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APRIL 2012
HPIMPACT
SPECIALREPORT
BONUSREPORT
PETROCHEMICAL
DEVELOPMENTS
Innovative chemistry
and catalysts improve
profitability
Energy for economic
growth
Canadian oil sands
alliance
ROTATING EQUIPMENT
New seal designs
enhance operations
and reliability
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SPECIAL REPORT: PETROCHEMICAL DEVELOPMENTS
41
Optimize olefin operationsThis operating company used process models to find solutions to poor separation performance
K. Romero
47
Alternate feedstock options for petrochemicals: A roadmap New hydrocarbons will be needed to meet future demandS. K. Ganguly, S. Sen and M. O. Garg
55
Improve catalyst management at the FCC unit System revamp reduces unloading time, boosts refinery operationsM. L. Sargenti, N. Ergonul, M. Scherer, H. Upadhyay, R. McClung and T. S. W. Al Rawahi
59
Operational optimization for mixed-refrigerant systems Use rigorous simulation to improve process efficiencyJ. Zhang, Q. Xu and K. Li
67
Consider new economics for purification on a small scale For smaller methanol units, new designs balance energy costagainst capital cost for long-term profitability
K. Patwardhan, G. Satishbabu, S. Rajyalakshmi and P. Balaramkrishna
Cover Night view of 25,000-metric-tpy ethylene plant built in Texas circa 1948. Project awarded to The Lummus Co. (now CB&I) in 1945. Photo courtesy of CB&I.
HPIMPACT
19 Energy for economic growth20 Medium-voltage AC drives surge, thanks to energy market 22 Canadian oil sands alliance 23 Polyurethane news from Riyadh
COLUMNS
9 HPINSIGHT All hydrocarbons have a place in the global market; timing depends on economics 13 HPIN RELIABILITY Pump alignment saves power 17 HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIESThe journey to supply-chain excellence in the refining and petrochemical industries 126 HPIN AUTOMATION SAFETY
The imaginary hacker DEPARTMENTS
7 HPIN BRIEF • 25 HPINNOVATIONS
29 HPIN CONTRUCTION • 37 HPIN CONSTRUCTION PROFILE 38 HPINCONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
122 HPI MARKETPLACE • 125 ADVERTISER INDEX BONUS REPORT: ROTATING EQUIPMENT
73
Use better designed turboexpanders to handle flashing fluids New models eliminate vibration problems and improve reliabilityK. Kaupert
79
Understand multi-stage pumps and sealing options: Part 2 Designing for dirty service involves many factorsL. Gooch
CATALYST 2012—SUPPLEMENT
C-84
Perspectives on the 2012 energy industry Here are several thoughts on how companies can adapt to— and profit from—the uncertain environmentV. Doshi, A. Clyde and C. Click
ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY
103
Venting vapor streams: Predicting the outcome Laminar and turbulent jet theories provide strong supportwhen addressing cold venting situations
R. Benintendi
109
Apply audits to reexamine safety procedures Recognizing distinctive vulnerabilities in various refinery unitsS. L. Chakravorty
CLEAN FUELS
117
Methanol contamination of naphtha: A case study Creative problem solving was used to upgrade off-spec export products while minimizing tank storageF. Ovaici
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com
4
I
APRIL 2012 HydrocarbonProcessing.comEDITORIAL
Editor Stephany Romanow
Reliability/Equipment Editor Heinz P. Bloch Process Editor Adrienne Blume
Technical Editor Billy Thinnes
Online Editor Ben DuBose Associate Editor Helen Meche Contributing Editor Loraine A. Huchler Contributing Editor William M. Goble Contributing Editor ARC Advisory Group
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HYDROCARBON PROCESSING (ISSN 0018-8190) is published monthly by Gulf Publishing Co., 2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, Texas 77046. Periodicals postage paid at Houston, Texas, and at additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Hydrocarbon Processing, P.O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas 77252.
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BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
7The international availability of massive US shale gas resources could determine the fate of global gas pric-es over the next decade, said Paolo Scaroni, CEO of Italian oil and gas major Eni. Mr. Scaroni delivered the keynote address at the annual IHS CERAWeek energy conference, held March 5–9 in downtown Houston.
Mr. Scaroni bemoaned the global differences in sales prices for “the same stupid molecule” of natural gas, citing values of less than $3/MMBtu in the US compared with about $9 in European spot markets, $11 on European oil-linked contracts and $13 in Asia. The US is an island in gas terms, he explained, noting that the nation was set for at least the next decade.
“With recoverable gas resources and stronger gas markets across the ocean, there are many who think that the US might become a major exporter over the next decade,” Mr. Scaroni said. “But this is more complex than it sounds.”
For example, it remains to be seen whether US citizens, who slowly accepted the rationale of shale gas exploration for their own energy secu-rity, would be willing to export the gas, thereby benefiting the financial position of other countries.
On the whole, global gas demand is expected to grow by 2020. But the outlook on prices is murky, because supply remains unclear, given US mar-ketplace uncertainties. As such, Mr. Scaroni said it can be difficult for com-panies to gauge the viability of large-scale gas projects.
