Gulfpub HP 201009

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BOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW AND CARE Select 58 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

SEPTEMBER 2010
HPIMPACT SPECIALREPORT TECHNOLOGY
Are recent gains by US REFINING Update on spiral

refiners sustainable? DEVELOPMENTS wound gaskets
Debating low-carbon ‘Clean fuels‘ use Calculate temperature
fuel standards unique solutions in horizontal tanks
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BOILERS FOR PEOPLE WHO KNOW AND CARE

SEPTEMBER 2010 • VOL. 89 NO. 9
SPECIAL REPORT: REFINING DEVELOPMENTS
29 20 questions: Identify probable causes

for high FCC catalyst loss Cover Marathon’s Garyville, Louisiana
refinery completed a major expansion
P. K. Niccum with startup in December 2009. This
project increased the refinery’s rated
capacity from 256,000 bpd to 436,000
39 Consider high-impact constructability issues for refineries
R. Carter
bpd and is now among the five largest
US refineries as well as the 20 largest
international refineries. More details of
45 Bottomless refinery: Improve refinery economics

P. McKenna and F. Sheikh
the Garyville project can be found on
page 22. Photo courtesy of Marathon
Oil Corp.
51 Biorenewables update: What is beyond

ethanol and biodiesel?
R. Cascone and B. Burke
57 Upgrade FFC performance—Part 1

L. M. Wolschlag and K. A. Couch
HPIMPACT
15 Strong second quarter
for US refiners
67 Fine-tune processing heavy crudes in your facility
T. Falkler and C. Sandu 15 Low-carbon fuel
standard could cause
75 Mitigate corrosion in your crude unit
N. P. Hilton and G. L. Scattergood
‘crude shuffle’
16 $8.4 billion Chinese
pump market by 2015
81 Improve vacuum tower revamp projects
S. Costanzo, S. M. Wong and M. Pilling 17 BP to pay $50.6 million
for Texas City explosion
HEAT TRANSFER/VESSELS
89 Calculating the temperature distribution

in horizontal vessel saddle supports
G. N. van Zyl COLUMNS
MAINTENANCE/RELIABILITY 9 HPIN RELIABILITY
Eccentric reducers
95 Spiral-wound or kammprofile gaskets?
C. Yoder and D. W. Reeves
and straight runs of
pipe at pump suction
ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION 2010—SUPPLEMENT 11 HPINTEGRATION
STRATEGIES
99 Managing projects in a global evironment
S. K. Poddar
Sustainability program
management
with EAM
LOSS PREVENTION
13 HPIN CONTROL
115 Hydrobulging of storage tanks

and its effect on first support selection
APC application
ownership
M. G. Choudhury, S. Johri and R. Tripathi 130 HPIN WATER
MANAGEMENT
ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES Utility water boot
camp for process
123 Case history 58: Piston pin plug wear
T. Sofronas engineers—Part 1
DEPARTMENTS
7 HPIN BRIEF • 21 HPIN CONSTRUCTION
26 HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
126 HPI MARKETPLACE • 129 ADVERTISER INDEX
GPC’s Software
Reference—Fall 2010
HP ONLINE EXCLUSIVES
Upgrade FFC performance—Part 2 Following page 132
L. M. Wolschlag and K. A. Couch
Houston Office: 2 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1020, Houston, Texas, 77046 USA MAGAZINE PRODUCTION
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HPIN BRIEF
BILLY THINNES, NEWS EDITOR
BT@HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Canada Products (Shell) and Delek US Holdings, Inc. have agreed ■ Refinery
to end negotiations regarding a potential sale of the Shell Montreal East refinery. Shell
and Delek US met last week in an effort to address outstanding issues that both parties financing
had been unable to resolve in negotiations held earlier this year. Negotiations once again
reached an impasse, leading both parties to terminate discussions. In these troubled economic times, it
is nice to see some lending and financ-
“Unfortunately, after considerable efforts to find common ground on a number of
ing for large scale projects being given
complex issues, both sides have determined not to pursue further negotiations with regard the green light. The Egyptian Refining
to the Montreal East Refinery,” said Uzi Yemin, president of Delek US Holdings. Co. (ERC) recently signed a debt pack-
“Because no buyer for the refinery had been identified by the end of last year, we age of $2.6 billion to finance construc-
announced on January 7, 2010 that we intended to convert the refinery to a terminal and tion of its $3.7 billion second-stage
so started detailed planning for the conversion,” said Richard Oblath of Shell. “Although oil refinery in the greater Cairo area
we retained hope that a buyer could be found, the conversion was planned in parallel to of Egypt. The refinery will produce
the sale process, since there was no guarantee a sale would occur.” over 4 million tpy of refined products
when completed, including 2.3 mil-
lion tons of EURO V diesel.
The late July fire at Frontier Oil’s Cheyenne, Wyoming, refinery The debt package includes $2.35
has been problematic for the company, but its leadership does not see the incident as billion of senior debt and $225 mil-
having a long term effect on Frontier’s overall bottom line. lion of subordinated debt. Institutions
“We suffered a recent setback in Cheyenne as a result of a fire near our crude unit,” participating in the senior debt
said Mike Jennings, chairman of Frontier. “Our third quarter production and costs will package include the Japan Bank for
reflect this outage, which is expected to last approximately two to three weeks. Despite International Cooperation, Nippon
this event, our Cheyenne refinery has been delivering on its cost reduction and yield Export and Investment Insurance, the
Export-Import Bank of Korea, the
improvement goals. Still ahead of us is the completion of Cheyenne’s LPG recovery proj-
European Investment Bank and the
ect, which is scheduled to come online in mid-2011.” African Development Bank. First draw-
down under the senior debt facilities is
Rive Technology Inc. has an agreement with W. R. Grace & Co. Conn. expected in the coming two months.
to jointly develop and commercialize Rive’s zeolite technology for use in catalysts for Mitsui & Co., which is part of the
fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes within a petroleum refinery. Rive’s proprietary consortium of contractors building
technology makes zeolite refining catalysts more accessible to hydrocarbon molecules, the refinery, is providing $200 million
resulting in increased yields of transportation fuels and less coke. Rive’s technology creates of subordinated debt financing. The
African Development Bank is provid-
refinery wide operating flexibility due to enhanced coke selectivity. Refiners can profit
ing an additional $25 million of sub-
from the improved catalytic performance by increasing refinery throughput, processing ordinated debt financing.
heavier crude oil and maximizing production of high quality fuels. Under the agreement, News of the debt package came
Rive and Grace will develop, manufacture and market FCC catalysts incorporating Rive’s just weeks after the International
technology worldwide. Finance Corp. announced it would
invest equity of $100 million in the
The grand opening of the Castrol China Technology Center recently project. The refinery, to be located in
took place in Shanghai’s Pudong Jinqiao Science Park. The new facility will be dedicated the greater Cairo district of Mostorod,
to developing lubricant technology solutions for the automotive, aviation, industrial, will sell its production to the state-
owned Egyptian General Petroleum
offshore and marine market sectors in China. The center comprises specialist laboratories Corp. (EGPC) under a 25-year offtake
dedicated to conducting lubricant development and modification, a friction testing cen- agreement at international prices.
ter to evaluate and screen new formulations for industrial and automotive applications, a ERC has obtained all regulatory
driveline testing laboratory and a vehicle workshop for testing product performance. and environmental approvals and
signed a lump-sum turnkey contract
Huntsman Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire with GS Engineering & Construction/
the chemicals business of Laffans Petrochemicals Ltd. Located in Ankleshwar, India, the Mitsui & Co. The project’s builders
Laffans chemicals business manufactures amines and surfactants. The chemicals business expect to complete construction and
operational testing of ERC in the
has 130 employees and annual sales of approximately $45 million. The acquisition is sub- second half of 2014 in time for opera-
ject to certain terms and conditions and is expected to occur in the first half of 2011. tions to begin in 2015
“Considering the financial and reg-
Gevo has signed definitive agreements to acquire Agri-Energy’s ulatory complexity of building a refin-
ethanol production facility in Luverne, Minnesota. Mechanical retrofitting of the plant ery today, the signing of ERC’s debt
will begin upon closing the transaction. Isobutanol production is expected to begin by the package has come together remark-
first quarter of 2012. During most of the retrofit process, it is expected that the facility ably quickly,” said Tom Thomason,
will continue to produce ethanol. HP CEO of ERC. HP
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING SEPTEMBER 2010

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HPIN RELIABILITY
HEINZ P. BLOCH, RELIABILITY/EQUIPMENT EDITOR
HB@HydrocarbonProcessing.com
Eccentric reducers and straight runs of pipe at pump suction

