Economics
Hydrogen perspectives for 21st century refineries—Part 2
H2 is the lifeblood of 21st century refineries. The application of various technological advancements and core developments has been raising the bar in the design, build, operations and maintenance of H2 facilities.
Case history: Innovative resid-cracking catalyst debottlenecks FCC unit
Tamoil is a major operator in the oil and energy industry with operating refineries in Hamburg, Germany, and Collombey, Switzerland, in addition to distribution networks in Italy, Germany, Switzerland..
Consider the pros and cons when importing heavy oil for cokers
The recent shift to lighter crudes has starved many US heavy oil units of feed. Maximizing asset use makes importing heavy oil for vacuum distillation and delayed coking attractive.
What are the possible impacts on US refineries processing shale oils?
No singular event has had as significant an impact on the quality of refinery feedstocks as the shale revolution. Not only are shale crudes, such as Eagle Ford and Bakken, generally lighter than other..
Maximize precious metals returns from spent process catalysts
What you think you know, what you do not know, and what you should know about precious metal recovery of spent catalysts can impact your refinery’s profitability. Most hydrocarbon, petrochemical ..
Use cloud-based document collaboration to complete projects
Capital and maintenance projects require the management of thousands of documents, which can be more easily accomplished with cloud-based solutions.
HP Editorial Comment: Take a moment and breathe
“Don’t panic” is probably the best advice for the downstream industry regarding oil prices. The upstream fully recognizes the present and short-term conditions for its business.
HP Reliability: Does Pareto’s 80/20 rule apply to reliability engineers?
In the 1970s, an oil refinery discovered that 7% of its 3,200 process pumps experienced a disproportionate share of the facility’s yearly pump outage events. Slightly over 60% of the money spent ..
HP Global: 2015 outlook for oil price and its refining sector implications
What is the oil price outlook for the next 12 months? As of early January, the price of Brent has effectively halved compared to the 2014 summer peak, similar to the price collapse of 2008. However, u..
HP Petrochemicals: Update on ethylene tube coating technology
Improving the efficiency of ethylene furnaces has been a long-time goal for olefin manufacturers. The steam cracking or pyrolysis of hydrocarbons to yield ethylene also coproduces unwanted coke that a..

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