Other key questions include the fate of nuclear power following the Japan disaster and whether gas-based fuels can gain traction within the trans-portation sector. On the other hand, growth in LNG trade should allow for at least some rebalancing in global prices. “Over the next decade, the key to the market is LNG,” Mr. Scaroni said.
In addition, the gap between US gas and oil prices should narrow, he observed. Scaroni noted that, based on calorific power, US gas trades at roughly 1⁄6 the price of oil—down from 1⁄2 in 2008. HP
—Ben DuBose
ExxonMobil plans to invest approximately $185 billion overthe next
five years to develop new supplies of energy to meet expected growth in demand, CEO Rex W. Tillerson said in a recent presentation at the New York Stock Exchange. “During challenging times for the global economy, ExxonMobil continues to invest to deliver the energy needed to underpin economic recovery and growth,” Mr. Tillerson told investment analysts. He said that, even with significant efficiency gains, ExxonMobil expects global energy demand to increase by 30% by 2040, compared to 2010 levels. Demand for electricity will make natural gas the fastest-growing major energy source, and oil and natural gas are expected to meet 60% of energy needs over the next three decades. To help meet that demand, ExxonMobil is anticipating an investment profile of approximately $37 billion per year through 2016. A total of 21 major oil and gas projects will begin production between 2012 and 2014, he said.
Motiva Enterprises plans to convert all of its high-sulfur dieselheating
oil (2,000 ppm) storage to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) (15 ppm) at its Sewaren terminal in New Jersey. Motiva’s conversion aims to meet its customers’ needs under a new New York state mandate that all heating oil sold in the state be no more than 15 ppm sulfur by July 1, 2012. It will also allow the Motiva Sewaren refined products ter-minal with a capacity of more than 5 million bbl, to take deliveries of ULSD for New York Mercantile Exchange-based contracts via marine and pipeline. In addition to the conversion to ULSD heating oil, Motiva is undertaking a project to convert two tanks of heating oil storage to B100 biodiesel at the Sewaren terminal. With the addition of biodiesel tankage and improved rail logistics, Motiva Sewaren will be able to supply mul-tiple blends of biodiesel to the Northeast over the truck rack, as well as via marine vessel.
Metso has acquired South Korean global valve technology and
service company Valstone Controls Inc. The acquisition enables Metso to expand its offering for the oil and gas and power industries with globe valve technology that plays a key role in most critical processes with extreme pressures and temperatures, the company said. Valstone is a privately owned globe valve and service specialist com-pany. Valstone has an established customer base in Korean engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and in domestic South Korean petrochemical and power-generation industries. Metso said it further plans to develop partnerships with leading South Korean engineering, procurement and construction companies.
Petronas and BASF have taken the next steps in the development
of the previously announced €1 billion investment that will expand their partnership in Malaysia, involving projects at their existing venture in Kuantan and at a new site with-in Petronas’ proposed refwith-inery and petrochemical with-integrated development (RAPID) complex in Pengerang, Johor. These projects are to be implemented between 2015 and 2018. Under the terms of the recently signed agreement, the partners have agreed to form a new entity (BASF, 60%; Petronas, 40%) to jointly own, develop, construct and operate production facilities for isononanol, highly reactive polyisobutylene, non-ionic surfactants, and methanesulfonic acid, as well as plants for precursor materials. These world-scale facilities will become an integral part of Petronas’ RAPID project.
Oil trading and logistics company Gunvor Group has reached an
agreement to buy the 107,500-bpd refinery that insolvent Swiss oil refiner Petroplus shut down in Antwerp, Belgium. Gunvor said in a statement that it expects the deal to close in the next month. Gunvor will retain all current workers, and will operate the refinery “on a long-term basis.” The company plans to restart the refinery immediately after the deal closes in late April. Petroplus began shutting down the Antwerp refinery in late December amid mounting credit woes. The Antwerp site also has a storage
capacity of more than 1.2 million cubic meters. HP
■
Postcard from
CERAWeek
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HPINSIGHT
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
9All hydrocarbons have a place in the global market;
timing depends on economics
Remaining profitable continues to be a critical issue for hydro-carbon processing facilities. Balancing new technology with gov-ernment mandates is a thorny problem. Environmental issues add more cost to refined products. Changes in transportation fuels continue as vehicle manufacturers update engine designs. R&D and innovative inventors continue to find solutions to old and new challenges of the hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI).
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, April 2002:
Clean fuels: Estimated $7 billion in US refining capital spending. In 1999, The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) released Tier II sulfur mandates, as part of the Clean Fuels Program. These rules require lowering sulfur concentrations in gasoline to 30 ppm by 2006. Compliance with the low-sulfur guidelines for gasoline and diesel is deemed to be complicated. Most refiners have studied two possible options: revamping die-sel hydrotreaters or constructing new desulfurization units. A study of the 162 US refineries identified construction of 96 new desulfurization units, representing $6.6 billion in total spending.
OPEC recommends output freeze; group will meet again in June. OPEC continues to maintain its crude oil output until the
global economy and/or demand improves. The group also hopes to improve crude oil contributions from non-OPEC producers.
