March 2019

Sadara is a JV between Saudi Aramco and Dow Chemical.

Ethylene is a precursor to many chemicals, fibers and plastics that are used in daily life.

Zeolites, an important type of catalytic material, are widely used in industrial catalysis.

An important indicator of the technological processes at chemical plants is the composition of the main flows, including feed, products and intermediate flows.

Most refineries perform turnaround activities every 3 yr–5 yr to maintain and upgrade plant assets and equipment.

In a refinery or petrochemical plant, certain equipment can create “gray areas” between process engineers and instrument engineers.

During the planning and engineering execution of petrochemical, oil and gas, and power projects, it is essential that the owner and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor mutually develop a comprehensive and detailed piping design specification.

When contractors, engineers and operations teams at downstream processing plants do not work together at optimal efficiency, it can present serious problems.

Design guidelines for rigging and transporting large process columns are outlined in this article, along with the various aspects that should be considered during the initial design phase of equipment.

For pressure vessels, heat exchangers and piping in corrosive services, the materials in contact with the process are often required to be high alloys to provide a reliable service life.

In refineries and petrochemical plants, ring-type joint (RTJ) flanges have been applied to high-pressure processes or sensitive areas that are susceptible to leaks.

Larger plants typically have planners and maintenance supervisors onsite, as well as operations personnel.

Each year, Hydrocarbon Processing devotes its Special Focus section to the latest advancements in petrochemical technology, as well as best practices, reliability and safety to ensure efficient and optimized petrochemical operations.

Numerous articles on asset reliability have been published in the decades since 1970.

Particle contamination in lubricants is the primary cause of lubricant-related equipment failure and hydraulic system failure, according to industry studies.

Digital transformation offers the chance to reorganize and develop new models of collaboration that fully leverage the opportunities offered by digital technologies and their benefits across the oil and gas business—particularly for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors.

In the absence of vendor quotations or detailed engineering, preliminary dimensions of skids or packages can be estimated quickly using the ratio method.

The Russian government has announced its plan to increase the volume of support for its domestic petrochemicals industry over the next several years, with the aim of doubling its production and boosting exports, according to Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak and the press service of the Russian Presidential Administration.

The global petrochemical industry has not been short of success.

Aging infrastructure has become a much-talked-about issue across the hydrocarbon industry.

Businesses that develop and commercialize process technology are in a unique position to identify and evaluate global trends in our industry.

The process industries are under threat.

In the February issue of Hydrocarbon Processing, our editors provided the results of Hydrocarbon Processing’s survey on the challenges that the downstream processing industry may face this year.

The global petrochemical sector continues to expand exponentially as developing nations’ demand for petrochemical/chemical products continues to increase.

In the US, soaring gasoline stocks and poor fuel oil performance were offset by strong heating oil demand and higher product prices caused by weather-related refinery outages.

The 19th International Conference and Exhibition on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG2019), presented by the International Gas Union (IGU), Gas Technology Institute (GTI) and the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), is the premier LNG event conducted by the industry for the industry.

Engineers tasked with finding a green solution to waste gas emissions from hydrocarbon storage tanks during loading and unloading operations will find that the ST100 series thermal flowmeter from Fluid Components International (FCI) supports tank vapor recovery systems, which help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

MFG Chemical has promoted Barry Lassiter to VP of operations, where he will be responsible for MFG’s three plants in the Dalton, Georgia area and the recently acquired 26.7-acre plant in Pasadena, Texas.