ARTICLES
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Using APC in refinery energy systems — develop your own solutions
Oct-2013
Advanced Process Control (APC) has been used extensively to assist in operating refinery and petrochemical processes smoothly, safely and profitably.
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Simulation of bitumen upgrading processes
Apr-2013
Two bitumen upgrading processes currently used in the Canadian oil sands industry were investigated using modelling and simulation techniques
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A comparison of physical solvents for acid gas removal
Mar-2008
Physical solvents such as DEPG (Selexol or Coastal AGR), NMP or N-Methyl-2- Pyrrolidone (Purisol), Methanol (Rectisol), Propylene Carbonate (Fluor Solvent) ...
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Refining/petrochemical integration: a new paradigm
Sep-2013
The global trend in motor fuel consumption favours diesel over gasoline. There is a simultaneous increase in demand for various petrochemicals such as ...
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Oct-2005
Process modelling and equipment know-how are needed to design deep-cut vacuum units that operate reliably at high temperature and low pressure
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Revamping the hydrogen generation unit
Apr-2014
Hydrogen plants can be modified for higher production by employing innovative process schemes
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Light tight oil crude comparison
Mar-2015
The production method for Eagle Ford and Bakken is via fracturing of the tight or shale formations in two different North America regions. Crude from the ...
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Mar-2007
In amine sweetening units, the heat of absorption and VOC and BTEX solubility have been found to vary significantly with acid gas loading, as well as with ...
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Canadian crude processing challenges
Jan-2008
Vacuum unit design influences liquid volume yields, run length, product 
yield and product quality when processing bitumen crude oils
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Protecting compressors with dynamic simulation
Apr-2014
Dynamic simulation supports reliable operation of compressor installations to deliver maximum plant availability and productivity
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Overcoming tight emulsion problems
Oct-2014
A refiner’s trials of a membrane coalescence mechanism were scaled up to plant level and delivered significant product recovery from tight aqueous e ...
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Energy network monitoring and optimisation
Jun-2021
A software program for optimisation of an energy network supports decisions on equipment use in refineries that produce and import power.
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Optimising safety relief and flare systems
Apr-2011
Understanding the behaviour of refinery units by dynamic modelling of emergencies enables the prediction of realistic relief loads
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Optimising crude 
unit design
Apr-2009
Real retrofit examples demonstrate how crude units can be successfully optimised with the crude slates currently being processed. Process design strategies ...
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Accurate prediction of tower relief
Apr-2014
A comparison of conventional and dynamic simulation methods applied to a project to debottleneck a deisobutaniser
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Preventing ingress of HCN into 
amine systems
Jul-2013
Simulation studies provide guidelines on how to avoid contamination of refinery amine systems by hydrogen cyanide
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Applying pinch technology to 
energy recovery
Oct-2013
A pinch technology-based study of heating and cooling of material streams in a large-scale olefins plant identifies major opportunities for energy sav ...
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Improving CO2 absorber performance in LNG production
Apr-2015
Simulation of deep CO2 removal in LNG and syngas applications, combined with intercooling, maximises effectiveness of piperazine-promoted MDEA solvent ...
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Retrofitting a glycol contactor to 
prevent carryover
Oct-2013
A revamp of glycol contactor column internals, following CFD studies, resolved problems with gas production caused by glycol carryover
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Crude column relief mitigation
Oct-2011
Mitigation of plant-wide relief loads can greatly improve the safety of the plant, reduce flaring and be used as the basis for building smaller relief ...
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FCC catalyst optimisation in response to rare earth prices
Oct-2011
Lower levels of rare-earth catalyst formulations offset higher raw material costs, but refiners must consider the effects on catalyst performance and ...
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Improved performance of the Benfield-HiPure process using process simulation
Oct-2013
Natural gas processing plants are an essential part of the energy industry, providing clean burning fuels and valuable chemical feedstock.
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Steady state simulator to monitor treater performance
Apr-2001
A steady state hydrotreater model was used to monitor the effects of feed quality so that changes in key process factors could be matched against catalyst ...
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Accuracy of measured lean amine 
H2S loading
May-2018
When solvent regeneration is done robustly the most accurate assessment of lean loadings can be by simulation rather than by measurement.
