Refining
Assess remaining life for heater tubes
Refineries and petrochemical plants form some of the major sections of the hydrocarbon industry and consume much of the fuel that is burned in furnaces (heaters and specialty furnaces, such as reformers and crackers) to meet process heating requirements.
Improve CCR reforming profitability using a novel high-density catalyst
Catalytic reforming has been a staple in petroleum refining since 1949.
Develop reactor internals for optimizing reactor design - Part 2: High-performance mixing chamber
Most hydroprocessing reactors are fixed-bed reactors comprising several catalyst beds that are divided by quench zones containing mixing chambers that introduce a vapor-quenching medium.
Coke drum and blowdown system overpressure protection design - Part 1
The blowdown (BD) system in delayed coking units (DCUs) receives waste streams generated during the coke drum (CD) decoking process to recover valuable hydrocarbons and water. In recent DCU designs, the CD pressure relief valves (PRVs) also discharge to this system and then to the flare system via the BD PRVs.
FCC operational changes to boost gasoline octane
The fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) is one of the main units providing gasoline with high-octane numbers to the refinery gasoline pool.
Ultra-deep desulfurization of FCC gasoline: Reactive adsorption strategy
With an increase in concern for the environment, countries around the world are implementing stringent environmental regulations and are continuously pressuring refiners to reduce the amount of sulfur in transportation fuels—primarily gasoline and diesel—to combat airborne pollution caused by vehicles.
Innovations
Engineers tasked with finding a green solution to waste gas emissions from hydrocarbon storage tanks during loading and unloading operations will find that the ST100 series thermal flowmeter from Fluid Components International (FCI) supports tank vapor recovery systems, which help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Industry Metrics
In the US, soaring gasoline stocks and poor fuel oil performance were offset by strong heating oil demand and higher product prices caused by weather-related refinery outages.
Industry Perspectives: What are the opportunities for the global HPI?
In the February issue of <i>Hydrocarbon Processing,</i> our editors provided the results of <i>Hydrocarbon Processing’s</i> survey on the challenges that the downstream processing industry may face this year.
Digital: Digitalization—Why now?
The process industries are under threat.

- thyssenkrupp Uhde completes pre-FEED for HAMR Energy’s renewable fuels project in Australia 8/21
- Europe distillates-diesel profit margins firm 8/21
- U.S.: Indiana's bp refinery restarts after severe flooding 8/21
- Berlin weighs trusteeship extension for Rosneft's German assets 8/21
- Trump administration to rule on biofuel exemption requests, delay reallocation decision 8/21
- TotalEnergies' Donges refinery fire extinguished 8/21