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.
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.
In 1982, I wrote an article called “Using process computers as robots for refining operations,” which was published in the May issue of Hydrocarbon Processing.
Embedding machines with artificial intelligence (AI) allows them to learn from their past experiences.
The cost of failing to properly align shafts or belts on rotating machinery adds up to more than the need to physically fix damaged machinery.
According to the editors of Hydrocarbon Processing, the downstream processing industry will witness substantial growth in new refining, petrochemical and gas processing/LNG capacities over the next several years.