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The article focuses on the potential use of ammonia as a precooling refrigerant in single mixed refrigerant (SMR) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants and the benefits of ammonia use instead of propane. It states that butane, ethane, methane, nitrogen, pentane,a nd propane are typically used in the SMR process and reports higher plant efficiencies and capacities can be achieved by modifying the SMR process to divide the cryogenic exchanger's cooling load by using a pure component such as propane.

The article provides details of how to conceptualize, design and construct a refinery, by integrating refining and petrochemical complexes that offer not only considerable opportunities for enhancing operational efficiencies at lower operating cost but also increase processing synergies. Topics discussed include joint ventures, knowledge of local authorities and regulations.

The article reports on the Industry 4.0 trend in the oil and gas sector. The trend is characterized by smart manufacturing and industrial digital transformation. Industry 4.0, or the fourth Industrial Revolution, was popularized at Germany's Hannover Fair in 2011. It brought the era of automation and information to the age of the "wisdom of the machine."

The article discusses the disadvantages of a steam ejector vacuum system and the use of a proprietary software suite for process simulation. It mentions the need to develop models in which the technological object and vacuum-creating system (VCS) function as one entity. The functions of the ejector device and the use of the software in solving problems are also presented.

The article focuses on a study which uses method based from spreadsheet software Excel to assess the preheat train performance of crude distillation unit (CDU). The Excel-based method considers two constants such as the mean temperature difference (MTD) correction factor and the heat transfer coefficient (U) to evaluate the performance during optimization in the revamp study. Result shows that the method reduced the working time and optimization of the scope of work.

The article reports on the application of cognitive applications and Internet of Things (IoT) to process manufacturer such as petrochemicals, chemicals, and refining plants. Topics mentioned include the asset-related information provided by IoT to process manufacturer, the efficiency provided by IoT and cognitive applications to petrochemicals and chemicals industry, and the improvement of business process management through technological innovations.

The article offers information about the application of an aggressive optimization program as a strategy to help marginal refiners survive. It provides details related to the use of advanced simulation models and software, which are low-risk approaches to value creation. to secure returns demanded by stakeholders.

The article discusses optimization process in refining industries for catalytic regeneration reformer and its impact on operation and product quality. It discusses process control used by Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd Mumbai, India, its advanced process control design, controller operations, and master-slave concept within the controller. It also presents graph and charts representing reformer reactor weighted average inlet temperature (WAIT), section charge skin temperature, and its benefit.

The article discusses the need for role statements in manufacturing industries in order to achieve the technical proficiency and productivity and also provide clarity and detail to all functional layers within an organization. Topics discussed include role of process reliability professionals and equipment reliability professionals, need for companies to employ reliability administrators and development of process control strategies to maintain efficient equipment operation.

The article discusses the techniques and challenges associated with revamping of fired heater which are used in industries to improve capacity and efficiency. It describes the concept of a revamp of multiple fired heaters which share a common air-preheating (APH) system. It also states the constituents of a typical fired heater APH system which includes an induced draft fan, a forced draft fan and ducting and dampers.

The article focuses on operational excellence in the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI). It mentions a study based on an industrial survey of the hydrocarbon processing industry. It highlighted some of the challenges in achieving operational excellence including the complex nature of company operations and a limited understanding of available techniques. The study found that leaders did not hold people accountable when the correct action is not taken.

The article discusses the effectiveness of asset performance management (APM) in lowering the total cost ownership (TCO) and boosting the return of investment (RO) in liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations. The topics discussed include the forecasted growth of natural gas until 2035, the continuous evolution of digital technology in the gas and oil industry since 1980s, and the benefits of end-to-end digital strategy to the LNG industry.

The article discusses the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis that can be applied to revamp fired heaters in refineries to improve their efficiency. Topics covered include the evaluation of various design modifications to select the most feasible design option, the selection of the final proposed design based on the reduction in maximum tube metal temperature (TMT), and calculating the geometry of the crude heater.

