ARTICLES
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Reducing vacuum tower pressure
Apr-2015
To create a better vacuum the vapour load to the ejector has to be reduced
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Designing the CDU/VDU for opportunity crudes
Oct-2012
New units for processing heavy crudes should not be designed using conventional practices or run length will be short, and product yields and quality ...
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Zeolite based dryers in ethylene plants
Apr-2014
A review of the role and nature of adsorbent dryers in the production of ethylene by steam cracking. Steam cracking represents more than 95% of ethylene ...
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Refining-petrochemicals integration: an Indian view
Mar-2018
Integrating a refinery with a petrochemicals complex offers high value products and a boost to gross margin.
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Improvements in random packing performance
Oct-2010
Developments in random packing design aim for increased efficiency 
and capacity. Random packing is used extensively in gas processing 
and ...
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Stepwise simulation of vacuum transfer line hydraulics
Oct-2009
A stepwise hydraulic calculation determines the pressure profile of a vacuum transfer line by linking the hydraulic model to process simulation result ...
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Naphtha to diesel via novel routes
Jul-2011
An unconventional, synthetic approach to converting LPG and naphtha components could boost diesel production
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Amine plant corrosion reduced by removal of bicine
Jun-2012
Bicine, an amino acid, has been found in numerous amine gas treating systems including tail gas treating units, certain refinery services, and some natural ...
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Advances in residue hydrocracking
Mar-2018
Recent developments in ebullated bed hydrocracking technology target high residue conversion and high quality products.
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Opportunities for increasing on-demand light cycle oil
Oct-2009
Swift response to demand for higher LCO yields from the FCCU may involve optimising variable parameters and employing a bottoms cracking additive
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Mitigation of heat exchanger fouling
Oct-2012
Detailed analysis of potential contributors identifies the root cause of fouling in naphtha hydrotreater feed-effluent exchangers
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More efficient catalyst loading (TIA)
May-2017
A change in dense catalyst loading technology enabled a major chemicals company to achieve a 10% increase in production capacity in a fixed bed reacto ...
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Pretreatment of resid FCC feedstocks
Jul-2004
How a refinery optimised hydrogen consumption to raise API “shift”, enhancing FCC economics. The effect of heavy feedstock reactivity on the operation ...
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Minimise corrosion while maximising distillate
Jul-2012
Reducing atmospheric fractionator overhead temperatures to maximise middle 
distillate production requires a full understanding of resulting corrosion ...
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Catalyst catastrophes in hydrogen plants
Jan-2006
Processing mishaps can occur if catalyst is placed in abnormal conditions. These catastrophes include temperature runaways, the formation of toxic nickel ...
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Solutions for the treatment of highly 
sour gases
Apr-2012
Process technologies for the cost-effective treatment of natural gas with high and ultra-high acid gas content
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Advances in methanol synthesis
Mar-2010
Catalysts with higher and more stable activity enable cost savings and boost output in methanol production
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Process improvements in the direct hydration of olefins to alcohols
May-2014
Synthetic alcohols produced by direct hydration have wide application in the process industries as solvents, in the production of cosmetics and as intermediates ...
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Identifying poor heat exchanger performance
Sep-2007
Identifying root causes of poor crude unit debutaniser reboiler performance and low-cost solutions that help meet exchanger original design conditions
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Oct-2008
Waste minimisation and loss prevention for improving effluent water quality and rendering more water suitable for reuse are discussed
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Processing high TAN crude: part II
Jan-2011
Huizhou, which is the first refinery for processing 100% high TAN crude, started up in 2009. This article describes the challenges of an opportunity crude ...
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Desalting heavy Canadian crudes
Oct-2012
Effective desalting requires large desalters and attention to all variables associated with good desalter performance
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Sep-2003
Case studies show how accurate field-measured differential pressure can be interpreted incorrectly when troubleshooting refinery vacuum columns
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Sulphur tail gas thermal oxidiser systems
Dec-2008
SRUs (sulphur recovery units) in refineries and gas plants remove sulphur compounds from sulphur containing fuel gases and from natural gas and crude oil ...
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Nov-2017
Thorough tank cleaning means removing all of the sludge and restoring the vessel’s full storage capacity.
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Selecting catalysts for marine fuels production
Jun-2021
Accelerated activity and stability testing of hydrotreating catalysts.
