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Savings in exchanger network cleaning (TIA)
Jun-2015
The Super Clean System (SCS), an online heat exchanger cleaning technology, is being used by a major oil refiner in Japan at a refinery equipped with a ...
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Reducing FCC main fractionator operating risks
Mar-2021
Analysis of an FCC main fractionator upset and follow-up revamp showed that removal of the HCO wash section did not impact operations or product quali ...
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Crude unit revamp to increase diesel yield
Apr-2002
Account of a crude vacuum unit revamp where detailed calculation of the true performance of existing equipment raised diesel production by 14.5 vol% on ...
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Online cleaning of 
process equipment
Oct-2008
In the interest of time and cost savings, online cleaning prior to shutdown can reduce the duration and complexity of refinery turnarounds, as demonstrated ...
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Importance of testing for vacuum ejectors in refinery service
Jun-2022
Efforts should be made to identify and avoid errors in the specification, engineering, and manufacturing of vacuum system equipment before they manifest ...
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Data analytics for hydrocarbon processing
Oct-2016
Advanced data handling techniques are transforming operations in the refining industry at an increasing pace.
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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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Loss into gain in high capacity trays - Part 1: excursion
Jun-2016
Systematic troubleshooting diagnosed and solved two complex and independent problems that limited the capacity of an atmospheric crude distillation to ...
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Loss into gain in high-capacity trays Part 2: reverse vapour cross flow chanelling
Aug-2016
Systematic troubleshooting diagnosed two complex problems that limited the capacity of an atmospheric crude distillation tower
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Revamping a bitumen heating system
Jul-2019
A redesigned oil based heating system for bitumen storage and sales saves energy and eliminates customer complaints.
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Demystifying the zero entrainment myth for vacuum column flash zones
Apr-2009
One of the recurring questions about refinery vacuum tower operation is the issue of flash zone entrainment and the operation of the wash section.
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Online real-time optimisation helps identify energy gaps
Oct-2010
Real-time supervision of a refinery’s energy system enables optimisation of its fuel consumption and emissions levels
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Shale feedstocks fuel ethylene, LNG and petrochemical derivatives expansion
Apr-2014
In spite of the variability in shale composition causing operational challenges for refiners, monetisation opportunities are seen throughout the energy ...
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The age of turbulence: charting a course for refiners to a profitable future
Nov-2012
Relentless turbulence has profoundly affected the global refining landscape in recent years. Moreover, the turmoil is likely to continue unabated in the ...
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Increasing distillate production at least capital cost
Apr-2015
Investing in improvements to the atmospheric crude unit can deliver increased distillate yields with short payback times
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Reducing the danger of maintenance exposure
Apr-1998
Maintenance cost overruns result from inadequate cost estimating and the emergence of unidentified work that has to be done
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Enhancing flexibility in two-stage hydrocrackers
Aug-2022
Shifting markets and refined product priorities compels refiners to find the flexibility for shifting from middle distillate to naphtha for petrochemical ...
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Identifying very small 
equipment leaks
Jan-2008
Very small leaks in feed/effluent exchangers can be identified using chemical tracing. This online technique can detect leaks as low as 5.0 ppm, avoiding ...
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Improving level control in desalters to aid in use of opportunity crudes
Sep-2019
Refineries are a complex set of various operating units designed to process crude oil into refined products such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuels and feedstocks ...
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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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Tray revamp restores crude column performance
Jan-2019
Retrofitting the packed top section of a crude atmospheric tower with high capacity trays improved separation efficiency
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Opening the crude flexibility window: automation manages threats in real time
Sep-2018
By increasing the volume of quality data, refiners can automate the correct addition of chemical additives to respond to variations in unit performanc ...
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Mitigating overhead corrosion and reducing downstream costs
Jan-2022
A combination of onstream measurements, closed-loop control, and corrosion measurement enabled significant reductions in caustic addition rates and FCC ...
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Sustainable technology for cleaning a crude preheat exchanger network
Aug-2019
Mitigating environmental impacts, saving time and reducing costs: cleaning a heat exchanger network using a renewable cleaning agent.
