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Predicting centrifugal compressor performance
Jan-2019
When a plant revamp is planned, assessing an existing centrifugal compressor to meet new performance requirements is essential.
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Pressure surge during crude unloading
Oct-2016
How to avoid pressure surge problems when dissimilar ship to shore offloading operations are interconnected.
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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
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Operating challenges associated with fines in the delayed coker
Jun-2014
The coking process has been around since the early days of the refining industry. Over the years it has undergone continuous improvements to make it a ...
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Starting up hydrotreating units with cracked feeds
Jan-2013
A catalyst sulphiding process enables the introduction of cracked or heavy feeds to HDS units without the recommended three-day delay following change ...
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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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Troubleshooting crude column constraints
Jul-2017
Multiple limitations to operating capacity were identified and resolved during a column turnaround
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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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Improving sulphur recovery units
Jul-2006
A new alternative to the Claus unit tail gas treatment has been found in the wet gas scrubber. This can maintain or increase acid gas feed rates to the ...
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Optimising preflash for light tight oil processing
Jul-2015
For a crude unit handling light tight oil feedstock, a semi-preflash column can deliver significant advantages in energy saving, capacity gain and revamp ...
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Processing shale oil in an FCC unit: 
catalyst and profit optimisation
Aug-2015
Adjustments in base catalyst, use of ZSM-5 additives and metal traps enable efficient processing of paraffinic and heavy crude in the presence of metals ...
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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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Reformer monitoring via in-tube temperature measurement
Apr-2014
A temperature monitoring technology applied to steam reformers in synthesis gas plants provides protection against over-firing plus detailed catalyst ...
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Catalyst addition in ebullated-bed units
Apr-2005
A simple theoretical approach is available for calculating the catalyst metals content, catalyst physical properties and the effect on catalyst activity. ...
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Improving VGO hydrotreater operation
Jan-2009
A practical, industrial data-derived tool can give refiners confidence in simulating the actual benefits of additional hydrogen for improved VGO hydrotreater ...
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Challenges and opportunities of 10 ppm sulphur gasoline: part 1
Jul-2012
Prospect of a worldwide standard for ULSG and the challenges of increased heavy crude supplies demand careful consideration and selection of refinery ...
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Catalyst selection — a refiner’s perspective
Nov-2015
The refining industry is fortunate to have the catalyst suppliers as our partners. They have been leaders in developing new technology for refining.
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Effect of hydrocarbon partial pressure on FCC propylene production
Jul-2008
Results of cracking experiments are discussed, where the hydrocarbon partial pressure was varied by altering the total reactor pressure, feed rate and ...
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Next-generation BRIM catalyst technology
Jun-2009
The need for high-activity hydroprocessing catalysts continues, with US, European and Asian refiners already supplying their markets with ultra-low-sulphur ...
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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.
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Mercury removal from liquid hydrocarbons
Mar-2005
Various methodologies for the measurement of mercury levels in gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons are available, while inorganic routes for mercury removal ...
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Recovering and refining precious metals
Nov-2015
Some factors to consider when choosing a route for recovering precious metals from catalyst.
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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 ...
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Towards a zero gasoline production refinery: part 1
Jul-2013
Integrating products from the steam cracker, aromatics complex and FCC unit to produce petrochemicals without gasoline may offer more attractive margi ...
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Evaluating FCC flue gas emission-control technologies
Jan-2008
Comparing technologies for reducing FCCU flue gas emissions. Special emphasis is placed on selecting cost-effective solutions, particularly in the area ...
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Jul-2019
New catalyst technologies and technical service support helped a refiner overcome difficulties with VGO conversion.
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A better approach to detailed hydrocarbon analysis with Verified Hydrocarbon Analysis™
Nov-2019
Most refineries rely on Detailed Hydrocarbon Analysis (DHA) to analyse and monitor specific contents of their fuel streams. While this technique has been ...
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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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Boosting hydrocracker heavy feed conversion
Apr-2020
New pore structure in nano-engineered zeolites helps to improve conversion efficiency of heavy molecules, improving product yields and qualities.
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Improving level control under extreme conditions such as in FCC units
Jun-2020
Catalytic cracking is one of the most important conversion process used in petroleum refineries. It is a widely used process in the refineries for converting ...
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Heat storage in solar power plants
Jun-2020
Avoiding freezing and leakage: optimal thermal management for the use of molten salt in solar thermal power plants with concentrated radiation
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In-situ refinery and storage terminal environmental remediation
Jun-2020
In the 1960’s there were five refineries built close to Ingolstadt. The location was central to the major refined products markets in Bavaria. The TAL ...
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Bring your operation on-line and into the future with Wasson-ECE & Eclipse E-VUV
Jul-2020
Accurate, easy, and fast solutions are key for any operation to be successful. This is no more apparent than in the hydrocarbon processing (HPI) and chemical ...
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Detailed hydrocarbon analysis (DHA) — past, present and future Part 2
Jul-2020
In part two of this series I want to focus on the future of detailed hydrocarbon analysis. If you remember my first article, I talked a little about my ...
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2019: The Year of Gasoline Analysis on the VUV Analyzer™ Platform
Jul-2020
VUV Analytics™, pioneers of developing analytical tools based on vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) detection technology, is dedicated to providing fast, easy, ...
