Hydrocarbon Processing 01 2012

Unlike a phony cowboy who is all hat with no

cattle, a boiler from RENTECH will pass muster.

Each boiler is designed and built to meet its demanding specifications and operate in its unique conditions in a variety of industries, including refining, petro-chemical and power generation. Our quality control system assures you that RENTECH boilers are safe, reliable and efficient.

For a real, genuine, original boiler, you can depend on RENTECH. Honestly.

WWW.RENTECHBOILERS.COM

JANUARY 2012

HPIMPACT

SPECIALREPORT

TECHNOLOGY

LNG/GAS PROCESSING

DEVELOPMENTS

Innovative technologies

treat shale gas, improve

LNG operations and

more

A radically different

transport sector

Scaling up renewables

Update on replacing

large columns in revamps

Are you losing money

with your controllers?

SPECIAL REPORT: LNG/GAS PROCESSING DEVELOPMENTS

41

Prominent executives and analysts from the natural gas sector share their insights on market trends and future opportunities for gas, including the development of shale gas resources, new liquefied natural gas (LNG) applications, the changing landscape for LNG trade, growth in gas-fired power generation, and more.

45

Manipulating process plant parameters helps meet pipeline specifications R. H. Weiland and N. A. Hatcher

49

APC application yields significant operability, economic benefits A. Taylor and S. Jamaludin

55

New developments for heat exchangers reduce capital and plot size of key equipment B. Ploix and T. Lang

61

Careful process evaluation helps meet product requirements and environmental standards M. Maleki and M. Khorsand Movaghar

65

Dynamic simulation model identifies how to optimize plant controllability and safety H-M. Lai

Cover The Karratha Gas Plant, located north of Perth, Australia, is one of the world’s most advanced and integrated gas production systems. The facility produces LNG from five trains, domestic gas from two trains, condensate from six trains and LPG from three fractionation units. Photo courtesy of Woodside.

HPIMPACT

23 China dominates the nylon engineering plastics market 24 New policies needed

to scale up renewable energy 24 Bioplastics demand to exceed 1 million metric tons in 2015 24 Cloudy outlook

COLUMNS

Dealing with asset management and life extension 19 HPINTEGRATION

STRATEGIES Inline blending can help process plants cut costs and reduce quality give-away 21 HPIN ASSOCIATIONS Making safety second nature 90 ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES Case 66: Fiberglass mixing tank flexing vibration

DEPARTMENTS

9 HPIN BRIEF • 27 HPI 2012 FORECAST • 31 HPIN INNOVATIONS 35 HPIN CONSTRUCTION • 38 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE 86 HPI MARKETPLACE • 89 ADVERTISER INDEX

ROTATING EQUIPMENT

69

New blower meets low-pressure applications cost-effectively H. P. Bloch

PROCESS CONTROL DEVELOPMENTS

73

Here are 10 rules, if followed, that will result in poor process performance M. J. King

PROCESS ENGINEERING

79

When done properly, this process ensures that all compounds vaporize at the same time, preserving the sample’s composition

D. Nordstrom and T. Waters

ENGINEERING AND DESIGN DEVELOPMENTS

83

Installing new equipment involves more processes to ensure safety and to meet new codes D. Fearn and J. McKay

www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

years $539, digital format one year $199. Airmail rate outside North America $175 additional a year. Single copies $25, prepaid.

Because Hydrocarbon Processing is edited specifically to be of greatest value to people working in this specialized business, subscriptions are restricted to those engaged in the hydrocarbon processing industry, or service and supply company personnel connected thereto.

Hydrocarbon Processing is indexed by Applied Science & Tech nology

Index, by Chemical Abstracts and by Engineering Index Inc. Microfilm copies available through University Microfilms, International, Ann Arbor, Mich. The full text of Hydrocarbon Processing is also available in electronic versions of the Business Periodicals Index.

ARTICLE REPRINTS

If you would like to have a recent article reprinted for an upcoming con-ference or for use as a marketing tool, contact Foster Printing Company for a price quote. Articles are reprinted on quality stock with advertise-ments removed; options are available for covers and turnaround times. Our minimum order is a quantity of 100.

For more information about article reprints, call Rhonda Brown with Foster Printing Company at +1 (866) 879-9144 ext 194 or e-mail [email protected].

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING (ISSN 0018-8190) is published monthly by Gulf Publishing Company, 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. Copyright © 2012 by Gulf Publishing Co. All rights reserved.

Permission is granted by the copyright owner to libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) to photocopy any articles herein for the base fee of $3 per copy per page. Payment should be sent directly to the CCC, 21 Congress St., Salem, Mass. 01970. Copying for other than personal or internal reference use without express permission is prohibited. Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the Editor. ISSN 0018-8190/01.

www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

GULF PUBLISHING COMPANY John Royall, President/CEO Ron Higgins, Vice President Bill Wageneck, Vice President Pamela Harvey, Business Finance Manager

Part of Euromoney Institutional Investor PLC. Other energy group titles include:

World Oil® Petroleum Economist

Publication Agreement Number 40034765 Printed in U.S.A

Houston Office: 2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, Texas 77046 USA Mailing Address: P. O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas 77252-2608 USA Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301 Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433

E-mail: [email protected] www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Publisher Bill Wageneck [email protected] EDITORIAL

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 Y. Zak Friedman Contributing Editor ARC Advisory Group MAGAZINE PRODUCTION

Director—Production and Operations Sheryl Stone Manager— Editorial Production Angela Bathe Artist/Illustrator David Weeks

Manager—Advertising Production Cheryl Willis ADVERTISING SALES

See Sales Offices page 88. CIRCULATION +1 (713) 520-4440 Director—Circulation Suzanne McGehee E-mail [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS

Subscription price (includes both print and digital versions): United States and Canada, one year $199, two years $359, three years $469. Outside USA and Canada, one year $239, two years $419, three www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Mission Critical

Equipment

chart-ec.com

Air Cooled Heat Exchangers, Cold

Boxes, and Brazed Aluminum Heat

Exchangers for the gas

processing industry.

<RXU6LQJOH6RXUFHIRU1HZRU5HWURÀW,QWHUQDOV

Why wait 10, 15 or 20 weeks for your delivery! Ask AMISTCO® Separation Products about our Fast Track delivery for trays and a complete range of tower internals. With complete in-house engineering and fabrication, we can use your existing drawings or modify them to improve your process.