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Improving crude vacuum 
unit performance
Mar-2008
When simulating or designing an unconventional heavy oil/bitumen vacuum crude unit, the sharing of operating data on cracked gas make, stripping section ...
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The age of turbulence: charting a course for refiners to a profitable future
Nov-2012
Relentless turbulence has profoundly affected the global refining landscape in recent years. Moreover, the turmoil is likely to continue unabated in the ...
-
Savings in exchanger network cleaning (TIA)
Jun-2015
The Super Clean System (SCS), an online heat exchanger cleaning technology, is being used by a major oil refiner in Japan at a refinery equipped with a ...
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Online cleaning: a mindshift for improving operational excellence
Apr-2013
A patented method of chemical cleaning can reduce downtime arising from severe fouling in process units
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Strategies for improved naphtha processing
Oct-2013
To take advantage of dilbit from Alberta and light oils from shale formations, refiners must develop a strategy for processing additional naphthas and ...
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Oil/water interface control for desalters
Oct-2007
Profiling instrument provides vertical real-time phase density measurement in desalter vessels. Benefits include reduced process upsets from interface ...
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Shale feedstocks fuel ethylene, LNG and petrochemical derivatives expansion
Apr-2014
In spite of the variability in shale composition causing operational challenges for refiners, monetisation opportunities are seen throughout the energy ...
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How dynamic pressure can affect vacuum column readings
Jun-2016
Computational fluid dynamics confirmed field measurements to explain a vacuum unit’s poor quality HVGO and was used to redesign the tower internals
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Troubleshooting vacuum unit revamps
Jul-1998
While vacuum unit revamps increase gasoil yield, management is pushing the intervals between turnarounds to four or five years
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Avoiding unscheduled shutdowns
Apr-2001
Case studies have demonstrated that correct heater design and consequent performance will determine crude unit run length
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Vacuum pressure control: impact on profitability
Jul-2001
Optimisation of flash zone pressure and temperature can improve feedstock quality to downstream units
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Crude column revamp using radial temperature profiles
Sep-2003
Designers need to be aware of all the factors influencing packed bed performance such as feed zone mixing problems
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Oct-2005
Fundamental design considerations influencing diesel and vacuum gas oil (VGO) recovery when revamping existing or designing grassroots crude units. By ...
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Apr-2006
When designing vacuum units for processing heavy Canadian crudes, reliability costs can be high if the feedstock’s thermal instability is not fully ...
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Refinery CO2 challenges: part III
Jul-2006
For the prediction of CO2 emissions from a refinery, simple correlations are not always sufficient. A rigorous simulation tool that includes fractionation ...
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Cost-effective and reliable revamps
Jul-2009
Test run hydraulic measurements and analysis, together with equipment know-how, can help refiners identify profitable, low-cost revamp opportunities
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Bitumen processing: crude unit revamps
Jul-2011
The ability to process bitumen offers a competitive advantage, but revamps of crude and vacuum units to process bitumen require significant changes
to ...
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Flow metering vacuum tower bottoms
Oct-2011
A clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter can make flow measurement at the bottom of vacuum distillation towers more reliable
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Integrated monitoring for optimising crude distillation
Jan-2012
On-line process analysers in crude distillation units prevent lost throughput caused by non-conforming process conditions and crude oil switching
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Increasing distillate production at least capital cost
Apr-2015
Investing in improvements to the atmospheric crude unit can deliver increased distillate yields with short payback times
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Revamping a bitumen heating system
Jul-2019
A redesigned oil based heating system for bitumen storage and sales saves energy and eliminates customer complaints.
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High octane isomerates from light naphtha
Feb-2020
Dividing wall column distillation is an energy efficient, cost effective alternative to conventional distillation for delivering high octane products from ...
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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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Troubleshooting a heavy crude topper
Jul-2019
Thorough troubleshooting revealed the primary cause of a heavy crude topper’s poor availability: desalter operation. A comprehensive revamp resolved ...
