Valuable liquids from refinery gases

Oct-2012

With appropriate treatment schemes, refinery off-gases can be valuable sources of olefins and hydrogen

Cracking hydrocarbon feedstock with a heavy tail

Mar-2013

The introduction of a vapour/liquid separation step allows for the efficient removal of a heavy tail from the furnace convection section

Enhanced sulphur recovery from lean acid gases containing COS and mercaptans

Apr-2010

Claus configurations are available for more effective sulphur recovery from lean acid gas containing significant concentrations of organic sulphur com ...

Tray hydraulic operating regimes 
and selectivity

Apr-2010

Tray hydraulics is discussed in terms of froth and spray operating regimes, and possible impacts on selectivity are pointed out by reference to performance ...

Risks of accumulated sulphur in sulphur recovery units

Apr-2014

While recovering sulphur in an SRU depends on condensation of sulphur, its unintended condensation and accumulation can present problems.

Capture and convert - handling mercaptans in hydrocarbon streams

Dec-2008

With the development of increasingly difficult hydrocarbon streams, mercaptans emerge as a major nuisance. The removal and conversion of mercaptans is ...

Chemical analysis in amine system operations

Jul-2013

The array of contaminants that can disrupt the operation of alkanolamine systems needs to be precisely characterised and analysed

Novel processing ideas for a 
condensate refinery

Apr-2016

Synergised unit flow schemes for a condensate refinery aim for high value refined products.

Practical flare gas recovery for minimising flaring

Apr-2015

Flares play a critical role as a safety device in refineries, and in most oil and gas producing or processing facilities.

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) ...

Small-scale gas to liquids

Apr-2011

Microchannel reactor technology is on trial for the small-scale production of liquids from stranded gas

Analysis method for determining bound and free alkanolamines in HSS contaminated solutions

Jul-1990

A conductometric titration method has been developed to determine the true available alkanolamine in solutions used for H2S and CO2 removal from refinery ...

Continuous removal of contaminants from amine solutions

Oct-2011

A continuous purification system overcomes amine degradation and the formation of corrosion-promoting heat stable amine salts

Modelling to optimise natural gas dehydration

Apr-2009

Computer modelling can help processors to understand the severity of conditions in molecular sieves used for the dehydration of natural gas

A new approach to treating shale gases

Apr-2012

Shale gas can be challenging to treat, but mass transfer rate-based simulation and appropriate tower internals can make it no harder to treat than other ...

A promoter for selective H2S 
removal: part I

Apr-2011

A new MDEA promoter achieves very low H2S lean loadings and the option for flexible design of acid gas enrichment units by varying absorber heights

Efficiency factors in natural gas fired steam boilers

Jul-2020

A study to obtain maximum operating efficiency from a set of refinery steam boilers.

Tail gas scrubber sulphur plant by-pass ability aids emergency shutdowns and startups

Nov-2015

From the European Union to the USA, national and international bodies are putting in place increasingly stringent legislation to limit emissions.

Extending the treatment of highly sour gases: cryogenic distillation

Jan-2014

Cryogenic bulk removal of H2S or CO2 offers an economic advantage when the separated acid gases from super sour gas are re-injected

VDU vacuum system revamp

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 ...

Cryogenic monitoring

Apr-2011

Fibre optic distributed temperature sensing has several advantages over conventional real-time data sensors in cryogenic leak detection at LNG termina ...

COS and mercaptans removal from gases

Apr-2023

Challenges with removing trace sulphur species can be better understood and resolved with a new kinetic model validated by plant data in its ability to ...

Impact of acid gas loading on the heat of absorption and voc and btex solubility in amine sweetening units

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 ...

Acid gas treatment upgrade for Qatargas

Jul-2016

Upgrading acid gas treatment at the world’s largest LNG facility safeguards the plant’s design capacity and its ability to process increasingly sour ...

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

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 ...

Simplifying hydrogen production

Jun-2017

Catalyst systems developed for the purification and reforming sections of the hydrogen plant target significant barriers to efficient production.

Acid gas treatment upgrade for Qatargas

Jul-2016

Upgrading acid gas treatment at the world’s largest LNG facility safeguards the plant’s design capacity and its ability to process increasingly sour ...

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.

Developments in H2S scavenging

Jun-2018

Advances in the application of triazine scavengers have significantly 
improved process efficiencies.

Control of foaming in amine systems

Sep-2007

Amine solutions foam. Solution foaming causes plant upsets. It is the disengagement or break time that differentiates normal, desirable froth from undesirable ...

Risks of accumulated sulphur in sulphur recovery units

Apr-2014

While recovering sulphur in an SRU depends on condensation of sulphur, its unintended condensation and accumulation can present problems.

Direct oxidation sulphur recovery process for very lean acid gas applications

Jun-2016

Due to higher demand in desulphurisation and new environmental regulations, Companies need to find robust and efficient technologies while considering ...

Integrated design for gas processing

Oct-2016

An integrated approach to designing process line-up delivers a range of economic, process and environmental benefits.

Technology selection for a natural gas plant

May-2019

Selecting equipment for a sulphur block requires balancing technical performance and costs, as well as local conditions and regulations.

Growth by association

Jul-2020

Associated gas can be an important component of future fuel supplies if new gathering pipelines and tighter regulations come into play.

What steps do we need to take to keep our sour water stripper at peak performance following a shutdown?

Feb-2021

Responses to a question in the Q1 2021 issues Q&A Feature

Our desalting rate drops away quickly when we use heavier feeds. What is the problem here?

Feb-2021

Responses to a question in the Q1 2021 issues Q&A Feature

Trends and developments in gas analysis

Mar-2021

Technical and digital developments are modernising the way gas analysers are built and used.

Shrinking the carbon footprint

Dec-2021

A digital transformation roadmap for green fuel producers

Oxygen enrichment in the petrochemicals industry

Jan-2022

Adding oxygen enrichment to oxidation reactions in the petrochemicals industry offers a reduced carbon footprint, productivity benefits, and cost effi ...

Premature foam-flood in an amine absorber: Part 2

Jan-2022

Troubleshooting and hydraulic analysis identified vapour channelling in fixed valve trays as the root cause of premature foam-flooding in a high pressure ...

Refinery off-gas in hydrogen production

Apr-2022

An off-gas feed to an SMR unit for hydrogen production is economically and environmentally attractive as long as it is carefully monitored.

Performance of titania based tail gas catalyst at start-up

Apr-2022

Titania supported tail gas catalyst offers a number of operational benefits, particularly for TGTU installations operating with steam reheaters at low ...

The enduring role of natural gas

Jun-2022

Conflict, energy independence goals, and the onus on diversifying the energy industry value chain rely on natural gas to serve as a stable platform during ...

Biogas to biomethane

Nov-2022

Chemical absorption is both technically and economically feasible for biogas upgrading under atmospheric conditions, thereby avoiding the need for com ...

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.

Intervening when feed gas is too lean: Heavies removal challenges for LNG projects

Apr-2023

UOP and Kiewit, based on previous work experience, have found that one size does not fit all when it comes to gas treating for LNG plants.

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 ...

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.

27 years of reliable sulphur removal

Oct-2023

(White Paper) - LO-CAT® technology is a liquid reduction-oxidation (redox) process that uses catalyst in an aqueous solution to convert hydrogen sulphide ...