The article discusses the use of advanced process control (APC) solutions in addressing challenges relating to hydrocracker (HCK) conversion optimization at a refinery operated by the company PKN Orlen in Plock, Poland. Topics covered include the APC project methodology and control engine, the range control algorithm (RCA) used by the controller to calculate variables, and the objectives and constraints of the HCK unit. Also mentioned is the role of inferentials in predicting product qualities.

The article presents information on the use of steam to the flare feed to help in mixing and preventing smoke. It is mentioned that optimization of the steam and hydrocarbon feed is necessary as it can decrease combustion efficiency. The new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations for refineries is discussed. It mentions the use of flow meters and some of the best practices to be adopted for accuracy by the industry.

The article discusses the strategies adopted by refineries in order to minimize the amount of bottoms sent to the bunker fuel pool. It mentions need for refiners equipped with visbreaker unit, to integrate vacuum distillation unit, solvent deasphalting unit and hydrocracking unit along with fluidised catalytic cracker, in order to improve their efficiency. It also discusses its benefit in terms of reduced production costs and improved quality of products.

The article discusses the challenges facing the gas processing industry in Canada. Topics covered include the lack of infrastructure to move products to Asia, the impact of excess gas processing on profit margins and the inefficiency of historical gas plant configurations for processing gas plays. Also mentioned are the upgrades and expansions planned by gas processing firms such as Apache, ARC Resources and Aux-Sable.

The article reports on the dynamic real-time optimization (DRTO) technology plan by petrochemical company Borealis Polymers for its aromatics and phenol plants in Porvoo, Finland. Topics discussed include the DRTO technology use in aromatic complex, its beneficial factor in the industry, and the process involve in the aromatic complex. Also mentioned are the strategy for the development of aromatic plant, stabilization of yield profits, and the success behind the DRTO technology.

The article increasing the optimizing energy utilization in the petrochemical industry. The industrial community has focused on improving energy efficiency in the electrical components and equipment. Process automation can improve the energy efficiency of industrial production plants. Improved control tools are the actual energy efficiency enforcer.

The article presents the author views of spare parts inventory in hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) facilities. He states that hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) operates thousands of fluid machinery assets. He further discusses purpose of spares and concepts of shared capital spares and/or requiring the vendor to stock spare part.

The article discusses the role of liquefied natural gas and gas to liquids (GTL) plants in technological evolution of gas processing plants. As mentioned, gas processing industry has acquired improved processes that offer reduced equipment count, improved efficiency and reduced operating cost. It is also mentioned that, GTL can be an alternative solution to crude oil market tensions due to demand for transportation fuels in developing economies.

The article focuses on how reformer units, part of a refineries' control and optimization application can be operated in Europe, depending on their process type, market scenario, and specific refinery. It mentions that research octane number (RON) is important in ensuring proper gasoline blending, maximize hydrogen production, with catalyst life in semi-regenerative units. It highlights how a refinery's continuous catalytic reformer (CCR) is equipped with a multivariable predictive controller.

The article offers information on how the training simulator program for diesel hydrotreater (DHT) operations' employees enhances employees efficiency in petroleum refinery operations. It mentions that the training involves typical representation of the actual process unit and representing the end-user's actual unit by closely following the process and instrumentation diagrams. It further highlights emergency shutdown system (ESD), distributed control system (DCS), and DHT unit.

The article offers information on several process control and information systems. It highlights Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Corp.'s (SYPC) real-time optimization (RTO) program which helps the company achieve its production and energy consumption goals. It mentions that custom programs have been developed to maintain all communications and process involved in safe data download. It presents distributed control system (DCS) programs which implements the setpoints downloaded from the server.

The article focuses on the use of smart-automation technology on problematic equipment in ethylene plants. It states that cracked-gas compressor (CGC) is the most critical equipment in the plant wherein it can cost up to 50 million dollars, works 24 hours and any malfunction on it can stop the entire ethylene process. It suggests that contemporary automation technology helps in gathering critical information of the machinery and allows low operational cost, avoiding instrument failures.

The article reports on a method to show what cost incidents related to maintenance appear in industrial plant equipment. It states that industrial companies are trying to maximize the productivity of their equipment through management models and organizing its human and technical resources. It notes that failures in the equipment operation are presented according to its relevance and gravity. It adds that the root cause of plant incidents must be reduced to increase plant efficiency.

