Plant Watch Saudi Aramco and RRPCL to proceed with integrated megaproject in India April 12, 2018 — Saudi Aramco (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; www.saudiaramco.com) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ratnagiri Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. (RRPCL), a consortium of Indian…
A remote-operated, screw-propelled (amphirol) machine equipped with a vacuum hose can remove solid catalyst material from reactors robotically, allowing plants to avoid subjecting personnel to enclosed work environments and inert atmospheres. Currently, catalyst changeout requires personnel to work inside process…
Hydrotreating is an important petroleum refining process in which sulfur and other contaminants are removed in the manufacture of transportation fuels. At the recent annual meeting of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com)…
A group of researchers from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T; Rapid City; www.sdsmt.edu) has developed a modular technology known as the Gas Cube, which can convert a wide variety of liquid and solid waste into methane. Having…
Responsiveness and adaptability — in the face of shifting market forces, new regulatory policy and natural disasters, among others — framed the discussions of U.S. petroleum refiners at the AFPM annual meeting Responsiveness and adaptability for U.S. petroleum refiners emerged…
Hydrogen sulfide occurs naturally in petroleum reservoirs, but must be removed from crude oil prior to transportation from drilling sites to storage tanks at petroleum refineries. H2S is corrosive to storage tanks, pipelines and railcars, and without proper treatment, can…
Fundamental research, using a huge arsenal of analytical and material-characterization tools, is yielding new and improved catalyst supports Readers of this magazine certainly understand the importance of catalysts in the chemical process industries (CPI), where they are used for speeding…
The global textile industry generates a great deal of waste, and many efforts are taking place to make textile processing more sustainable. PolyOne Corp. (Cleveland, Ohio; www.polyone.com) has introduced a new fiber-colorant technology for polyester that incorporates proprietary high-pressure metering…
Digitalized, cost-effective instruments allow more measurement points and provide usable data Although the basic methods of measuring pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), conductivity, dissolved oxygen (DO), chlorine, turbidity and similar parameters haven’t changed, digitalized instrumentation for liquid analysis is becoming smarter,…
Using a workhorse technology known as the gas-subcooled process (GSP), most natural gas plants recover between 85 and 90% of ethane in raw natural gas streams. Honeywell UOP (Des Plaines, Ill.; www.uop.com) has developed a modular retrofit unit designed to…