Hydrocarbon Processing 03 2012

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HydrocarbonProcessing.com | MARCH 2013

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MARCH 2013 | Volume 92 Number 3 HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Cover Image: Catalytic reformer No. 3 at BP’s Kwinana refinery, Western Australia. SPECIAL REPORT: CORROSION CONTROL

35

Monitor and minimize corrosion in high-TAN crude processing S. Ghoshal and V. Sainik

39

Mitigate reactor failures due to graphitization A. Al-Meshari, A. Abdelgalil and S. Al-Enazi

43

Consider dewpoint corrosion in reactor design K. Ramesh

51

Corrosion under insulation is a hidden problem T. Hanratty

BONUS REPORT: SAFETY DEVELOPMENTS

55

Process safety management: Going beyond functional safety M. A. Turk and A. Mishra

65

Operator response to alarms is an important protection layer R. Limaye

71

Key aspects of design and operational safety in offsite storage terminals

V. Ramnath, Aker Solutions, Pune, India

CATALYST—SUPPLEMENT

77

Optimize feed treatment for polypropylene process H. Poorkar, H. Shbrain, S. Al-Harbi and A. Al-Saeed

78

Catalyst news

REFINING DEVELOPMENTS

95

Improve benzene control L. McDermott and A. Malik CLEAN FUELS

99

FCC catalyst design evolves to maximize propylene C. Pouwels and K. Bruno

DEPARTMENTS

4

Industry Perspectives

8

Brief

11

Impact

15

Innovations

106

Marketplace

109

Advertiser index COLUMNS

21

Reliability

How the best lubricant provides added value

23

Integration Strategies Wireless sensing benefits from new technology

25

Boxscore Construction Analysis

Saudi Arabia’s plan for near-zero-sulfur fuels

31

Viewpoint

Refiners have a new learning curve with shale oil

110

Engineering Case Histories Case 71: Statistical visual data can be useful in troubleshooting—Part 2

34

8

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4MARCH 2013 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com

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Industry Perspectives

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EU leans forward on clean-fuel strategies

In late January 2013, the European Commission (EC) an-nounced ambitious measures to ensure the buildup and stan-dardization of alternative fueling stations across Europe. Much of the earlier EC policy initiatives addressed fuels and vehicles, but offered little guidance on distribution.

Vicious cycle. In the press release, the EC noted that the im-plementation of “clean-fuel” programs are hindered by three primary barriers:

• High cost of alternative-fuel vehicles

• Low consumer acceptance of alternative-fuel vehicles • Lack of recharging and refueling stations.

Refueling stations are not constructed because there are not enough vehicles. Vehicles are not sold at competitive prices because demand is low. Consumers do not buy the alternative vehicles because they are expensive and there are insufficient fuel stations.

The EC is proposing a package of binding targets for Mem-ber States requiring a minimum level of infrastructure to sup-port clean fuels, along side with common European Union (EU)-wide standards for distribution equipment.

Standardization efforts. The new measures seek to simplify distribution issues for vehicles powered by electricity, hydrogen and natural gas.

Electricity. Across the EU, electric charging points vary

greatly. Germany, France, The Netherlands, Spain and the UK are making progress with electric-refuel stations. The EC announced the “Type 2” plug as the common standard for re-charging electric vehicles. EU automobile makers have sought a common plug to build alternative-fuel stations.

Hydrogen. A significant number of hydrogen fuel stations

are operating in Germany, Italy and Denmark, although not all are publically accessible. Under the proposal, existing hydrogen-fuel stations would form a network with common standards to ensure fueling capabilities.

Natural gas—compressed and liquefied. In the EU, over

one million vehicles, mostly passenger cars, are powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and represent only 0.5% of the vehicle fleet. By 2020, the industry aims to increase the CNG ve-hicle fleet to 10 million units. Such an aggressive target requires publically accessible refueling stations. These stations must have standardize equipment and be available EU-wide.

Further development of alternative-fuel vehicles will require cooperation, standardization and investment. The EC estimates that approximately €10 billion will be necessary to build the minimum infrastructure for alternative fuels by 2020. The proposal is based on the premise that the market will grow and finance itself without the need to involve public funds.

An expanded version of Industry Perspectives can be found online at HydrocarbonProcessing.com.

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IT’S SAF

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CHARLES D. DAVIDSON

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URI NOOTEBOOM

President

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• Experts estimate that Cyprus’ natural gas should be primed for domestic use in 2017, with the potential for export revenue by 2019 or 2020 • Production rates across the Eastern Mediterranean are projected to experience a 31 percent compound annual growth rate over the next 10 years

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• From Off shore Gas Fields to Consumption: How to Monetize Resources Eff ectively - Ricardo Procacci, General Manager, GE Oil & Gas • Cyprus Natural Gas Changing the Picture: Development, Infrastructure and Opportunities - Costas Ioannou, Natural Gas Public Company (DEFA), Cyprus

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| Brief

Galveston Bay refinery

Marathon Petroleum has closed its transaction with BP to purchase several assets, including the 451,000-bpd refinery located in Texas City, Texas. The refinery will be renamed and referred to in future Marathon communications as the Galveston Bay refinery. The deal also includes a 1,040-megawatt cogeneration facility, four light product terminals located in the US Southeast, retail marketing contract assignments for approximately 1,200 branded sites representing approximately 61,000 bpd of gasoline sales, three operating intrastate natural gas liquids pipelines originating at the refinery and a 50,000-bpd allocation of BP’s Colonial Pipeline shipper history. The base purchase price is approximately $598 million, plus inventories valued at approximately $1.1 billion.

