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Refining

Argentina’s ethanol producers prepare to boost output by up to 60%

In April, the government raised the amount of ethanol used by motorists by 2 percentage points to 12%. The move boosted the country's sugar industry, which has been battered by low prices.

Gulf Publishing finalizes management buyout, marks 100-year anniversary

HP Editorial Staff: HP Editorial Staff

The newly-independent company is retaining the Gulf Publishing name and will continue to publish its energy industry-leading magazines, including Hydrocarbon Processing.

REG expands Illinois biorefinery’s logistics system

REG Danville recently purchased the tank complex at the adjacent Bunge Milling facility for $1.5 million. The tanks are being connected to REG Danville’s existing infrastructure and will increase the biorefinery’s storage capacity for feedstock by at least 950,000 gal and biodiesel by up to 12 million gal.

Couche-Tard acquires Shell’s downstream retail business in Denmark

The transaction between Shell and Couche-Tard has received the appropriate regulatory approvals, and all final closing requirements have been completed.

Bechtel to license delayed coking technology at Assiut refinery in Egypt

The new delayed coking unit will be part of the $1.5B refinery modernization program, using Bechtel's proprietary ThruPlus coking technology to upgrade heavy oil into light hydrocarbon liquids.

Take steps to achieve lubrication maintainability

Des-Case Corp.: Barnes, M.

Do not accept that what the OEM delivered, or how the equipment has been configured for the past 30 years, must be maintained into the future. Optimize yourPM program and look for maintainability improvements to ensure that the right work can be performed in the right way and at the right time.

Apply a short-term, high-temperature carbon steel solution to piping systems

Reliance Engineering Group (REG): Tiwari, V.  |  Choudhury, M. G.

Carbon steel (CS) piping and equipment are used extensively in refineries and petrochemical plants, where fluid temperatures vary from moderate to high for various processes.

Lifting of US crude export ban will impact process safety management

North Highland Worldwide Consulting: Molly, K.

Since the Arab oil embargo in the 1970s, the US government has restricted the export of crude oil to curb dependence on crude oil imports.

Use computational fluid dynamic analysis to revamp fired heaters

Furnace Improvements Services Inc.: Garg, A.  |  Chilka, A.

A refinery process fired heater system consists of multiple sub-units, of which the fired heater is the most critical, as it impacts the overall efficiency of the system.

Catalytic coprocessing of used cooking oil with straight-run gasoil in a hydrotreating pilot plant

A promising route to obtain bio-gasoil (bioGO) or hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is the catalytic coprocessing of vegetable oil with diesel oil in a conventional hydrotreating unit.