Trays (numerous options) Sieve or perforated Bubble cap trays Cartridge trays 'XDOÀRZ %DIÀH Valve

ZZZDPLVWFRFRP‡KU(0(5*(1&<6(59,&(‡

‡0HVKQXPHURXVDOOR\VSODVWLFV ‡9DQH&KHYURQ ‡'RXEOH3RFNHW9DQH ‡&DQGOHRU)LEHUEHG ‡,QVHUWLRQ0LVW¿[® MIST ELIMINATORS

DISTRIBUTORS & SUPPORTS

0DQXIDFWXUHGWRFXVWRPHU VSHFL¿FDWLRQVRUHQJLQHHUHGWR PHHWSHUIRUPDQFHUHTXLUHPHQWV COALESCERS ‡2LOZDWHUVHSDUDWLRQV ‡+D]HUHPRYDOIURPIXHOV ‡5HPRYDORIWRZHUZHWUHÀX[ ‡&DXVWLFWUHDWHUDSSOLFDWLRQV STRUCTURED PACKING :RYHQVKHHWPHWDODQGNQLWWHG VWUXFWXUHGSDFNLQJ%XLOWWRVSHF RUSHUIRUPDQFHUHTXLUHPHQW RANDOM PACKING ‡&DWDO\VWEHGVXSSRUWV ‡%DVNHWVWUDLQHUV ‡1R]]OHV‡2XWOHW,QOHWEDVNHWV ‡'LVWULEXWRUV +XEDQGKHDGHUODWHUDOV

WEDGE WIRE SCREEN

:LGHYDULHW\RIUDQGRPSDFNLQJ W\SHVVL]HVDQGPDWHULDOVLQ VWRFN$VNXVKRZRXUSDWHQWHG 6XSHU%OHQGŒ3DFFDQLQFUHDVH \RXUFDSDFLW\DQGHI¿FLHQF\ Select 60 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

HPIN BRIEF

BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

[email protected]

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

A group of physicists and engineers in Berkeley, California, have devel-oped a new safety system to moni-tor and prevent pipeline ruptures by using magnetic-resonance imaging (MRI) medical technology to remotely monitor the structural integrity of metal pipelines.

The new technology would help prevent failures such as the PG&E pipe-line incident in San Bruno, California, as well as other leaks, explosions and disruptions, according to the scientists at 4D Imaging, the Berkeley company that invented and patented the MRI-based pipeline-monitoring system.

The system transmits the status of a pipeline to the Internet and gives pipeline operators a real-time picture of the health of the pipeline, check-ing for fractures at welds or support systems and corrosion failure.

After installation of the MRI moni-toring system, the status of the pipe-line can be visualized via the Internet. The monitoring is constant, and any change in the mechanical health of the pipeline is measured and transmit-ted immediately to operating officers and pipeline managers.

The MRI system can be installed on any pipeline. It works by wrapping the pipe in wire coils, which accomplishes two things: First, one set of coils is electrified, which magnetizes the steel pipe (over 90% of the world’s pipe-lines are steel). Next, a second set of coils detects the magnetic field being given off by the now magnetized pipe. Conveniently, when steel corrodes and degrades, it becomes less magnetic, so variations in the pipes’ magnetism rep-resent areas that may have corroded or become compromised.

If the level of corrosion exceeds 0.008 of the pipe, the system will issue a warning that the area of pipe has become compromised. The pipe’s temperature is also measured, both to account for changes in magnetism unrelated to corrosion and to keep track of heat or cold stresses.

The coils electrify and record their data one at a time in sequence along the length of the pipeline. It takes the system about three seconds to thor-oughly test a segment of pipe. HP

US refiner Sunoco is indefinitely idling the main processing unitsat its

refinery in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, citing deteriorating refining market condi-tions. The company said it now expects to begin idling the Marcus Hook facility immediately while it continues to seek a buyer and also pursues options with third par-ties for alternate uses of the facility. Sunoco said it also intends to increase the capacity utilization rate of its Philadelphia refinery and will continue to operate the refinery as long as market conditions warrant. However, if a suitable sales transaction cannot be implemented, the company intends to permanently idle the main processing units at the Philadelphia refinery no later than July 2012.

Chevron Phillips Chemical has successfully completed the acquisition

of a polyalphaolefin (PAO) plant in Beringen, Belgium, from Neste Oil. A company spokesperson said the deal will help the company better service the growing demand for PAOs that are used in high performance lubricants and other applications. The agreement was first announced in September.

Honeywell’s UOP plans to expand its portfolio of natural gastreatment

technologies through an exclusive marketing alliance with the Netherlands-based Twister B.V. UOP will now offer the Twister supersonic gas separation technology, which is used to remove water and heavy hydrocarbons present in natural gas when it comes out of the ground. The technology expands UOP’s current suite of natural gas processing technolo-gies and equipment that remove impurities such as water, carbon dioxide, sulfur com-pounds and mercury from natural gas streams, and that separate and recover natural gas liquids. UOP has also acquired a minority position in Twister B.V., the company said.

OriginOil has announced the funding of a new researchagreement

with the US Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Under the agreement, OriginOil and INL will collaborate with a goal toward establishing industry standards for algal biomass, a critical step toward making algal biofuels a competi-tive alternacompeti-tive to petroleum. Under the terms of the new Cooperacompeti-tive Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), OriginOil will provide INL with its extraction technology, and contribute its knowledge of how to stimulate oil production and pre-treat for consistent extraction of the algae and its co-products.

Plains All American Pipeline is converting an existing Oklahoma

liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline into crude oil service. The pipeline, which extends from Medford, Oklahoma, to PAA’s crude oil terminal facility in Cushing, Oklahoma, will provide an initial crude oil throughput capacity of 12,000 bpd by January 2012 and will be expanded to 25,000 bpd by July 2012.

The oil and gas division of GE will supply advanced combustion

technology to reduce gas turbine emissions at the Qatargas 1 utility complex in Qatar. The technology is being installed in order to meet new regulations from the Qatari Ministry of Environment. GE will provide a combustion system designed to achieve low emissions levels of 25 parts per million (ppm) for nitrogen oxide. The system will be used to upgrade six gas turbines that are providing the power for three onshore LNG trains at the Qatargas 1 site.

Investment in high-voltage transmission (greater than 345 kilovolts)

in the US is expected to top $41 billion over the next 10 years with more than 40% of it being made in just the first three years, according to a new IHS study. Growing power demand, increasingly rigorous reliability standards and the ongoing drive to integrate larger amounts of renewables into the power mix are among the major factors driving transmission investment, the study finds. HP

low rare earth

loves

high performance

BASF’s Rare Earth ALternative (REAL) solutions target the needs of today’s Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) catalyst market.

Through a world-class combination of technology, technical service, procurement expertise, and investments in manufacturing and R&D, BASF delivers performance and value to customers looking for options to reduce rare earth costs.

At BASF, we create chemistry.

Realize the value of BASF innovation. Visit www.catalysts.basf.com/real

HPI

NSIGHT

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

Global HPI: 90+ years old and still going strong

In 2012, Hydrocarbon Processing (HP) will celebrate its 90th

anni-versary as a publication for the professionals involved in the daily activities of the global hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI). Much has changed since the first edition of The Refiner and Natural Gasoline Manufacturer—the forerunner of HP—in September 1922. And, yet,

so many factors continue to remain the same. This early publication was designed by its founders to serve the HPI. In the first issue, the publisher, Ray L. Dudley wrote, “The Refiner and Natural Gasoline Manufacturer will bring to its readers. . . new data on refinery

meth-ods, written by men who are in a position to write with authority.” In our 90th year of service to the global HPI, HP’s same

mis-sion statement and goals still stand. Our feature editorial content continues to be authored by professional men and women actively working in the HPI. Going forward in 2012, our mission will be to provide data on new methods for the global refining and trans-portation fuels manufacturing industries. In addition, our focus includes the new HPI sectors that grew over the past 90 years. Of course, this includes the massive petrochemical and the natural gas/liquefied natural gas (LNG) industries. Both segments grew from the newly discovered innovations and in response to changing demands by the HPI and society.

