ARTICLES
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Steam reforming natural gas containing higher hydrocarbons
Apr-2013
A method is described for estimating reformed gas composition in a primary reformer when the feed is a natural gas containing higher hydrocarbons
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Relative economics of mixed C4 processing routes
Jan-1998
Ethylene producers are seeking ways to upgrade the mixed C4 stream from ethylene plants to improve operating economics
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Reciprocating compressor suction and discharge valve monitoring
Feb-2013
A decision making guideline evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the most common online monitoring technologies
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Apr-2013
A careful evaluation of the options for removing mercury from natural gas plant feed and product streams is a prudent exercise
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Challenges of heavy crude processing
Oct-2012
A review of upgrading options and refinery configurations to process heavy crudes profitably. Refiners have long faced a major dilemma when designing refineries ...
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Treating high CO2 gases with MDEA
Apr-2009
Using MDEA as a solvent for high levels of CO2 removal requires careful process modelling using accurate simulation
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Stripping sour water: the effect of heat stable salts
Oct-2012
Mass transfer rate-based simulation models sour water stripping and assesses the distribution of ammonia in conventional amine treating systems
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Gases: identifying hazards and mitigating risks
Feb-2012
Although critical for the operation of refineries and petrochemical plants, industrial gases can be associated with a spectrum of possible hazards and ...
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Assessment of crude oil blends
Oct-2011
A 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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Bioethers impact on the gasoline pool
Feb-2007
Benefits of producing bioethers compared to blending bioethanol are examined for the total European gasoline pool. The result of maximising ethanol use ...
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Recovery of olefins from refinery offgases
Oct-1998
The Lummus process eliminates the multi-stage feed gas compressor yet maintains over 90 per cent recovery of ethylene while cutting capital cost and reducing ...
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Advanced propane dehydrogenation
Jan-2008
Oxdehydrogenation-based on-purpose propane dehydrogenation can close the propylene supply-demand gap. Reactor design and the effect of thermodynamic equilibrium ...
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Processing NH3 acid gas in a sulphur recovery unit
Apr-2010
The feasability and economics of a two-stage sour water stripper with an SRU for NH3 contents of 25% and higher are discussed
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Mercury removal in hydrocarbon streams
Mar-2009
The presence of mercury in refinery hydrocarbon streams results in detrimental effects, including catalyst poisoning, corriosion and safety issues
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Mar-2012
The source of a fouling problem in a FCC CO boiler was identified by systematic analysis of fresh catalysts, additives and equilibrium catalysts
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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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GC-MS: an ideal tool for forensic analysis
Mar-2011
Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) presents the ideal analytical tool for forensic analysis in the petrochemical industry.
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Understanding FCC feeds and benefits to refinery operation
Apr-2015
In 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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Detection of VOCs demands continuous innovation in calibration gases
Oct-2011
With an ever-increasing number of processing plants coming on stream worldwide to keep up with the burgeoning petrochemical industry, the focus on the ...
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Optimising pumparound reflux for zero-cost energy savings
Apr-2012
By increasing pumparound ratios in principal units, refinery engineers were able to recover energy for process heating and reduce stack emissions
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Apr-2007
Utilisation of refinery offgases for hydrogen production. Three basic schemes of ROG integration into a steam reformer plant were investigated. These schemes ...
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Simulation model increases visbreaker conversion
Jan-2011
Introduction of advanced analytical monitoring, chemical treatment and process optimisation has raised the profitability of a visbreaker unit
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Controlling the dew point of natural gas
Jul-2015
Meeting water and hydrocarbon dew point specifications for natural gas without acid gas components
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Removing contaminants from crude oil
Mar-2016
Natural and introduced contaminants limit crude desalting effectiveness, increasing fouling and corrosion risks in downstream units
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Delayed coking and LC-Fining technology - a winning combination
Apr-2008
The high price of oil and increasing global demand for refined products have resulted in unprecedented refining margins, especially for those refiners ...
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Simulation model increases visbreaker conversion
Jan-2011
Introduction of advanced analytical monitoring, chemical treatment and process optimisation has raised the profitability of a visbreaker unit
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Refining-petrochemicals integration: an Indian view
Mar-2018
Integrating a refinery with a petrochemicals complex offers high value products and a boost to gross margin.
