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FCC gas concentration unit stripper revamp
Jul-2007Unit charge rate and reactor conversion were increased by the elimination of stripper column flooding. Chemical-grade propylene specifications were me ...
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Sour water stripping Part 2: phenolic water
Aug-2014In addition to ammonia, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon dioxide, phenolic sour water may contain a host of so-called heat stable salts (HSSs), hydrogen cyanide, ...
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Natural gas fuels the integration of refining and petrochemicals
Jul-2012Maximising the use of natural gas in a refinery-petrochemicals complex offers higher margins and lower carbon emissions
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Process and energy analysis for cost savings and CO2 reduction
Jul-2010Applying heat pinch technology and process know-how to maximise energy savings. In an increasingly carbon-conscious market, improving energy efficiency ...
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FCC fundamentals: turnaround best practices
Apr-2009Basic procedures and activities are presented for the unit engineer and other support personnel, designed to ensure a successful and safe FCC turna ...
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Multiple corrosion mechanisms in crude distillation overhead system
Jul-2009Extensive troubleshooting efforts determine distinct corrosion mechanisms simultaneously attacking multiple areas of an atmospheric tower overhead sys ...
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Diesel and VGO recovery
Oct-2005Fundamental design considerations influencing diesel and vacuum gas oil (VGO) recovery when revamping existing or designing grassroots crude units. By ...
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Maximising premium distillate by catalytic dewaxing
Feb-2011Advances in technology for catalytic dewaxing of distillates by isomerisation provide improved activity
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Hydrotreating in the production of green diesel
Apr-2010A novel scheme enables co-processing of light gas oil and tall diesel to produce a renewable diesel meeting EN 590 specifications
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Controlling the dew point of natural gas
Jul-2015Meeting water and hydrocarbon dew point specifications for natural gas without acid gas components
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Catalytic oxidation of spent caustic
Jul-2011A process to oxidise spent caustic in an existing treatment plant by a catalytic route in the presence of air enhances the quality of wastewater relea ...
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Mercury treatment options for natural gas plants
Jan-2014Removing mercury as close as is practicable to the front end of a natural gas processing system is the best choice
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Understanding FCC feeds and benefits to refinery operation
Apr-2015In this work, over one hundred FCC feed samples, originating from diverse geographic locations and consisting of assorted FCC refinery streams, were a ...
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Simulation of a visbreaking unit
Apr-2011Simulation of a commercial visbreaking unit supports optimisation of the unit’s performance. The visbreaking unit utilises vacuum residue as a feed and ...
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Process improvements in the direct hydration of olefins to alcohols
May-2014Synthetic 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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Hydrogen-induced cracking and blistering
Apr-2009Hydrogen damage to steel is a well-known consequence of corrosion in sour service. A corrosion inhibitor program can reduce hydrogen entry into the metal. ...
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Practical hydrocarbon dew point specification for natural gas transmission lines
Mar-2011Hydrocarbon liquid dropout can cause a number of problems in gas transmission lines, including increased pressure drop, reduced line capacity and equipment ...
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Managing vanadium from high metals crude oils
Sep-2003Improvements in process and equipment design with regard to crude unit and delayed coker distillation column performance can reduce metals content
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Troubleshooting steam ejectors
Oct-2014Some causes and practical solutions concerning problems with refinery steam vacuum ejectors
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Optimised hydrogen production by steam reforming: part I
Jan-2012Modelling optimisation of process and design parameters for minimising natural gas consumption in hydrogen production by steam reforming
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Entrainment issues in vacuum column flash zones
Jan-2010For a vacuum tower to operate effectively, the flash zone and the wash section must work together to provide the best possible feed quality to the sections ...
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Sour water stripping Part 3: waste water treatment
Sep-2014Mass transfer rate-based simulation is used in a case study to examine two of the important factors that determine the performance of a 2-Stage Chevron ...
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Removing contaminants from crude oil
Mar-2016Natural and introduced contaminants limit crude desalting effectiveness, increasing fouling and corrosion risks in downstream units
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Designing the CDU/VDU for opportunity crudes
Oct-2012New units for processing heavy crudes should not be designed using conventional practices or run length will be short, and product yields and quality ...
Most Popular
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Improving refinery distillation operations
Apr-2008The outline of a route map or staged approach to unit process improvement follows similar steps to those taken when installing advanced controls on a ...
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Delayed coking: valves make the difference
Jan-2009Traditional manual methods of coke drum unheading are labour intensive, costly to maintain, expensive to repair and carry inherent risk for personnel on ...