The beginning. When did the modern HPI actually begin? There are several dates, depending on which part of the HPI that you focus on. In the case of crude oil and natural gas, the begin-ning goes back to the mid-1800s. In that century, technology and opportunity were linking up. Crude oil had been around for years, but it had no real value until innovative inventors discovered how to pull the middle fraction (kerosine) from crude oil. At the same time, the “bottom-of-the-barrel” was distilled and stabilized with sulfur to produce asphalt. With asphalt, cities could top-pave streets to han-dle the newest transportation form—the automobile. Quick note: In the late 1890s in the US, there were more electric automobiles (EVs) than gasoline powered vehicles. EVs developed by Thomas Edison initially outnumbered the internal-combustion engine units.

Mobilization of society. Cost was a factor in owning a pri-vate car at that time. Early automobiles were very expensive, and only the truly wealthy could afford such a luxury. And then a clever solution arose to meet society’s needs. In this case, a bright, young engineer working for and mentored by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford had his own vision for personal transportation. This keenly bright engineer later discovered the modern assembly line to mass produce his gasoline-powered vehicle. The ability to mass produce quality vehicles dramatically cut entry ownership costs. And soon, more people were more mobile, and commerce grew with an increasingly easy flow of goods, materials and manpower to further build manufacturing capacity and capability.

Revolutionary changes. Hydrocarbon-based energy (crude oil, coal and natural gas) is the lubricant that drives domestic and global economies. Hydrocarbons will remain the primary energy sources for the next 35 years.

History has shaped the HPI. Likewise, the HPI has changed the course of history for the global economy. “The more things change, the more they remain the same.” Change is a constant part of the HPI. Hard work and innovation often supply the solutions to the rising needs of society. The modern HPI grew out from the constant demands by the modern societies of the 1900s, and it still continues as developing nations improve the standard of living for their citizens.

In 2012, HP will look back and share from our archives many

of the major breakthroughs in processing technologies along with catalyst, equipment, instrumentation, analytical and automation developments that have revolutionized the global HPI.

HPI headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, January 2002:

China gains official entry into World Trade Organization (WTO). On Dec. 11, 2001, China became the WTO’s 143rd member. As a result, China has agreed to open and liberalize its regime, offering a more predictable environment for trade and foreign investment. In 2000, China was the world’s seventh lead-ing exporter and eighth largest importer of merchandise trade. For commercial services, China was the 12th leading exporter and 10th largest importer, according to the WTO.

Natural gas supplies in US are up; pricing continues downward trend. The Department of Energy analysis of the natural gas (NG) market indicates that prices should continue to decline through next year and that supplies are to increase. NG prices are expected to decline from $4.09/thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in 2001 to $1.96/ Mcf in 2002, while supplies should increase from 22.45 Tcf in 2001

Giant cokers at the Great Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. plant near Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, will upgrade bitumen into a variety of hydrocarbon products. They will also produce about 2,800 tpd of coke to supply fuel to the power plant. Each of the six drums is 94 ft tall and 26 ft in diameter. Photo courtesy of Sun Oil Co., September 1967.

HPI

NSIGHT

12

I

to 23.53 Tcf in 2002. Mild weather, additional drilling and a slow-ing economy have reduced NG consumption.

Study ‘sorts through’ oxygenate issues. Whatever environmental benefits the oxygenate requirement in the US had in the early 1990s, they have since “weakened considerably” as a more decisive role is played by improved auto emissions technology. Over the past two driving seasons supply problems, especially for reformu-lated gasoline (RFG), have had major impact on prices. MTBE and ethanol are the most widely used oxygenates. Together they make up 5% of the gasoline barrel, with MTBE volumes nearly three times those of ethanol.

HPI headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, January 1992:

The European Energy Charter is signed in The Netherlands by 40 nations including the US, Japan, European Community member countries and the USSR’s successor, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Parties agree to keep their energy accessible to foreign investment and to encourage technology transfer to states that don’t have current equipment and knowledge. OPEC will export 25.5 million bpd of crude in first-quarter 1992, the International Energy Agency forecasts. Production is now at 25 MMbpd and is expected to remain the same for a few

months. A diplomatic stalemate in the Iraq/UN negotiations continues, along with instability in the Commonwealth of Inde-pendent States. World oil markets could maintain their strength through the first quarter. It is uncertain whether OPEC can main-tain its $21/bbl target price in the second quarter.

Very tough gasoline reformulation standards are on the way for California. Cited as the toughest in the world, the California regs will greatly alter eight motor gasoline chemical and physical param-eters: Rvp, oxygenates, aromatics, olefins, sulfur, benzene and two distillation ranges. Regs will take effect by March 1, 1996. Total esti-mated capital outlay by California refiners is $2 billion to $5 billion.

HPI headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, January 1982:

Energy independence for US is within reach, says Houston oilman, George Mitchell. “Within 10 to 15 years, the US can be 90% energy self sufficient,” says Mitchell who focuses on the “underestimated” oil/gas reserves—especially gas, which, in tight formations alone, may hit 500 Tcf.

Energy R&D and demonstration urgently needed according to new IEA report. The International Energy Agency’s latest study calls for more R&D to develop new technology choices to deliver more energy in the 1990s. Vulnerability of national economies to oil price increases, supply cutoffs, unsteady foreign exchange rates, inflation and unemployment are having impacts on R&D investments in IEA countries.

HPI headlines from Hydrocarbon Processing, January 1972:

Worldwide plastics boom seen continuing. All market signs show 1971 to be a record-breaking year for the US plastics indus-try. In 1970, US plastics production reached 18.7 billion lb. Major markets for plastic include construction, packaging, trans-portation, appliance and furniture industries. During the past decade, plastics experienced a 300% production increase with a 30% annual average increase. Global plastic (exclusive of Com-munist Asia) increased from 17.3 billion lb in 1960/1962 to 58.4 billion lb in 1969 and is projected to reach 220 billion lb by 1980. Increasing global gross national product support this growth along with new and broader dissemination of plastic technologies. US had about as many engineering grads in 1971 as in 1970. Just over 43,000 bachelor’s degrees were awarded in 1971. Of these, 8,966 were MEs, and 3,626 were ChEs.