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Increasing vacuum tower performance
Oct-2004
Advantages of using gravity flow liquid distributors in services where, historically, spray nozzles have been used, specifically in refinery vacuum tower ...
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Jan-2006
Cost-effective exchanger network solutions need to rely on more than just pinch technology if they are to be successful
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Myth of high cutpoint in dry 
vacuum units
Apr-2014
Accurate measures of true boiling point cutpoints are essential to correctly evaluate vacuum unit performance
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Heat integration projects for 
refining processes
Oct-2013
Heat integration projects can deliver substantial savings, but they require detailed simulation and case-specific heat integration analysis
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Strategies for improved naphtha processing
Oct-2013
To take advantage of dilbit from Alberta and light oils from shale formations, refiners must develop a strategy for processing additional naphthas and ...
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Towards a zero gasoline production refinery: part 2
Oct-2013
Refinery configurations can suit various processing objectives, such as variations to the propylene-to-ethylene ratio and production of middle distillates ...
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Improving the distillation energy network
Oct-2013
Energy-efficient design applied to the refit of a distillation unit was achieved through optimisation between the distillation column and heat network ...
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Online cleaning of an integrated distillation unit
Oct-2013
Online cleaning technology was validated during a scheduled turnaround at the second largest refinery in Poland.
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Energy-efficient vacuum systems
Apr-2013
Case analysis of the techniques available to reduce energy consumption in vacuum systems reveals the potential for cost savings
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Online cleaning: a mindshift for improving operational excellence
Apr-2013
A patented method of chemical cleaning can reduce downtime arising from severe fouling in process units
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Jan-2013
Revamping a VDU’s vacuum system delivered operational improvements in a refinery, but also led to safer and more efficient handling of non-condensed ...
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High-capacity tray for debottlenecking a crude distillation unit
Jan-2013
Use of ultra-high-capacity trays in the most constrained section of a CDU enabled over a 50% increase in throughput at less cost than other debottlenecking ...
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The age of turbulence: charting a course for refiners to a profitable future
Nov-2012
Relentless turbulence has profoundly affected the global refining landscape in recent years. Moreover, the turmoil is likely to continue unabated in the ...
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Designing a crude unit heat 
exchanger network
Oct-2012
Preheat train design for heavy Canadian crudes can be very challenging, requiring an approach not normally required with other crudes
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Oct-2012
Inaccurate feed characterisation and process modelling errors are major contributors to poor performance in a vacuum unit as refiners switch to heavier ...
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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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Integrated monitoring for optimising crude distillation
Jan-2012
On-line process analysers in crude distillation units prevent lost throughput caused by non-conforming process conditions and crude oil switching
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Future of opportunity crudes processing
Oct-2011
Five critical drivers help refiners remain profitable and sustain long-term business goals while processing relatively inexpensive, low-quality crudes
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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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Flow metering vacuum tower bottoms
Oct-2011
A clamp-on ultrasonic flow meter can make flow measurement at the bottom of vacuum distillation towers more reliable
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Bitumen processing: crude unit revamps
Jul-2011
The ability to process bitumen offers a competitive advantage, but revamps of crude and vacuum units to process bitumen require significant changes
to ...
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Improving solids handling in a delayed coker
Jul-2011
A reliability model applied to a coke handling system demonstrates the benefits of compliance with a preventive maintenance programme
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Improving crude unit operation
Jan-2011
Most crude and vacuum units present an opportunity for improvement using modern process control systems
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Maximisation of VGO through deep-cut distillation for refinery margins
Jan-2011
Appropriate choice of crude and/or crude oil blends as feedstock and a vacuum tower revamp enable higher production of vacuum gas oil
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Jan-2011
A process review, including the improvement of atmospheric and vacuum distillation columns, for the reformulation of the diesel pool
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Online real-time optimisation helps identify energy gaps
Oct-2010
Real-time supervision of a refinery’s energy system enables optimisation of its fuel consumption and emissions levels
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A balanced approach to vacuum tower flash zone/wash section design
Sep-2010
Revamping an existing vacuum column to operate at a higher feed rate, higher flash zone temperature, lower pressure, and different feed stock characterisation ...