Controversy swirls around renewable fuel standard. The
American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) have joined forces against pending legisla-tion to ban methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) and to create a renewable fuel standard. The new mandate would require use of approximately 5 billion gallons of ethanol in gasoline before 2012. By providing liability protection to ethanol but not for MTBE, refiners will have significant incentives to abandon MTBE blending before the four-year ban takes effect.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, April 1992:
Crude oil to remain ‘inexpensive’ for two years, said the
renowned energy economist, P. K. Verleger. “OPEC cut nearly 2 million bpd of production to attain a $21/bbl minimum refer-ence set in July 1990. However, curtailment won’t hold prices at current levels,” Verleger said.
‘City diesel’ curtails emissions. Year-long trials are underway
in Helsinki, Finland, with a new “diesel fuel” that promises to cut both sulfur and particulate emissions from public transport vehicles. “City diesel” was developed by Neste Oil, based on surveys with engine manufacturers. The new diesel has a low– sulfur content (0.005 wt% as compared to 0.1 wt% to 0.2 wt% of present diesel) and is also less aromatic.
Synthetic rubber demand on the rise. Recovery in the global
synthetic rubber (SR) market is anticipated. Worldwide con-sumption of SR and natural rubber will increase over the next five years (1991–1996) to 15.8 million tons, thus having an aver-age annual 2.1% demand growth rate. All geographical regions should experience new growth. However, demand in Central Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is expected to decline 17% over the same period.
OSHA issues final rule for chemicals PSM. The US
Occupa-tional Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a final
rule entitled, Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous
Chemicals in the Federal Register on Feb. 24, 1992. This rule
requires employers to manage hazards associated with processes using materials identified as highly hazardous. It will affect any industry that produces, uses, stores, transports or handles any of these materials in amounts equal to or greater than the specified quantity. As part of the rule, employers must compile written process safety information, conduct hazard analyses, develop and implement written operating procedures, train employees on the written procedures, and more. Twelve criteria are included under the new rule.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, April 1982:
LPG emerging as the motor fuel for fleet vehicles. Once again,
motor vehicles powered with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) are under consideration, especially for fleet applications. Industry statistics indicate that more than 500,000 vehicles per year will be converted to propane during the 1980s. Most of the converted LPG vehicles will be part of municipal fleets, such as police cars and other emergency vehicles.
Get jet fuel from shale oil in single step? Amoco Oil’s new
experimental catalyst moved closer to the reality of converting shale oil into aviation fuel.
Operations at Marathon Oil Co.’s 200,000-bpd Garyville, Louisiana, refinery are automatically and remotely controlled from four control centers. This main process control center oversees all process operations electronically. It is linked by radio and telephone to other centers monitoring and controlling the boiler area, tank farm and water treatment facilities. Hydrocarbon Processing.
HPINSIGHT
10
I
APRIL 2012 HydrocarbonProcessing.comSynfuels viability boils down to economics. A coal gasification
plant’s product would have to net $17/MMBtu in 1988 (as com-pared to $100/bbl of crude oil). At present, the most expensive category of natural gas is about $9/MMBtu. Capital cost for a synfuels facility is another huge factor; construction costs for coal gasification units continue to rise. The present oil glut, temporary or not, is another factor.
Natural gas price decontrol? Decontrol of the US natural gas
(NG) market remains a controversial subject. As a major con-sumer, the US chemical industry remains vulnerable to NG supply shortages. Shortfalls are attributed to inadequate incentives under the Natural Gas Policy Act (NGPA), passed in 1978. NGPA has contributed to significant disruption in the NG market.
Headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, April 1972:
Heavy-oil cracking process developed. Kellogg International
and Phillips Petroleum have developed a new heavy-oil cracking (HOC) process that can convert residuals from the atmospheric or vacuum towers directly into high-octane gasoline. The Kellogg-Phillips HOC Process disposes of high-sulfur residuals by extend-ing the feedstock range for fluid catalytic crackextend-ing. The first unit was constructed at Phillips’ Borger, Texas, refinery, and it has an operating capacity of 25,000 bpd.
Anti-pollution control will cost billions by 1976. Over the next
four years, petrochemical/chemical companies will invest $1.43 billion on capital equipment alone for environmental projects. Total estimated costs for water, air and solid-waste pollution-control projects will bump $12.7 billion by 1976.
Lead drops, but US octane holds up. Despite a drop in the
average lead content, the octane of regular and premium gasoline at US service stations remains at a high level. Octane levels were maintained by altering the proportions of fuel additives, and by incorporating new blending methods, to compensate for the lower lead content. In 1972, lead content in gasoline dropped from 2.43 g/gal to 2.22g/gal.
New desulfurization process available. Chisso Engineering of
Japan has developed a new desulfurization process that can com-pete with conventional hydrogenation processes. The new process uses water at 250°C to melt and extract undesirable compounds from petroleum at a fifth of the cost of other methods.
Takahax process recovers sulfur dioxide directly from gases
with very low hydrogen sulfide (H2S) content. The process
was originally developed in Japan. Nissan Engineering has constructed 40 units, and has issued an exclusive license to Ford, Bacon & Davis to design and construct Takahax units in the Western Hemisphere. The process uses a caustic solution with an oxidation-reduction catalyst to remove nearly 100% of the H2S.
Alaska pipeline seems far off—and expensive. The Alyeska
Pipeline Service Co. says the cost of the pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez would be about $3 billion. Putting this pipeline through Canada would double construction costs. There is still no (US) government approval on the construction project, but the approval is expected no later than mid-June (1972).