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Hydrocarbon Processing | MARCH 2013 9

BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR / [email protected]

Brief

The Canadian National Energy Board has approved an application by LNG Canada Development Inc. for a

license to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a proposed terminal near Kitimat, British Columbia. The export license will authorize LNG Canada to export 670 million tons of LNG over a 25-year period. The maximum annual quantity allowed for export will be 24 million tons of LNG. LNG Canada is a consortium led by Royal Dutch Shell. Shell’s partners in the project include PetroChina, Korea Gas and Japan’s Mitsubishi. As part of the project, Shell plans to build a pipeline that will connect gas fields in northern British Columbia to the Kitimat terminal.

Hess will pursue the sale of its terminal network in the US and complete its exit from the refining business by

closing its refinery in Port Reading, New Jersey. The terminal network is located along the US East Coast and has a total of 28 million barrels of storage capacity in 19 terminals, 12 of which have deepwater access. The terminals previously served as the primary outlet for Hess’ share of production from its Hovensa joint venture refinery, most of which was used to supply Hess’ retail and energy marketing businesses. With the closure of the Hovensa refinery in 2012, as well as Hess’ ability to access refined products from third parties to supply these marketing businesses, the terminal system is no longer core to the company’s operations. The company’s St. Lucia oil storage terminal in the Caribbean, with 10 million barrels of capacity, will also be included in the package for divestiture.

The Port Reading refinery is comprised solely of a fluid catalytic cracking unit, and it primarily manufactures gasoline and components used for blending heating oil. The refinery incurred losses in two of the past three years. The financial outlook for the facility is expected to remain challenged due to the requirement for future expenditures to comply with envi-ronmental regulations for low-sulfur heating oil and the weak forecast for gasoline refining margins.

Hess has retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. as its financial advi-sor for the divestiture of the terminal network.

Although overall output rose during 2012, China’s petrochemical industry witnessed a year-on-year fall in

profits on account of poor demand, according to a statement from the country’s National Development and Reform Commission. The Chinese petrochemical industry rose at a 12.9% rate year-on-year, growing to $1.73 trillion by the end of 2012. Due to waning domestic and international demand, the output continued to experience month-on-month declines during the first six months of the year; however, it started rebounding in the second half of the year on account of the government’s pro-growth policies, the statement said. These policy implementations included reducing benchmark interest rates, approving large-scale infrastructure projects and easing

the commercial bank’s reserve requirement ratio. Even with those policies in place, the sector’s profits dipped 9.4% from January–November 2012. According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the Chinese economy posted 7.8% growth during 2012, which is the lowest growth rate since 1999.

Mitsui Chemicals will withdraw from the business operations of Keiyo Ethylene (KEC), a joint venture

with Maruzen Petrochemical and Sumitomo Chemical. Mitsui Chemicals commenced equity participation (22.5%) in KEC in December 1995 as part of an effort to reinforce Japanese olefin supply infrastructures. However, recent changes in the global ethylene market (such as the improvement in supplies from new, large-scale plants in the Middle East and China and forecasted production increases from shale gas in the US) have resulted in a need to fundamentally restructure and reform Japan’s petrochemical businesses for industry sustainability. An ethylene production surplus is expected at facilities in the Ichihara (Chiba, Japan) area, while domestic production is expected to fall below 6 million tpy. Mitsui Chemicals studied the value of continued participation in KEC and decided it would be best to exit the joint venture.

PetroChina and INEOS have completed a deal to form joint ventures that include trading and refining

activities at the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland and the Lavéra refinery in France. The business employs approximately 1,000 people and has a turnover of $15 billion. PetroChina paid a little over $1 billion cash for the shares in the joint ventures. Li Keqiang, the Chinese vice premier, and Nick Clegg, the British deputy prime minister, witnessed the signing of the framework agreement.

“The joint ventures with INEOS are consistent with Petro-China’s strategy to build its broader business platform in Eu-rope,” said Si Bingjun, general manager of PetroChina Interna-tional London.

OAO Novatek has signed a one-year agreement with the Yeochun Naphtha Cracker Center (YNCC), a South

Korean petrochemical company, for the supply of up to 300,000 tons of light naphtha produced at the gas condensate transshipment and fractionation complex in Ust-Luga, Leningrad Oblast, Russia.

“Novatek has already worked out reliable logistics of prod-uct supplies to South Korea, and we are confident in the secu-rity of supply of the required volumes of naphtha as a feedstock for our production,” said Paul Joo, the executive vice president of YNCC.

The Ust-Luga complex includes facilities for transshipment and fractionation of stable gas condensate. YNCC produces ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene and xylene, with prod-uct output at three plants amounting to 4.3 million tpy.

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Impact

BILLY THINNES, TECHNICAL EDITOR / [email protected]

Chevron hit with hefty

penalties for Richmond

refinery fire

The California Division of the Oc-cupational Safety and Health Adminis-tration (Cal/OSHA) issued 25 citations against Chevron USA, with proposed penalties totaling nearly $1 million, for state safety standard violations related to the August 6, 2012 fire at Chevron’s Richmond refinery (FIG. 1_{). The citations}

include 11 “willful serious” and 12 “seri-ous” violations, resulting in the highest penalties in Cal/OSHA’s history.

On August 6, 2012, a fire broke out at the refinery when a corroded pipe in Chevron’s No. 4 crude unit began leaking. Cal/OSHA said in a statement, “Chev-ron managers did not shut down the unit but instructed workers to remove insula-tion, which led to the pipe’s rupture and a massive fire. While there were no seri-ous worker injuries, a reported 15,000 residents of surrounding communities sought treatment after breathing emis-sions from the fire.”