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Using pinch technology in operations?
Sep-2013Pinch Technology is a well established concept, and a tool used to optimise waste heat recovery and design efficient heat integration schemes in a wide ...
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Increase refinery profitability using Innovative FCC catalysts to process residue feedstock (1)
Oct-2013Use catalyst fundamentals to select the best catalysts. Globally, around 35% of FCC units’ process predominantly vacuum gasoil (VGO) feedstock and 65% ...
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Characterising and tracking contaminants in opportunity crudes
Jan-2014The specific properties of contaminants in opportunity crudes affect the selection of crude slates for existing facilities and the design of revamps and ...
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Sour water stripping Part 1: non-phenolic water
Aug-2014Most non-phenolic sour water strippers for removing ammonia and hydrogen sulphide from are built with 30 to 60 trays and are usually designed using equilibrium ...
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Maximising profitability with FCC feeds from opportunity crudes
May-2015Case studies show how to achieve optimal monetisation value with opportunity feeds through operating strategies, innovative catalysts and technical st ...
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Controlling the dew point of natural gas
Jul-2015Meeting water and hydrocarbon dew point specifications for natural gas without acid gas components
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Impact of light tight oils on distillate hydrotreater operation
Apr-2016Addressing the range of challenges brought to diesel and jet production by light tight oil processing
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High efficiency zero export steam reforming
Sep-2016Development of a new hydrogen production technology based on steam methane reforming.
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FCC unit revamps at minimum cost
Oct-2016Selective modifications for FCC unit revamps can deliver the best return on investment
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Scale Catcher technology
Dec-2016Feed containing fines, in-organic matter, sludge, rust etc. can cause excessive pressure drop build-up issues in hydroprocessing reactors.
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Simplifying hydrogen production
Jun-2017Catalyst systems developed for the purification and reforming sections of the hydrogen plant target significant barriers to efficient production.
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Maximising FCC performance and yields with catalyst innovations (ERTC)
Nov-2017BASF analyses equilibrium catalyst (Ecat) and operating data from over 200 units worldwide. These data provide valuable information on refinery conditions ...
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Maximising propylene and isobutylene from the FCC
Aug-2018A combination of recent catalyst and additive developments raised a refinery’s output of FCC propylene and isobutylene.
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Real-time total chlorine monitoring to ensure optimal desalter performance
May-2019Chlorides are always present in raw crude oils and their concentrations vary greatly. Depending on origin, transportation methods, and process conditions, ...
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Technology selection for a natural gas plant
May-2019Selecting equipment for a sulphur block requires balancing technical performance and costs, as well as local conditions and regulations.
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Optimise hydrocracker operations for maximum distillates
Apr-2012Estimation of an accurate operating window for a hydrocracker enables refiners to minimise yields of light ends and maximise diesel production
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Maximizing refinery energy optimisation
Jan-2018Flexicoking™ technology is a highly differentiated unique resid upgrading process resulting in significantly lower environmental emissions than other ...
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Assessment of crude oil blends
Oct-2011A refiner’s assessment of the compatibility of opportunity crudes in blends aims to avoid the processing problems introduced by lower-quality feedst ...
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Understanding FCC feeds and benefits to refinery operation
Apr-2015In this work, over one hundred FCC feed samples, originating from diverse geographic locations and consisting of assorted FCC refinery streams, were a ...
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Acid gas treatment upgrade for Qatargas
Jul-2016Upgrading acid gas treatment at the world’s largest LNG facility safeguards the plant’s design capacity and its ability to process increasingly sour ...
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Relative economics of mixed C4 processing routes
Jan-1998Ethylene producers are seeking ways to upgrade the mixed C4 stream from ethylene plants to improve operating economics
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FCC air/steam rings
Oct-2011Ring distributors are a simple yet effective means of improving air/steam distribution within the FCC unit
Most Recent
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Refinery catalyst testing
Jul-2019Selecting the best catalyst for a unit demands thorough evaluation of the available options.
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Operational challenges in sour water stripping
Jul-2019How to keep a sour water stripper at optimum performance between shutdowns.
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Sizing relief valves for real gas or vapour
Jul-2019An appraisal of relief valve discharge area sizing methods for gas or vapour.
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Flue gas heat recovery through the acid dew point
Jul-2019Polymer based heat exchange technology enables more heat recovery from flue gas by addressing acid corrosion issues.