US refining capacity up 4% in 1971. Daily operating capacity of US refineries, as of Sept. 30, 1971, has risen to 13.1 million bpd, an increase of 529, 944 bpd. West Coast refineries increased capacity by 53,091 bpd and East Coast refineries increased capacity by 72,800 bpd. Texas Gulf Coast refineries increased thruput by 284,915 bpd, and the Louisiana Gulf Coast increased capacity by 149, 200 bpd. Toray Industries Inc. has completed a xylene isomerization system at the Kawasaki, Japan, plant. The unit uses the Toray’s Isolene process and brings the firm’s total paraxylene production capacity to 90,000 tpy.

To see the headlines from 1962 to 1922, visit HydrocarbonProcessing.com.

The “granddaddy” of reactors—more than 100 ft long and weighing 600 tons—was fabricated by Chicago Bridge & Iron at its Birmingham, Alabama, facility. Construction specialists of Fluor Corp., Ltd., will install the high-pressure reactor as part of an expansion program for Standard Oil Co’s (Ohio) Toledo, Ohio refinery. This vessel is the heaviest piece of equipment ever shipped by rail. Photo courtesy Fluor Corp., October 1965.

Construction at Standard Oil’s Lima refinery includes a new cat cracker with an updated regenerator. The project includes new demethanizer, debutanizer and depropanizer columns that make-up the gasoline recovery plant. Photo courtesy of Standard Oil Co., June 1949.

CB&I has worked in more than 100 countries around the world, on all

seven continents. We have the global experience and local

knowledge to safely deliver superior results in all kinds of

environments. From concept to completion, CB&I gets the job done.

On Time. On Budget.

On Any Continent.

www.CBI.com

Good night.

Rest easy, your operation is running smoothly, efficiently, safely.

That’s because you manage your operation successfully, without the worry of persistent lubrication issues that divert attention away from the core business. You turned to Total Lubrication ManagementSM _{from Colfax. They gave}

you the on-site team of specialists, the long-term commitment, the customized program of products, services and expertise, the sustainable, continuous improvement to take one heavy load off your shoulders. Dedicated to keep you Up and Running, so that you have many more good nights. And good days too.

Colfax Total Lubrication Management... Up and Running

Colfax is a registered trademark and Total Lubrication is a service mark of Colfax Corporation. ©2012 Colfax Corporation. All rights reserved.

HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR

HPI

N RELIABILITY

[email protected]

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

The business manager for an asset management solutions (AMS) firm in the Middle East faced a big task. He had been asked to execute a major project for an oil and gas producer and wanted to have his questions answered on remaining rotating equipment life at existing client sites. The manager’s charge was to analyze large oil and gas plants that had been operating for far more than 25 years, although they were originally designed for 20 to 25 years only.

The aim of his AMS firm was to secure the future of the client’s assets for another 20 years. The AMS manager had to determine what the client needed to do to stay in business for another 20 years without undue risk of production loss and without jeopardizing the high level of safety the company had achieved for its human and physical assets.

Before meeting with the manager and his staff, we had to set the stage for a productive week of meetings. Once we agreed that his firm’s charter was to quantify the remaining life of the client’s turbines, compressors, pump and other equipment, the deliverables for a reliability consultant had to be delineated. The consultant defined his work effort to explaining key parameters and spelling out what the formula or approach would be for calculating the remaining life of each rotating machine.

Plant data are the key ingredients. We believe that the key ingredients of any useful endeavor when determining the remaining life of machinery is hidden in the client plant’s own past failure history. Where such history exists and the root causes for the failures have been analyzed, authoritative answers on remaining life are possible. Conversely, when these data are lacking, applicable data from others would have to be substituted.

Regarding stationary equipment and piping, corrosion data should be available from coupons or from nondestructive test-ing readtest-ings. If no such test data are available from a particular facility, the AMS firm was advised to use third-party surveys and look at corrosion rates experienced in comparable indus-tries and under comparable or scaleable conditions. This effort takes time and money.

Because our specialty is rotating machinery, we wanted to look first at process pumps. In the HPI, these simple machines suffer many thousands of unexplained repeat failures every year. We outlined to the AMS to focus on the pumps, audit the plant’s own failure history and past repair data first. To the maximum extent possible, plant data and pump configurations must be compared against upgrade measures taken by success-ful “best-of-class” organizations. Advanced lube application strategies are used by best-of-class facilities. These strategies must enter into the comparison, as will the extension of oil-replacement intervals made possible by better lubricants and superior bearing housing protection measures.

Mechanical seal life must be assessed and compared against best-available sealing technologies. This requires a liaison with the most competent mechanical seal suppliers. It requires the seal supplier’s active cooperation and divulgence of what some claim (without real good justification) to represent proprietary information. For instance, the extent to which superior dual-sealing technology is of value must be determined on a service-by-service or even pump-by-pump basis.

In like fashion, the extent to which superior bearings (ceramic hybrids) would lengthen pump life or avoid bearing failures must be determined on a pump-by-pump basis. Lubricant appli-cation and standby bearing preservation are especially important in humid coastal and tropical environments, as well as in desert climates. Oil-mist lubrication extends the life of general-purpose machinery, and the AMS should consider it.

Piping and foundations affect remaining life. Then there is the issue of piping for all machinery types. Just as resi-dential sidewalks and the walls of houses move and settle, pipe supports and equipment foundations will settle. The effect of such settling on pipe connections and equipment nozzles can be visualized and must certainly be considered. Examining the grout support under base plates will be quite revealing.

Whenever steam turbines are used, blade stresses and water quality at the client site must be compared to those in successful long-running installations elsewhere.1 _{This is a time-consuming} endeavor that requires an investigator’s time; mere guessing will not suffice. Of course, if a comparable experience exists else-where, the investigative effort may take less time.

In the case of geared units, remaining gear life must be exam-ined by calculating tooth loading (stresses on tooth face) and from temperature measurements. In all instances, synthetic lubes from experienced oil formulators will greatly extend gear life. The right oil additives are needed for life extensions. They drive maintenance cost and affect gear life; oil cleanliness ranks next on the investigator’s priority list. Certain warehouse spares (gears, electric motors, etc.) should be upgraded, if important.

Dealing with asset management and life extension

Fluorosint balance piston seal Holder Flow Bleed tap behind seal

A compressor abradable seal detail.2

HPI

N RELIABILITY

16

I

Upgrading spares is likely to speed up equipment recommission-ing after an unanticipated future shutdown.

Reciprocating compressor upgrades. Since 1980, reciprocating compressors have benefitted from upgraded pis-ton-rod coatings, improved rod attachments, effective onstream monitoring, more efficient valves, superior cylinder lubricants, improved volume control and a host of other add-ons or modi-fications. They are mentioned here because they serve as a model for questions raised and answers sought.

The key to knowing about these improvements lies in keep-ing track of the materials and appurtenances that were originally provided by the equipment manufacturer and to then ask what would be included if such equipment were delivered today. Once that question is answered, a cost-justification calculation will indicate if upgrading is appropriate. Needless to say, if the asset owners do not know the details of their machine, then the answers are more difficult to generate. As usual, data are impor-tant; without data, proper asset management will prove elusive.