Questions relating to proper reducer application in centrifugal upstream of any low point must be governed by an important
pump suction lines date back many decades. Until his death (at criterion. The line must be a diameter that will limit the pump-
age 84, in 1995), world-renowned pump expert Igor Karassik age velocity to values below those where bubbles will rise through
frequently corresponded with the writer and other pump users the liquid.
on pump-related subjects. We rarely pass up an opportunity to In general, it can be stated that wherever a low point exists in a
highlight some of his experience-based comments. suction line, the horizontal piping run at that point should be kept
Once, a pump user referred to Fig. 1 and noted that this was as short as possible. In a proper installation, the reducer flange will
quite typical of illustrations found in many textbooks. In essence, thus be located at the pump suction nozzle and there is usually no
Fig. 1 indicates that, with a suction line entering the pump in the straight piping between reducer outlet and pump nozzle. Straight
horizontal plane, the eccentric reducer is placed with the flat at pipe lengths are, however, connected to the eccentric reducer inlet
the top. Available texts often give no indication as to whether the flange. On most pumps, one usually gets away with five diameters
pumpage came from above or below the pump. of straight length next to the reducer. In the case of certain unspeci-
Igor Karassik agreed that, if the supply source was from above fied velocities and other interacting variables (e.g., viscosity, NPSH
the pump, the eccentric reducer should be installed with the margin, pump style, etc.), it might be wise to install as many as 10
flat (horizontal) surface at the bottom. Entrained vapor bubbles diameters of straight length next to the reducer inlet flange. The
could then migrate back into the source instead of staying near two different rules-of-thumb explain seeming inconsistencies in the
the pump suction. If the pump suction piping entered after a long literature, where both the 5 and 10-D rules can be found. HP
horizontal run or from below the pump, the flat of the eccentric
reducer should be at the top.1 LITERATURE CITED
1 Karassik, Igor J., Centrifugal Pump Clinic, 2nd Ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc.,
Still, in many older texts it has been assumed that the pump-
1989.
age source originated at a level below the pump suction nozzle.
Karassik reminded us that older Hydraulic Institute Standards The author is HP’s Equipment/Reliability Editor. The author of 17 textbooks
commented on the suction pipe slope: and over 470 papers or articles, he advises process plants worldwide on reliability
“...Any high point in the suction pipe will become filled with improvement and maintenance cost reduction opportunities. His coauthored Bloch/
Budris text, Pump User’s Handbook, is comprehensive and very widely used. Find
air and thus prevent proper operation of the pump. A straight
the 2nd edition under ISBN 0-88173-517-5.
taper reducer should not be used in a horizontal suction line as
an air pocket is formed in the top of the
reducer and the pipe. An eccentric reducer
Air pocket
should be used instead.”
This instruction applies regardless of
where the pumpage originates. Depending Suction Suction
on the particulars of an installation, trapped
vapors can reduce the effective suction line
cross-sectional area. Should that be the case, Incorrect Correct
flow velocities would tend to be higher than
anticipated. Higher friction losses would FIG. 1 Illustration of eccentric reducer mounting from Hydraulic Institute Standards.
occur and pump performance would be
adversely affected.
In the case of a liquid source above the
pump suction, and particularly where the
suction line consists of an eccentric reducer
followed by an elbow turned vertically Suction Suction
upward and a vertical pipe length—all assem-
bled in that sequence from the pump suction
flange upstream—it will be mandatory for
Correct Eccentric reducers should be
the eccentric reducer flat side to be at the Source of supply arranged with the bottoms
bottom. That said, Fig. 2 should clarify what below pump. flat when source of supply
reliability-focused users need to implement. is above the pump.
Also, whenever vapors must be vented FIG. 2 Suggested modifications for eccentric reducer mountings.
against the flow direction, the line size
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HPINTEGRATION STRATEGIES
RALPH RIO, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
rrio@arcweb.com
Sustainability program management with EAM

Moving to a sustainable manufacturing model requires signifi- time. The obvious emitters have probably already been addressed.
cant changes throughout the enterprise. Some HPI companies What do you do next? Examining the wastewater is too late in the
use a top-down approach in which senior managers set targets process. To improve sustainability, manufacturers need to move
to which engineers and plant operators must respond. Others upstream to the source, and closely examine the individual assets.
use a more collaborative approach, providing visionary goals and The major areas of asset-specific functionality relative to man-
allowing project leaders to emerge. In either case, companies must aging a sustainability program include:
manage and monitor progress to ensure that overall business needs • Program management: set goals, measure and benchmark
are met. An effective program requires structure. performance
• Alert management: monitor, trend and notify
Focal points for managing sustainability. Sustainable • Planning and analytics: optimize asset performance
manufacturing embodies three principal concepts: design-, envi- • Emissions and resource compliance: track and verify for
ronment- and resource-friendly products; produced in environ- corporate governance and government regulations.
ment- and resource-friendly plants; with an environment- and
resource-friendly supply chain. Plant sustainability program scope. HPI plants already
Available software applications can help HPI plants and other see significant new resource-based constraints, regulations and
manufacturers manage each of the product, plant and supply business drivers. These will only escalate. Also, it is reasonable to
chain domains. For example, manufacturers typically use enter- expect higher prices for feedstocks, energy and carbon emissions
prise asset management (EAM) applications to manage the life in the future. As shown in the figure, these resources involve a
cycle of assets in the plant and supply chain. This can be extended variety of different plant production, IT, and other assets.
to also manage a sustainability program for plant assets. Usually, each of these assets has a supervisory control system
or historian. These supervisory systems provide an excellent data
Manual merges create mayhem. Sustainability concerns source for the EAM system to use to manage sustainability. Rather
for a plant include both the various inputs into the plant (feed- than periodic manual data collection, data collection should be
stocks, power, water, air and MRO materials), plus the different an automated process with integration between the EAM system
plant outputs (gasses, liquids and solids) that can have a detri- and these supervisory control systems. HP
mental effect on humans or the environment. The problem is that
each asset category within a plant typically has its own specific The author has been with ARC since 2000. Prior to joining ARC, he was with GE
Fanuc Automation as its manager of marketing for its CIMPLICITY software and ser-
operational control applications and systems. vices. Prior to that, Mr. Rio was Intellution’s marketing manager for all HMI software
For most manufacturers, rolling up the carbon footprint across products. Mr. Rio holds a BS degree in mechanical engineering and an MS degree in
a site involves accessing each of these different systems and per- management science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York.
forming manual data mergers, which at best, is a time-consuming
and error-prone process.
HPI companies can leverage the knowledge base resident in Inputs Processing Outputs
their EAM and maintenance management systems to help man-
age the plant’s sustainability program. EAM systems improve Power
equipment uptime and performance (Fig. 1). This benefit can Production
be extended to reduce both a company’s carbon footprint and Waste
MRO
emissions. EAM can also help manufacturers comply with future
carbon reporting regulations.
Air IT data center
EAM applications have an asset-specific structure. They man-
age each asset as either an individual item (like a compressor), or Emissions
Water
as a group (like a distillation train). EAM has well-established HVAC
functions for managing each asset. These include work-order
Steam
Larry O’Brien is part of the automation consulting team at ARC covering the
management (scheduling, dispatching and monitoring comple- Lighting, other ...
process industries, and an HP contributing editor. He is responsible for tracking the
tion), parts inventory management, labor management, informa-
market for process
Natural automation systems (PASs) and has authored the PAS market stud-
gas
tion management and analytics. ies for ARC since 1998. Mr. O’Brien has also authored many other market research,
A sustainability program also needs this asset-specific approach Plant assets EAM
strategy and custom research reports on topics including process fieldbus, collaborative
to identify those assets that need improvement. For example, a partnerships, total automation market trends and others. He has been with ARC since
January
FIG.1993,
1 and started his career with market research in the field instrumentation
plant’s wastewater contains a mixture of effluents from a variety of Managing sustainability via assets with EAM.
markets.
plant sources. The volume and composition is inconsistent over
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HPIN CONTROL
Y. ZAK FRIEDMAN, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Zak@petrocontrol.com
APC application ownership