Chevron responded to the citations by reiterating its commitment to safe op-erations. “Although we acknowledge that we failed to live up to our own expecta-tions in this incident, we do not agree with several of the Cal/OSHA findings and its characterization of some of the

al-leged violations as willful,” the company said in a statement. Chevron plans to ap-peal the judgment.

Cal/OSHA indicated that its inves-tigation into the fire and the leak repair procedures at the refinery revealed that Chevron did not follow its own emergen-cy shutdown procedures when the leak was identified, and did not protect its employees and employees of Brand Scaf-folding who were working at the leak site. Twenty-three violations were classi-fied as “serious” due to the realistic possi-bility of worker injuries and deaths in the fire, Cal/OSHA said. Eleven of these seri-ous violations were also classified as “will-ful” because Cal/OSHA found Chevron did not take reasonable actions to elimi-nate refinery conditions that it knew posed hazards to employees, and because it intentionally and knowingly failed to comply with state safety standards.

Cal/OSHA was also concerned that there were violations in Chevron’s overall implementation of its own process safety management (PSM) procedures. PSM regulations require refineries to imple-ment a comprehensive safety plan that includes a precise determination of what hazards exist and procedures to eliminate or reduce them.

In an update to its own internal inves-tigation, Chevron described the correc-tive actions it has begun to develop and

implement. The company said that the actions would strengthen process safety, mechanical integrity and management oversight. They included:

• Enhancing inspections of piping components potentially susceptible to sulfidation corrosion, since carbon steel components with low-silicon content can corrode at an accelerated rate

• Strengthening reliability programs for piping and equipment, and enhancing competency requirements for leaders, in-spectors and engineers

• Strengthening leak response proto-cols and reinforcing wider authority to shut down equipment

• Creating more management over-sight and accountability for process safe-ty and re-emphasizing focus on process safety.

Shale gas possible

catalyst for US

export growth

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently released a report in which it stated that the US chemical manufac-turing sector is one of the most important beneficiaries of the surplus of inexpen-sive natural gas, helping to revive the US manufacturing segment. This has also al-lowed the US chemical sector to reassert a strong position in global export markets.

FIG. 1. Chevron’s refinery located in Richmond, California.

FIG. 2. US petrochemical plants, like the LyondellBasell polymers man-ufacturing facility in Pasadena, Texas, are benefitting from abundant supplies of shale gas.

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Impact

12

According to the ACC, shale gas is a critical component of a comprehensive domestic energy plan that encourages the development of the entire portfolio of energy sources, including fossil fuels, re-newables and energy efficiency. Access to vast new supplies of domestic shale gas, rich in the ethane needed for chemical production, is revitalizing the US chemi-cal industry (FIG. 2_{). The shale gas boom}

has lowered input costs for the

chemi-cal sector, spurred demand for goods derived from chemicals in international markets and is driving a huge competi-tive advantage for US producers. Exports of US manufactured chemicals and plas-tics have increased by 15% since 2010, resulting in a record $34.7 billion trade surplus. To continue serving interna-tional and domestic markets, US chemi-cal manufacturers have announced more than $40 billion in new domestic capital

investments. Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and Dow Chemical Co. are all building plants in the US. Other North American produc-ers are considering expanding or restart-ing their existrestart-ing facilities.

New production and associated activ-ity is projected to accelerate economic growth by 30 to 40 basis points. By 2020, the cumulative impact could boost real GDP by 2% to 3.3%. The ACC says in its report that this could create the possibility of 2.7 million to 3.6 million net new jobs. The cost advantage resulting from lower ethylene feedstock has put the US on an entirely new path in cost competitiveness while opening new export markets.

The ACC recommends that US policy-makers refrain from taking action that would distort the rapidly changing mar-ket for natural gas. For instance, it said that the US government should not act to artificially inflate demand for natural gas by subsidizing the purchase of natural gas vehicles. Providing large government incentives to stimulate one sector of the natural gas market could put other sec-tors at a competitive disadvantage, the ACC said. The group also encouraged Congress to:

• Promote greater energy efficiency in homes, buildings and industrial facilities

• Apply economically competitive approaches to encourage the adoption of diverse energy sources, including energy recovery from non-recycled materials and other renewable sources

• Adopt balanced regulatory policies and permitting practices that will protect the environment while allowing the US to make the most of its vast resources

• Avoid regulatory, tax or other poli-cies that would increase the cost of contin-ued development of domestic shale gas.

Biofuel mandate vacated;

agency responds by

increasing mandate 60%

In late January, the US Court of Ap-peals for the DC Circuit vacated the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) 2012 cellulosic biofuel mandate, concluding that its forecast was in “excess of the agency’s statutory authority.”

“The court’s decision provides wel-come relief and puts the EPA on notice that it must act as a neutral arbiter rather than a promoter of cellulosic fuel,” said

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Impact

13 American Fuel and Petrochemical

Manu-facturers President Charles T. Drevna. “In-stead of facing the reality of zero cellulosic biofuel production under the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS), the EPA wrongly relied upon an inflated production capac-ity predicted by cellulosic biofuel produc-ers. This resulted in a cellulosic mandate that was impossible to meet and left refin-ers having to purchase waiver credits that act as a hidden tax on transportation fuels.”

While the court acknowledged that the purpose of the RFS program was to “in-crease the production of clean renewable fuels,” it rejected the EPA’s argument that an aggressive cellulosic mandate was need-ed to force new technology into the mar-ketplace and held that “refiners are in no position to ensure, or even contribute to, growth in the cellulosic biofuel industry.”

