Valves
Coke drum and blowdown system overpressure protection design—Part 2
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.
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.
Cut costs and save time servicing valves during refinery turnarounds
Most refineries perform turnaround activities every 3 yr–5 yr to maintain and upgrade plant assets and equipment.
Stable thermosiphon reboiler operation: With or without a valve in the inlet piping?
A reboiler provides the necessary heat duty for the separation in a distillation tower.
Resolving vibration problems in a crude booster pump
The pumps referred to in this article are 2,600-HP vertical pumps utilized as booster pumps for the shipment of crude oil.
Innovations
Designed for hazardous, wet or corrosive locations, such as oil refineries and chemical plants, the Appleton PlexPower motor starter provides electrical apparatus protection combined with the convenience and savings of off-the-shelf components.
Understand API and ASME standards to prevent oversizing PSVs
If you have ever sized or selected a pressure safety relief valve (PSV) using vendor sizing programs or hand calculations, you have probably run into a strange anomaly.
Improve refinery production and efficiency with asset monitoring
The sheer volume of equipment in a refinery—from vessels, columns, huge structures and mazes of pipes to pumps, valves, controllers and instruments—is staggering.
Built-up backpressure at the outlet flange of a pressure relief valve
Even for pressure relief valves (PRVs) discharging directly to the atmosphere through short tailpipes, API 520 Part 11 warns that choked flow may develop at the outlet flange, resulting in high backpressure.
Hydrocarbon Processing Awards
<i>Hydrocarbon Processing,</i> the downstream processing sector’s leading technical publication, has announced the winners for its second annual awards.

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