Advancec process control (APC) requires skilled control engi- real economics, and then instruct operators about how to work
neers, and where such engineers are not available, even well- with these settings. That is what I call ownership. Being aware of
implemented APC applications quickly become ineffective. That refinery economics is perhaps a two-hour-a-week task, and figur-
much is known and has been published.1–4 Feeling frustrated over ing out how to make APC comply with current economics could
the dire APC manning shortage, I wrote an editorial recommend- take six more hours a week.
ing simplifying APC to the point of giving up on some of the There’s more to say about inferential control models. They
benefits, aiming to reduce maintenance requirements and improve are important because as APC moves the unit, keeping prod-
the APC success rate. Another school of thought, represented best uct qualities on target is key to correct optimization. I advocate
perhaps by Allan Kern, suggests that we do away with multivari- inferential models based on first principles, whereas many APC
able predictive control (MVPC) tools altogether, and move back practitioners employ regression-based models. That, in itself, is
to implementing APC strategies as DCS structures, going by the not a disaster. While the regression is necessarily inferior, a good
name of advanced regulatory control (ARC). process engineer can perhaps specify model inputs correctly to
I do not share Kern’s view against MVPC but think that com- achieve workable models. Either way, inferential models require
plexity is the real culprit. Good intentions of capturing all of APC careful and detailed monitoring. As a minimum—track unbiased
benefits have led control engineers to overly complex designs that inferences against the lab to investigate inferential bias patterns,
might be beneficial with constant attention, but fall into disuse especially if it is related to operational modes. Upon seeing that
without attention. I have implemented many simple MVPCs, as the regression model no longer fits, the APC engineer should
well as ARC applications, and if you structure such an applica- devote time to collect data and come up with another regression.
tion with say, one inferential-quality model plus one override That is perhaps a two-to-four-hour a week job, depending on the
constraint without any built-in economics, it works day-in and number of inferential models and their quality.
day-out. If you wish to incorporate more constraints, especially
constraints with slow dynamics and more economic consider- What about outsourcing APC engineering? In my
ations, MVPC is your tool, and that application requires almost view, APC ownership, i.e., the responsibility to monitor econom-
daily attention to work well. ics and inferential models, and to set the APC to agree with unit
economics, should rest with the site engineer. But communica-
‘Why?’ Management asks. “We have paid a lot to develop tions tools today certainly permit engaging a remote expert to
APC, why do we need to invest more engineering time, and yet help the site APC engineer set the application correctly, and/or to
daily, to keep this application in good repair?” Complexity has rework inferential models. I support inferential models in many
something to do with it. Refinery economics can vary wildly. refineries, though not to the point of daily attention.
Seasonal or blocked-operation jumps are obvious and predictable, The count of hours above leads to a simple conclusion that a
but there are other events that change economics quickly: delayed good APC engineer can steward four major applications, five or
shipments, storms, equipment problems, troubles in a neighbor- six with outside help. If you cannot afford this level of engineering
ing refinery, political unrest on a different continent or, in fact, support—why spend money implementing APC to begin with?
any unforeseen event. Can the preconfigured MVPC economics In that case implement only simple APC with quality targets and
cope with actual economics of the day? It absolutely cannot! constraints but without economic drives. HP
And how would a wise operator respond to a mismatch between
refinery economics versus MVPC configuration? He/she would LITERATURE CITED
1 Friedman, Y. Z., “Avoid advanced control project mistakes,” Hydrocarbon
continue using valid APC functionality and disable offending
Processing, October 1992.
functionality, usually by clamping manipulated variables (MVs). 2 Friedman, Y. Z., “Advanced process control—it takes effort to make it work,”
I have seen applications with 40 controlled variables (CVs) by 20 Hydrocarbon Processing, February 1997.
MVs where only two MVs were not clamped. Worse yet, operators 3 Latour, P. R., “Does the HPI do its CIM business right?” Hydrocarbon Processing,
are not expected to be aware of plantwide economics. With lack of July 1997.
4 Kane L. A., “Controversy in Control,” Hydrocarbon Processing, March/April 1998.
guidance they might let APC drive the unit against the economics
of the day, and what have we achieved then?; nice-looking multi-
The author is a principal consultant in advanced process control and online
variable responses that cause the refinery to lose money. optimization with Petrocontrol. He specializes in the use of first-principles models
That is why economics-driven APC applications need daily for inferential process control and has developed a number of distillation and reactor
attention. The site APC engineer should always be aware of cur- models. Dr. Friedman’s experience spans over 30 years in the hydrocarbon industry,
rent economic situations. While the engineer cannot quickly rede- working with Exxon Research and Engineering, KBC Advanced Technology and since
1992 with Petrocontrol. He holds a BS degree from the Israel Institute of Technology
sign the APC to follow current economics, he/she must find a way (Technion) and a PhD degree from Purdue University.
to set economic drive coefficients and CV targets to approach the
I 13
HPIMPACT
Strong second quarter Recent margin improvements have who advocate the LCFS, saying it would
for US refiners encouraged US refineries to increase reduce emissions. Barr Engineering of Min-
throughputs (Fig. 2), with overall refinery neapolis, Minnesota, conducted the study
Baker & O’Brien issued an August report utilization rates increasing during the quar- for members of NPRA.
that stated US refinery cash margins have ter from 82.2% to 88.7%. The increases in The study assumes that because an LCFS
increased, on average, by almost $3 per bar- throughput varied widely across regions, would prevent US refineries from import-
rel vs. the previous quarter, with the stron- with the Midwest only increasing by 2% vs. ing petroleum obtained from oil sands
gest improvement noted on the West Coast. an increase of 12% in the Gulf Coast. in neighboring Western Canada, the US
Countering the general improvement trend The consultants at Baker & O’Brien would instead have to import more oil in
was the East Coast, where margins declined hold the opinion that, during the second tankers from the Middle East and elsewhere.
slightly because of a widening light-heavy quarter of 2010, US refiners exhibited At the same time, the Canadian oil would
crude oil discount and general market con- much stronger performance. But they be shipped in tankers across the Pacific to
ditions. Overall US first half 2010 (10H1) wonder whether the industry can sustain China and other Asian locations.
cash margins were much stronger than the this performance for any extended period The study calls this long-distance move-
last half of 2009 (Table 1). However, during depends upon strengthening demand for ment of oil thousands of miles around the
the second quarter of 2010 (10Q2), refining transportation fuels. Supply-side challenges world in tankers a “shuffle” that would
crack spreads began to slip relative to the in the medium term include currently high result in higher carbon dioxide emissions
previous quarter, with further weakening gasoline and diesel inventory levels, addi- than simply extracting the Canadian petro-
noted in July. tional capacity from new projects that are leum from the oil sands for US consump-
The light-heavy differential increased near completion and announced plans to tion, due to emissions created by shipping
in the first half of 2010, resulting in the restart idled refining capacity. the oil such great distances.
improvement of margins for Gulf Coast “In conducting this technical study, we
coking refineries. However, margins for East Low-carbon fuel standard looked at the most accurate data publicly
Coast cracking refineries remained stuck at
depressed 2009 levels (Fig. 1), even with the could cause ‘crude shuffle’
TABLE 1. US refiner cash margins
previous shutdown of two area refineries The National Petrochemical and Refin- compared to previous periods, $/bbl
(Valero’s in Delaware City, Delaware, and ers Association (NPRA) recently released
Sunoco’s in Westville, New Jersey). With the a report examining how a low-carbon fuel 10Q2 vs. 10Q1 10H1 vs. 09H2
recent announcement by Western Refining standard (LCFS) policy intended to reduce East Coast (0.54) +0.55
of plans to close the Yorktown, Virginia, greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the trans- Midwest +4.04 +2.83
refinery, East Coast refinery capacity will portation sector could actually result in Gulf Coast +2.40 +3.73
soon be reduced by a cumulative total of “shuffling” or “leakage” of emissions. The
Rocky Mountains +4.28 +3.22
almost 400,000 bpd, which is 23% of the study says an LCFS would actually increase
East Coast’s atmospheric distillation capac- global GHG emissions by up to 19 million West Coast +5.41 +1.82
ity operating in November 2009. metric tpy. This is in contradiction to those US Total +2.94 +2.86
East Coast resid cracking vs. Gulf Coast coking margins Total crude + feedstock inputs to US refineries
12 8,000
East coast resid cracking, W Africa 7,000 2007
10 Gulf coast coking, Maya 2008
6,000 2009
Gross margin, $/bbl input
2010 Q1
8 5,000 2010 Q2
Mbpd
4,000
6
3,000
4 2,000
1,000
2
0
East Coast Midwest Gulf Coast Rocky West Coast
0 Mountains
Jan-09 Apr-09 Jul-09 Oct-09 Jan-10 Apr-10 Source: US DOE/EIA
FIG. 1 East Coast resid cracking vs. Gulf Coast coking margins FIG. 2 Crude and feedstock inputs to US refineries from 2007 to
from January 2009–April 2010. 2010 Q2.

I 15
HPIMPACT
available, and the conclusion was clear,” said ing implementation of an LCFS indicates Additional concerns regarding Ameri-
Joel Trinkle, senior air quality consultant at that the net effect will be a doubling of can access to Canadian oil sands resources
Barr and one of the authors of the study. GHG emissions associated with changes have surfaced following a recent US State
“Crude shuffling under a nationwide LCFS in crude-transport patterns. It indicates Department decision regarding a proposed
would substantially raise overall greenhouse an increase in global GHG emissions by pipeline to transport Canadian crude
gas emissions.” 7.1 million to 19.0 million metric tons per to refineries in the Gulf Coast region.
The study found that an LCFS imple- year, depending on the extent of resulting The decision will allow federal agencies
mented in the US results in a notable Canadian crude displacement (Fig. 3). an additional 90 days to comment on
increase in greenhouse gas emissions due Canada is currently the largest supplier TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL proj-
to the displacement of Canadian crude of petroleum imported into the US, but ect, pending the State Department’s release
imports to the US and the rerouting of other nations are looking to the Canadian of a final environmental impact statement.
crude imports and exports to accommodate oil sands as a potential energy source. China The proposed pipeline expansion would
this displacement (Table 2). alone has already invested more than $6 more than double the amount of Canadian
“Nearby Canadian crude sources billion in Canadian oil sands projects as it crude imported to the US.
would be diverted to regions not affected continues to rapidly increase its presence in Several regional and state LCFS initia-
by an LCFS and replaced with supplies overseas energy production. tives are currently underway, including
from distant parts of the world,” the “By denying the American people access a statewide LCFS program in California
study says. “While it is likely that an to oil from our friendly neighbor Canada, established as part of the state’s AB 32 cli-
LCFS would change the mix of crude a low-carbon fuel standard would raise fuel mate law, and proponents of a federal LCFS
imports to the US, LCFS implemented costs and wipe out millions of American continue to seek its enactment.
in the US is not expected to change over- jobs,” said NPRA President Charles T. A federal LCFS provision was included
all trends in energy use and demand for Drevna. “Now this latest study shows that in the 2008 Lieberman-Warner climate-
crude resources throughout the rest of the a nationwide LCFS won’t reduce overall change bill that was defeated in the Senate.
world. A shift in US crude-supply pref- global GHG emissions—it will actually The 2009 Waxman-Markey climate-change
erences will simply cause redirection of raise them. These findings simply reinforce bill also contained an LCFS provision,
crude supplies elsewhere.” NPRA’s long-held belief that a federal low- although it was removed before the bill was
This analysis of the change in crude- carbon fuel standard is a policy of all pain passed by the House.
transport-related emissions accompany- and no gain.” Two other recent studies cast additional
doubt on the efficacy of an LCFS. A June
TABLE 2. Total transport GHG emissions under LCFS examined in detail 2010 report by Charles River Associates
found that a nationwide LCFS implemented
Metric tons CO2-e total Metric tons CO2-e total per day in 2015 would result by 2025 in: the loss
per day (assumes tanker (assumes tanker transport—
Scenario transport—one way) roundtrip/deadhead) of between 2.3 million and 4.5 million US
jobs; an increase of up to 170% in the price
Base case
of gasoline and diesel fuel; and a 2–3%
All Canadian imports to US displaced 35,160 40,519
decrease in the US gross domestic product.
All Canadian imports to US Midwest II displaced 16,651 19,189 The other report, by the Canadian
Crude shuffle case Energy Research Institute, issued in Octo-
All Canadian imports to US displaced 76,478 92,507 ber 2009, examined the impacts of develop-
All Canadian imports to US Midwest displaced 36,218 43,809 ing Canadian oil sands on the US economy.
It found that such development (which
would be threatened by the implementation
LCFS GHG impacts: Base case vs. crude shuffle
of a nationwide LCFS in the US) would
result in an estimated 343,000 new US jobs
GHG emissions per barrel Total GHG emissions per day
Thousand metric tons CO2-e/day
2.5E-02 100 between 2011 and 2015, and that US out-