An interesting development in this on-going debate is the fact that only a week after the Court’s decision, the US EPA rolled out its proposed 2013 percentage standards for four fuel categories that are part of the RFS. Surprisingly, these pro-posed standards indicate that the US EPA

intends to increase the cellulosic ethanol requirement by more than 60% from 2012 levels. The 2013 program proposes the blending of more than 1.35 billion gallons of renewable fuels over the amount man-dated for 2012.

“The Energy Independence and Se-curity Act of 2007 (EISA) established the RFS program and the annual renew-able fuel volume targets, which steadily increase to an overall level of 36 billion gallons in 2022,” the EPA said in a state-ment. “To achieve these volumes, the EPA calculates a percentage-based stan-dard for the following year. Based on the standard, each refiner and importer de-termines the minimum volume of renew-able fuel that it must ensure is used in its transportation fuel.”

The proposed 2013 overall volumes and standards are:

• Biomass-based diesel (1.28 billion gallons; 1.12%)

• Advanced biofuels (2.75 billion gal-lons; 1.60%)

• Cellulosic biofuels (14 million gal-lons; 0.008%)

• Total renewable fuels (16.55 billion gallons; 9.63%).

In other EPA news, the agency is

proposing a structured process for buy-ers of renewable identification numbbuy-ers (RINs) to verify validity. Under the pro-posal, RINs would be verified through a new voluntary quality assurance program that also includes alternative compliance options, which leverage existing industry practices and market forces. Quality as-surance plans (QAPs) would provide a recognized means for independent third parties to audit the production of renew-able fuel and to verify that RINs have been validly generated.

For RINs that have been verified ac-cording to an approved QAP, the program would provide protection against liabil-ity for civil violations resulting from the transfer or use of invalidly generated RINs under certain conditions. The rule would also specify both the conditions under which invalid RINs must be replaced with valid RINs, and by whom. The proposed rule allows verification of RINs to begin this year.

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YOU CAN DO THAT

Electronic marshalling eliminates the rework, the redesign and the headaches.

With DeltaV Electronic Marshalling, Emerson lets you make I/O changes where and when you need them without costly engineering and schedule delays. Our new DeltaV CHARacterization Module (CHARM) completely eliminates the cross-wiring from the marshalling panel to the I/O card–regardless of signal type–so you’re no longer held to predefined specifications. All those wires, gone. All that time and engineering, gone. See how easy it can be by scanning the code below or by visiting IOonDemandCalculator.com

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Innovations

ADRIENNE BLUME, PROCESS EDITOR

[email protected]

Coating system gets

European patent

Hempel’s Ultra-High Solids and Speed (UHSS), a two-coat protective paint system certified for C5-M and C4 corrosive environments, has been granted a patent from the European Pat-ent Office. The system is suitable for paint shop application of steel parts for refineries, the chemical industry, power generation, infrastructure projects and wind turbines.

Unlike standard systems, which use three coats, UHSS uses just two high-solids coatings to deliver a primer and galvanic and UV protection. As a result, UHSS can reduce volatile organic com-pound emissions by up to 70% compared to standard three-coat systems, depend-ing on the system. It also dries six times faster than standard three-coat systems, helping increase production speeds. The UHSS system is available globally.

Select 1 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

Virtual engineer service

offers low-cost support

Rockwell Automation’s Virtual Sup-port Engineer service allows original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to offer highly secure, remote monitoring and troubleshooting to their customers without investing in expensive infra-structure. This scalable, secure and cost-effective remote monitoring solution provides IT-friendly access that allows OEMs to identify and resolve technical issues, perform scheduled and preven-tive maintenance, and monitor their in-stalled machinery base to help optimize machine performance.

While most other user solutions on the market transfer data bidirectionally through a firewall, the Virtual Support Engineer service relies exclusively on IT-approved outbound communication. This helps prevent computer viruses, worms and other digital threats tied to inbound data transfer. Security is further enhanced with recorded logins, audit

trails, video recording and optional ac-cess on demand.

OEMs using the service receive ac-cess to real-time alarm capabilities that can be delivered via text message or email to themselves, to their customers or to a Rockwell Automation remote-support application engineer. Alarm ca-pabilities can also indicate the potential for future equipment failures, allowing OEMs to make proactive adjustments prior to catastrophic failure.

In emergency situations, the Virtual Support Engineer service proactively no-tifies OEMs when equipment goes down. Often, remote troubleshooting and on-line adjustments made through the sys-tem can remedy issues, therefore reducing travel time and costs for OEMs and mini-mizing downtime for their customers.

Pemex approves

composite systems

HJ3’s CarbonSeal Industrial Com-posite Systems have been qualified and approved by Mexican state oil company Pemex for the repair and strengthening of low-risk and high-risk corroded or dam-aged steel pipes. The approval covers pipelines throughout Pemex’s oil and gas production process areas, including all onshore, offshore, exploration, refining, transmission and distribution pipelines. HJ3 noted that the qualification opens the door for its products to the Latin American petrochemical and gas markets.

The qualifying process, which was conducted by Instituto Mexicano Del Petróleo (IMP), involved a series of in-dividual strength and durability tests per ASME PCC-2 Article 4.1 APPENDIX 3 ISO/TS-24817, Standards for the Re-pair of Pressure Equipment and Piping. Part of the test protocol included a burst test to determine the ability of the Car-bonSeal system to withstand internal pressures over 5,000 psi when wrapped over defects to include 80%–90% steel wall loss (FIG. 1_).

Oil-mist system replaces

grease lubrication

Total Lubrication Management Co. recently introduced the MistLock bear-ing and motor (FIG. 2_{) for air-cooled heat}

exchangers with oil-mist lubrication. The technology allows the same oil-mist system serving pumps and motors at ground level to serve the fan air-cooler bearings and motors that are tradition-ally grease-lubricated.

