Process Optimization
Emerson, Aramco sign agreement to collaborate on digital transformation
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Emerson signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Aramco during the recently held Saudi-US CEO Forum in Riyadh. The agreement signed by David N. Farr, Emerson’s chairman and chief executive officer and Amin H. Nasser, Saudi Aramco President and CEO, will help bring advanced digitization and automation technologies to one of the leading energy and chemicals companies.
MCAA Market Forecast projects instrumentation, automation industry to be $14 B by 2021
POQUOSON, VA — The 2016 Process Instrumentation and Automation market in the United States, valued at $11.7 B, is projected to grow 3.6% by 2021 to a total of $14 B.
RigNet awarded systems integration contract for downstream facility
HOUSTON — RigNet, Inc. announced that it was awarded a multi-million dollar contract to provide communications infrastructure for a new downstream energy facility in North America.
AI company, Beyond Limits, secures $20 MM investment from BP Ventures
PASADENA, Calif. — Beyond Limits, an artificial intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing company, today announced it has secured $20 MM in Series B funding from BP Ventures, the corporate investment arm of global energy business, BP.
Case study: Improve vacuum tower operation with VFD addition
The bottom pump in crude vacuum units is an area of concern for almost all petroleum oil refineries. The harsh operating parameters in which these pumps operate, including high product temperature and significant vacuum suction pressure, have resulted in frequent vacuum tower upsets and low mean time between failures (MTBF) for vacuum bottom pumps.
Improve H2O measurement in catalytic reformer H2 recycle streams
Catalytic reformer units convert naphtha into high-octane aromatic compounds called reformates, which are used in gasoline blending and formulation. UOP developed the catalytic reforming process and brought the first unit into operation in 1949.
Modified revamp process to reduce energy use in an SDA unit
Solvent deasphalting (SDA) is emerging as a low-cost, bottom-of-the-barrel upgrading process to recover valuable oil from short residue. This oil can either be further processed to make lube-oil-based stocks or cracked in secondary processing units.
Innovations
Siemens has been working closely with the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on a cyber security project.
Business Trends: The digital frontier and the process industry
Is a digital revolution underway in the process industry? For years, we have been hearing more and more about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industry 4.0, Connected xxx (plant, enterprise, field, performance, etc.), smart Clouds, smart devices and so on. These concepts share numerous similarities, usually with a slightly different twist depending on who is promoting or selling them. But is the hype and buzz rapidly spreading to day-to-day applications and implementations? Not quite.
Industry Perspectives: The digitalization of the downstream industry
The digitalization of the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) is in full swing. Numerous companies have created, and are optimizing, digital technologies to improve plant operations, increase energy efficiency and lower costs.
- UPM unlocks new bio-based markets as Leuna biorefinery produces its first commercial product 12/19
- Stamicarbon awarded technology licensing contract for new urea plant in Eastern China 12/19
- Ford takes $19.5-B writedown on EV business 12/19
- Babcock & Wilcox awarded $40-MM contract for advanced wet gas scrubbing technology at Canadian petroleum refinery 12/19
- Aarti Industries secures methanol and toluene feedstock supply through multiple long-term contracts 12/19
- bp picks first outsider CEO Meg O'Neill after abrupt Auchincloss exit 12/19