The article focuses on the proper maintenance of multiple fan cooling tower gear drives for optimum and trouble-free machinery performance. It provides a comprehensive discussion on several methods and cost effective actions in order to keep cooling tower gear drives in operational level which is well beyond its required service lives. Additionally, it also mentions several value-added features and characteristics of cooling tower gear drives for its efficiency and reliability.

The article focuses on OPC unified architecture (UA) set of specification for process control and automation system interconnectivity. It says that OPC is an industrial communication standard which enables the manufacturers to use data in optimizing productions and make operations decisions and reports more quickly. It mentions that OPC UA have had major additions and revisions to ensure that it is suited to the entire plant enterprise.

The article reports on the research and development of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) transfer technology, which was tested for industrial qualification to offshore LNG projects in 2009 in the U.S. It states that developing the technology that ensures efficiency and safety is a top priority for the gas industry, especially in offshore projects to sustain market growth. It cites that a cryogenic flexible hose-based LNG transfer system is developed to meet the requirements set by the industry.

The article focuses on the use of data-driven, experience based approach for the optimization of workforce. It mentions that the workforce optimization consulting (WOC) helps in reducing the cost of production. It mentions that the data-supported staffing assessment approach includes proprietary methodology and tools, that help operators in determining and implementing the optimum workforces for the companies.

This article presents an artificial intelligence-based process modeling and optimization strategy, namely artificial neural networks-differential evolution (ANN-DE) for modeling and optimizing catalytic industrial ethylene oxide (EO) reactors. In the ANN-DE approach, an ANN model is constructed for correlating process data comprising values of operating and performance variables. Next, model inputs describing process operating variables are optimized using DEs with a view to maximizing the process performance. The DE possesses certain unique advantages over the commonly used gradient-based deterministic optimization algorithms. The ANN-DE is a new strategy for chemical process modeling and optimization. The major advantage of the strategy is that modeling and optimization can be conducted exclusively from the historic process data wherein the detailed knowledge of process phenomenology (reaction mechanism, kinetics, etc.) is not required. Using the ANN-DE strategy, a number of sets of optimized operating conditions leading to maximized EO production and catalyst selectivity were obtained. The optimized solutions, when verified in an actual plant, resulted in a significant improvement in the EO production rate and catalyst selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes four case studies that illustrate the effectiveness of crude preheat energy management in achieving sustainable energy savings. Described are the crude preheat at a North American refinery, an energy management approach at an Australian refiner, fouling control strategy at a North American refiner and the use of an antifoulant technology at a Southeast Asian refinery.

The article reports on hydrogen plant performance monitoring, identified as important because of its increased use in heavy crude oil processing and due to laws requiring a lower sulfur content in transportation fuel. Areas of the plant highlighted for monitoring include the plant feedstock quality, the catalyst performance, the reformer, and the steam system.

The article reports on coping with hydrocarbon processing industry "bottlenecks," a situation in which demand has outstripped a manufacturer's production capacity. The focus is on "debottlenecking" an entire processing plant, which is commonly done sequentially, by identifying the bottlenecked unit, addressing it, and then moving on to the next bottleneck. In contrast, the article discusses integrated approaches to the process.

The article examines a program implemented by Japanese oil company Fuji Oil to optimize the planning and scheduling processes at one of its refineries to try to improve margins. One problem was the wide fluctuation in the quality of the crude oil coming to the plant from overseas; refinery scheduling software was introduced to smooth the process.

The article discusses a method for fine-tuning the rates of catalyst addition in fluid catalytic crackers in order to optimize equilibrium catalyst activity. The use of equilibrium catalyst metal content as a monitoring parameter is discussed and an example is provided showing the calculations and variables used to determine the ideal catalyst addition rate.

The article discusses the importance of evaluating work requirements and heat duty when selecting steam turbines in order to save energy costs on steam generation. Guidelines are provided for analyzing such factors as heat to work duty ratio and the fuel consumption and efficiency of various types of turbine, focusing on applications specific to the hydrocarbon processing industry.

