Chemicals & Materials

Perfect safety records and perfect environmental records are an “inalienable right”, given to us not by governments, companies, or others. It is a right we give ourselves. It takes different skills and thinking to stay at zero recordable incidents than it does to get to zero recordable incidents...

In May 2010 the Ethylene Producers Committee NOx Safety Sub-Committee sponsored a discussion on practices to mitigate NOx risk in the cryogenic section of ethylene plants. The meeting was attended by representatives of 10 ethylene producers, 4 ethylene contractors and other contractors, 2 additive...

Many of the practical problems in achieving high performance feedback control for challenging applications have been addressed by modifications to the basic PID control law. These modifications include set-point filters that allow both load rejection and set-point following objectives to be...

Fouling behaviour is a crucial consideration in the selection and design of heat exchangers to be used in refinery pre-heat trains. We make the following observations regarding fouling associated with the heating of crude oil: 1. The fouling rate decreases with increase in wall shear stress 2. The...

In the 2007 turnaround at the BASF FINA PETROCHEMICAL L.P. Ethylene Steam Cracker, severe damage was discovered in the cooling tower to process exchangers. Over 41 exchangers had been replaced or required total tube bundle replacement within the first seven years of operation. Several of the units...

In the conversion of vacuum resids one has the option to form coke as a byproduct or to devise conversion processes that prevent coke formation while forming a heavy liquid byproduct. The theme of this presentation is that both options can be greatly improved over current commercial practice but...

Advanced Catalytic Olefins (ACO TM ): First Commercial Demonstration Unit Begins Operations Michael J. Tallman and Curtis N. Eng, KBR and Sun Choi and Deuk Soo Park, SK Energy With the number of new ethane-based crackers coming on line in the next few years, it is anticipated that the traditional...

This paper details CUI cases as well as the means for preventing, finding and repairing them. Approaches and procedures for managing CUI are described leading to a document “Roadmap to Managing CUI” which can be modified to company specific requirements. In recent years more problems with CUI in...

CHEMISTRY AND PERFORMANCE OF DIESEL FUELS DERIVED FROM OIL SANDS AND OIL SHALE FUELS Bruce G. Bunting In this study, a series of diesel fuels derived from oil sands crude and oil shale crude were evaluated for chemistry and performance in an advanced combustion engine utilizing HCCI. In most cases...

Abstract: This paper describes the investigative tools and techniques, learning’s, and logistical challenges faced by an international team assembled to uncover the source of surface tears in newly manufactured 6061 aluminum alloy pipe elbows. The cold box, with its complex piping layout, and a...