To see more headlines from 1962 to 1922, visit HydrocarbonProcessing.com.
Construction continues for the largest catalytic cracking and gas recovery unit, with 63,000 bpd of crude oil capacity. The cracker was designed and built by The M.W. Kellogg Co. for Gulf Oil’s Philadelphia refinery. Petroleum Refiner, 1954.
The new 360-ft tall Houdriflow cat cracker dwarfs the fixed-bed catalytic refining units at Sun Oil’s Marcus Hook, refinery. The new 18,000-bpd Houdriformer will increase the refinery’s capacity to produce high-quality gasoline. Petroleum Refiner, 1955.
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HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR
HPIN RELIABILITY
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
13Awareness of energy efficiency is one of the minimum job qualifications for reliability engineers. In the summer of 1994, Jack Lambley, then an intern at the Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) Rock-savage site in the UK, was assigned the task of quantifying the effects on power consumption for misaligned process pumps. A surplus pump was overhauled, and new bearings were fitted. This pump was reinstalled, and water was recircu-lated in a suitably instrumented closed-loop arrangement. Prueftechnik GmbH loaned Lambley a modern laser-optic alignment instrument.
Background. As an undergraduate student, Lambley had learned how mis-alignment affected bearing load, and how bearing load increases caused exponential decreases in bearing service life. Following instructions from his supervisor, Lambley reviewed the engineering sections of SKF’s general catalog, which stated that a 25% increase in bearing load caused the rated bearing life to be halved.
Lambley investigated the alignment accuracy and the methods in use at that time. He discovered that straight-edge methods were inappropriate for refinery pumps. Rim-and-face alignment methods
were judged difficult and unreliable. Prop-erly executed, reverse-dial-indicator meth-ods required consideration of the bracket sag, and they would require more time to apply than modern laser techniques.
From data available at the Rocksavage site, he calculated that the typical misalign-ment consisted of 0.02 in./0.5 mm vertical and horizontal offset and 0.002 in./in. verti-cal and horizontal angularity. In 1994, lasers were known to be inherently more accurate than the best competing techniques.
Proof. Lambley constructed several graphs and tabulations, as shown in Figs
Pump alignment saves power
0 0 2 4 6 8 10 20 30 40
Horizontal offset, thousandth
Po wer consumption, % Accuracy +/– 3% of value Source: ICI 50 60 70
Effect of parallel offset on power consumption of a pin coupling at 3,000 rpm. FIG. 1 0 5 10 15 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 Gap, thou./in. Po wer consumption, % Accuracy +/– 3% of value Source: ICI
Effect of angular misalignment on power consumption of a pin coupling at 3,000 rpm. FIG. 2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Horizontal offset, thousandth
Po
wer consumption,
%
Accuracy +/– 3% of value Source: ICI
Effect of parallel offset on power consumption of a toroidal (tire-type) coupling at 3,000 rpm. FIG. 3 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gap, thou./in. Po wer consumption, % Accuracy +/– 3% of value Source: ICI
Effect of angular misalignment on power consumption of a toroidal (tire-type) coupling at 3,000 rpm.
HPI
N RELIABILITY
14
1–4. The resulting recommendations were to align machinery to within 0.005 in./0.12 mm shaft offsets and to limit deviations in the hub gap to 0.0005 in./ in. of hub diameter. Lambley further doc-umented that adhering to these recom-mendations would reduce ICI’s power con-sumption by about 1%. He confirmed that laser alignment was faster and superbly more accurate. Lambley determined that laser alignment technology was bottom-line more cost-effective; he deserves credit
for establishing these facts instead of repeating the opinions of others.
Using data from a mid-size refinery:
Average demand: 27 kW/pump
8,760 hr/yr $0.1/kWh 1,000 pumps
0.01 = $236,520/yr. And, with 1,000 pumps operating at any given time, this location could annually save approximately $250,000 in avoided power consumption.
Total cost. The total cost for laser alignment instruments includes
equip-ment costs plus training costs. The ben-efit is 8 man-hours of time-saving credit per alignment job. For gathering more data, thermography and infrared moni-toring techniques are possible options. These methods have been used to quan-tify significant temperature increases in a coupling located between misaligned pump and driver shafts. You could com-pare the energy wasted by the rising temperature of a coupling to the energy loss, as described by Lambley. Regardless of calculation method, laser alignment will result in surprisingly rapid payback.
Remember: In all reliability
improve-ment endeavors, never let somebody’s opinion get in the way of sound science and facts.
Knowledge update. If you are like the majority of hydrocarbon process-ing industry facilities in the industrial-ized world, your worker and technician resources are probably stretched to the limit. Understandably, you may be look-ing for ways to simplify some of your tra-ditional work processes and procedures. You may have had an experience that rein-forces the contention in which high-tech tools are not always the answer. And hold the view that the back-to-basics thinking has considerable merit. However, decades of well-documented observation attest to the fact that misalignment has been responsible for huge economic losses. The more misalignment of the rotating unit permitted, the greater the rate of wear, likelihood of premature failure, and loss of efficiency of the machine.