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Jun-2021
Upgraded crude scheduling enabled a refiner to increase its use of opportunity crudes for higher margin.
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Multi-phase project enables switch to heavier crude (TIA)
Aug-2021
In recent years, deasphalted oil (DAO) hydrocracking has emerged as a highly attractive investment option, principally because it provides the opportunity ...
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Recovering silicon poisoned catalyst
Nov-2021
Silicon poisoning usually spells the end for hydrotreating catalysts, but a rejuvenation process can extend the effective life of silicon trap catalys ...
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Shaping the future of refining with advanced technologies (ERTC)
Dec-2021
The refining industry has a unique expertise, which is to process and convert multiple feedstocks made of highly complex molecules. Refining should think ...
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The gauze catalyst for ammonia oxidation — a holistic approach
Mar-2022
The gauze catalyst for ammonia oxidation has a unique position among the catalysts of large-scale chemical industry, since, in contrast to the supported ...
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Increasing naphtha feedstock for the petrochemical market
Apr-2022
The global naphtha market is valued at $152.2 billion in 2022 and could reach $212.9 billion by 2030, growing at an estimated CAGR of 3.8% over the forecast ...
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The keys to successfully revamping a fired heater: how to maximise value
May-2022
Fired heaters are facing scrutiny because they contribute to the global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). For refineries and ...
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May-2022
Fired heaters, also called furnaces, use the heat from combustion of hydrocarbons to increase the temperature of a fluid. Direct-fired heaters are common ...
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Digital twins heat up the capabilities of energy storage plants
Jun-2022
How to support future energy security by enhancing energy storage with automated digital twins.
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Meeting future Indian gasoline market demands
Jun-2022
The role Indian oil refiners can take in meeting gasoline demand with production of clean burning components.
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Determination of total sulphur in biofuels from feedstock to endproduct according to ASTM D5453
Jul-2022
Sulphur is a natural component in both crude oil and biobased feedstocks that will be present in diesel and gasoline unless it is removed during the production ...
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Stationing an operator at a pressure safety valve bypass
Aug-2022
Caution is recommended before stationing an operator at the PSV bypass for overpressure protection.
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Capital priorities in the downstream industry
Aug-2022
Margins opportunities in chemicals and biofuels dominate long-term investments.
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A step change in feed nozzle design
Aug-2022
How Shell’s Max Atomisation Feed Nozzle technology can improve FCC unit margins with minimal capital investment, including audited results from three ...
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Optimising oil and gas operations - when to decommission or modernise
Aug-2022
To make accurate, timely decisions to maximise the value of their assets today and in the future, refiners and other oil and gas companies need quality ...
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Rejuvenate profits and support sustainability with reused catalysts
Nov-2022
Rejuvenated catalysts can optimise refinery margins for cat feed hydrotreating (CFH) applications.
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Crude preheat train fouling and fix-up
Nov-2022
Rigorous modelling of crude preheat train exchangers allows for fouling progression of the heat exchangers to be monitored throughout the crude unit run ...
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Achieving Fit for 55 emission reduction targets by 2030
Feb-2023
Options available to oil refineries in reducing CO2 emissions while providing a clearer vision on possible roadmaps.
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Co-processing renewables in a hydrocracker
Mar-2023
Understanding and controlling the impact on catalyst performance, yields, and product properties is key to renewables co-processing in hydrocracking u ...
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Debottlenecking product recovery using product pair distillation: Part I
Apr-2023
Advantages of using a thermodynamically efficient method to debottleneck existing distillation trains using fewer new columns than traditional methods ...
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Removing contaminants from crude oil
Mar-2016
Natural and introduced contaminants limit crude desalting effectiveness, increasing fouling and corrosion risks in downstream units
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HS-FCC for propylene: concept to commercial operation
Oct-2016
A FCC process provides a high light olefin yield from a wide variety of feedstocks utilising high severity reaction conditions and a novel down flow reaction ...
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The future for hydrocracking: part 1
Nov-2017
Hydrocracking technology faces challenges and opportunities amid diesel emission scandals, low sulphur marine fuels, and the growing position of electric ...
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Controlling corrosion in amine treatment units
Apr-2011
A range of measures can be taken to minimise corrosion in amine units. The amine unit plays a vital role in the petroleum refining, gas processing, coal ...
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Advice to my aspiring engineer: What will make you stand out?
