Environment & Safety
Engineering Case Histories: Case 92: The danger of pneumatic testing complacency
With proper safety, planning and implementation, pneumatic testing of piping and vessels has been performed successfully for many years.
Prospective costs of the EPA’s proposed RMP chemical accident prevention requirements
On March 14, 2016, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published proposed revisions to its Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility safety program in the US Federal Register.
Review of the CSB report on the 2010 Tesoro refinery fire
On April 2, 2010, a catastrophic fire occurred within the naphtha hydrotreating unit in the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington. The final CSB report, including recommendations, was issued in May 2014, more than four years after the incident that resulted in the tragic loss of seven lives. This work critically reviews the CSB analysis of this incident and several of its resulting recommendations.
Design operations-and-maintenance-friendly pressure vessels—Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, the assistance provided by standardizations to gain improved vessel performance—vessel outer diameter (OD), component metallurgies, manways and saddles—was discussed.
Innovations
Petron Bataan Refinery (PBR) is the largest integrated crude oil refinery and petrochemicals complex in the Philippines.
Canada regulator suspends TransCanada pipeline approval hearing
Canada's National Energy Board suspended Montreal hearings on TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Energy East pipeline after protests disrupted the first day of the process.
Neste to participate in Carbon Handprint project development
Neste is cooperating with leading Finnish companies in the development of a new Carbon Handprint tool to create common indicators for assessing environmental measures and communicating them.
Iran detects malware in petrochemical plants
Iran has detected and removed malicious software from two of its petrochemical complexes after announcing last week it was investigating whether recent petrochemical fires were caused by cyber attacks.
Saudi's Sipchem says production back to normal
A technical problem at Sipchem’s International Gases Co. unit, which had disrupted operations at two other units since mid-August, had been resolved and production was back to normal.
Four people injured in Romanian Black Sea refinery fire
Four people were injured when a nitrogen tank exploded at Romania's Black Sea Petromidia crude refinery.

- Transition Industries signs agreements for the Pacifico Mexinol Project, an ultra-low carbon chemical production facility 7/3
- Bangkok Airways introduces SAF on commercial flights 7/3
- EcoCeres secures SAF contract with British Airways to help reduce carbon emissions 7/3
- Air Liquide to invest up to $200 MM in Louisiana, U.S. to support industrial growth 7/3
- MOL completes the acquisition of LBC Tank Terminals 7/3
- BHP awards charter contracts for two ammonia dual-fueled vessels 7/3