Refineries and petrochemical plants contain some of the harshest environments on the planet.
Before discussing failure causes, it is helpful to understand why the idea of process safety management (PSM) has taken hold in the past few decades.
On November 30, 2013, an explosion and fire occurred at the UCB Farchim SA site in Switzerland. Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities occurred.
Large capital projects continue to be challenged by budget issues.
Refineries cannot afford a sudden boiler failure (FIG. 1). Regularly assessing the condition of boilers is vital.
Radatz, H.,
Schembecker, G., TU Dortmund University;
Raffray, G.,
Sellis, D., The CoSMo Company SAS;
Boto, F.,
Echeverria, Z., Fundación Tecnalia Research and Innovation;
Carrion, A.,
Herce, C.,
Oto, F., Fundación CIRCE—Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos;
Gil, A., University of Zaragoza;
Arias, A.,
Borrego, R., DOW Chemical Co.;
Romero, J., Fertinagro Nutrientes S.L.;
Jacinto, J. T., Petróleos de Portugal
The European TOP-REF research consortium has developed and applied a methodology to improve the resource efficiency of industrial production processes.
Plate and frame (P&F) heat exchangers were first manufactured 100 yr ago for use in the dairy industry.
Panchal, A., Reliance Industries Ltd.;
Carmona, R. K.,
Daru, K.,
Desai, J.,
Irfan, M.,
Shargay, C., Fluor
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.
Embedding machines with artificial intelligence (AI) allows them to learn from their past experiences.