Feb-2023
What separates the good engineers from the great? The top three traits to consider that could ensure a rewarding and challenging career in the industr ...
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Increasing draft from a natural draft stack
Feb-2023
Easy methods to check if your heater is out of draft.
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A confounding problem: Vibration issues in boilers and furnaces
Feb-2023
There’s a whole lot of shaking going on – but why? Identifying industry trends that have contributed to this issue and what can increase the likelihood ...
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Fired heater features – what’s that on top of the stack for?
Feb-2023
Finding out what the purpose of the cone featured on the top of some heater stacks is and what it actually does.
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Continuum damage FEA implementation in HTHA model
Feb-2023
Using the power of finite element analysis to accurately capture high-temperature hydrogen attack damage through the use of a custom creep user subrou ...
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Reactor runaways - automatic or manual depressuring?
Feb-2023
Recently, I have had several discussions and inquiries regarding reactor runaway events and whether automatic depressuring systems are needed for hydroprocessing ...
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Feb-2023
One of the most overlooked considerations when designing a rigging system is sling angles.
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Feb-2023
I have had several suggestions to write about catalyst selection. This is a popular topic in many journals and blogs with some authors taking controversial ...
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Should we be using phthalate-free polypropylene? (TIA)
Feb-2023
With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, people are getting more familiar with products made of polypropylene resin, such as the ubiquitous face masks and omnipresent ...
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Introducing hydrogen into refinery boilers, turbines, and HRSGs (TIA)
Feb-2023
Refineries and petrochemical facilities are under environmental pressure on all fronts. They are being asked to reduce their carbon footprints and aim ...
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De-mystifying vacuum ejector systems
Feb-2023
First-stage inter-condenser design and performance are critical for reliable vacuum system performance.
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Kinetic model for TGU hydrogenation reactors: Part 1 model development
Feb-2023
Development of rigorous model for reaction kinetics and catalyst deactivation mechanisms capable of predicting SRU and TGU performance is presented.
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Value maximisation in FCC units using multispecialty catalyst formulation
Feb-2023
Increasing propylene yields while reducing bottoms production.
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Fouling in VDU ejector systems
Feb-2023
Review of critical ejector-condenser interplay, with an overview of fouling in VDU ejector systems, including a case study where fouling impacted a refiner's ...
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Universal filter for ultra-cleaning of reactor streams
Feb-2023
Magnetically induced filter removes solid particles to protect catalyst active pore openings from plugging.
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Achieving Fit for 55 emission reduction targets by 2030
Feb-2023
Options available to oil refineries in reducing CO2 emissions while providing a clearer vision on possible roadmaps.
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Desalting chemistry and monitoring methods to help expand crude basket
Feb-2023
Widening the crude basket increases the challenges of maintaining asset reliability and plant performance, including formation of rag layers.
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Closing the sustainability cycle
Feb-2023
Role of plastics recycling technologies in the future of the downstream industry.
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Design configurations for lowering quenched coke drum venting pressure
Feb-2023
Compare the advantages when installing either an ejector or a water ring compressor for lowering coke drum venting pressure.
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Reconfiguration of naphtha splitters using divided wall column technology
Feb-2023
Integration of DWCs into existing refining configurations reduces energy consumption and GHG emissions in distillation systems while also lowering operating ...
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Feb-2023
Using SWSPlus technology to transform sulphur recovery facilities from a cost centre to positive cash flow.
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Crude oil processing scheme for reducing operating costs in the CDU
Feb-2023
Development of crude oil distillation processing schemes to significantly reduce external energy and stripping steam demand.
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Jan-2023
The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) expects record oil demand in 2023, ramping up from its current 100 million bpd to almost 104 million ...
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Diversifying the downstream value chain
Jan-2023
The deterioration of the economic environment in 2023 could affect demand for most chemical products amid high feedstock and energy costs. Moreover, increased ...
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Jan-2023
What is the best estimation for refinery and petrochemical product demand in 2023?
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Steam methane reformer tube lifecycle improvement best practices
May-2024
Reformer tube life assessment can be done via online monitoring, non-destructive testing, and tube harvesting with historical operating, monitoring, and ...
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Bottom of the barrel upgrading
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Why custom catalysts?
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FCC Catalysts and Additives
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Oil and gas water treatment applications
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Process catalysts
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