Compressors: All of the above are important! For compressors, one looks at all of the above discussed equipment. Valve technology and piston velocity are important comparison-worthy parameters on reciprocating compressors. On-stream performance tracking and observation of prior sealing experi-ence are important for centrifugal and axial compressors. This performance tracking and a review of the client’s present seal-ing technology determine seal-system upgrade potential. Even

the compressor-internal seal materials must be examined in detail (Fig. 1) and judgments made as to their failure potential. Couplings and the work procedures associated with attaching couplings to shafts should not be overlooked; neither should shaft alignment quality and philosophy. They all tell a lot about the remaining equipment life and failure risk.

Whether a facility ultimately receives guidance from an estab-lished expert or whether an AMS puts its trust in someone else with similar experience is of no consequence, so long as the expert working for the AMS:

1) Authoritatively spells out recommended measures 2) Thoroughly explains recommended upgrade steps 3) Identifies recommended vendors that should do the upgrading

4) Defines the deliverables that should be contractually agreed on between upgrade the provider and the client. HP

LITERATURE CITED

1 _{Bloch, H. P. and M. P. Singh, Steam Turbines: Design, Applications and}

Re-Rating, 2nd Ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, New York, 2009.

2 _{Quance, S., “Using plastic seals to improve compressor performance,”}

Turbomachinery International, January/February 1997.

HERMETIC-Pumpen GmbH

[email protected] · www.hermetic-pumpen.com Today’s Application:

LNG-PROCESSING, HANDLING AND STORAGE

HERMETIC design features

Q 100 % leakage free

₉

Q _{Low life-cycle-costs}

9

Q Low noise level

₉

Q High reliability

₉

Q _{Customized design – adapted to your}

process requirements

₉

Customer‘s technical specifi cation

Q _{Capacity: 120 m³/h}

9

Q Head: 1400 m

₉

Q _{Pressure rating: PN 100}

9

Q Motor power: 370 kW

₉

H E R M E T I C A L L Y S E A L E D C E N T R I F U G A L P U M P S

HERMETIC-Pump Type CAMTV 52/6+6

The author is Hydrocarbon Processing’s Reliability/Equipment Editor. A practic-ing consultpractic-ing engineer with 50 years of applicable experience, he advises process plants worldwide on failure analysis, reliability improvement and maintenance cost-avoidance topics.

RELIABLE SWISS QUALITY

API 618

Rod load up to 1'500 kN/335'000 Ibs Power up to 31'000 kW/42'100 HP

FULL RANGE:

YOU GET MORE THAN JUST A PROCESS GAS COMPRESSOR

Lubricated up to 1'000 bar, non-lubricated up to 300 bar

For highest availability: We recom-mend our own designed, in-house engineered compressor valves and key compressor components

Designed for easy maintenance We are the competent partner with the full range of services – worldwide

→ www.recip.com/api618 Rod load up to 1'500 kN/335'000 Ibs

Power up to 31'000 kW/42'100 HP

FULL RANGE:

YOU GET MORE THAN JUST A

PROCESS GAS COMPRESSOR For highest availability: We recom-mend our own designed, in-house

engineered compressor valves and

Designed for easy maintenance We are the competent partner with the full range of services

YOUR BENEFIT:

LOWEST LIFE CYCLE COSTS

Selas Fluid

Subsidiary of The Linde Group

www.linde-engineering.com

sales@selasĽ uid.com

Headquarters: Five Sentry Parkway East • Blue Bell, PA 19422 USA • Tel: 610-832-8797 • Fax: 610-834-0473 Texas Ofļ ce: 16225 Park Ten Place • Suite 250 • Houston, TX 77084 USA • Tel: 281-717-9090 • Fax: 281-717-9091

Linde has built a history of proven results with over 250

synthesis gas plants and 2,800 air separation plants

installed worldwide.

As a world class supplier of synthesis gas and air separation plants, Linde Engineering and its subsidiary, Selas Fluid, provide single source responsibility for engineering, procurement and construction of complete synthesis gas and air separation plants.

Synthesis Gas Plants:

Hydrogen

Carbon monoxide H2/CO synthesis gas Ammonia

Methanol

Synthetic natural gas • • • • • •

Cryogenic Plants - standard or custom designed: Nitrogen Oxygen Argon • • •

Results

HPI

NTEGRATION STRATEGIES

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

KEVIN CRISAFULLI, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

In a traditional batch-blending process, the final product com-position is created by combining different intermediate products (held in storage tanks) in a blend tank. The objective is to create final products that meet customer specifications. However, in many process manufacturing applications, tankless, inline blend-ing may provide a better solution, particularly in grassroots process plants or for expansion projects in existing plants.

Inline blending involves continuous mixing of two or more intermediate products using flowmeters and control valves, to obtain a final product of strictly defined proportions. In theory, inline blending could enable process plants to save money by reducing the blend time, the need for excessive storage capacities and mix tanks, maintenance manpower and costly quality give-away. Although not as well-established as batch blending, inline blending has also been around for years.

Blending systems. There are two basic types of inline blend-ing systems: controlled-rate and flow-responsive systems. In con-trolled-rate systems, the flowrate is set by a blend controller and either manually or automatically controlled. The flowrate of the feed streams is maintained as the desired ratio of the component in the end product. Flow-responsive systems utilize the main feed stream as a constant to which all other intermediate stocks are blended at the desired ratios.

Product and process optimization. Blending involves numerous issues. What finished products are presently in demand by the market? What intermediate stocks and additives are required to make those finished products, and are they available? And, of course, which product will net the biggest profit? This represents a challenging optimization problem; it requires close coordination between marketing and operations groups.

Inline blending can help simplify this problem to a certain degree. Rather than holding several intermediate products in stor-age tanks where they are blended one at a time in a mixing tank, analyzed, re-blended (as needed), touched up and reanalyzed prior to delivery to the customer, inline blending allows the product to be analyzed continuously as it is being blended (enabling corrections to be made online as needed) and loaded directly to a truck, rail or tanker ship for delivery to the customer.

To achieve this, an inline blending system is typically comprised of two or more feed streams, each fitted with a strainer, flowmeter and control valve. As the feed streams are combined, the turbulence cre-ated is generally not enough to mix the components properly, often requiring an inline mixer to be utilized in the process. Once the inter-mediate products have been blended, an inline analyzer with a set trim point (such as density or viscosity) ensures that the final product meets minimum quality specifications. The analyzer and blend con-troller monitor the flow, ratio and trim of each stream continuously. Some inline blending unit suppliers also provide sampling features that take samples at set intervals throughout the blending process.

By reducing the need for mixing tanks, inline final product blending eliminates a time-consuming step to the process and can help reduce capital costs for the tanks themselves and labor costs associated with maintaining the tanks. Inline blending can also help increase flexibility and enable products to be blended on demand, rather than being stored onsite in anticipation of delivery.

Reduced quality giveaway. In addition to reducing the time of the blend process and eliminating the need for separate blend tanks, inline blending also greatly reduces the risk of quality giveaway. As the intermediate products are combined at predeter-mined ratios and flowrates, and continuously analyzed through-out the process, production of a final product that over-conforms to the specifications of the desired product is minimized.