Base case put of goods and services would increase
Metric tons CO2-e/bbl
2.0E-02 80 Crude shuffle by an average of $62 billion per year from

1.5E-02 60 2009 through 2025.
1.0E-02 40
0.5E-03 20
$8.4 billion Chinese pump
0.0E-03 0
market by 2015
One way Round-trip- All Midwest All US All Midwest All US McIlvaine is predicting that China will
tanker deadhead Canadian Canadian Canadian Canadian
transport tanker crude crude crude crude
account for 21% of the $40 billion 2015
transport imports imports imports imports world market for industrial pumps. China is
displaced displaced displaced displaced completing a five year plan which is adding
One way Round-trip-deadhead 15,000 million gallons daily of municipal
tanker transport tanker transport
sewage treatment. Also of note is that China
FIG. 3 LCFS GHG impacts: Base case vs. crude shuffle. now has twice the big power plant scrubbers
as does the US. These scrubbers each need
16
I SEPTEMBER 2010 HYDROCARBON PROCESSING
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HPIMPACT
up to 400,000 gpm of abrasive slurry. China the fatal explosion at its Texas City refinery penalties totaling a record $50.6 million
is building more new coal plants than the in March of that year. Upon issuance of that BP now has agreed to pay.
US or all of Europe combined. the citations, the parties entered into an During that same 2009 investigation
agreement that required the company to at the Texas City refinery, OSHA also
BP to pay $50.6 million identify and to correct deficiencies. In a identified 439 new willful violations and
follow-up investigation in 2009, OSHA assessed more than $30 million in penal-
for Texas City explosion found that although the company made ties. Litigation before the Occupational
The US Department of Labor’s Occu- many changes related to safety, it failed to Safety and Health Review Commission
pational Safety and Health Administra- live up to several extremely important terms regarding those violations and penalties
tion announced that BP Products North of that agreement. As a result, OSHA cited is ongoing and is not impacted by today’s
America Inc. will pay a full penalty of $50.6 BP for “failure to abate” violations with settlement. HP
million stemming from the 2005 explosion
at its Texas City, Texas, refinery that killed
15 workers and injured 170 others. The
agreement resolves failure-to-abate citations
issued after a 2009 follow-up investigation.
In addition to paying the record fine, BP has
agreed to take immediate steps to protect
those now working at the refinery, allocating
a minimum of $500 million to that effort.
“This agreement achieves our goal
of protecting workers at the refinery and
ensuring that critical safety upgrades are
made as quickly as possible,” said Secretary
of Labor Hilda L. Solis. “The size of the
penalty rightly reflects BP’s disregard for
workplace safety and shows that we will
enforce the law so workers can return home
safe at the end of their day.”
Full-Service
Under the agreement, BP immediately
will begin performing safety reviews of
the refinery equipment according to set
Decontamination
schedules and make permanent corrections.
The agreement also identifies many items
in need of immediate attention; the com- Get the The right chemical is crucial
pany has agreed to address those concerns expertise for process unit and
vessel decontamination.
quickly and to hire independent experts to that drives
monitor its efforts. results For optimal results – shorter turnaround times,
Additionally, the agreement provides faster vessel entry, lower costs, improved safety –
an unprecedented level of oversight of BP’s you need something more.
safety program including regular meetings That’s why our patented Zyme-Flow® chemistries
with OSHA, frequent site inspections and are backed by world-class service – including
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agency’s review. Finally, in a step toward tions and project management. From the industry’s
workplace safety corporate-wide, BP agrees to most experienced decontamination specialists.
establish a liaison between its North Ameri-
If you’re ready to take decontamination results
can and London boards of directors and to the next level, we’re ready to help.
OSHA, which will allow the agency to raise
compliance problems at the highest level.
“Safer conditions at this refinery should
result from this arrangement, which goes
far beyond what can normally be achieved
through abatement of problems identified Worldwide Leaders in Refinery Visit us at:
in citations,” said Assistant Secretary of Decontamination •Rio Oil & Gas Expo,
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HPIN CONSTRUCTION
North America The commissioning activities in progress minal, to be constructed at its Zwijndrecht
AdvanceBio Systems LLC has a con- include flushing of all lines, verifying opera- facilities in Belgium. Operation of the new
tract with the US Department of Energy’s tion of the control system and installation deep-sea terminal is expected to start in
National Renewable Energy Laboratory in of catalysts and absorbents. Dynamic Fuels 2012. Once completed, the new terminal
Golden, Colorado, to provide a biomass currently expects to begin fuel production will be connected directly to INEOS’ eth-
pretreatment reactor system for its inte- and ramp up of production rates during the ylene consuming facilities in the Antwerp/
grated biorefinery research facility. The third quarter of 2010. Rotterdam area and into Europe via the
equipment will be used for research, devel- ARG ethylene pipeline linking Antwerp to
opment, demonstration and deployment South America Cologne and the Ruhr industrial areas.
in support of national transportation fuel Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engi-
diversification objectives, specifically those neering and Construction Group has Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. has
associated with performing the advanced an owner’s engineer contract for a new a contract with The Dow Chemical Co.
technologies that make fuel ethanol from LNG receiving terminal to be built in to provide engineering and construction
cellulosic biomass cost-competitive. Montevideo, in the region of Río de la management services for the expansion
Plata, Uruguay. The contract was awarded of Dow’s facility in Fombio, Italy. The
Xebec Adsorption Inc. has signed a sig- by Uruguay’s state-owned oil company, expansion will accommodate the manu-
nificant contract to build a complete biogas Administración Nacional de Combusti- facturing of uniform particle size (UPS)
upgrading plant for Terasen Gas in west- bles, Alcohol y Portland (ANCAP). Fos- copolymers to be used in ion exchange
ern Canada. The plant will be installed at a ter Wheeler’s scope of work includes tech- resins. The scope of the contract includes
landfill site in British Columbia to upgrade nical assistance through the initial phases a range of services from detailed design
biogas to biomethane which will then be of the development of the project, concep- and construction management activities,
injected into the utility’s natural gas grid for tual design of the terminal, and develop- up to mechanical completion. The project
residential uses such as home heating and ment of the invitation to bid for the role includes the installation of new process
cooking. The biogas plant features the lat- of owner and operator of the terminal. equipment. The new equipment covers
est generation of Xebec’s proprietary rapid- The owner/operator role will include the two existing buildings and includes an
cycle pressure swing adsorption technology. responsibility for, among other elements, upgrade and tie-in of existing utilities and
Commissioning and startup is expected to the engineering, procurement and con- a new control system.
take place in early 2011. struction (EPC) contract. Foster Wheeler’s
TREND ANALYSIS FORECASTING
scope also includes the supervision of the ConocoPhillips, Rompetrol Rafinare
Hydrocarbon Processing maintains an
ProSep has $2 million contract to pro- EPC contractor from detailed engineering
extensive database of historical HPI proj-
S.A. and Rominserv S.A. have a license
vide process engineering and specialized through to startup.Current project activity
ect information.
internals for crude separation. This con- is published three times a year in the HPI
TREND ANALYSIS FORECASTING
tract was awarded through a commercial Construction
Europe Boxscore. When a project
is completed, it is removed from current Hydrocarbon Processing maintains an
alliance with Thermo Design and will The Shaw Group Inc. has a contract
listings and retained in a database. The extensive database of historical HPI proj-
be installed at a super major oil and gas database is a 35-year compilation ve
with Dogu Akdeniz Petrokimya ofRafin-
project information. The Boxscore Database is a
producer’s steam-assisted gravity drainage eriects
Sanayi ve Ticaret
by type, A.S.company,
operating (DAPRAS)licen-to 35-year compilation of projects by type, oper-
facility located in the oil sands of Alberta, sor, engineering/constructor,
provide project managementlocation, etc.
consultancy ating company, licensor, engineering/construc-
Many companies use the historical data for
Canada. The crude separation equipment (PMC) services for a grassroots refinery in
trending or sales forecasting.
tor, location, etc. Many companies use the his-
will be built using ProSep’s free water Yumurtalk located in the Ceyhan region of torical data for trending or sales forecasting.
The historical information is available in The historical information is available in
knock-out and treater vessel designs and Turkey on the eastern
comma-delimited Mediterranean
or Excel ® and can becoast.
cus- comma-delimited or Excel® and can be cus-
internals, allowing for efficient separation Shaw
tom will
sortedalso
toconduct
suit yourpre-front-end
needs. The costengi-
of tom sorted to suit your needs. The cost of the
of crude, natural gas, water and solids from the sortdesign
neering depends on the size and
development complex-
for 14 process sort depends on the size and complexity of
ity of the sort you request and whether a
the production stream. units, utilities, offsites and marine facilities
customized program must be written. You
the sort you request and whether a custom-
atcan
thefocus
site. on a narrow request such as the ized program must be written. You can focus
Syntroleum Corp.’s new Dynamic The planned
history facility,type
of a particular theofAdana Dogu
project or on a narrow request such as the history of a
you canrefinery,
obtain the particular type of project or you can obtain
Fuels plant that will produce high quality Akdeniz willentire 35-year to
be designed Boxscore
process
database, or portions thereof. the entire 35-year Boxscore database, or por-
renewable fuels from animal fats and greases 212,000 bpd of crude oil. The crude will tions thereof.
is mechanically complete, and work is now Simply
flow intosend
theaCeyhan
clear description of thevarious
region from data
you need and you will receive a prompt Simply send a clear description of the data
underway to prepare for the start of opera- sources, including
cost quotation. Iraq, Russia and the Cas-
Contact: you need and you will receive a prompt cost
tions. The prime contractor on the project pian areas, and will target the domestic and
Lee Nichols
quotation. Contact:
in Geismar, Louisiana, achieved mechanical regional exportP.markets.
O. Box 2608 Lee Nichols
completion in July and turned the entire Houston, Texas, 77252-2608 P. O. Box 2608, Houston, Texas, 77252-2608
plant over to Dynamic Fuels LLC, a joint Fax: 713-525-4626
INEOS Oxide says it will build
and Fax: 713-525-4626
e-mail: Lee.Nichols@gulfpub.com. e-mail: Lee.Nichols@gulfpub.com
venture of Syntroleum and Tyson Foods. operate a new 1-million-tpy ethylene ter-
I 21
HPIN CONSTRUCTION
Garyville refinery major expansion facts
Completed on schedule during the fourth quarter of 2009, technologies at the refinery, which is the first and only refinery
the Garyville Major Expansion (GME) units are fully integrated to be included in the US Environment Protection Agency’s elite
with the original refinery operations. With the expansion, the National Environmental Performance Track (NEPT). Mara-
refinery’s rated capacity increased from 256,000 bpd to 436,000 thon’s Garyville refinery was also one of the first refineries to
bpd, making it among the largest refineries in the US. The achieve this distinction.
180,000-bpd expansion will provide the equivalent of 7.5 mil- The construction project was one of the largest private sec-
lion gallons of clean transportation fuels each day; the initial cost tor projects underway in the US. Some of the most important
for GME was an estimated $3.2 billion. project partners existed offsite—citizens in the local parish and
In addition to the installation of a new crude and vacuum in the state of Louisiana who trusted Marathon Oil and endorsed
distillation units, expansion plans called for the construction this project. Because of this successful partnership, Marathon
of infrastructure and other process units: 44,000-bpd delayed was able to:
coker, 70,000-bpd heavy gasoil hydrocracker, 65,000-bpd • Provide over 270 full-time employees and contract
reformer and a 47,000-bpd kerosine hydrotreater. The new positions
facilities incorporate the latest safety and environmental control • Award $1.7 billion in contracts to local Louisiana
companies
• Contribute approximately $60 million during the
construction project in State and parish tax revenues
• Provide an economic boost to the community, in the wake
of natural disasters and a worldwide economic recession.
During construction, the GME required approximately 2,000
construction workers, with over 9,100 workers at peak periods.
In total, more than 40,000 workers participated in this expan-
sion project.
More than 31 million construction hours were logged.
With an OSHA Recordable Incident Rate of 0.27 compared
to OSHA’s published average of 4.7 for general construction
projects. The GME used enough steel to build over 15,000 cars,
created 10 miles of new paved roads, and installed over 1,000
miles of wire and cable. This was truly a global effort with 1,300
engineers from the Philippines, Mexico, India and the US all
working tirelessly to develop over 60,000 blueprints.
Around the world, and around the clock, major equipment
was manufactured in 12 countries. Over 50 barges traveled tens
of thousands of miles to deliver this hardware to the site. To
preserve integrity of the Mississippi River dike while delivering
some equipment, a $3.5 million temporary bridge was con-
structed. Once the hardware was onsite, the team safely executed
over 100 critical equipment lifts, some as large as 850 tons.
Note: Marathon Oil Corp. is an integrated energy company