The MistLock bearing and motor de-sign for air coolers directs oil mist through equipment bearings from top to bottom, which is the most desired path for lubrica-tion with oil mist. Drain conneclubrica-tions are provided to vent stray mist and coalesced oil away from equipment, while

allow-FIG. 1. This CarbonSeal system withstood a burst test wherein the steel pipe ruptured at 5,200 psi.

FIG. 2. MistLock allows oil-mist systems to serve both ground-level equipment and equipment traditionally lubricated by grease.

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16MARCH 2013 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com

Innovations

ing both to be recaptured in the patented closed-loop oil-mist system design.

Optional mounting arrangements are available on both the bearing and the mo-tor to accommodate retrofits into new and existing structures. Proprietary sealing provides extended life while containing the oil mist to prevent fouling of the cool-ing coils. Extensive testcool-ing of the bearcool-ings and motors with these seals has been per-formed on test stands under extreme con-ditions and on equipment under real-time service conditions in refineries.

MistLock’s bearing cartridge design allows for both axial and nonparallel misalignment, regardless of shaft orien-tation. The cartridge design accommo-dates up to a 20° misalignment between the upper and lower bearing, eliminating

the need to shim bearings during installa-tion. Special features in the upper bearing allow for axial thermal expansion of the fan shaft to prevent bearing overload.

The motor may be mounted vertically in the shaft “up” or “down” positions, as well as in horizontal positions, to allow for use on right-angle gear-drive fan ap-plications. The motor comes in a wide range of sizes that fit most air-cooler ap-plications. Additionally, the epoxy coat-ing on the motor windcoat-ings and the lead wire insulation have been tested to ensure that degradation and oil wicking will not occur from the use of modern synthetic oils used in many oil-mist systems.

Portable chromatograph

measures gas Btu

AMETEK Process Instruments’ Chan-dler Engineering Model 292B portable gas chromatograph (FIG. 3_{) determines}

the energy content (Btu) of natural gas. The chromatograph features a fully inte-grated sample handling system, rugged chromatograph module, and enhanced data-processing and data-handling capa-bilities, including an LCD color display and user interface.

Sample transport, signal integration and system diagnostics are handled within the unit to ensure accurate, reliable and repeatable analysis. The unit’s advanced electronics platform accurately deter-mines energy content, relative density and compressibility based on industry-stan-dard calculation methods.

Integrated optimization functions re-sult in exceptional sensitivity and peak per-formance. An integrated sample inlet man-ifold allows for single-point connections of sample and drive (carrier) gases, permit-ting installation either as a standalone ana-lyzer or integrated into a mobile platform such as a truck, van or other vehicle.

Sample results, including “live” chro-matograms, raw data information, analy-sis reports and calibration data can be easily viewed on the front-panel LCD display. System and analysis reports can be retrieved via a USB port, customized to meet user requirements, and printed directly from the unit. The Model 292B’s advanced software and two onboard computers allow the unit to calculate heating value, relative density and com-pressibility using the AGA-8 method.

X-ray analyzer enables

fast, precise detection

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. has re-leased a 200-watt version of its Thermo Scientific ARL OPTIM’X Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) analyzer (FIG. 4_{). The ARL OPTIM’X}

Se-ries uses WDXRF analysis techniques to assist in determining the elemental com-position of a wide range of samples, both solids and liquids, at a high resolution.

The analyzer enables lower limits of detection, two to three times faster analy-sis and higher sample throughput. The in-strument features SmartGonio, an inno-vative goniometer that can be configured to cover all elements, from fluorine to uranium, in sequential mode. For critical elements, two fixed channels can be fitted alongside the SmartGonio to reduce total analysis time and improve performance.

The ARL OPTIM’X Series also fea-tures Ultra Closely Coupled Optics tech-nology, which is designed to enable the instruments to perform at levels as high as three times their nominal power. Tem-perature regulation of both the spectrom-eter and the crystals improves stability and repeatability, complying with ASTM and ISO regulations. The compact instru-ments offer consistent performance with-out the need for water cooling.

Monitor detects hazardous

gases in workplace

The Dräger X-am 5100 monitor de-tects hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydro-gen chloride (HCI), hydrohydro-gen peroxide (H2O2) and hydrazine (N2H4) reactive

gases. The portable monitor is well suited to applications such as monitoring alkyla-tion units in the petrochemical industry, checking HF during the injection process for the extraction of crude oil, monitor-ing hydrazine used for propulsion, and other uses.

The special design of the monitor pre-vents reactive gases from depositing on the housing (i.e., gas adsorption). Direct gas entry to the sensor, fast sensor response times and precise measurement results are also ensured with this design. If the moni-tor’s alarms are activated, it warns the user with audible, visual and vibration alarms.

The monitor is protected against dust and water ingress. It also features explo-sion protection and is resistant to high

FIG. 3. The Model 292B portable gas chromatograph analyzes the energy content and composition of natural gas.

FIG. 4. The 200-watt ARL OPTIM’X analyzer uses wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis techniques to determine elemental composition of samples.

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Innovations

17 impacts and vibrations. Electromagnetic

compatibility has also been tested. Ad-ditionally, the monitor’s intuitive menu is easy to navigate with just two buttons.

First SO

2

-/CO

2

-capture

plant begins operation

In capturing the first carbon diox-ide (CO2) at their joint demonstration

plant at the Aberthaw power station in the UK, Cansolv and RWE npower have successfully commenced operations at the world’s first integrated sulfur dioxide (SO2-)/CO2-capture plant. The

post-combustion plant will capture 50 metric tons of CO2 per day from Aberthaw’s

flue gases, using Cansolv’s SO2 and CO2

scrubbing technologies.