As an inquisitive Lambley proved, mis-aligned machines absorb more energy than they consume more power. So, it’s always advantageous to update one’s knowledge of shaft alignment and alignment toler-ances. Competent vendors will assist you in illuminating the roadway to becoming reliability-focused. And indications are that only the reliability-focused facilities
will be around in the future. HP
The author is Hydrocarbon Processing’s Reliability/ Equipment Editor. A practicing consulting engineer with now 50 years of applicable experience, he advises process plants worldwide on failure analysis, reliability improvement and maintenance cost avoidance top-ics. He has authored or co-authored 18 textbooks on machinery reliability improvement and over 490 papers or articles dealing with related subjects. For more on alignment, refer to Bloch, H. P., Pump Wisdom: Problem Solving for Operators and Specialists, John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2011, pp. 153–162.
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HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
17 [email protected]PETER REYNOLDS, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
The journey to supply-chain excellence
in the refining and petrochemical industries
In downstream refining and marketing, the handoff between manufacturing operations and product distribution and market-ing is often performed in a sub-optimal manner. Most process manufacturing companies claim supply chain as a core compe-tency, yet many still attempt to manage the workflow from end to end. In many cases, the production operations and supply-chain groups operate in silos. Refinery production groups typically make superb products, using the manufacturing assets available to them. However, since the logistics and supply-chain groups in refining and petrochemical businesses usually handle product distribu-tion and sales independently from producdistribu-tion, their journey to supply-chain excellence clearly lags behind many other industries.
With this understanding, leaders in process manufacturing periodically peer into other industries—such as discrete manu-facturing and specialty chemicals—to learn ways to improve supply-chain operational excellence. When they do, they often learn that manufacturers must look at the entire supply chain through multiple lenses and develop business processes based on industry standards, best practices and appropriate use of technol-ogy. All often offer opportunities to streamline business opera-tions. In the downstream refining and petrochemicals industry, one of the last levers left to improve profitability, is to streamline the liquids supply chain.
It’s often difficult to attain clear visibility into liquid-product inventories due to inefficient or disconnected business processes and technologies across primary and secondary distribution. Ter-minal inventories are not reconciled in a timely fashion because businesses often don’t have the time to deal with spreadsheets and complex IT applications.
Organizations implement supply-chain improvement projects routinely, but with sub-optimal overall benefit. Successful IT proj-ects for supply-chain integration need the business leaders to get involved early in the project definition. However, these leaders are usually busy running various marketing, distribution and trading activities, and they seldom have adequate staff to support IT proj-ects. Many business end users use a host of manual business pro-cesses that involve e-mail, Microsoft Excel and hard-copy reports to manage the complicated supply chains in the process industries.
Enter the Supply Chain Council. In 1996, the Supply Chain Council (SCC) was formed to create and evolve an indus-try-standard process reference model to help companies improve supply-chain operations. The SCC created the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model; now companies can evalu-ate and compare overall supply-chain activities and evaluevalu-ate their own performance.
The SCC is made up of over 800 members from worldwide organizations. Owner-operators—such as Shell, DuPont, Irving Oil, ExxonMobil and Chevron—comprise 40% of the mem-bership. North American and European companies comprise
approximately 70% of the total membership. Most manufacturers reported that the supply chain accounts for 60% to 90% of the total company costs, while oil companies like ConocoPhillips and Chevron disclosed spending 90% and 88%, respectively.
The SCOR model and framework. As the industry-stan-dard supply chain business process reference model, the SCOR contains over 200 high-level business processes; 550 supply-chain metrics; and 200 skills classifications, including risk manage-ment. The SCOR reference model includes five key management process categories of activity. These provide a framework to link suppliers, enterprise supply chains and customers. The SCOR model is arranged with the fundamental business processes of plan, source, make and deliver.
SCOR project toolkit. Initially, executing a supply-chain project looks like a traditional project in which teams are devel-oped, roles and responsibilities are aligned, and the standard project charter is written. With the SCOR model, the competitive SCORcard benchmark and analysis are introduced at an early stage. SCOR metrics included in the benchmark are reliability, responsiveness, agility, costs and assets. This process allows com-panies to determine a supply-chain strategy and to analyze current performance against competitors.
The SCOR project toolkit includes a number of tools that have been used successfully to define a long-range plan to fix a supply chain. Process mapping tools, like Aris, can be used in addition to external benchmarking, logical and geographical maps, and defect analysis tools. The SCOR model has several hundred best practices that are easily identifiable with a given business process.
Organizations must execute IT projects in the correct order. People, business process and technology are fully intertwined. At the beginning of a project, it may be good practice to envision the technology that will transform an organization’s supply chain. But technology cannot be implemented successfully on broken business processes. Successful manufacturing companies look to similar manufacturing companies and adapt standards when they exist. These companies use the SCOR model to support tech-nology procurement activities and the requirement documents that are released to IT suppliers for bidding. The SCOR project provides a proven methodology to transform the supply chain. It includes the tools to define, analyze and benchmark supply-chain
performance and to choose the right supply-chain projects. HP
The author has more than 19 years of professional experience in process control, advanced automation applications, information technology, enterprise and supply chain in the downstream oil refining and petroleum product marketing industry. Prior to joining ARC in 2011, Mr. Reynolds served as the strategic planning manager for automation and IT at Irving Oil in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Irving Oil operates Canada’s largest refinery.