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Solving hydrotreating fouling problems
Jul-2019Upgraded antifoulant technology is helping refiners to overcome the increased hydrotreater fouling issues that result from more stringent fuel sulphur ...
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Development of a naphthenic acid corrosion model
Jul-2019A model has been developed to predict and help prevent corrosion when processing high TAN crudes.
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Forecasting crude oil prices
Jul-2019Building a good time series model is the primary requirement for generating good oil price forecasts.
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Troubleshooting a heavy crude topper
Jul-2019Thorough troubleshooting revealed the primary cause of a heavy crude topper’s poor availability: desalter operation. A comprehensive revamp resolved ...
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Revamping a bitumen heating system
Jul-2019A redesigned oil based heating system for bitumen storage and sales saves energy and eliminates customer complaints.
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Reduce conjugated diene blockage in fuel refiners with the automated fuels analyzer
Jul-2019The Automated Fuels Analyzer from VUV Analytics is quickly becoming the new industry standard for hydrocarbon analysis, combining the power of gas chromatography–vacuum ...
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Generating value in the FCC
Jul-2019New catalyst technologies and technical service support helped a refiner overcome difficulties with VGO conversion.
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Optimise catalyst efficiency by monitoring chlorine levels
Jun-2019Over the years, refineries have fine-tuned their production methods to maximise efficiency while ensuring quality.
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Bottoms upgrading of FCC resid feedstock
Jun-2019A refiner chose a new catalyst to improve bottoms upgrading and maximise fuels production from resid feeds.
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Real-time total chlorine monitoring to ensure optimal desalter performance
May-2019Chlorides are always present in raw crude oils and their concentrations vary greatly. Depending on origin, transportation methods, and process conditions, ...
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IMO 2020 – the deadline approaches
May-2019How is the refining industry reacting to the shake-up with less than a year to go? The refining industry has responded to the forthcoming IMO 2020 lower ...
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New catalysts for low and medium pressure hydrotreating
May-2019A catalyst platform provides higher performance in middle distillate hydrotreating applications with limited hydrogen, difficult feedstocks and severe ...
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 2: mechanical considerations
May-2019The design of a cost effective waste heat boiler faces many, often opposing factors affecting the performance and reliability of the exchanger.
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Digital twins enhance LNG plant performance
May-2019Digitalisation technologies offer new and disruptive ways to overcome the challenges of increasing margin, reducing carbon emissions and addressing talent ...
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Technology selection for a natural gas plant
May-2019Selecting equipment for a sulphur block requires balancing technical performance and costs, as well as local conditions and regulations.
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Data operations transform fuels value
May-2019A refiner applied advanced analytics to develop techniques for processing opportunity crudes which minimise negative effects on the plant.
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America’s energy transformation to bring 10,000 energy executives together
May-2019U S petrochemicals are set for significant growth in output as new production capacity comes online and demand strengthens in key end-use markets, but ...
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Managing interference radiation in nucleonic level measurements
May-2019In this paper we will identify common sources of interference radiation, and explain how they affect nucleonic measurements. Also we will elaborate how ...
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Problems in processing discounted crudes Part 2: crude and vacuum columns
May-2019Project costs must be considered to fully understand whether or not an opportunity crude really does deliver on savings.
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Demonstrating the viability of small scale LNG terminals (TIA)
May-2019The project was intended to create small scale LNG infrastructure and establish the port of Klaipeda as an LNG hub for the Baltic region and northeastern ...
White Papers
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How refineries around the globe are preventing chloride catastrophes with XRF
Dec-2019(White Paper) - Organic chlorides do not occur naturally in crude oil; however, their presence remains a disruptive issue in the refining industry. Varying ...
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EnviroSOx enables full FCC operation through turnaround
Dec-2019(White Paper) - Applying BASF’s EnviroSOx additive, the PKN ORLEN Płock refinery was able to maintain FCC flue gas SOx emissions below 800 mg/Nm3 (@ ...
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Radiometric measurements: accuracy, repeatability and errors
Dec-2019(White Paper) - Radiometric measurements for industrial processes have been around for several decades. They are an important component in the performance ...
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ASTM D2622 Compliance with D7039 Precision for Sulfur in Diesel
Oct-2019(White Paper) In August 2018, XOS published a paper that reviewed and discussed ASTM Proficiency Testing Program (PTP) diesel and gasoline sulphur data ...
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Installation of a new flue gas tunnel design concept and resulting operation
Oct-2019(White Paper) - Conventional tunnels incorporate physical features that constrain design efficacy resulting in non-uniform flue gas flow both along the ...
