Tank and terminal facility profitability ultimately rests on a handful of key performance indicators (KPIs). The ability to maximize tank capacity utilization—while minimizing the time it takes to load and unload ships, trucks and rail cars—drives the bottom line. All those transfers must happen quickly and accurately, while avoiding product contamination.
This special section details all finalists within each category for the fourth annual HP Awards. The winners will be announced on Oct. 1.
In a growing and competitive industry, ethylene producers are turning to catalyst suppliers for solutions to innovate. Until recently, a solution to the difficulties inherent to acetylene hydrogenation in ethylene plants has challenged the catalyst industry. Due to their lower total production cost, “front-end” process flowsheets are now predominantly selected for new projects.
Refiners are continually challenged to maximize economic gain in the face of cost pressures and plant operating constraints. The fluidized catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) plays an integral role in the optimization of the facility. FCC catalyst is often one of the largest budget items in the refinery. Therefore, the balance between FCCU performance and catalyst costs has a significant impact on refinery profitability.
Generating octane barrels has always been a tough road for refiners. In 2020, this road got a lot tougher with olefin saturation and octane destruction being collateral damage as refiners strive to achieve the sulfur limit in the gasoline pool.
Paraxylene production is a highly cyclical business that is subject to changes in the global economy and dependent on feedstock costs, alternative dispositions for aromatics, utilities costs and plant locations, among other factors. With the large PX capacity added by recently started crude-to-chemicals complexes and the expected impact of the economic recession on commodities demand, many aromatics complexes face a significant slowdown in the coming months or, possibly, years.
Singh, R.,
Lai, S.,
Dharia, D., TechnipFMC Process Technology;
Cipriano, B.,
Hunt, D., W. R. Grace
Fluid catalytic cracking is one of the most important conversion processes used in refineries. This process converts heavy petroleum fractions into lighter, higher-value products, such as gasoline, propylene and others.
Progress in the driverless car segment has served to illuminate one of the major future goals in industrial and process manufacturing: autonomous operations in process plants—in other words, the autonomous plant. While AO for process plants has received interest from the process automation and control industry, limited serious discussion has taken place in the process operations and IT domains.
Over the next two months, Hydrocarbon Processing will host two separate events for a global audience. One will gather the brightest minds in the industry to share the latest innovations and technologies in the industry, while the other will recognize the leaders in advancing the industry toward safer and more reliable, sustainable and profitable operations. Both events—Hydrocarbon Processing’s IRPC and the HP Awards—will be streamed on digital platforms and free to view.
Refineries and petrochemical plants face similar challenges in daily operations. Each must mitigate risk, anticipate maintenance, optimize operations and minimize expenses. To achieve these goals, plant personnel rely heavily on data to drive decisions.