The announcement highlights the suc-cessful commissioning of this regenerable carbon-capture testing campaign, which will see 90% of CO2 captured and

essen-tially all SO2 captured. The use of a

regen-erable technology can also avoid landfill produced from conventional non-regen-erable systems in reusing the absorbent. This is achieved by continuous recycling; the result is less waste and cost savings without the need to restock.

Cansolv and RWE npower plan to initiate a research and development pro-gram focused on further optimization of the process and demonstrating the advantages of new-generation solvents. The environmental performance of the process will also be assessed during the pilot phase, at which time Cansolv and RWE npower will be working with the UK Environment Agency to track and evaluate the environmental aspects of CO2-capture technology for coal-fired

power stations.

Ring system protects

storage tanks

MATCOR’s turnkey cathodic protec-tion soluprotec-tions are available to a variety of leading liquid terminal operators. These storage facilities hold and distribute crude oil, refined products and specialty liquids. MATCOR solutions protect aboveground storage tank units within these terminals, using a proprietary concentric ring system.

MATCOR’s turnkey solution involves several areas of the business.The company provides a wide range of services that in-clude design and engineering of custom

cathodic protection solutions for new and existing ASTs; custom manufacturing of SPL mixed metal oxide anodes; instal-lation and site management; and single-point-of-contact project management that follows an established project meth-odology to offer a consistent approach for each engagement. Additionally, MAT-COR provides continued services to the client with monthly and annual surveys at other terminal locations.

MATCOR’s unique capability as a full-service provider demonstrates that, regardless of the size of the storage tank or the location, MATCOR has the re-sources to provide a turnkey cathodic protection solution specifically designed to meet the client’s unique needs. Exam-ple specifications for solutions are:

Customized, concentric-ring-impressed systems for external tank bottoms:

• 30-year design life standard; 50-year (or longer) design life available

• Factory assembled; no cutting, splicing or welding required in the field

• Easy to install; less than four hours for an 80-m (250-ft) diameter tank

• Mixed metal oxide with coke back-fill to minimize oxygen (depolarizer) generation.

Internal tank CP systems: • 30-year design life

• Vertical and horizontal configura-tions available

• Utilizes MMO wire anodes with ex-terior braiding

• Available in platinum for potable water applications

• Factory assembled; no cutting, splicing or welding required in the field.

FIG. 5. MATCOR solutions protect aboveground storage tanks, using a proprietary concentric ring system.

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NEW DELHI, INDIA | 9–11 JULY

2013 IRPC Advisory Board Members:

ANDREA AMOROSO

Vice President, Process Technology eni - Reﬁ ning & Marketing Division

A. K. ARORA

Director General

Petroleum Federation of India

JOHN BARIC

Licensing Technology Manager Shell Global Solutions International B.V.

ANINDYA SUNDAR BASU

Managing Director

Chennai Petroleum Corporation Ltd

ERIC BENAZZI Marketing Director Axens CARLOS CABRERA Executive Chairman Ivanhoe Energy DR. CHARLES CAMERON

Head of Technology, Downstream; VP, Formulated Products Technology BP plc

GIACOMO FOSSATARO

General Manager Walter Tosto S.p.A.

DR. MADHUKAR ONKARNATH GARG

Director

CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum

RAJKUMAR GHOSH

Director (Reﬁ neries)

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (Reﬁ neries Division)

CHAKRAPANY MANOHARAN

Director-Reﬁ nery Essar Oil Ltd.

B. K. NAMDEO

Executive Director,

International Trade & Supplies

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited

SYAMAL PODDAR

President

Poddar & Associates

A.K. PURWAHA

Chairman & Managing Director Engineers India Limited

GIACOMO RISPOLI

Executive Vice President,

Research & Development and Projects eni - Reﬁ ning & Marketing Division

STEPHANY ROMANOW

Editor

Hydrocarbon Processing

DR. AJIT SAPRE

Group President

Research and Technology Reliance Technology Group

MICHAEL STOCKLE

C Eng FlChemE

Chief Engineer - Reﬁ ning Technology Foster Wheeler

K VENKATRAMAN

Chief Executive Ofﬁ cer & Managing Director Larsen & Toubro

S VENKATRAMAN

Director (Business Development) Gail (India) Limited

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Hydrocarbon Processing is bringing its market-leading reﬁ ning

and petrochemicals conference to New Delhi in 2013

For the past three years, executives and technical professionals in the global reﬁ ning and petrochemical industry have gathered at Hydrocarbon Processing’s International Reﬁ ning and Petrochemical Conference (IRPC) to explore the latest advancements in technology and operations. Now in its fourth year, the conference will be held 9–11 July 2013 in New Delhi, India. This is a one-of-a-kind, interactive opportunity for hydrocarbon processing industry (HPI) professionals to network and share the kind of knowledge that has a direct and meaningful impact on the strategies and plans for those involved.

With the HPI evolving to meet new challenges and capitalize on new opportunities, managers and engineers are actively seeking information and solutions to make their companies more efﬁ cient and proﬁ table.

This is your chance to take part in the discussion and be among your peers and other industry innovators to discuss how the latest technology and trends can be applied at refi neries and plants. Key topics to be covered are: plant and refi nery sustainability, energy policy, clean fuels, gas treatment, rotating equipment, refi ning and petrochemical integration, maintenance and reliability, and more. View the conference agenda online at HPIRPC.com.