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Revamping crude towers for quality and yield
Nov-2016
A successful revamp of distillation towers for increased diesel quality and yield depended on reliable design and accurate assembly
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Savings using divided wall columns
Jan-2019
Divided wall columns can provide substantial energy and capital cost savings compared to conventional distillation methods.
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Detection of VOCs demands continuous innovation in calibration gases
Oct-2011
With an ever-increasing number of processing plants coming on stream worldwide to keep up with the burgeoning petrochemical industry, the focus on the ...
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On-demand propylene from naphtha
Jun-2017
A new catalytic process targets economic production of propylene from naphtha at relatively low capital and operating costs
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Maximizing refinery energy optimisation
Jan-2018
Flexicoking™ technology is a highly differentiated unique resid upgrading process resulting in significantly lower environmental emissions than other ...
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The challenges of crude blending - Part 2
Jun-2016
The second part of a two-part article details the importance of crude selection and blending strategies to prosper in a low cost yet volatile market.
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Seismic design of structural steel pipe racks
Nov-2011
Structural steel pipe racks are structures in petrochemical, chemical and power plants that support pipes, power cables and instrument cable trays. Occasionally, ...
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Apr-2017
Detailed catalyst data collected over 15 years reveal shifts in FCC yields in response to changing market conditions, and provide a marker for future unit ...
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The business case for digitalisation in the refining sector
Apr-2020
When we use the word ‘digitalisation’ what do we really mean? Computers have been used for process control since Fortran 77 was developed in the late ...
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Jul-2008
Cost-effective solutions for the reduction of benzene in gasoline, particularly with regard to MSAT II requirement
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Using infrared monitors to achieve auxiliary flare pilot monitoring (TIA)
Jul-2018
Infrared flare pilot monitoring as a primary or secondary monitoring solution provides a pilot status signal when thermocouple failures occur and assures ...
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Removing contaminants from crude oil
Mar-2016
Natural and introduced contaminants limit crude desalting effectiveness, increasing fouling and corrosion risks in downstream units
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Calculating column relief loads
Apr-2010
Conventional, steady-state and dynamic simulation techniques are compared in a study of relief loads for failure modes applied to a distillation colum ...
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Sour water strippers: design and operation
Apr-2013
Simpler, more cost-effective sour water stripper designs can outperform more generally accepted designs in the refining industry
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Combating green oil formation in a CCR reformer
Jul-2013
The addition of a chloride adsorber guard bed solved a refiner’s issues with contamination affecting a CCR reformer’s rich gas compressor
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Zeolite based dryers in ethylene plants
Apr-2014
A review of the role and nature of adsorbent dryers in the production of ethylene by steam cracking. Steam cracking represents more than 95% of ethylene ...
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Catalytic strategies to meet gasoline sulphur limits
Apr-2015
Stricter regulations reducing average gasoline sulphur content will require further reduction of FCC gasoline sulphur
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The future for hydrocracking: part 1
Nov-2017
Hydrocracking technology faces challenges and opportunities amid diesel emission scandals, low sulphur marine fuels, and the growing position of electric ...
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Troubleshooting instability in a debutaniser tower
Dec-2019
Successful diagnosis and remediation of premature flood in a debutaniser tower demonstrate the value of good diagnosis for solving tower problems econ ...
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Are produced water emission factors accurate?
Oct-2016
Rules of thumb are often used for estimating emissions from Produced Water storage tanks, especially when entrained hydrocarbons are present.
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Making sense of amine absorber temperature profiles
Apr-2017
Simulation is a powerful tool for ensuring designs are robust, operating conditions are optimal, and troubleshooting can be effectively and efficiently ...
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Interpreting FCC equilibrium catalyst data
Apr-2018
Regular Ecat and fines analysis provides information to support optimum performance from the FCC.
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Understanding FCC feeds and benefits to refinery operation
Apr-2015
In 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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Effective preparation for turnarounds
Dec-2020
Defining the objectives, planning thoroughly and ensuring operator readiness will increase the likelihood of a successful turnaround.