Typically, when batch blending, operators are overly cautious with their blends to ensure that their final product meets the customers’ product specifications. This can result in costly quality giveaway. When performed properly, inline blending allows the plant to tighten its control on the blending process and to more closely match the required specifications.

To account and compensate for stratification, tank heel or other process disturbances that may cause stream starvation, a trim strategy can be applied to help further ensure the product quality. A trim strategy throughout the process reduces variance in product quality, enhances product homogeneity and helps produce products as close to the desired specifications as possible. A trim strategy is a crucial aspect of the process, since it can help eliminate the need for re-blending or “touching up” the product after the fact. HP

The author has over 10 years’ experience in software and manufacturing industries. He joined ARC in 2006 and holds a BS degree in marketing from Nichols College.

Inline blending can help process plants

cut costs and reduce quality give-away

Component tank farm Pumps Meters Control valves Blend header Blended product

Typical inline blending system. Source: Jiskoot Quality Systems.

BETE Fog Nozzle,Inc.

BETE Fog Nozzle,Inc.

BETE Fog Nozzle, Inc. 50 Greenfield St. Greenfield, MA 01301 T (413) 772-0846 F (413) 772-6729

www.bete.com

• 3D design, modeling, and measurement tools to create customized nozzle solutions

• State-of-the-art spray laboratory to verify performance and supply detailed test results

• Investment casting foundry for complete quality control and fast delivery • Specialized fabrication and welding expertise for multi-component assemblies IN-HOUSE CAPABILITIES

Let our experience provide you with a successful spraying solution.

www.bete.com

PERFORMANCE THROUGH ENGINEERING

PERFORMANCE THROUGH ENGINEERING

Custom spray lances, quills, and injectors

BETE provides drop-in solutions in the form of custom spray lances, quills,

and injectors. Why endure

the time and hassle to source pipe, flanges, nozzles, and fittings separately and then coordinate fabrication and testing of the assembly when you can have BETE do it all for you?

BETE offers free brochure on nozzles for fire protection

Get’em while they’re hot!

A color brochure on BETE’s high-performance nozzles, used in dust explosion protection for industrial/commercial installations, petroleum storage and transfer

stations, LNG tanks and on offshore drilling and production platforms, is now available.

MaxiPass™ (MP) Nozzles from BETE

The ultimate in clog-resistance with the largest free passage available in a full cone nozzle

Two unique s-shaped internal vanes allow free passage of particles equal to the orifice size, making the MP perfect for

handling dirty, lumpy liquids. Pattern uniformity is exceptional, providing an even distribution throughout. Reliable spray under difficult conditions. Low flow model available.

Scrubbing

Quenching

Injection

Washing

BETE. Your powerful partner

for spray nozzle solutions.

MaxiFan™ nozzles from BETE Provide FCCU feed injection and gas cooling

Spray Characteristics: • Uniform flat fan pattern for

improved oil to catalyst contact • Provides good atomization

at low pressure drop • Two-phase

atomization allows a wide range of flow rates to accommodate design, turndown and maximum feed conditions

DUR O LOK®_{couplings from BETE}

for small spaces and ease of maintenance.

Designed to reduce maintenance, materials costs, and space requirements for pipe racks.

BETE’s DUR O LOK®

couplings are all-purpose, lightweight connectors designed to replace standard ANSI flanges and meet the following codes: • ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code,

Section VIII

• ASME B31.1, Code for Pressure Piping • ASME B31.3, Code for Process Piping

HPIN ASSOCIATIONS

BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

[email protected]

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

Most folks don’t know it, but the epi-center for high-level downstream refin-ing safety discussions durrefin-ing late October was in the land where the Aggie roams freely. That would, of course, be College Station, Texas, where Texas A&M’s Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center hosted its annual international sympo-sium on safety.

The keynote speaker for the event was former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN), an expert voice on international affairs respected by folks across the ideo-logical spectrum for his common sense approach to governance and true concern for the betterment of the US. Mr. Hamil-ton currently serves as the co-chair of the US Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future.

The MC. The master of ceremonies for the symposium and a man who could be seen anywhere and everywhere through-out the three day event, ever-so-busy and yet ever-so-happy to stop and speak with any individual (and there were many) who wished to speak with him, was Dr. Sam Mannan, the director of the university’s process safety center. In a touching event on the last day of the conference, one of Dr. Mannan’s professor colleagues from Poland gave a hastily scheduled speech in which he extolled Dr. Mannan’s con-tributions to the field of industrial safety studies. A clearly touched Dr. Mannan thanked his friend and colleague for the recognition, and then Dr. Mannan was unable to speak any further, because the overwhelming wave of applause from the audience simply became too great for any-one to hear what he was saying.

PSM metrics. There were all sorts of great presentations over the course of the conference. One that held particular sway with me was given by Dawn Wurst, the safety manager for Flint Hills Resources at its facility in St. Paul, Minnesota. She offered an interesting take on how pro-cess safety management (PSM) metrics

impact process safety culture. Her remarks focused on the 320,000 bpd Pine Bend refinery southeast of St. Paul. In 2007, one of the refinery’s polymerization units was adjusting a chemical addition pump located near a caustic treatment vessel and an atmospheric tank when suddenly the tank exploded, launched off its pad and came crashing down in an open area nearby. A ground fire followed that was extinguished within one hour. Significant equipment damage resulted, but fortu-nately there were no human injuries.

As the leadership at the refinery learned more about the factors that caused the explosion, they became hungry for more PSM-related information. Safety management at the facility realized after the tank explosion occurred that there was a fundamental flaw in the existing categories defined for PSM events. For instance, the measurement system did not distinguish between a low impact pressure relief device activation and a major tank explosion. Severity had not been consid-ered in the categories.

With this in mind, Pine Bend added another dimension to its PSM catego-ries, converting them into a matrix that incorporated three severity levels. The full matrix was developed further with detailed criteria for each category and severity level. What differentiated Pine Bend’s new matrix from that which is recommended by CCPS and API criteria is that CCPS and API advise only track-ing events at the upper level of severity, while Pine Bend’s system tracked the two lower levels as well, investigating each instance as a possible indicator leading to a larger event.

The leadership of Pine Bend imple-mented the three level matrix and started a daily tracking of PSM events that was dis-cussed every morning at the refinery’s sum-mary meeting. The count of days between moderate and high (B and C) severity events was included at the bottom of the morning summary. The safety managers also created PSM “smart cards” for use by

the entire refinery, explaining the basics of PSM on a reference card. The reference card was distributed to all refinery supervi-sors and used in a series of safety talks.

Fast forward to today: Pine Bend has been collecting this data for over four years now, and it has provided the refinery with invaluable process safety improvement knowledge. In 2010, a step change in significant (B or C) process safety event frequency occurred. Though the count of process safety A-level (the lowest) events has grown each year since monitoring began, B and C events have decreased. With a specific measure in place regarding days between B and C events, Pine Bend was able to see how sustainable the event performance could be. On November 10, 2010, Pine Bend celebrated 200 days since the last B or C process safety event. The organization celebrated with a steak din-ner for all employees. HP

Former Congressman Lee Hamilton (D-IN) was the keynote speaker at the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center International Symposium.

