Chemicals & Materials

Koch Nitrogen, like every chemical plant, has a few rotating machines in the realm of critical where words like human safety, explosion, months to repair and plant stoppage are commonly used. In May of 2008, Koch Nitrogen commissioned a brand new 8100 rpm, 1500 hp turbo expander. This plant has 1...

The International Maritime Organization's (IMO) has adopted new emissions standards, MARPOL Annex VI, for large ships and their fuels in order to reduce air pollution from the global shipping industry. For the Sulfur Emission Control Area (SECA), including North Sea and California, starting from 1...

The need for filtration systems in scrubbing units has been well documented. Filtration provides the benefits of reduced hot spots in the regenerator reboiler, reduced heat exchanger fouling and reduction of foaming in the absorbers. This paper discusses thin-cake candle filter technology that is...

The measurements of NO, NO2 and NH3 have been a challenge for analytical chemists for many years. This paper will deal primarily with new advances in technology for on-line NO and NO2 analysis using the paper tape technology from CI Analytics. The evolution of the instrument from CI Analytics will...

Present vacuum resid conversion processes, either coking or hydroconversion, are far from achieving their maximum conversion. With the remaining petroleum resources, on average, having a greater fraction of the vacuum resid fraction, it is imperative that new resid conversion processes or schemes...

(Please Note: the audio does not start until 5 minutes 20 seconds as the speaker's microphone was not turned on.) A number of models have been proposed for the prediction of fouling rates in heat exchangers forming the pre-heat trains used in crude oil distillation units. Most of these models...

At approximately 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, 2009, there was a sudden and large hydrocarbon release from a main process pipe in the Ethylene Unit at the Sunoco Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania Refinery. The release found an ignition source at an operating process furnace within 2 seconds, resulting in a...

The trend of processing heavy and sour crude is resulting in 'fuel long' refineries which seek to export energy in the form of refinery fuel gas or are looking for other ways to extract value from the fuel gas system. There are common solutions that either are applicable to a few selected high-...

Furnace revamps provide opportunities to enhance new technologies, add feedstock flexibility, increase production capacity, improve efficiency and meet more stringent environmental regulations. With the current economic situation and anticipated environmental requirements, construction of...

The new trends in crackers are higher capacity and heavier feedstock. This makes the integration between refineries and crackers significantly more beneficial. The importance of integration becomes a more paramount issue. Since several new refineries and cracker / derivatives complexes are...