focused on value creation through the responsible development
of liquid hydrocarbon and natural gas resources to help meet the
world’s energy needs. It is
• 4th largest US-based integrated oil and gas company
• 5th largest US petroleum refiner
• Headquartered in Houston, Texas. HP
TABLE 1. GME overview timeline
2006 2007 2008 2009

March Contractor to begin clearing site January Commence steel erection March Complete engineering effort
May Begin hauling fill March Commence piping erection May Begin commissioning activities
July Commence filling July Commence construction of October Mechanical completion
marine facilities
December Detailed engineering September Commence foundations December Critical vessels delivered December Startup
effective start to site
22
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HPIN CONSTRUCTION
and technical services agreement for the Foster Wheeler AG’s Global Engi- duction coming onstream in the Norwe-
revamp of the existing delayed coker neering and Construction Group has a gian North Sea.
unit at Rompetrol’s Petromidia refin- framework agreement, awarded by Statoil,
ery in Romania. The revamp will utilize acting on behalf of Gassco AS as operator Middle East
ConocoPhillips’ delayed coking technol- for the Gassled joint venture, for front-end Flowserve Corp. has received final
ogy to further improve the reliability, the engineering design (FEED) services valid approval from Saudi Aramco on a mas-
environmental performance and the oper- through 2013 to support the development ter purchase agreement to supply pumps,
ability of the existing 22,000-bpd unit. of the Kårstø oil and gas processing plant valves and services for the Yanbu’ export
Construction of Rompetrol Rafinare’s in Norway. Statoil is modifying, on behalf refinery project (YERP). Under the terms
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is expected to be completed in 2012. it to process new light oil/condensate pro- (CPA) established between Flowserve
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HPI CONSTRUCTION BOXSCORE UPDATE
Company City Plant Site Project Capacity Unit Cost Status Yr Cmpl Licensor Engineering Constructor
UNITED STATES
Massachusetts Northeast Biodiesel Greenfield Greenfield Biodiesel 3.5 MMgal 2.5 U 2011
CANADA
British Columbia Spectra Energy Dawson Creek Dawson Creek Gas Processing 200 MMcfd 1500 P 2013
LATIN AMERICA
Argentina Tierra Del Fuego P&C Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego Ammonia 1.5 Mtpy F 2012 KBR
Chile ENAP Pemuco Pemuco LNG Regasification 600 Mm3/d P 2012
Chile ENAP Pemuco Pemuco LNG Storage (4) 200 m3 P 2012
Colombia Reficar Cartagena Cartagena Refinery Treater LPG None E 2011 Merichem
Colombia Reficar Cartagena Cartagena Refinery Treater, Jet Fuel None E 2011 Merichem
Colombia Reficar Cartagena Cartagena Refinery Treater, Spent Caustic None E 2011 Merichem
EUROPE
France Total Gonfreville Gonfreville Distillation, Crude EX 205 Mbpd 950 E 2013 FW
France Total Gonfreville Gonfreville Hydrocracker EX 48 Mbpd 950 E 2013 Technip
France Total Gonfreville Gonfreville Hydrotreater, Gas Oil 364 Mbpd 950 E 2013 Technip
Georgia Georgian Oil and Gas Corp Undisclosed GOGC Refinery Refinery None S 2014
Germany Sud Chemie Straubing Straubing Bio-ethanol 2 Mt 36 U 2011
Netherlands Gate Terminal BV Rotterdam Maasvlakte Compressor None E 2011 Techint Burckhardt Compression|TS LNG BV TS LNG BV
Romania ConocoPhillips/Rompetrol Rafinare Navodari Navodari Coker, Delayed RE 22 Mbpd 50 E 2012 Rominserv Rominserv
Serbia NIS-Refinery Novi Sad Pancevo Pancevo Hydrogen Generation 40 tpd 100 U 2011 Haldor Topsøe Jacobs |Heurtey Heurtey
ASIA/PACIFIC
China CNPC Anning Kunming Oil Refinery Refinery 200 Mbpd 3400 E 2012
China INEOS Phenol/Sinopec YPC Nanjing Nanjing Chemical Ind Park Phenol 400 Mtpy S 2013
China Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Ningbo Ningbo ADI (aliphatic isocyanate) None S 2013
China Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Ningbo Ningbo Polyethers None S 2013
China Tianjin Bohua Tianjin Tianjin Dehydrogenation, Propane 600 Mm-tpy U 2012 CB&I
China Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Yantai Yantai ADI (aliphatic isocyanate) None S 2013
China Yantai Wanhua Polyurethanes Yantai Yantai MDI 600 Mtpy C 2010
India IOCL/TIDCO JV Ennore Ennore LNG Terminal 2.5 MMtpy 64 P 2015
Singapore Stolthaven Singapore Pte Jurong Jurong Terminal 61 Mm3 350 E 2011 Chiyoda Singapore Pte
Taiwan Dragon Steel Corp Taichung Taichung Coke Oven Plant 3 Mtpd F 2012 Uhde
Taiwan Dragon Steel Corp Taichung Taichung Gas Treating EX 146 Mm3 F 2012 Uhde
MIDDLE EAST
Jordan Jordan India Fertilizer Co Eshidiya Eshidiya Phosphoric Acid 500 Mtpy 625 E 2012 SNC-Lavalin
Jordan Jordan India Fertilizer Co Eshidiya Eshidiya Sulfuric Acid 4.5 Mtpy 625 E 2012 SNC-Lavalin
Kuwait KNPC Mina Al Ahmadi Mina Al Ahmadi Acid Gas Removal 230 MMcfd 400 E 2014 Tecnimont
Kuwait KNPC Mina Al Ahmadi Mina Al Ahmadi Acid Gas Removal (2) RE None 400 E 2014 Tecnimont
Saudi Arabia Arabian Chlorovinyl Company Al Jubail Al Jubail Caustic Soda 245 Mtpy U 2011 Uhde Daelim |Jacobs Daelim
Saudi Arabia Dammam 7 Petrochemicals Jubail Jubail 2 Ind Zone Acrylic acid\acrylates 200 Mtpy S 2014 Aker Solutions Aker Solutions
See http://www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/bxsymbols for licensor, engineering and construction companies’ abbreviations,

along with the complete update of the HPI Construction Boxscore.
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26
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REFINING DEVELOPMENTS SPECIALREPORT
20 questions: Identify probable