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Tube alloy degradation in a steam cracking furnace
Apr-2015
Understanding catalytic coke growth mechanisms to better predict and optimise furnace service times with tube alloy degradation
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Refining/petrochemical integration: a new paradigm
Sep-2013
The global trend in motor fuel consumption favours diesel over gasoline. There is a simultaneous increase in demand for various petrochemicals such as ...
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SRU simulation getting the properties right
Aug-2016
Reliable, predictive simulation software for SRUs requires recognition of many of the unique properties and behaviours of sulphur.
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Impact of light tight oils on distillate hydrotreater operation
Apr-2016
Addressing the range of challenges brought to diesel and jet production by light tight oil processing
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Nature of errors in machinery diagnostics
Jan-2020
A reliability theory has been developing for almost 70 years, and all the time scientists, engineers and practitioners attempt to point out an instance ...
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The role of tail gas treating unit 
quench towers
Jun-2016
A quench tower cools gas entering a tail gas amine unit but also protects the amine against SO2 breakthrough.
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Ammonia destruction in the reaction furnace
Nov-2016
A study based on reaction fundamentals aids a comparison of the advantages of one-zone and two-zone SRU reaction furnace design in ammonia destruction ...
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Amine anomaly in a mild hydrocracker
Jun-2021
Simulation and operational changes help to crack the riddle of frequent amine carry-over from a high pressure amine absorber.
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Countering hydrate formation in an NGL recovery unit
May-2018
Process modelling can be used to validate data from the plant and identify the most effective approach to process optimisation.
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Tube alloy degradation in a steam cracking furnace
Apr-2015
Understanding catalytic coke growth mechanisms to better predict and optimise furnace service times with tube alloy degradation
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SO2 breakthrough under the microscope
Jun-2017
Plant simulation reveals that any breakthrough of sulphur dioxide will cause havoc in the tail gas treating unit.
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 1: process considerations
Feb-2019
The design of the waste heat boiler has a critical role to play in determining process operations, reliability and economic performance in the sulphur ...
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Digital twins enhance LNG plant performance
May-2019
Digitalisation technologies offer new and disruptive ways to overcome the challenges of increasing margin, reducing carbon emissions and addressing talent ...
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Using pinch technology in operations?
Sep-2013
Pinch 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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Where transparency-driven value comes from
Jan-2020
Safe and sustainable operation is a key factor for the profitability of every processing business, such as a petroleum refinery.
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Field experience with a Claus furnace checker wall
Jan-2014
A new design of Claus furnace checker wall delivers improved mechanical performance and process flow characteristics.
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Simulation of bitumen upgrading processes
Apr-2013
Two bitumen upgrading processes currently used in the Canadian oil sands industry were investigated using modelling and simulation techniques
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Consider multivariate statistical modelling to maximise FCC unit profitability
Nov-2013
Process models(a) and simulation(b) can be used to simulate the fluidised-bed catalytic cracking (FCC) unit process, kinetic or multivariate statistical ...
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Improve profit with augmented digital twins
Aug-2021
Artificial intelligence and machine learning deliver greater, more sustainable value from simulation models.
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Future refinery complexes built using an integrated approach
Nov-2022
Minimise risks of project design changes at later stages using process digital twins during the design phase.
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Troubleshooting refinery equipment with multiphase CFD modelling
Jan-2014
Computational fluid dynamics is a useful and increasingly practical tool for improving the design of and increasing the understanding of common process ...
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Accurate prediction of tower relief
Apr-2014
A comparison of conventional and dynamic simulation methods applied to a project to debottleneck a deisobutaniser
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Revamping the hydrogen generation unit
Apr-2014
Hydrogen plants can be modified for higher production by employing innovative process schemes
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Predicting corrosion rates in amine and sour water systems
May-2014
A chemistry-based predictive model predicts corrosion rates in specific processing conditions. Corrosion is a ubiquitous problem in gas treating in the ...
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Determining safety distance in process design
Jan-2015
Safety distance determination is a key design issue that may have a dramatic impact on a refinery construction project
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Overcoming tight emulsion problems
Oct-2014
A refiner’s trials of a membrane coalescence mechanism were scaled up to plant level and delivered significant product recovery from tight aqueous e ...
