Americas
Improve solvent recovery in wax production
The solvent-recovery section of the deoiling unit for wax production consumes substantial energy. In this study, the effects of operating conditions (pressure), energy consumption and cost, and proces..
Update temperature control for a Claus unit with neural networks
The Natref oil refinery in Sasolburg, South Africa, had experienced refractory problems in the sulfur recovery unit’s (SRU’s) combustion chamber since startup (Fig. 1). Even though the SRU w..
HP Reliability: Maintain proficiency in root-cause-failure analysis
Earlier in the year, the author attended a series of client and organizers’ presentations at the 2013 TapRooT Summit in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. TapRooT is a structured failure analysis and trouble..
HP Integration Strategies: Operational integrity management at Statoil
Asset-intensive industries continue to suffer from unplanned downtime, failure to meet planned production rates, and too many safety and environmental incidents. Until companies can manage and mitigat..
HP Automation Safety: MTTR: Reality vs. calculation
Many reliability engineers trained before IEC 61508 know the acronym MTTR as “mean time to repair.” I certainly learned that definition. Naturally, I think of the time it takes to repair som..
HP Industry Perspectives: Is it too early to be optimistic for 2014?
The increased availability of natural gas supplies are redefining energy conditions. New natural gas reserves are shifting the order for producing nations. Shale gas reserves, once difficult to extrac..
Phillips 66 to build LPG export terminal in Texas
The proposed terminal would provide 4.4 million bbl/monthof LPG export capacity, the equivalent of eight very large gas carriers (VLGC). It would be located at the site of the company’s existing marine terminal in Freeport and utilize existing Phillips 66 midstream, transportation and storage infrastructure.
US oil, gas M&A activity led by foreign buyers, private equity groups
Foreign buyers announced nine deals in the third quarter of 2013, which contributed $2.8 billion or 17% of total deal value, vs. four deals valued at $4 billion during the same period last year. On a sequential basis from the second quarter, the number of total deals increased 800% from just one foreign deal.
OxyChem, Mexichem grant final approval on new Texas ethylene cracker
The two companies will build a 1.2 billion lb/year ethylene cracker at the OxyChem complex in Ingleside, Texas, along with related pipelines and storage at Markham, Texas.
CF to expand US ammonia, urea production plants
CF Industries is constructing new ammonia and urea/UAN plants at its Donaldsonville complex and new ammonia and urea plants at its Port Neal complex. In combination, these two new facilities will be able to produce 2.1 million tpy of gross ammonia and upgraded products such as granular urea.
- BASF launches the world’s first thermoplastic polyamide with high water permeability 9/9
- Worley awarded FEED contract for renewable diesel and aviation fuel project in Sweden 9/9
- U.S. tariffs worsen petrochemical sector challenges, executives warn 9/9
- Clariant to supply catalyst to SYPOX for world’s largest electric steam methane reformer 9/9
- Mitsubishi Chemical to adopt a "product traceability platform" to build a reliable chemical recycling supply chain 9/9
- Phillips 66 announces agreement to purchase remaining interest in WRB Refining LP for $1.4 B 9/9