Global HPI: In India, growth brings opportunities for the application of new

technology and learning

As one of the fastest growing centers of energy consumption and production, India is an ideal place for global industry leaders to gather during IRPC 2013. One of the developing economies driving new demand for transportation fuels, India has an expanding GDP and large population, and its demand for all energy forms continually increases. As of 2012, India has 20 major reﬁ neries in operation with a combined capacity of 187.4 MMtpy. Looking forward, companies like Indian Oil Corporation Limited will continue to increase reﬁ ning capacity as demand for domestic vehicles and transportation fuels increases.

Why attend IRPC 2013?

• Join international HPI professionals from around the world, representing operators, reﬁ neries and petrochemical plants like Abu Dhabi Gas Industries, BP plc, Chevron Lummus Global LLP, ConocoPhillips Ltd, eni, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company, Indian Oil Corporation, Linde Gas, Lukoil, PDVSA and Total

• Ample networking opportunities between sessions allowing you to connect with old and new business contacts • Explore and learn more about the latest developments within the HPI

• Get local and global perspectives on the HPI, reﬁ ning and petrochemicals

Register Early and Save!

Take advantage of our Early Bird discount when you register to attend by 29 March 2013. Bring a team of two or ﬁ ve and save even more. To reserve your spot at the conference, register online at HPIRPC.com or call +1 (713) 520-4402.

Conference venue: Taj Palace Hotel | Sardar Patel Marg, Diplomatic Enclave | New Delhi 110021 | India

Testimonials from past IRPC delegates:

It was really a nice experience, particularly from an information-sharing point of view and global cooperation. – Deputy General Manager, India

The exhibition was a great framework, and there was plenty of time to meet people and discuss. – R&D Project Manager, France

Conference Delegate Bag Sponsor: Technical Program Sponsor:

Supported by: Reﬁ ning Track Sponsor:

Conference Lanyard Sponsor: Program Print Sponsor: Speaker Gift Sponsor:

EVENT Conference Host:

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Hydro, Inc. l HydroAire, Inc. l Hydro East, Inc. l Evans Hydro, Inc. l Hydro South, Inc. l HydroTex Golden Triangle l HydroTex Dynamics, Inc. HydroTex Deer Park, Inc. l CW Hydro, Inc. l Hydro Australia, Pty. Ltd. l Hydro Vietnam, Co. Ltd. l Safe-T Hydro, Inc.

Hydro Scotford, Inc. l Hydro Middle East, Inc.

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Reliability

HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR

[email protected]

How the best lubricant provides added value

In November 2012, a highly competent lubrication engi-neer and I met again at the ExxonMobil Maintenance and Pro-ductivity Improvement Symposium in San Antonio, Texas. We talked about the small, but pesky, problems that we encounter in our professional careers as engineers. In addition, we shared our enthusiasm for understanding industrial lubrication, which is a fascinating and evolving business.

New advanced products. We discussed a new advanced

lubrication product, the Mobil DTE 10 Excel 68. As shown in FIG. 1, Mobil DTE 10 Excel 68 could be a possible

sub-stitute for the old Exxon Synesstic 100 in mist systems that were commissioned in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We agreed that reliability professionals must recall the rationale used years ago to justify and explain lube issues. Since then, with decades of advancements in lube formulation, we must rethink and make adjustments to lubrication systems that in-clude these new developments.

Case. For example, consider the viscosity vs. temperature charts between the present Mobil DTE 10 Excel line and the more expensive ISO VG100 diester lubricants used in the 1980s. Because the lubricants’ respective viscosities are similar at elevated temperatures, and the DTE’s pour point and cloud point are sufficiently low, the modern DTE 10 Excel 68 will work very well in the coldest temperatures that South Texas fa-cilities experience. The change could also save energy.

The DTE contains no zinc (Zn). Under certain conditions, Zn can degrade and form sludge. Some VG100 and VG150 pre-cursor formulations have served well in the past. However, with new information, these lubricant oils may represent “overkill” in oil-mist systems used along the US Gulf Coast. Moreover, these lubricants are unsuitable for high-speed equipment with oil rings (slinger rings).1

Another issue. Our discussion revisited old arguments regard-ing operatregard-ing “A” process pumps and how frequently to switch over to the “B” set. The author still believes that best-practice plants applying pure oil-mist systems should alternate between “A” and “B” pumps every four to six weeks. Plants with process pumps using conventional oil-sump lubrication must visualize that the ball separators (cages) rotate a half turn per full turn of a shaft. Therefore, they should manually and periodically rotate the “B” shaft three or four turns; such actions would be needed to wet all bearing components. Manual rotation would ensure that all surfaces are coated. The procedure would prevent bear-ing elements from sittbear-ing in the same spot. Also, rotation de-creases the risk of bearing damage due to vibration transmitted from an adjacent operating machine.

Still, adopting a monthly alternate running routine would be more beneficial than manual rotation. Running will drive off some moisture from the old-style bearing housings. There are concerns with open-breather vents that allow atmospheric dust and water vapor to wreak havoc on oil. Starting vented-housing pumps will also stir up sludge. Even worse is the practice of on-off “bumping” the pump with an electric motor. Most wear on bearings and oil slinger rings occurs at startup. Frequent starts of semi-dry bearings can do more harm than false brinelling.

Bottom-line issues. Plant engineers should use lube-applica-tion engineers as resources in bearing, fluid sealing and bearing protector seal applications. Even the best lubricants will suffer if seal components degrade and contaminate the oil. Quality and long-term reliability are not cheap. The gleam of lowest-cost oil quickly dissipates with the repair costs and lost profit due to equipment unavailability.

LITERATURE CITED

1_{Bloch, H. P., Pump Wisdom: Problem Solving for Operators and Specialists,}

John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, 2011.