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SMR for fuel cell grade hydrogen
Dec-2020
Affordable and sustainable production of blue hydrogen is key to the successful use of fuel cells in transportation.
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Revamping an integrated hydrocracker and lube base oil unit
Dec-2020
Process and catalytic advances enabled large-scale expansion of an integrated unit to increase fuels and base oil production.
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Should you rely on your simulation results?
Dec-2020
Avoiding some of the pitfalls of process simulation
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Process safety time for fired heaters
Dec-2020
Cases illustrate the actions needed to avoid hazards occurring when the supply to a fired heater is disturbed.
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Raising diesel yield by chemical treatment
Dec-2020
A chemical treatment programme combined with process monitoring enables increased production of middle distillates.
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Dec-2020
Leveraging IIOT concepts leads to a reduction in energy consumption and improved refining margin
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Recovering hydrogen and LPG from off-gases
Dec-2020
A practical investigation devised the most effective combination of available separation technologies to recover valuable products from refinery off-g ...
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Dec-2020
Remotely cleaning furnace tubes slashed the cost of hydrogen production for a refiner.
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Processing lower cost crudes with greater confidence and improved reliability
Dec-2020
For more than 100 years, it has been understood in the petroleum refining industry that certain crude oils or, more accurately, crude oil fractions contain ...
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When replacement in-kind gives performance that isn’t: a vibration case study
Dec-2020
This story starts with a familiar scenario for a fluidised catalytic cracking unit (FCCU); a 30 year old waste heat boiler (WHB) had become a maintenance ...
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Maximum margin = sharp tools + true aim
Dec-2020
It’s time that we shift our focus away from the doom, the gloom, the fear, and the uncertainty of today’s industry news. Flip to the Comics section ...
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Fixed bed naphtha reformer catalyst regeneration - a history of naphtha reforming
Dec-2020
Refiners have been reforming naphtha to improve its octane or to produce aromatic chemicals since the 1930s.
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Heater experts solve common problems with IR thermography
Dec-2020
Many owner operators in the oil/gas and petrochemical industry know infrared (IR) thermography is a pillar of any robust inspection program. At Becht Fired ...
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Use of CFD modelling to improve burner design and operation
Dec-2020
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling can be used as an efficient and low-cost alternative to improve the design and operation of a new burner.
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The journey to sustained profitability
Nov-2020
The refining industry is critical to the world economy, providing essential energy and materials required for global development.
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Determine organic and inorganic chlorides in crude oil
Nov-2020
Although all XRF techniques are capable of only total elemental analysis, with some sample preparation, Clora, Clora with Accu-flow, Clora 2XP, and Sindie ...
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Hydrocracker revamp lifts product flexibility
Nov-2020
How an innovative moving bed technology enabled a major refinery to improve residue conversion and crude flexibility.
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Start-up and shutdown issues in sulphur processing
Nov-2020
Knowing the limitations of the sulphur unit and what may occur during start-ups and shutdowns helps to prevent damage.
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Mitigating corrosion with a digital twin
Nov-2020
Data-driven engineering helps engineers to identify ways to improve predictions of corrosion. Processing plants depend on assorted metallic equipment and ...
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The hazards of fired heater flooding
Nov-2020
Heater flooding is a serious and potentially dangerous condition which must be dealt with properly and quickly.
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2030 isn’t long off – the future of advanced biofuels (ERTC)
Nov-2020
The use of biofuels is increasing industry-wide due to legislation incentives aimed at producing low greenhouse gas-emitting transport fuels. Feedstock ...
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Nov-2020
The energy transition is all about supplying the world’s growing needs for energy and mobility in a more sustainable way.
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Profitably complying with red ii: A q&a with shell biofuel technology specialists (ERTC)
Nov-2020
Though it may be tempting to see the EU’s revised renewable energy directive (RED II) as simply another legislative burden, this conversation with Shell ...
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Nov-2020
The global climate change and the needed GHG emission reduction, as well as increasing awareness of the circular economy have pushed towards thinking about ...
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Boosting profitability in a maximum propylene FCC
Feb-2021
(White Paper) - Refiner and supplier collaborated to evaluate, prepare, and execute the revamp of an FCC and an LPG olefins additive trial.
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