Process Optimization
KBR wins FEED work to raise US refinery's capacity to handle heavy crudes
During the feasibility phase, KBR’s expertise will focus on determining the optimum economic configuration to increase overall heavy crude processing capability and flexibility. The refinery currently processes light sweet crudes and aims to take advantage of fluctuations in the crude oil pricing market.
Enterprise chooses Foster Wheeler for engineering on Texas PDH project
Foster Wheeler was awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract by Enterprise Products for a propane dehydrogenation unit (PDH) and associated power, utilities and infrastructure at Mont Belvieu, Texas. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Optimize your compressor maintenance program
One deviation alone might not be enough to bring on a compressor failure, but, when several more deviations combine, the failure risk is known to increase exponentially.
Case history: Failure analysis of a syngas compressor
A first-stage impeller in a synthetic gas compressor failed after 20 years of service. The compressor is a six-stage centrifugal compressor driven by a steam turbine. This case history discusses the i..
Improve pressure drop calculations for saturated water lines
When saturated water flows through pipes and components, it flashes—thus increasing its specific volume and limiting the fluid flowrate. Due to these conditions, the calculation and design for pi..
Achieve uniform heat flux in a coker furnace
A delayed coker unit thermally cracks vacuum residue (VR) and converts it into products like liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), naphtha, gasoil and petroleum coke. A majority of the thermal cracking takes..
HP Reliability: Four-stage, low-flow process centrifugal compressor can fill important industry gaps
In the 1970s and 1980s, multistage centrifugal compressors in the 3,000 acfm (about 5,000m3/hr) and lower flow ranges were largely confined to instrument and plant air duties. Three stages with interc..
HP Integration Strategies: Consider procedural automation at a commercial-scale pilot plant
“All processes are batch processes to some degree. Even in ‘continuous’ process plants, processing units will need to be shut down at some point and then restarted to resume production...
HP Boxscore Construction Analysis: Outlook for major revamp projects—Part 2
Worldwide, refiners are investing billions in upgrading and modernizing projects. These efforts are focused on:Increasing flexibility to process heavier, sourer crudesImproving energy efficiencyMeetin..
HP Engineering Case Histories: Case 74: How to determine impact forces when troubleshooting
When troubleshooting failures, it is not unusual for the metallurgical report to indicate that the failure was the result of an impact type of force. The investigator who receives this information mus..
- Topsoe and Sasol bring advanced SAF technology to Allied Biofuel’s landmark project in Uzbekistan 7/14
- Siemens Energy begins preparations for the launch of an independent brand 7/14
- Emerson helps Romania’s largest refinery reduce control system alarms by over 95% 7/14
- Bunker One executes Latin America's first bioethanol bunkering of a deep-sea container vessel 7/14
- Kognitiv Spark advances the future of connected field worker collaboration 7/14
- EIA: Global LNG trade volumes reached record high in 2025 7/14