The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2011 Emerson Electric Co. D351992X012 MX11 (H:)
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HPI
MPACT
BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
19Energy for economic
growth
Having proved resilient throughout the recent recession compared to other sectors, the energy industry has the potential to be a key engine of economic growth and recov-ery, according to a new study by IHS CERA and the World Economic Forum. The report provides a framework for understanding the larger economic role of the energy industry at a time when issues of employment and investment are so critical in a troubled global economy, its authors said.
The report examines the industry’s role as a driver of investment and job creation, as well as energy’s importance as the key input for most goods and services in the econ-omy. Fig. 1 shows the energy sector’s share of business-sector gross domestic product (GDP) along with other industries in sev-eral Organization for Economic Coopera-tion and Development (OECD) countries. “The energy industry is unique in its economic importance,” said Daniel Yergin, IHS CERA chairman. “The energy sector has the potential to be a tremendous eco-nomic catalyst and source of innovation
in its own right, while it simultaneously produces the very lifeblood that drives the broader economy.”
The energy industry—by nature, capi-tal intensive and requiring high levels of investment—has the ability to generate outsized contributions to GDP growth, the study says. In the US, the oil and gas extraction sector grew at a rate of 4.5% in 2011 compared to an overall GDP growth rate of 1.7%.
The highly skilled technical nature of energy industry jobs is reflected in compen-sation levels. As a result, employees of the energy industry contribute more absolute spending per capita to the economy than the average worker, and contribute a larger share of GDP per worker than most indus-tries, the study says.
The energy industry’s most important immediate source of economic potential is its high “employment multiplier effect,” which is a result of its extensive supply chain and relatively high worker pay. Every direct job created in the oil, natural gas and related industries in the US generates three or more indirect and induced jobs across the economy, the study says. For further
illumination, Fig. 2 shows energy sector employment when compared to other industries in select OECD countries.
In the US, this places oil and gas ahead of the financial, telecommunications, soft-ware and non-residential construction sec-tors in terms of the additional employment associated with each direct worker.
“We always suspected that energy had a vital role to play in the economic recovery,” said Roberto Bocca, senior director and head of energy industries at the World Eco-nomic Forum. “But we were still surprised when the data uncovered the magnitude of the sector’s multiplier effects.”
Energy prices. As the key input for most goods and services in the economy, lower energy prices reduce expenses for consum-ers and businesses and increase the dispos-able income availdispos-able to be spent elsewhere. Many countries, such as China, India and South Korea, are increasingly focusing on renewable energy sources as potential growth sectors for their economies, the report said.
Developed countries are also investing in renewables in an effort to meet sustainability goals and emerge at the forefront of this
Germany Mexico Norway South Korea United Kingdom United States Percent 0 5 10 10.4 21.2 5.9 4.5 2.8 3.5 8.5 3.2 24.4 8.8 6.5 22.3 2.5 11.8 19.1 28 6.3 18.2 15 20 25 30 Energy-related
industries Manufacturing Health andsocial work
Source: IHS CERA and OECD Structural Analysis Database. Note: Data are 10-year averages of the most recent data available: 2000–2009 for the United States, 1993–2002 for Norway, and 1994–2003 for all other countries.
Share of business-sector GDP and energy compared to other industries.
FIG. 1
Source: IHS CERA and OECD Structural Analysis Database. Note: Data are 10-year averages of the most recent data available: 2000–2009 for the United States, 1993–2002 for Norway and 1994–2003 for all other countries.
Energy-related
industries Manufacturing Health andsocial work Germany Mexico Norway South Korea United Kingdom United States Percent 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 16.918 1.2 0.9 2.6 0.6 18.6 2.7 11.9 0.8 9.5 22.1 1.4 14.3 2.3 27.8 11.1 15.7
Share of business-sector employment and energy compared to other industries.
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growing sector. However, the higher costs of these technologies create tradeoffs that must be considered, the study said.
“One must look at energy’s contribution to the overall economy, not just its direct contribution,” said Samantha Gross, IHS CERA director of integrated research. “Max-imizing direct jobs in the energy sector may not be the right goal if it reduces efficiency and increases energy prices to the detriment of the economy’s overall productivity.”
The study also examines the role of policy in maximizing the economic benefits of energy production, promot-ing steady and reasonable energy prices through stable tax and fiscal schemes, and encouraging of industrial diversifi-cation through cluster development. It points to the challenge for a resource-rich country to transform oil and gas earnings into the foundations of a wider, more diversified economy.
Medium-voltage AC
drives surge, thanks
to energy market
While large project orders helped main-tain the market size of medium-voltage AC drives in 2009, it also resulted in low growth in 2010 compared to other auto-mation product markets. However, 2010 was still not a disappointing year for the medium-voltage AC drives market. The market expected to experience higher growth in 2011 compared to sluggish growth in 2010, according to an ARC Advisory Group study.
The impact of the extraordinary amount of policy stimulus in 2009 boded well for the high-power AC drives market in 2009 and 2010. Monetary policy had been highly expansionary, with interest rates down to record lows in most advanced, and in many emerging, economies.
“Growth in power and automation solutions for all regions of the world [was seen continuing] in 2011 and beyond, with increasing market demand for building new—and upgrading existing—power infra-structure and improving industrial efficiency and productivity,” according to Himanshu Shah, the principal author of ARC’s study.
