March 2012

The March issue looks at South America with a regional report from Nancy Yamaguchi, it focuses in particular on the oilsands of Venezuela and biofuels in Brazil. The lead feature takes an in depth look at heavy crude processing with Champtech and KBC. Also in this issue we cover catalysts, process control and storage.

COMMENT

WORLD NEWS
Contract awards, project updates, industry latest, news digest, diary dates, mergers and acquisitions.

FEEDING INTO THE MAINSTREAM
Nancy Yamaguchi, Contributing Editor, examines the unconventional fuels in South America, namely Venezuela’s Orinoco heavy oil and Brazil’s ethanol.

WASH AWAY THE SALT
Harold Eggert and Frank Crawford, Champion Technologies, USA, demonstrate how new emulsion breaker chemistry improves desalter performance by allowing wash water to be injected into the suction of the crude charge pump.

BOTTOM OF THE BARREL: UNCONVENTIONAL CRUDES, PART 2
Graham Carruthers, Scott Sayles and D. Mark Routt, KBC Advanced Technologies, USA, outline how unconventional crudes can be selected and utilised with the assistance of crude compatibility prediction processes. The second installment of this two part article discusses the evaluation procedure, crude blending and refinery impacts of unconventional crudes.

WHEN RARE IS SCARCE
Ron Colwell and Doug Jergenson, Montana Refining Company, USA, and David Hunt, Sudhakar Jale and Emery Udvari, W.R. Grace & Co., USA outline an alternative to rare earth based FCC catalysts.

FROM FLUID TO FLEXIBLE
Lucas Revellon, INTERCATJM, Johnson Matthey Catalysts, USA, argues that an appropriate catalyst or additive addition system is an essential component to successful and economical refinery operations.

SHIFTING SANDS: PETROCHEMICAL PROCESSING IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Kevin M. Beirne, Sabin Metal Corporation, USA, argues that the myriad changes in the Middle East demand tighter control over precious metals recovery and refining programs.

SAFETY IN THE EXTREME
Paul Darlington, Hughes Safety Showers, UK, demonstrates how emergency safety showers can be equipped to function in harsh and extreme environments.

ELASTIC ENGINEERING
Tim Armstrong, John M Campbell, USA, discusses process safety engineering in the downstream oil and gas industry.

GET YOUR COAT
Colin Bateman, Belzona Polymerics Ltd, UK, explains how corrosion under insulation problems can be solved online through the use of proven advanced epoxy coatings.

AVOID ACID ATTACK
Fred Addington, Baker Hughes, USA, presents techniques for properly managing corrosion risks when processing high acid crude.

A CALCULATED RISK
Ronald Tuls and Bron Hekkema, ROSEN Europe B.V, The Netherlands, and Sebastian Ruik Beyhaut, ROSEN Integrity Solutions GmbH, Germany, detail the implementation of risk based inspection in a tank terminal.

AN AUSTRIAN CASE STUDY
Michael Holzbauer, Bartec GmbH, Austria, describes how Bartec ensured the right temperatures at the Lobau tank farm.

TIME TO ADJUST
Trevor Dunger, ABB Limited, UK, discusses the calibration frequency of pressure transmitters.

NO CAUSE FOR ALARM
Steve Elwart, Ergon Refining, Inc., USA, explains how alarm management with minimal up front customisation yielded process improvements at Ergon’s Vicksburg refinery.

15 QUESTIONS WITH...COLIN CHAPMAN, EURO PETROLEUM CONSTULTANTS LTD 15 QUESTIONS WITH...COLIN CHAPMAN, EURO PETROLEUM CONSTULTANTS LTD
A personal and professional insight into the President of EPC as the company celebrates its 15th birthday.

March 2012

Contents