43°C 55°C 66°C 77°C 88°C 97°C 107°C 43°C -60 -50 -40-30 -20-10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100110 120 55°C 66°C 77°C 88°C 97°C 107°C 92°C 978°C 103°C 108°C 114°C 114°C 118°C Effective temperature Temper atur e, °C ISO 15 ISO 22 ISO 32 ISO 46 ISO 68 ISO 100 ISO 150 Minimum viscosity 13 cSt – after shear

Viscosity 860 cSt – load

Maximum viscosity 9,300 cSt – no load

FIG. 1. Temperature operating windows for an entire industrial lubricant series. Source: ExxonMobil Lube Marketing Literature.

HEINZ P. BLOCH resides in Westminster, Colorado. His professional career commenced in 1962 and included long-term assignments as Exxon Chemical’s regional machinery specialist for the United States. He has authored over 520 publications, among them 18 comprehensive books on practical machinery management, failure analysis, failure avoidance, compressors, steam turbines, pumps, oil-mist lubrication, and practical lubrication for industry. Mr. Bloch holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering. He is an ASME Life Fellow and maintains registration as a Professional Engineer in New Jersey and Texas.

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Treating of Jet Fuels at a

Lower Cost

Patented FIBER FILM technology and a proprietary treating solution sweeten

mercaptans without the need for a solid bed media. The result is lower capital and

operating costs, a higher on-stream factor, and a smaller plant footprint.

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Integration

Strategies

HARRY FORBES, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

[email protected]

Wireless sensing benefits from new technology

Wireless sensing is the most important new technology to emerge in decades for process measurement and equipment monitoring applications. For this reason alone, it has attracted the sustained attention of ARC Advisory Group and other in-dustry analyst organizations. While growth of wireless mea-surements in industrial applications has proven to be slower than most forecasts, wireless continues to grow at a much faster rate than the overall automation market.

Looking at the changes in wireless sensor networking (WSN) last year, ARC is most impressed by the greater ma-turity of the industry, along with significant new technical achievements. We believe that both will spur market growth because they enable a much larger set of customers to be well served. Recent events help illustrate how these developments have changed (and will continue to change) the wireless sens-ing market.

Commercial maturity. Greater WSN industry maturity has

come through a steady series of acquisitions. At present, almost all of the pioneering sensor-networking ventures have been ac-quired by much larger companies. Most of the acquirers are well-established semiconductor suppliers. Virtually all of the fabless WSN firms have now been snapped up. Dust Networks has become one of the most recent, acquired in late 2011 by specialist Linear Technology Corp.

Fortune 1000 companies must carefully manage the tech-nologies they apply if they are to meet their customer ex-pectations. A technology that is sourced from a group of venture-stage fabless semiconductor firms represents a ma-jor supply-chain risk to global firms whose customers expect product support for many years going forward. Today, the list of WSN suppliers no longer represents an exceptional risk to the supply chains of global giants like Emerson, GE, Honey-well and Siemens.

Technical growth. WSN has also grown technically

dur-ing the past year. The most important development is the completion of the “e” revision to the IEEE 802.15.4 Standard. Although the 15.4 Standard has been published for years, the most commercial WSN applications have used nonstandard medium access (MAC) rules to optimize performance of their own networks. WirelessHART, ISA100.11a, ZigBee and IPv6 sensor networks all depended on a customized MAC layer to achieve low power consumption and reliable end-to-end mes-sage delivery. This limits the value of the IEEE standard, be-cause applications needed their own specialized MACs.

IEEE 802.15.4e makes important changes to the defined

MAC layer. It creates a standard and fully defined MAC that can support diverse network types. This includes

6LoWPAN-compressed IPv6 networks. It also supports the synchronized TDMA network properties used in industrial low-power ap-plications, e.g., WirelessHART and ISA100.11a. Finally, 15.4e accommodates extensions, so that these diverse networks (as well as future ones) can extend the standard MAC without vio-lating the standard itself. This decouples WSN development from the three- to four-year-long IEEE standards development process. It will give the IEEE standard greater value and a much longer life, enable greater interoperability among WSN silicon and network stacks, and enable future WSN technologies to leverage an existing, fully standard MAC.

Contributors. The new standard was developed largely from Dust Networks’ technology, with extensive and enthusiastic contributions from many major suppliers, notably including Siemens.

Dust Networks now uses its most recent chip design (which conforms to 15.4e) in both WirelessHART and IPv6 products. Using the latest chipset is a large benefit for the WirelessHART (industrial) customers, since it helps to reduce power con-sumption by roughly 50% with each new generation.

In battery-powered industrial devices, this provides an “en-ergy surplus,” thus enabling devices to have longer service life and/or to serve in applications that previously consumed too much battery power.

IPv6 applications can use a wider variety of system architec-tures. In particular, they can route packets from field sensors to analytics and applications that are truly location-independent, including cloud-based applications. It remains to be seen what impact the cloud will have on the wireless sensing market, but the combination of high scalability and low cost offered by cloud services may enable new applications that are not fea-sible when built using traditional WSN gateways.

Energy harvesting. Another area to watch may be energy

harvesting. Although energy harvesting represents an ongoing technical challenge, it is a very active development area at sev-eral specialist companies. Low-power products will be the first to benefit from any new harvesting solutions that emerge.

HARRY FORBES is a senior analyst at ARC Advisory Group. His research focuses on the impact of industrial networking and wireless technologies on today’s manufacturing. He also covers smart grid and the electric power vertical industry. His research topics include the grid, metering and smart-energy technologies. Mr. Forbes is a graduate of Tufts University with a BS in electrical engineering and has an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

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