Demand from emerging markets.
While demand in mature markets for auto-mation solutions and AC drives is expected to improve, emerging markets will remain significant drivers of growth as they build up their electrical power-generation capac-ity and expand industrial production with a major focus on improving energy effi-ciency and industrial process quality. These dynamics directly impact market growth for medium-voltage AC drives. Demand for commodities fueled by the economic growth of emerging countries and the need to become more globally competitive in product quality is also expected to propel demand for industrial automation solu-tions and medium-voltage AC drives in the emerging markets.
Infrastructure investment. Glo-balization has created a growing demand for modern infrastructures, especially in emerging economies. Major investments are underway, and more are being planned for airport facilities, railway and public transportation expansions, and new road construction. These projects are driving demand for products from the metals and mining, cement and glass, and oil and gas
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industries. Emerging economies know that their current infrastructures are a major bottleneck for their continuing economic growth. Medium-voltage AC drives are one of the critical components for these infra-structure investments, and they are used extensively in these industries.
In spite of the unpredictable economic conditions of some countries in Europe, the globalization environment is expected to resume over the next forecast period.
The beginnings of a modest recovery in the global economy would present an excellent backdrop for medium-voltage AC drives’ market growth.
While every region will experience growth in the medium-voltage AC drives market over the forecast period, there are significantly different factors affecting each market. A brief description regarding the economic scenarios for each region is cov-ered in the report.
Canadian oil sands
alliance
Canadian oil sands producers have formed a new alliance named Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance (COSIA), seeking to accelerate the pace of improving environmental performance in Canada’s oil sands. Companies involved in the alliance include BP, Canadian Natural Resources, Cenovus Energy, ConocoPhillips, Devon, Imperial Oil, Nexen, Shell, Statoil Canada, Suncor Energy, Teck Resources and Total.
CEOs from those companies signed the alliance’s founding charter, committing to COSIA’s vision to “enable responsible and sustainable growth of Canada’s oil sands while delivering accelerated improvement in environmental performance through col-laborative action and innovation.”
The creation of COSIA as an indepen-dent alliance builds on work done over the past several years by both oil sands industry members and research and development organizations, the group said. COSIA plans to take these efforts to a much larger scale and seeks to help the industry address envi-ronmental challenges by breaking down barriers in the areas of funding, intellectual property enforcement, and human resources that may otherwise impede progress.
“The public’s expectation of environ-mental performance in the oil sands contin-ues to evolve; we want to meet those expecta-tions, and we’ll work collaboratively to do so, building on previous successes,” said John C. Abbott, executive vice president of heavy oil for Shell Canada. “Coming together today to sign the charter is a significant and impor-tant step for all our companies and marks a pivotal point for our industry.”
COSIA also announced Dr. Dan Wicklum as CEO of the new alliance. Dr. Wicklum has a background in environ-mental science and was selected following a national search. The organization said that his scientific qualifications and leader-ship experience position him well to lead COSIA, a science-based alliance focused on environmental technology and innovation.
“I am confident COSIA will greatly accelerate innovation and environmental performance in priority areas that Cana-dians care most about,” Dr. Wicklum said. “Today is just the beginning, and I am excited to be part of this new alliance. We understand we have a lot of work to do, and we are looking forward to working with our stakeholders and reporting on our progress along the way.”
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COSIA will establish structures and processes through which oil sands pro-ducers and other stakeholders can work together for the benefit of the environ-ment. The alliance will identify, develop and apply solutions-oriented innovations around the most pressing oil sands envi-ronmental challenges (specifically water, land, greenhouse gases and tailings), and will communicate COSIA’s efforts and suc-cesses in addressing those challenges.
Jean-Michel Gires, CEO of Total E&P Canada, said that COSIA creates a new dynamic for the oil sands industry, promot-ing new approaches for intellectual property management of environmental technology and better working relationships with uni-versities, research agencies, technology pro-viders, regulators and oil sands stakeholders in the communities where industry operates.
“COSIA is a reflection of how the oil sands have evolved into a global resource, with companies committing to fostering continuous innovation and the develop-ment of new environdevelop-mental solutions,” Mr. Gires said. “We have seen what can be achieved when we work together and multi-ply our ideas and efforts. For example, work done by the Oil Sands Leadership Initiative and the Oil Sands Tailings Consortium is already delivering technology that promises to reduce our environmental footprint.”
Companies participating in COSIA will contribute at varying levels to the alliance, based on their own areas of expertise, offi-cials said. COSIA will rely on the input of scientists and engineers from within the ranks of the member companies, as well as leading thinkers from government, aca-demia and the wider public.
Polyurethane news
from Riyadh
Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) has signed a toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) and methylene di-phenyl isocyanate (MDI)
technology license agreement with Mitsui Chemicals, under which Mitsui will provide manufacturing technology for producing TDI and MDI. TDI and MDI are each raw materials for producing polyurethane. The agreement also provides for joint technology development in TDI/MDI, officials said. The official signing ceremony (Fig. 3) took place at SABIC headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and featured Mohamed Al-Mady, SABIC vice chairman and chief exec-utive officer, and Toshikazu Tanaka, Mitsui Chemicals president and CEO.