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Pre-turnaround scans enable better critical path planning
Sep-2020
Tru-Scan™ and Tru-Grid™ Scan results help determine whether to enter a particular column during the turnaround outage or remove it from the critical ...
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Managing vacuum tower wash beds
Sep-2020
ThruVision™ scans monitor the rate of coking in vacuum tower wash beds to get the most out of bed productivity.
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Tru-Scan™ identifies abnormal process conditions and helps optimise vessel efficiencies
Sep-2020
Tru-Scans™ provide valuable data aiding operations in achieving 115% of unit capacity
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Tru-Grid™ scans detect solids build-up to assist in determining the appropriate maintenance path
Sep-2020
PackView™ liquid retention scale included on Tru-Grid™ Scan results provide customers the amount of build-up, relative density and growth patterns ...
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Increase production rates with Tracerco’s FrothView and Tru-Scan technologies
Sep-2020
How Tru-Scan™ and FrothView™ results help increase production, and remove the debutanizer tower, which seemed to be the bottleneck for the unit.
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Detecting leaking PSVs helps a refiner avoid potential emission fines and penalties
Sep-2020
A Tracerco Diagnostics™ Leak study identifies leaks resulting in massive savings from environmental fines, without any interruption to production.
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Baseline scans prove critical in diagnosing any potential future column problems
Sep-2020
A baseline scan establishes a reference point, a historical marker for column performance
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Planning to counter economic turbulence
Sep-2020
Synchronising engineering and planning models should be a key aim to support the resilience and agility needed for economic recovery
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Remote management of hydrogen production
Sep-2020
Remote monitoring and control can improve safety, detect problems early, and promote efficient operations through modelling and analysis of hydrogen p ...
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Troubleshooting premature tower flooding
Aug-2020
Thorough analysis of field data and tray hydraulics together with gamma scanning were key factors in the successful troubleshooting of premature flooding ...
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Molecular management for refinery-petrochemical complexes
Aug-2020
Designing a digital twin for process simulation of an integrated complex enables enhanced molecular management to deliver higher margin.The future comprises ...
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Cutting the cost of refinery process control and CEMS gas analysis
Aug-2020
Developments in equipment functionality to reduce maintenance costs, innovative service delivery which can enable outsourcing and an array of digital solutions ...
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Cross-unit APC boosts downstream performance
Jul-2020
Manipulating advanced process control in a crude unit reduced constraints in a downstream diesel hydrotreater
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Increase duty in tube side condensers
Jul-2020
A retrofit is shown to improve several aspects of tube side condensation processes.
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Downtime damages environmental performance too
Jul-2020
Advanced technologies can reduce the environmental impact of unexpected shutdowns.
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Where transparency-driven value comes from
Jan-2020
Safe and sustainable operation is a key factor for the profitability of every processing business, such as a petroleum refinery.
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Nature of errors in machinery diagnostics
Jan-2020
A reliability theory has been developing for almost 70 years, and all the time scientists, engineers and practitioners attempt to point out an instance ...
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Fouling and cleaning analysis of a heat exchanger network
Dec-2019
Analysis of a complex heat exchanger network employs a digital twin model to establish a programme for fouling and cleaning.
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Simulation of Claus unit performance
Nov-2019
Simulating a sulphur recovery unit using a fundamental approach enables the effects of process changes on a host of performance metrics to be reliably ...
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Digitalisation is only scratching 
the surface
Nov-2019
Digitalisation usually means upgrading a few elements of technology or workflows, leaving a partial digital twin when a holistic approach is needed.
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Best practice for refinery flowsheets
Aug-2019
Refinery-wide flowsheets can demonstrate the true representation of changes in key operating variables and their associated impact on refinery operati ...
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Jul-2019
The availability of devices capable of creating an image of the infrared radiation emitted by an item of process equipment such as the CO2 absorber in ...
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 2: mechanical considerations
May-2019
The 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-2019
Digitalisation technologies offer new and disruptive ways to overcome the challenges of increasing margin, reducing carbon emissions and addressing talent ...
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Claus waste heat boiler economics Part 1: process considerations
Feb-2019
The design of the waste heat boiler has a critical role to play in determining process operations, reliability and economic performance in the sulphur ...
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