causes for high FCC catalyst loss
Here is a list to troubleshoot your catalyst problems
P. K. NICCUM, KBR Technology, Houston, Texas
F
luid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) lar or unstable catalyst circulation leading First things first: Q1–Q7. If the
performance and reliability are the to lower FCC unit throughput and less increased rate of catalyst loss is not severe, the
primary drivers of refinery econom- desirable product yields first indication may be the report of higher
ics. Containment of the finely powdered • Several fold increase in fresh catalyst than expected fresh catalyst additions needed
catalyst within the circulating FCC unit makeup costs. to maintain the unit catalyst inventory. The
inventory is a critical element of effective After a refinery notices an increase in
FCC operation. Identifying the probable FCC catalyst loss rate, it may prematurely
causes of high catalyst losses from a FCCU conclude that the high loss rate must be
remains one of the more important yet eso- due to mechanical problems that can only
teric challenges that can be faced by FCC be cured by a unit shutdown and repairs.
operators and engineers. The answers to This scenario can then deepen when no
20 key questions provide a basis to list the obvious mechanical damage is found dur-
more likely causes of high losses. Armed ing the shutdown and it becomes apparent
with this list, a refiner can develop cost- that the root cause of the losses can only be
effective mitigation strategies to relieve, if diagnosed by gathering clues and studying
not solve, the problem online or be pre- unit operations while the FCC unit is in
pared to confirm and correct the situation service. Indeed, the worst thing that can be
during the next unit shutdown. This can found during the shutdown and inspection
prevent chasing unlikely solutions, while could be finding nothing at all.
the real culprits escape detection. There are three categories of questions
that can be asked when gathering clues to
Workhorse unit of the refinery. determine the most likely cause of high
FCCU performance and reliability do FCC catalyst losses:
impact refinery economics. Containment • Questions with answers at your fin-
and minimizing losses of the finely pow- gertips
dered catalyst within the circulating FCC • Questions that should have readily
unit inventory is critical. It is remarkable available answers
that two-stage reactor and regenerator • Questions whose answers require
cyclones, as depicted in Fig. 1, typically data or analysis beyond that considered
capture more than 99.997% of the catalyst routine.
dust entrained with the product and flue These listed groupings can provide an
gas vapors. Any significant loss in the abil- order for an investigation, starting with
ity to contain the catalyst will have serious the questions where answers are most eas-
negative economic consequences, such as: ily available, and working down the list
• Catalyst contamination of slurry-oil toward those requiring more time and
product reducing its value in the market. costs to answer.
• Severe erosion of slurry-circulation Another complicating factor in FCC
pumps catalyst loss investigations, like many trou-
• Required cleaning of heavy oil tanks bleshooting exercises, is that some of the
due to catalyst buildup supposed evidence may be corrupt or just
• Loss of compliance with permitted plain wrong. It is up to the investigator to
atmospheric particulate emissions look for what is being indicated by the pre-
• Premature failure of flue gas power ponderance of the evidence, and not be
recovery turbines drawn into making premature conclusions FIG. 1 Cut-away view of FCC unit.
• Loss of catalyst fluidity causes irregu- based on limited data.
HYDROCARBON PROCESSING SEPTEMBER 2010 29
I
SPECIALREPORT REFINING DEVELOPMENTS
first order of business is to ascertain which than collecting data concerning what things having a diameter less than 40 microns.
side of the reactor-regenerator system, if not look like when all is well. This parameter provides an indication of
both sides, is responsible for the increased It is also noteworthy if either the reactor whether or not the increased loss rate is due
catalyst loss, as listed in Table 1. or regenerator loss rate has decreased while to cyclone malfunction versus an increase
Q1: What is the relative rate of catalyst losses from the other vessel have increased. in fines generation due to increased attri-
loss in the fractionator bottoms compared With a constant rate of fines input (fresh tion or a higher loading of fines with the
to normal? Calculating the catalyst loss rate catalyst) and fines generation by attrition, fresh catalyst.
through the reactor cyclones is normally a anything that reduces the fines losses from Q4: What is the average equilibrium
straightforward multiplication of the slurry one vessel will increase the fines concentra- catalyst APS compared to normal? The
oil production rate times the concentration tion in the unit and result in a corresponding change in average particle size (APS) of
of ash in the slurry oil product. increase in fines flowrate from the other ves- the equilibrium catalyst generally moves
Q2: What is the relative stack opac- sel. For instance, commissioning a catalyst opposite the fraction of fines in the cata-
ity or rate of fines catch compared to slurry oil filter with recycle back to the riser lyst. However, APS can also increase over
normal? An increase in regenerator stack will increase the loss rate from a regenerator. time due to decreasing equilibrium catalyst
opacity generally indicates an increase in The equilibrium catalyst data sheet withdrawals that traps the largest particles
stack catalyst emissions. It is noted that provides a long-term accounting of many within the circulating catalyst inventory.
particles with diameters greater than a few important equilibrium catalyst properties Q5: How does the volumetric flowrate
microns generally have an increasingly that are useful in diagnosing catalyst loss of reactor product vapors through the
smaller impact on opacity while those with issues. Chief among these is the particle cyclones compare to normal? The volu-
diameters in the range of 0.1 to 1.0 microns size data.4 metric rate of vapor flowing through the
have the larger impact on opacity.1,2 The Q3: What is the relative amount of reactor cyclones can be estimated based on
presence of third-stage separators, electro- equilibrium catalyst in the 0–40 micron the reactor operating temperature and pres-
static precipitators and flue gas scrubbers range? An equilibrium catalyst data sheet sure together with the hydrocarbon product
can obscure the impact of increased regen- provides a long-term accounting of many rate, reactor and stripper steam rates, and
erator catalyst losses on stack opacity.3 important equilibrium catalyst properties an estimate of the hydrocarbon product
A concept referred to throughout this that are useful in diagnosing catalyst loss molecular weight. The rates and molecular
article is “What is normal?” Unfortunately, issues. Chief among these is the particle weights of any hydrocarbon recycle streams
in many cases, this “normal” data may be size data.4 The relative amount of fines in should also be included in the calculations.
difficult to obtain as the incentive to docu- the catalyst inventory is often indicated Q6: How does the volumetric flowrate
ment problems often gets more priority by the percentage of the catalyst particles of air or flue gas through the regenerator
compare to normal? The regenerator air
TABLE. 1. Questions with answers at your finertips rate together with the regenerator operating
1. What is the relative rate of catalyst loss in the fractionator bottoms compared to normal? temperature and pressure provide an indica-
tion of the volumetric vapor traffic through
2. What is the relative stack opacity or rate of fines catch compared to normal?
the regenerator and its cyclone system. Even
3. What is the relative amount of equilibrium catalyst in the 0–40 micron range?
better accuracy can be obtained by calculat-
4. What is the average equilibrium catalyst APS compared to normal? ing the molar rate of the flue gas based on
5. How does the volumetric flowrate of reactor product vapors through the cyclones compare to normal? the air rate and flue gas composition.
6. How does the volumetric flowrate of air or flue gas through the regenerator compare to normal? Q7: How does the catalyst circula-
7. How does the catalyst circulation rate compare to normal? tion rate compare to normal? The most
common method of estimating the catalyst
TABLE 2. Questions needing more investigation to resolve circulation rate is based on the regenerator
air rate, flue gas analysis, and reactor and
8. What is the relative rate of catalyst loss from the regenerator compared to normal? regenerator temperatures. For the purpose
9. How does the fresh catalyst makeup rate compare to normal? of catalyst loss troubleshooting, the consis-
10. Are the losses steady or intermittent? tency of method is more important than
the absolute accuracy of the method.
11. When did you last change the type of fresh FCC catalyst?
12. When did the loss increase first occur?
The next level. As listed in Table 2:
13. How long did it take for the losses to increase from a normal rate? Q8: What is the relative rate of cata-
lyst loss from the regenerator compared
TABLE 3. More difficult to resolve questions on FCC operations to normal? On the regenerator side, quan-
tification of the catalyst loss rate is best
14. What is the relative angularity of the equilibrium catalyst? determined over a period of time by sub-
15. What is the relative angularity of lost catalyst? tracting the reactor catalyst loss rate from
16. What is the relative APS of the catalyst in the reactor carryover? the catalyst addition rate. Careful attention
17. What is the shape of the differential particle size curve of the catalyst in the reactor carryover? to changes in the unit and catalyst hopper
18. What is the relative APS of the catalysts in the regenerator carryover? inventories over the same time period is
important for the catalyst balance.
19. What is the shape of the differential particle size curve of the catalysts in the regenerator carryover?
Previously, the presence of particulate
20. How does the cyclone system pressure drop compare to normal? capture devices downstream of the regen-
30
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10
9
8 Typical PSD
7 Poor second-stage
Percent, %
6 cyclone performance
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Particle size, microns
FIG. 2 Microscopic view of FCC catalyst. FIG. 3 Reduced system efficiency.
erator may obscure the impact of increased Q12: When did the loss increase first catalyst can be viewed under a micro-
regenerator catalyst losses on stack opacity. occur? It is also worthwhile to consider scope. If available, samples of catalyst
In these cases, the investigator can review the the date when the increased catalyst losses lost from the regenerator can be viewed
catalyst catch rate in the post-regenerator flue seemed to begin. Look for coincidences under a microscope. The microscope can
gas cleanup equipment. For instance, data on with other significant events in the FCC reveal whether the sample contains a high
the catch rate in a fourth-stage cyclone fines operation. For instance, did the time of the concentration of small, jagged or broken
hopper or in an electrostatic precipitator increased loss rate correspond with a unit pieces indicating an abnormally severe
(ESP) dust bins can provide more evidence turnaround or upset? Equipment damage is degree of catalyst attrition.
of increased regenerator catalyst loss. more likely to occur during a startup, upset Q16: What is the relative APS of the
Q9: How does the fresh catalyst or shutdown. Loss of restriction orifices catalyst in the reactor carryover? Catalyst
makeup rate compare to normal? Docu- that can cause an attrition problem more taken from the slurry oil can be subjected
mentation of catalyst additions is important commonly occurs during a turnaround. to the all important particle size analysis.
for several reasons. Firstly, after accounting Were there other significant changes in the For a given rate of fines input and fines
for any changes in routine equilibrium cat- operation corresponding to the time of the generation within the unit, material bal-
alyst withdrawal rates, increasing fresh cata- increase in catalyst losses such as changes ance considerations dictate that the APS
lyst additions to maintain unit inventory in feedrate, combustion air rate, catalyst of the lost catalyst must increase as the loss
corroborates other indications of increas- circulation rate or feedstock quality? rate increases. The image from the micro-
ing catalyst losses. Second, increasing the Q13: How long did it take for the scope can corroborate the particle size
fresh catalyst addition rate generally leads losses to increase from a normal rate? If analysis by showing more than an expected
to increased losses due to increased fines the catalyst loss rate made a step change fraction of larger particles and even very
input with the fresh catalyst and because from normal to a higher value, then this large particles that would never escape a
the newer catalyst may have surfaces that generally indicates that the problem is not properly functioning cyclone system.
are more easily abraded.5 an erosion induced hole somewhere in the • If the APS of the lost catalyst is smaller
Q10: Are the losses steady or intermit- cyclone system; as the hole size will increase than normal, and if the loss rate is higher
tent? If the increased catalyst losses seem to gradually if erosion is to blame. than normal, then that would indicate an
come and go with time, this is an indica- increased degree of fines input or increased
tion that the problem may be more related Harder-to-answer questions. As catalyst attrition.
to operating conditions than mechanical shown in Table 3, these require sample cap- • Moderately increasing APS would
damage. For instance, the diplegs may be ture and/or laboratory testing that would indicate some loss of cyclone efficiency;
operating close to a flooded condition, be considered non-routine. if the loss rate is higher than normal or a
where changes in gas rate or catalyst load- Q14: What is the relative angularity reduction in fines input or attrition if the
ing drastically affect the cyclone efficiency. of the equilibrium catalyst? As shown in loss rate is less than normal.
In a counter-example, if the increased loss Fig. 2, looking at the sample of the equilib- • Moderately increasing APS indicates