Dr. Sam Mannan, director of the Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, was the master of ceremonies throughout the event.

Making safety second nature

YOU CAN DO THAT

Get the flexibility you need–where and when you need it–with Electronic Marshalling.

Tight project schedules and changing requirements are the norm, not the exception, so Emerson makes handling them easy by eliminating re-wiring altogether. Only with DeltaV Electronic Marshalling can you land field cabling wherever and whenever you want, regardless of signal type or control strategies. It’s the flexibility to add I/O today, tomorrow or ten years from now. See how DeltaV Electronic Marshalling makes it easy, scan the code below or visit: IOonDemandCalculator.com

The Emerson logo is a trademark and a service mark of Emerson Electric Co. © 2011 Emerson Electric Co.

There’s no way I can get all the I/O

change orders done before start-up.

But we can’t start-up until the

change orders are done.

HPI

MPACT

BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR

[email protected]

HYDROCARBON PROCESSING JANUARY 2012

I

A radically different

transport sector by 2050

The World Energy Council (WEC) expects that transport fuel demand in the next 40 years will come mainly from developing countries such as China and India, where demand will grow by 200% to 300%. In contrast, the transport fuel demand for the developed countries will drop by up to 20%, mainly due to increased efficiencies. The demand of the developing countries is expected to sur-pass that of the developed countries by the year 2025.

The report also says that oil may still fuel more than 80% of the global transport sector for the next 40 years due to strong demand growth from the heavy duty sector, shipping and air traffic. By 2050, WEC projects that global fuel demand in all transport modes could increase by 30% to 82%, compared to 2010 levels. The dra-matic increase was revealed in a study pre-sented by the WEC at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha, Qatar.

The study describes potential develop-ments in global transport fuels and tech-nology systems on the basis of two distinct scenarios: “Freeway” and “Tollway.” The Freeway scenario envisages a world where pure market forces prevail to create a cli-mate for open global competition and solu-tions which are driven by lowest cost and the private sector. The Tollway scenario describes a more regulated world where governments decide to intervene in markets to promote early adoption of alternative technology solutions and invest in public transport infrastructure putting common interests at the forefront.

“It is evident that the transport sector is about to go through a radical change,” said Karl Rose, director of policy and scenarios at the World Energy Council. “The light duty vehicle sector in OECD countries will be almost completely transformed in terms of fuel mix and we will see a pronounced shift of demand for transport fuels to the developing countries. The effect of the pen-etration of new technologies seems to be less profound than many have predicted, mainly due to the exceptional growth in heavy transport demand.”

“Our study reveals a particularly strong rise in demand for diesel, fuel oil and jet fuel which together constitute the bulk of transport market fuels,” said Ayed Al-Qahtani, a senior project manager for WEC. “By 2050, the demand for these three fuels could increase by between 10% and 68%; diesel alone will grow by between 46% and 200%, while jet fuel will grow by 200% to 300%. This has potentially significant implications for refiners and the downstream sector as a whole, especially in Europe which traditionally has a larger focus on diesel fuels.”

The consequences for the environment are significant. In 2010, the CO2 emissions from the transport sector were about 23% of global CO2 emission levels and emis-sions from cars were about 41% of total transport emissions. With the higher lev-els of transport demand in 2050, depend-ing on the fuel mix, total CO2 emissions from the transportation sector are expected to increase between 16% (Tollway) and 79% (Freeway), depending entirely on the degree of governments’ intervention in the transport markets and the success in advancing low carbon fuel systems.

WEC concludes that the biggest chal-lenge is for governments to provide sus-tainable transport for nine billion people in 2050, and to do it at the lowest possible social cost (with minimum possible con-gestion, pollution, and noise generated by additional traffic and freight volumes).

China dominates the

nylon engineering

plastics market

Growing demand for durable goods, and the production of those goods in Asia and China, in particular, means that, through 2016, Northeast Asia will con-tinue to be the largest consumer of nylon engineering resins, a specialty chemicals group of engineering plastics used for pro-duction of a broad range of applications including component parts for automo-biles, electronics and appliances. This is according to a new global market study issued by IHS. The study focuses on engi-neering plastic markets and applications, and covers historical developments and

future projections for supply, demand, capacity and trade in the global nylon 6 and nylon 6,6 engineering thermoplastic resin markets for 2006 to 2016.

In 2011, Northeast Asia led global consumption of nylon 6 resin at nearly 45% of the market, while it consumed slightly more than 30% of global demand for nylon 6,6, with much of this regional demand for both attributed to China. According to the report, global demand for these specialty resins is expected to grow at an average rate of 4% per year for nylon 6, and nearly 5% per year for nylon 6,6, dur-ing the forecast period.

“A great deal of the world’s production of consumer durable goods has moved from other regions to China, making China the global workshop, and nylon components are used in many of the durable goods pro-duced,” said Paul Blanchard, senior princi-pal chemical analyst at IHS and lead author of the report. “While most nylon is used in production of synthetic fibers and filaments, nylon’s combination of mechanical strength, heat performance and chemical resistance make it an attractive replacement for metal in many engineering plastic applications.”

The market expansion for these specialty plastics is driven in large part by the need to reduce weight, emissions and the cost of automobiles. Pushed by consumers and governments to produce energy-efficient, less polluting cars, auto manufacturers are increasingly replacing metal with parts made from compounded nylon resins. According to Mr. Blanchard, this trend will continue to expand demand for these engi-neering resins going forward.

“Heat resistance, in particular, is critical if you consider that making vehicles smaller requires more components to coexist and operate in a smaller space under the hood, with fewer design options to minimize exposure to heat generated by the engine,” he said. “Nylon is the material of choice for high-heat situations because of its combi-nation of performance and price.”

According to the study, China’s demand dominance for these specialty resins isn’t just tied to its need to satisfy export demand, but, increasingly, to also meet its own growing domestic consumption of durable goods.

24

I

HPI

MPACT

“China introduced very effective eco-nomic incentives in 2009 to grow its domestic consumer demand for durable goods, a move which helped the country during the recession,” Mr. Blanchard said. “With regard to nylon, a collapse in Chi-na’s export market demand for finished goods early in the recession was largely offset by increased domestic demand for automobiles, appliances and electronics as well as higher demand for nylon fibers.”

This domestic demand for products, he added, coupled with a recovery of export demand in 2010, resulted in growth in demand for nylon and intermediates, increas-ing China’s reliance on imported materials and tightening global supply balances.

“As a result of increased demand and tightening supply, nylon prices increased globally. Only in the third quarter of 2011 have we seen prices ease as global demand for chemicals softened due to the ongo-ing economic crisis,” said Mr. Blanchard. “The expansion of nylon capacity is depen-dent upon the availability of intermediate materials, and while new nylon capacity is expected to be added, the price and avail-ability of that capacity is still going to be impacted by the supply of intermediates, at least until the middle of the next decade.”