Mr. Al-Mady said that the partnership would spearhead a strategic collaboration between the two companies to explore future possibilities to collaborate in the polyurethane business. “The agreement will spur our strategic business plan to penetrate the global polyurethane market, as well as to power the ambition and com-petitive advantage of our customers for the long term,” he said. “It will also enable a fast development of polyurethane applica-tion industries in Saudi Arabia, especially with regard to thermal insulation, which will contribute to employment creation in addition to energy savings.”
Mr. Al-Mady pointed out that Mit-sui Chemicals has lengthy experience as a manufacturer of TDI and MDI and has developed pioneering manufacturing pro-cesses. “Through this technology license agreement, we will strengthen our prod-uct capabilities with high-quality TDI and MDI, and expand into the polyurethane business,” he said.
“For Mitsui Chemicals, this license agreement will be the largest and most extensive one we have ever made,” Mr. Tanaka said. “We will support this project full force on every front and are commit-ted to its success. I hope that it will be just the first step in a future business partner-ship with SABIC, which may include the establishment of a strategic supply base for
competitive TDI/MDI.” HP
Executives from SABIC and Mitsui Chemicals ink a deal in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. FIG. 3
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HPINNOVATIONS
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING APRIL 2012
I
25SELECTED BY HYDROCARBON PROCESSING EDITORS
Vessel monitoring system uses thermal cameras
The Critical Vessel Monitoring Sys-tem from Land Instruments International Ltd., a unit of AMETEK Inc., uses indus-trial-strength thermal-imaging cameras to provide higher measurement density than traditional systems based on ther-mocouples. The system measures surface temperature once every 16 cm2, as
com-pared with one measurement every 250 cm2 in thermocouple systems. Each
cam-era records over 110,000 individual mea-surements, ensuring that even the smallest degradation can be detected.
By measuring temperatures in more loca-tions, the system allows for earlier detection of refractory wear or breakdown. Measure-ments from all cameras are reported using graphical software that signals an alarm if a potential breakout is detected. The software also compiles temperature trends to sup-port statistical analysis of refractory wear. An integrated web interface allows for the visualization of current vessel conditions from all plant locations.
The system is optimized for use in gasifiers and other critical vessels in pet-rochemical production, power genera-tion, chemical and coal processing, waste management, and fertilizer and plastics production. Benefits include greater pro-tection against catastrophic vessel failure and extension of refractory lifetime based on actual data.
Select 1 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
New catalyst produces high-performance polymers
Dow Chemical Co.’s CONSISTA C601 polypropylene catalyst, which is included in its Ziegler Natta catalyst family, is a non-phthalate-based catalyst system for the production of high-performance polymers. The system requires no capital or upgrades to existing facilities, and accommodates drop-in technology for Dow’s UNIPOL Polypropylene Process Technology.
CONSISTA C601 Catalyst was imple-mented in production trials at Slovnaft Petrochemicals in Bratislava, Slovakia. There, the catalyst was used to produce homopolymer and high melt flow impact copolymers. CONSISTA C601 Catalyst
demonstrated high yield and the capability to make a broad range of products with a non-phthalate-based catalyst system.
Andrej Horak, polypropylene plant manager for Slovnaft Petrochemicals, noted that the trials confirmed expectations for improved product properties, and resulted in “… lower production costs ensured by 40% higher catalyst yield compared to our current system.” Slovnaft Petrochemicals plans to install the CONSISTA C601 cata-lyst system for its entire production portfolio in the near future, enabling it to meet future REACH (Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals) requirements.
Additionally, in a separate trial of CON-SISTA C601, the catalyst demonstrated excellent operability and process perfor-mance with homopolymer production, using a standard operation protocol, thereby validating the “drop-in” technology concept.
Select 2 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Pump shaft seal listed as Shell best practice
Shell Global Solutions has listed IHC Lagersmit’s LIQUIDYNE water-lubricated pump shaft seal as best practice for use with its cooling water pumps worldwide. The seal is also included in Shell’s Technically Accepted Manufacturers and Products (TAMAP) list.
The LIQUIDYNE seal was originally developed for dredging pumps and has been adapted to fit cooling water pumps.
Since the condition of the heavily rein-forced seal can be determined at any time, it offers significant reliability and above-average mean time between maintenance (MTBM) for cooling water pumps. The high MTBM improves grip on the pump-ing process and prevents both unnecessary maintenance and sudden pump failure, thereby reducing maintenance costs.
Select 3 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS
Wireless network solution links remote field sites
The Wireless Network Module (WNM) from Moore Industries is an accurate and reliable solution for sending process signals between remote field sites. The bidirectional WNM provides a low-cost wireless commu-nications link between field sites that are in rugged or impassable terrain, with a single unit transmitting for up to 30 miles. The unit can also act as a repeater for a virtually unlimited transmission range.
The WNM uses Spread Spectrum Fre-quency Hopping technology to avoid
inter-As HP editors, we hear about new products, patents, software, processes and services that are true industry innovations— a cut above the typical product offerings. This section enables us to highlight these significant developments. For more information from these companies, please go to our website at
www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/rs
and select the reader service number.
This vessel monitoring software shows the exact locations of imaging cameras. FIG. 1
