Since the 1970s, Brazil has been a world reference in automotive biofuels, especially bioethanol produced from sugarcane. In 1973, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) forced a sharp rise in oil prices, triggering a massive slowdown in the country’s economic growth, which had been going through what was dubbed the “economic miracle,” with growth at an average of 12% of GDP. This study gives an overview of the biofuel sector in Brazil, along with the main business challenges and opportunities in this area.
The year 2020 will be a mess from the fuel oil stability and compatibility points of view. The year will be price-driven, so the temptation to “cut corners” is great—meaning that a highly variable number of blend components to manufacture the fuel oil will open a “Pandora’s box” of complex and questionable fuel formulations.
Gasifiers take the bottom of the crude barrel and move the residue into the C1 value chain. Refiners have had a variable record of running gasifiers for a time and then shutting them down. Reasons for this include inexperience with gasifier operations, lack of knowledge on how to extract profits from the C1 value chain and market difficulties in catering to clients operating in different business environments.
The editors of Hydrocarbon Processing have identified nine projects that are anticipated to significantly impact the global or regional downstream industries. The winners and nominees of the HP Top Project awards will have a considerable impact on the HPI, whether through CAPEX, satisfying domestic or regional demand, diversifying product offerings, or adding to the resurgence in refining and/or petrochemical processing capacity.
Cheviron, G.,
Martinez Gacio, J.,
Mitschler, M.,
Le Coz, O.,
Yallambalse, M.,
Schwalje, D., Axens
Bio-based, renewable fuels and chemicals can reduce the environmental footprint of maintaining global transportation and product demands, while also offering supplementation of traditional fossil fuels in a global environment with increasing energy demand. The renewable energy sector is large and growing rapidly.
Cheviron, G.,
Martinez Gacio, J.,
Mitschler, M.,
Le Coz, O.,
Yallambalse, M.,
Schwalje, D., Axens
Bio-based, renewable fuels and chemicals can reduce the environmental footprint of maintaining global transportation and product demands, while also supplementing traditional fossil fuels in a global environment with increasing energy demand.
Hydrocarbon Processing, the downstream processing sector’s leading technical publication, has announced the finalists for its third annual awards.
In mid-June, I joined Thad Pittman, Senior Research Analyst, Hydrocarbon Processing’s Construction Boxscore Database, to provide Hydrocarbon Processing subscribers with a global analysis on the downstream processing industry’s capital projects landscape.
IMO 2020 is posing big questions about significant issues, and clear answers are proving difficult to find.
For decades, sulfur reduction processes have been an integral part of refinery operations.