation upgrade at the Qatar Gas 1 facility in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. U..

 Shell Global Solutions International BV has a contract with Oilmoz Lda to design a refinery. Oilmoz Lda plans to build an $8 billion, 350,000 bpd oil refinery in the Maputo province of Mozambiq..

ISA recently conducted an online survey to find out what automation industry observers and practitioners felt that near-term trends were going to be. When survey participants were asked which technolo..

TOTAL's refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, recently achieved a significant project target: the arrival of the centerpieces for its $2.2 billion Deep Conversion Project. Four massive coke drums—consi..

The US recession deepened dramatically in the fourth quarter of 2008. However, according to one recent industry analysis, the rate of the economic contraction should slow in the first half of 2009, an..

During his recent Senate confirmation hearing for Secretary of the US Department of Energy (DOE), Steve Chu—an acclaimed physicist and Nobel Laureate—said that boosting development of energy..

BILLY THINNES, News Editor       Comments? Write: BT@HydrocarbonProcessing.com  LyondellBasell Industries recently started up its new polypropylene (PP) ..

Multinational oil perspectives There is a "renewed need to react" to supplying global demand when worldwide economies pick up, said Jesus Reyes Her..