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Jul-2020
Associated gas can be an important component of future fuel supplies if new gathering pipelines and tighter regulations come into play.
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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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Detailed hydrocarbon analysis (DHA) — past, present and future Part 1
Jul-2020
A Historical Perspective. In the 1990s, gasoline regulations were changing rapidly. Lead antiknock compounds were banned. Typical gasoline benzene levels ...
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Introducing the new ASPYRE DT — now up to 2100 Amps
Jul-2020
Take your heat control system to the next level with the latest Watlow power and temperature controllers. We’re proud to introduce our new ASPYRE DT ...
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Model predictive control in a lube oil complex
Jul-2020
An application of model predictive control targeted optimum performance from a refinery’s propane deasphalting unit.
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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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Evolution of a digital twin Part 2: Use of the digital twin
Jul-2020
A two-part article provides a step-by-step introduction to the concept, construction and application of a digital twin for the lifecycle of an ethylene ...
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Capturing value through integrated improvements at the FCC-PT—FCC complex
Jul-2020
Introduction: the importance of fcc-pt—fcc unit integration. As they strive to remain competitive in the face of changing market dynamics, many refiners ...
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Automated level measurement cuts desalter upsets (TIA)
Aug-2020
The path from crude oil to high quality, usable products involves complex technical production and processing procedures in refineries, whereby several ...
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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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Revamp raises crude flexibility and profits (TIA)
Aug-2020
Hyundai Oilbank (HDO) has been operating an atmospheric residue desulphurisation (ARDS) unit, producing feed for the RFCC unit, at its Daesan, South Korea, ...
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Analyser delivers fast quality checks for biorefinery (TIA)
Aug-2020
The demand for biofuels has increased in recent years, with the EU requiring that 10% of the total transport fuel in its member countries is to come from ...
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Aug-2020
Assuming that this pandemic has an end-point, businesses in general and refiners more than most would prefer a restoration of near-normal to some realignment ...
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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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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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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters — Part 2: exterior fouling
Apr-2022
An important fouling mechanism on the fireside is corrosion fouling, especially for oil fired equipment.
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An introduction to fouling in fired heaters: part 1
Apr-2022
Fouling is the accumulation and formation of unwanted materials on the surfaces of processing equipment.
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From bench scale to commercial unit
Apr-2022
A road map for designing and commercialising novel processes
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Optimising heat recovery in a heat exchanger network
Apr-2022
Maintaining equal heat capacity flow rates for heat sink and source provides maximum heat recovery from an exchanger network.
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Corrosion control in ethylene plants
Apr-2022
Treatment concepts for corrosion control in ethylene production by steam cracking of hydrocarbons
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Apr-2022
A vacuum column’s economics can be greatly improved with a low cost modification to the ejector system
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The cost of hydrogen production
Apr-2022
Selecting routes to hydrogen production calls for a balance of environmental impact and cost.
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The role of biofuels in the energy transition
Apr-2022
Overcoming the challenges of coprocessing renewables.
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Hydrogen production with lower carbon emissions
Apr-2022
Evaluating and comparing the potential for carbon incentives in various hydrogen plant configurations.
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Steam ring redesign improves FCC bottoms stability
Apr-2022
Installing a newly designed steam ring in a main fractionator stabilised fluctuations in the flash point of FCC bottoms
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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.
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Mar-2022
Improving level control in desalters to aid in use of opportunity crudes
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So long clipboards, data logging is here
Mar-2022
Exploring why data logging is key to bringing heating technologies into Industry 4.0.
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Understanding the factors affecting heat loss
Mar-2022
Understanding the factors that influence heat loss allows design engineers to better calculate the insulation and power needed to heat a product.
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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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Mar-2022
OPEC+ relations have become fractious through the coronavirus pandemic, and the inequalities between richer and poorer members could increase
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Mar-2022
As North Sea oil production declines, it is also getting heavier and more sour. How is the quality shift is playing out in global trade flows?
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Mar-2022
Energy transition benchmarks have surged in 2021 and prices are expected to remain highly volatile. Transparency is key in this evolving market.
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Optimising processes and operations for CO2 emissions reduction
Feb-2022
A proactive approach can achieve immediate CO2 emissions reduction with almost no investments while reducing operating costs.
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Electrification and medium voltage process heater systems
Feb-2022
Decarboniation efforts worldwide, led both by industry leaders and legislation, have increased efforts to shift fossil fuel use to renewables. One way ...
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Intelligent FTIR system for efficient fuel analysis
Feb-2022
From the very beginnings of fuel characterisation, infrared spectroscopy was widely applied in the field of fuel analysis. Fuel, be it gasoline, diesel ...
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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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Turquoise hydrogen production by methane pyrolysis
Jan-2022
Technologies for methane pyrolysis are at different levels of maturity up to early-stage commercial operations.
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Optimising refinery margins with rejuvenated catalysts
Jan-2022
Rejuvenated catalysts compare well with fresh catalyst for performance and stability, with added cost savings.
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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 ...
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Steam methane reformer tube lifecycle improvement best practices
May-2024
(White Paper) - Reformer tube life assessment can be done via online monitoring, non-destructive testing, and tube harvesting with historical operating, ...