Ross Systems and Controls (SysCon) recently completed the qualification to self-certify its touchscreen purged panels as meeting the rigorous standards of Underwriters Laboratories’ UL-698A Code and the National Fire Protection Association’s NFPA-496 Code.
Hawk Measurement Systems has announced a new OptioLaser S300 that can be used for the detection of all types of liquids, regardless of their dielectric properties.
Das, S., Bahrain Petroleum Co. (Bapco)
Technological advances have allowed predictive maintenance (i.e., condition-based maintenance) to overtake preventive maintenance in plant operations. “Look, listen and feel (LLF)” is a condition monitoring technique that improves the reliability of equipment and machinery in manifolds.
The Petronor oil refinery is located in northeastern Spain. Recently, the facility converted its last rolling element-equipped machine from liquid oil lubrication to pure (“dry-sump”) oil mist.
Shipping pumps with 1,800 hp are equipped with five cooling fans that cool the oil going to the lube oil pumps to lubricate the bearings.
Oil refineries and large petrochemical plants contain thousands of pieces of process and utilities equipment that are subject to wear, erosion, deterioration, aging, etc., resulting in increasing breakdowns and outages. Imagine being a maintenance engineer and receiving 50 work orders during an overhaul with a limited budget, time, labor, spare parts, tools, machines, etc. How does that engineer prioritize the work?
This case study aims to provide the root cause analysis behind bearing failure of an induced (ID) fan at a new refinery startup in 2015.
The drop in crude oil prices since 2014 has impacted both upstream producers and downstream players. Upstream producers—those responsible for exploration, drilling and production—were the first to feel the effects. While refining margins benefitted from the drop in crude oil pricing, they began to suffer when record surpluses of gasoline and diesel flooded the market a year later.
A scientific study was undertaken to evaluate the performance, under dry running conditions, of two types of diamond coatings applied to silicon carbide faces of mechanical seals.
Part 1 in this series, “Build a diesel fuel performance additive, the right way,” (Hydrocarbon Processing, October) detailed the required chemical additives and test methods for achieving ideal engine performance and fuel economy.