The article presents information on important key measures of asset performance for industry. It provides guidelines for creating competitive advantage from asset performance improvement. Measures of asset performance levels include return on assets, return on invested capital and economic value added. The most common and effective approach toward gaining competitive superiority is to design and implement work process improvements that enable enhanced results and the desired financials. For step-change improvements involving multiple measures of business results, a management team should charter and guide multiple focus teams.

Describes the PHA methodology which is used for achieving safer operating facilities. Elimination and reduction of risks by identification of process hazards; Increase of efficiency by inclusion of PHD process in PHA methodology; Popularity of HAZOP method for conduction of PHA; Discussion of failures of commonly used PHA techniques.

The article focuses on the implementation of performance evaluation programs to improve the operation of major rotating equipment such as centrifugal pumps. Causes when pumps operating away from the best efficiency point (BEP) are not being utilized correctly are described. It is suggested to consider the lifecycle cost (LCC) of the pump to better understand the magnitude of costs.

The article discusses a research project which focuses on the problem of raw material reordering batch sizes and points through a discrete-event simulation software. It states that a product developed and tested for reordering points was successfully applied to optimize the reordering batch sizes and points of several spare parts of a refinery. It says that the satisfactory outcome led to the reduction of the total backorder, ordering, and storage costs.

The article focuses on the vertical enclosed shaft-driven sump pumps. It states that the shaft-driven pumps are used in petrochemical, fuel storage, and gas production industries, and contribute for the improvement of hydraulic efficiency and recessed-impeller pumps. It also notes that the pumps are designed to accommodate pump lengths and intermediate pipes.

The article discusses the use of flame arrestors in the natural gas industry, discussing the various types of flame arrestor such as crimped metal ribbon, perforated plate and packed bed. An example is presented of a bottleneck in a gas-sweetening process which was resolved by the adoption of a more suitable flame arrestor design.

The article offers information on the role of optimization in advancing the hydrocarbon processing industry. It discusses the impacts of the optimization in increasing efficiency of the work processes and how they can change or adapt to increase efficiency. It mentions the introduction of new technologies and techniques with in the industry.

The article focuses on the use of regenerative centrifugal pumps for low flow applications. Centrifugal pumps offer overall advantages that offset their reduced efficiencies at what are generally understood to represent low flowrates, i.e., rates below about 50 gpm. However, when selecting centrifugal pumps for low-flow applications, one must compare the typical characteristics of standard-speed (3,550 rpm) regenerative turbine pumps with those of high-speed volute pumps. Although both the high-speed and regenerative turbine pumps may have similar cost and design point efficiencies, they will actually require very different motor and power operating costs.

The article informs that ceramic coatings improve production capabilities and thermal efficiencies of process furnaces and boilers. Such ceramic coatings can increase the thermal efficiency, maximize the production capabilities and increase the service life of the coated component while reducing the formulation of NOx of the ceramic coated process furnace. The ceramic coating component of any project, where both the process tubing and refractory lining are ceramic-coated, is a very small part of the required project engineering, time frame and cost.

The article offers information about the efforts of machinery professionals to search for ways on how to improve the reliability or capabilities of process machines. It discusses the design upgrades to improve performance, reliability and safety of critical process machines such as upgrading mechanical seals and related sealing systems in a pump to improve reliability.

The article discusses the techniques and methods of diagnosing liquid maldistribution problems inside packed bed reactors which results in mass transfer efficiency loss. It mentions effectiveness of Gamma scan and tomography scan technologies in problem identification. It also discusses potential causes of liquid maldistribution which include problems with the design, complications from damage and fouling.

The article presents the author's point of view on reshaping the engineering industry towards capital efficiency, delivery certainty and innovation. Topics mention including improving the capital costs and its delivery schedule through innovating and challenging the status of quo, having one organization which focuses on the delivery of the complete project and collaborating with clients.

The article discusses the reasons why the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market needs the digital disruption technology. The topics discussed include the effectiveness of digital fluency in creating value in companies and the percentage of industry leaders who recognize the effectiveness of digitalization in delivering sustainable operational excellence.