rate is due to a hole in a plenum or cyclone rium catalyst loss under a microscope can a reduction in fines input or attrition if the
outlet tube, then the losses are more likely be very revealing. If the sample contains loss rate is less than normal.
continuous and increasing. a lot of small, jagged or broken pieces, it • A large increase in APS indicates
Q11: When did you last change the indicates an abnormally severe degree of a major cyclone malfunction or serious
type of fresh FCC catalyst? If the type of catalyst attrition.7 damage.
fresh catalyst has changed in a timeframe Q15: What is the relative angular- Q17: What is the shape of the differ-
that could coincide with the increased cata- ity of lost catalyst? Generally speaking, ential particle size curve of the catalyst
lyst losses, the catalyst itself becomes suspect. samples of catalyst lost from the reactor in the reactor carryover? The particle size
Similarly, the same is true if the fresh catalyst are readily available from a sampling of analysis of a loss sample can also be reported
receipts show significant physical property the slurry oil product or circulating slurry as differential particle size distribution,
changes, especially in terms of the fraction oil. The slurry oil can be washed and fil- indicating the fraction of particles falling in
of fines, density or Attrition Index.6 tered in a laboratory, and the captured narrow size ranges. This is a different pre-
32
© 2010 Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. All rights reserved.
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10
10
9 9
8 Hole or crack in outlet
8 tube or plenum
7 7
Percent, %
Percent, %
6 Attrition 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 0
Particle size, microns 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Particle size, microns
FIG. 4 Bi-modal distribution indicating an attrition problem. FIG. 5 Bi-modal distribution indicating cyclone bypass.
What can be done to correct oil. Ideally, a dust sample can be collected taps, torch oil nozzles, and other vessel
an attrition problem online? from the regenerator effluent, and the results connections intended to pass only a small
• Locate and correct any missing can be analyzed as previously discussed with amount of gas, air or steam.
orifices or valve openings. respect to catalyst separated from slurry oil. • High-velocity gas jets can also emanate
If dust collection equipment exists down- from broken or eroded steam or air distrib-
stream of the regenerator, such as a scrub- utors where gas escapes without traveling
ber, ESP or TSS, the fines catch can also be through a velocity reducing nozzle typically
What can be done to correct analyzed and used in the investigation. used in the design of such distributors.
a plugged reactor cyclone Q19: What is the shape of the differ- A high fines concentration in the lost
dipleg online? ential particle size curve of the catalysts catalyst; high fines content in the catalyst
• Lower the stripper bed level to in the regenerator carryover? If a dust inventory; and splintered, broken and jagged
unseal the diplegs. sample from the regenerator effluent can particles as viewed with a microscope, all are
• Pressure bump the unit by be obtained, the results can be analyzed as indicative of a catalyst attrition problem.
changing the vessel operating previously discussed with respect to catalyst Excessive reactor or regenerator dilute
pressure rapidly, say 4 psi in separated from slurry oil. phase attrition. Since there is little catalyst
15 seconds. Q20: How does the cyclone system in a dilute phase, by definition, high attri-
pressure drop compare to normal? Some tion rates in this region are likely associ-
sentation than a cumulative particle size dis- FCC units are instrumented with differen- ated with particle impacts on solid surfaces
tribution displaying the weigh percentage of tial pressure measurements across the ves- within the cyclones, especially cyclones
particles having less than a given diameter.8 sel disengaging space and the vapor outlet. with high exit velocities.
The shape of the differential particle size This provides an indication of the pres- • The nature of the solid surfaces can
distribution curve can be insightful: sure drop through the cyclone system and also play a role in catalyst attrition with
• If the curve has only a single broad it will indicate whether there has been a badly damaged refractory or unusually
peak centered about a higher than normal significant change in the catalyst or vapor rough refractory surfaces providing more
particle size, as shown in Fig. 3, this could loadings of the cyclones. opportunity for abrupt impact of the trav-
indicate a partial loss of cyclone efficiency Once answers to many of the 20 questions elling catalyst.
but not complete bypassing of solids. are available, these answers can be analyzed Plugged reactor secondary cyclone
• A bimodal curve having a peak near for fit with the characteristics of the problems dipleg. Secondary cyclone dipleg plugging
that considered normal, as well as a second- described below to establish the more likely is much more common than the plugging
ary peak at a lower than normal particle size causes of the catalyst loss problem. of primary cyclone diplegs. The reason is
as shown in Fig. 4, may indicate a catalyst smaller diameter diplegs. The plugging of
attrition problem. Possible FCC catalyst losses. More a second-stage reactor cyclone dipleg often
• Some bypassing of material around common causes of high catalyst losses are: calls for an immediate shutdown of the
the cyclones altogether would occur with Excessive attrition in a fluid bed. Cat- FCC unit due to high catalyst losses.
a breached plenum chamber or a hole in alyst attrition in a fluid bed is caused by • Coke can form in a reactor cyclone
a secondary cyclone outlet tube, as shown catalyst particles colliding at high velocity and then fall into the dipleg, causing a full
in Fig. 5. This would exhibit itself with a with other particles or solid surfaces. The or partial plug.9
bimodal curve having peaks near that con- high particle velocities in a fluid bed are • If feed is introduced into the reac-
sidered normal, as well as a secondary peak chiefly the result of particle acceleration tor before the internals are sufficiently
at a higher than normal particle size. driven by high-velocity gas jets within the heated, such as can happen during startup
Q18: What is the relative APS of the fluid bed. The focus of an investigation into or upsets, then large amounts of coke can
catalysts in the regenerator carryover? the source of excessive catalyst attrition can appear wherever feedstock can condense.
Collecting a representative sample of catalyst include looking for these problems: • Some cyclones have check valves on
lost from the regenerator is less straightfor- • Missing restriction orifices or open the dipleg. Anything that can cause the
ward than the collection of fines from slurry orifice bypasses associated with pressure flapper to stick or be held closed, includ-
34
ing design problems or hinge coking, will in Fig. 6 provides a direct path for cata- then the incoming vapor jet can disrupt the
provide an effectively plugged dipleg. lyst escape, bypassing the cyclone system, desired vapor profile in the cyclone, damag-
• Failures of the cyclone hexsteel and allowing even large catalyst particles to ing the collection efficiency.
attachments to the cyclone interior shell show up in the main fractionator bottoms Holes in first-stage cyclone. Holes in
can release sheets of hexsteel and refrac- or flue gas system. Even a 10-mm hole can primary cyclones are not as common due
tory sufficiently large enough to plug even increase the catalyst losses several fold. In to the lower velocities in primary cyclones.
large diameter diplegs. Such failures can be time, the passage of high velocity catalyst The catalyst loss impact from a hole in a
attributed to poor hexsteel design or instal- through the hole will increase the hole size, primary cyclone will be much less severe
lation as well as coke induced refractory and the catalyst losses will intensify. compared to a hole in a secondary cyclone,
anchor failure.10 • Holes often start as cracks or tears in because the secondary cyclone will catch
Plugged reactor primary cyclone the metal; in time, they grow due to the almost all the catalyst lost from the primary
dipleg. The causes of primary reactor erosive effects of the catalyst flow. If the cyclone. In fact, it may be difficult to even
cyclone dipleg plugging are the same as catalyst loss problem is not yet severe, a notice the increased catalyst loss associated
those given for the plugging of reactor unit inspection may have difficulty finding with a hole in a primary cyclone.
secondary cyclone diplegs. Plugging of the cracks, as the cracks may tend to close Stuck open or missing flapper in first-
reactor primary cyclone diplegs is rela- as the unit cools. stage cyclone. Most first stage cyclones are
tively uncommon due to the large dipleg • The impact of a hole in the out- submerged in a fluid bed and do not have
diameters normally associated with primary let tube or plenum of a reactor with riser or need check valves because the catalyst
cyclones. If a primary cyclone dipleg does cyclones will be less than with an inertial traffic is sufficiently high enough that gas
become plugged, and if the vapor outlet is riser termination device because there will does not force itself up the dipleg. Some-
associated with a secondary cyclone, as is be little catalyst in the dilute phase that can times check valves, as shown in Fig. 7, are
common, the catalyst loading to the sec- be sucked into the hole. included to limit losses during startup when
ondary cyclone may exceed the capacity of Holes in a second-stage cyclone. Holes the diplegs are not submerged. In these
the secondary cyclone dipleg. In this event, in a secondary cyclone (or a single stage cases, a stuck-open flapper will be of little
the secondary cyclone will become flooded cyclone), including holes in the cyclone consequence during normal operations.
with catalyst, and full-range catalyst will dipleg, will have serious consequences on In some cases, due to the unit geom-
begin flowing at a high rate from the sec- catalyst containment. The rate of perfor- etry or technical preference, the primary
ondary cyclone outlet. mance deterioration will be controlled by cyclones can be designed to discharge
Plugged regenerator cyclone diplegs. how quickly the hole enlarges due to ero- above the bed. In these cases, assum-
Plugging of regenerator cyclone diplegs has sion. Holes in the dipleg allow the vapor ing the cyclone is not a positive pressure
similar causes and effects to those encoun- flow into and up the dipleg. This can riser cyclone, a properly functioning valve
tered with respect to the reactor cyclones, restrict the ability of catalyst to flow down is required. The consequences of a valve
but plugging of regenerator cyclone diplegs the dipleg. If the hole is in the cyclone body, that is stuck open would be a major loss of
is less common. In the regenerator, the cok-
ing phenomenon that is at the root of most
reactor cyclone plugging problems does not
exist. There are, however, some situations
peculiar to the regenerator cyclones:
• A phenomenon unique to regenerator
secondary cyclone diplegs is that the almost
extinct use of spray water in the regenerator
primary cyclone outlets can lead to the for-
mation of wet catalyst in dipleg, preventing
catalyst flow.
• Regenerator upsets, such as a sud-
den drop in pressure or the activation of
emergency spent catalyst riser lift steam,
can precipitate a large catalyst carryover
that may persist even after the disturbance
FIG. 6 Two-stage regenerator cyclone FIG. 7 Cyclone dipleg check valve.
is gone. This has been explained by not- system.
ing that defluidized solids will drain from
a cyclone much more slowly than fluidized
solids. So much catalyst can be thrown into What can be done online to correct a plugged regenerator
the cyclones that it defluidizes before it can cyclone dipleg?
get into the dipleg. Then, even at normal • Pressure bump the unit by changing the vessel operating pressure rapidly,
entrainment, the catalyst will not drain out say, 4 psi in 15 seconds
of the cyclone fast enough to eliminate the • Partially unload the catalyst and then return to a normal operating level.
packed catalyst level in the cyclone.11 • Following a cyclone overload, sometimes normal operation can be restored
Holes in plenum or second-stage by reducing the air rate to a very low level for several minutes so that
cyclone outlet tube. A hole in a plenum overfilled cyclone hoppers can drain the defluidized catalyst.
or secondary cyclone outlet tube, as shown
I
cyclone efficiency, increasing the loading to submerged into the fluid bed, a stuck open lyst in the dipleg must backup to a higher
the secondary cyclones and increasing the or missing flapper turns the dipleg into a vac- elevation, as shown in Fig. 8, to provide
catalyst losses from the unit. uum tube sucking vapors into the cyclone; enough static head to force the catalyst out
Stuck open or missing flapper in sec- destroying the cyclone efficiency. A detached of the dipleg. When the catalyst height in
ond-stage cyclone. A flapper that is stuck dipleg would have similar consequences. the dipleg reaches the dipleg top, the swirl-
open or missing may not affect the cyclone Reactor cyclone overload. A reactor ing vapors in the bottom of the cyclone will
performance if the dipleg is submerged suf- cyclone system can become overloaded reentrain the catalyst and drastically reduce
ficiently in a well-fluidized bed. If the bed if the catalyst or vapor traffic exceeds the cyclone collection efficiency. This situation
fluidization is erratic, then the losses may design hydraulic capability of the cyclone is referred to as “cyclone flooding.” Increas-
increase due to unsteady catalyst flow down system. The cyclone system pressure drop ing reactor vapor traffic beyond the cyclone
the dipleg or due to gas bypassing up the increases with both catalyst and vapor load- dipleg hydraulic limit can occur by operat-
dipleg. If the secondary cyclone dipleg is not ing. As the pressure drop increases, the cata- ing at an increased feedrate, higher conver-
sion, and reduced operating pressure.
• Catalyst loss can be intermittent
when cyclone dipleg hydraulic limitations
are the issue.
• When operating near the cyclone
dipleg hydraulic limit, even a small increase
What can be done to correct