New policies needed to

scale up renewable energy

Governments should consider the scal-ing up of renewable energy as part of eco-nomic development strategy, rather than as an environmental strategy with the sec-ondary benefits of job creation. This is one of many recommendations from a report exploring financing strategies for large scale deployment of renewable energy projects. The report was authored by the Clean Energy Group, commissioned by the Inter-national Energy Agency–Renewable Energy Technology Deployment (IEA–RETD ). IEA–RETD is a cooperation of nine coun-tries under the umbrella of the IEA.

Making the switch to large-scale renew-able energy systems will require investment with magnitudes in the trillions of dollars. The necessary transformation is on the scale of the information technology revo-lution of the past three decades.

Renewable energy investments are on a growth trajectory, reflected by $243 billion of global CAPEX in 2009. However, these recent figures do not reflect international consensus among many policymakers on the future levels of investment required

to finance the large-scale deployment of renewable energy technologies to address climate change risks. Such commitments have been made all the more difficult in the current financial crisis.

However, the level of capital is available with new, conventional investors, but only on terms that are within their investment parameters. Governments have an impor-tant role in providing the right conditions. Simply scaling up public subsidies is not a viable solution.

The report advises that policies should specifically reduce the technical and insti-tutional policy risks associated with renew-able energy technologies and, at the same time, increase the profit potential of these investments. An economic and infrastruc-ture systems approach is required. Some major recommendations for present day up to 2015 include:

• Build local markets for a country’s renewable energy products.

• Fill identified gaps in industry value chains such as manufacturing support or workforce development.

• Institutionalize the functions to man-age the economic development, finance mechanisms and technology innovation.

• Create investment incentives that will attract investments from new pools, like corporations.

• Consider creation of “green” bonds. • Increase private and public research and development in renewable energy tech-nologies.

• Combine feed-in tariffs (FITs), national tax credit schemes and manda-tory renewable procurement for utilities into successful instruments.

• Public procurement of renewable energy and mandatory use of renewable technologies in new buildings are possible “quick wins” in policies.

• Establish the “emerging technol-ogy renewable auction mechanism” (ET-RAM) that requires local utilities to pro-cure renewable energy project outputs from specific technology classes. This would be a driver for innovative renewable energy technologies to enter the market.

In the phase from 2016–2020, poli-cies have to build on these experiences, stimulating reinvestment and attract-ing even more cautious investors. In the period from 2020–2050, a fully formed infrastructure investment portfolio will continue along the new renewable energy economy path, producing jobs, wealth and environmental benefits, the report said.

Bioplastics demand

to exceed 1 million

metric tons in 2015

Global demand for biodegradable and bio-based plastics will more than triple to over 1 million metric tons in 2015, valued at $2.9 billion. Gains will be fueled by a number of factors, including consumer preferences for environmentally sustain-able materials, improved performance of bioplastic resins relative to traditional plas-tics, and the introduction of commodity plastics produced from bio-based sources. Ultimately, however, price considerations will be the primary determinant of bio-plastic market success, and it is expected that rising petroleum costs will allow some bioplastic resins to be able to achieve price parity with conventional plastics by the end of the decade. These and other trends are in a new study from The Freedonia Group.

Biodegradable plastics accounted for 90% of the world bioplastics market in 2010. Excellent growth is forecast for the two leading biodegradable plastics, starch-based resins and polylactic acid (PLA), both of which will more than double in demand through 2015. The fastest gains for biodegradable plastics, however, will be seen for polyhydroxy-alkanoate (PHA) resins, which are just entering the com-mercial market.

Cloudy outlook

The North American energy industry faces a generally stable operating environ-ment although ongoing sovereign and eco-nomic concerns are risks in 2012, accord-ing to energy sector outlook reports from credit-watch firm Fitch Ratings. Overall market conditions for the US refining industry are stable but remain vulnerable to further global economic weakness.

Fitch anticipates that the dislocations in Brent-WTI spread, which dominated 2011 refiner results, will continue to be important but should decline in size as the resolution of capacity takeaway issues out of the mid-continent eases the bottleneck at Cushing, Oklahoma. As a result, traditional driv-ers of refining profitability should gain in importance, including wider light-heavy spreads, higher clean product yields (espe-cially distillates) and cheap natural gas.

The refining industry’s outlook for free cash flow is good in 2012, driven by rea-sonable operating cash flow and generally low mandatory capital spending require-ments. HP

1-800-95-SPRAY | spray.com | Specify and order standard nozzles spray.com/ispray

Why Leading Refineries

and Engineering Firms Rely

on Us for Injectors and Quills

Manufacturing quality and flexibility.

Need a simple quill or multi-nozzle injector? Insertion length of a few inches or several feet? 150# or 2500# class flange? High-pressure, high-temperature and/or corrosion-resistant construction? Special design features like a water-jacket, air purge or easy retraction for maintenance? Tell us what you need and we’ll design and manufacture to your specifications and meet B31.1, B31.3 and CRN (Canadian Registration Number) requirements.

Design validation with process modeling.

Let us simulate the injection environment to identify potential problems. We can model gas flow, droplet trajectory and velocity, atomization, heat transfer, thermal stresses, vibration and more to ensure optimal performance.

Proven track record.

We’ve manufactured hundreds of injectors for water wash, slurry backflush, LNG processing, feed and additive injection, SNCR and SCR NOx control, desuperheating and more. Customers include Jacobs Engineering, Bechtel, Foster Wheeler Corp., Shaw Group, Conoco Phillips Co., Shell, Valero and dozens more.

Learn More at spray.com/injectors

Visit our web site for helpful literature on key considerations in injector and quill design and guidelines for optimizing performance.

Spray Nozzles Spray Control Spray Analysis Spray Fabrication D32 (μm) 220 165 110 55 0

CFD shows the change in drop size based on nozzle placement in the duct.

Nozzle spraying in-line with duct

Nozzle spraying at 45° in duct Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Dual Nozzle Injector

Retractable Injector, Slurry Backflush Quill, Water Wash Quill (bottom to top)

Z = 0.6 m

Natural Gas

With over forty years of experience providing technology, engineering, fabrication, and construction services, Linde Process Plants, Inc. is in a unique position to be your “one-stop” total optimized plant life-cycle solution provider.

Linde Process Plants, Inc.

6100 South Yale Avenue, Suite 1200, Tulsa, Oklahoma 74136, USA

Phone: +1.918.477.1200, Fax: +1.918.477.1100, www.LPPUSA.com, e-mail: [email protected]

– Gas Treating – Liquid Treating – Liquid Stabilization – Liquid Recovery – Fractionation – Isomerization

– Liquiľ ed Natural Gas (LNG) – Landľ ll Gas Puriľ cation – Nitrogen Rejection

Linde Process Plants, Inc.

Accepting Challenges. Creating Solutions.

A member of The Linde Group