a stuck open or detached
MODERNIZING check valve online?

• It may be possible to reduce
catalyst losses by raising the bed
Nuclear Measurement Technology level to seal the dipleg.
What can be done to correct a

cyclone design issue online?
• Nothing, but try to rule out the
other possible causes before
shutting down.
• Adjust operating conditions
to minimize losses until design
modifications are possible.
FiberFlex for Reactor Measurement
From process conditions to vessel geometry, accurately
measuring level in chemical reactors is challenging. The
FiberFlex radiation-based measurement system is up to the
task; immune to high process temperature and pressure
conditions, the FiberFlex is also flexible to follow the contour
of rounded and conical reactor vessels. This allows for
measurement all the way to the very bottom of the reactor so
that accurate level is reported on this critical process.
Second-stage
Advantages: cyclone
t Unaffected by high process t Lightweight for easy mounting First-stage cyclone

temperature and pressure
t Offers a wide variety of setup and
t Longest detector available in the compensation options
industry (23 feet)
t HART and Foundation
Dipleg catalyst level
t Flexible to fit vessel geometry Fieldbus outputs
Catalyst bed level
www.ohmartvega.com
info@ohmartvega.com
800.FOR.LEVEL FIG. 8 Cyclone hydraulic balance.

36
0.05
What can be done to correct catalyst-induced
0.04
loss problem online?
0.03 Sometimes refiners purposely add fresh catalyst with high
fines content, low density, lower Attrition Index, or just an
Ve/Rp
0.02 increase in fresh catalyst makeup rate to improve the fluidity

Ve = Effective superficial vapor velocity, fps
Rp = Particle density, lb/ft3 of the catalyst inventory. With that in mind, consider:
Rg = Gas density, lb/ft3 • Ordering fresh catalyst with lower agreed limits on 0–40
e = Entrainment, lb cat/ft3 vapor
0.01 micron particle content.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 20 30 • Changing to a catalyst with higher particle density or one
e/Rg
with increased attrition resistance.
FIG. 9 Catalyst entrainment correlation.
• Reducing the fresh catalyst makeup rate.
in catalyst circulation or vapor rate can ciency regenerator design to lack sufficient
result in increased catalyst losses. height or diameter to effectively disengage What can be done to correct
• Dipleg sizing is rarely a limitation dur- the catalyst rising from the fluid bed. Such a dipleg hydraulic problem
ing normal operations, but if the regenera- a regenerator would exhibit a rather large online?
tor temperature falls to very low levels while average catalyst particle size in the lost cata- • Reduce dipleg submergence
maintaining riser outlet temperature, the lyst while the differential particle size analy- by lowering the catalyst bed level
catalyst circulation will increase. At extreme sis curve would have only a single peak as • Lower vapor and/or catalyst
conditions, the reactor cyclone dipleg can opposed to a bi-modal peak associated with circulation rates.
restrict the flow of catalyst. a damaged cyclone. A low concentration of • Increase operating pressure.
Regenerator cyclone overload. A fines in the inventory would also be char-
regenerator cyclone system can also become acteristic of a low-efficiency regenerator
overloaded when catalyst and vapor traf- design. The quality of the bed fluidization percentage of their mass from the inventory
fic exceed the hydraulic capability of the may also affect the catalyst entrainment shortly after being loaded into the unit.
cyclone system: rate and cyclone operability: Fresh catalyst—High addition rate.
• Catalyst loss can be intermittent when • Defluidized sections of the bed may FCC unit catalyst losses have a definite cor-
cyclone dipleg hydraulic limitations are the inhibit flow from the submerged diplegs. relation with the rate of fresh catalyst addi-
issue. In some cases, the flue gas stack can • Spouting spent catalyst risers can tions because increasing fresh catalyst addi-
appear to be puffing. throw more catalyst up to the cyclones. tion rate increases fines input and because
• Increasing vapor traffic beyond the • Specially designed baffles placed the fresh catalyst may have fragile edges
cyclone dipleg hydraulic limit can occur within the bed have been observed to that are lost more easily when the catalyst
by operating at increased regenerator air reduce catalyst entrainment.13 is first introduced into the unit.
rate, higher temperature and reduced Fresh catalyst too soft. Soft FCC cata- • Higher catalyst losses are an expected,
operating pressure. lyst is one that inherently suffers from a normal result of increasing fresh catalyst
• Catalyst overload in regenerator higher than average attrition rate when addition rate.
cyclones can occur for the same reasons subjected to the rigors of circulation in Increased reactor fines retention.
as vapor overload because the catalyst the FCC unit. The softness of a catalyst is Whenever changes occur that limit the abil-
entrainment rate to regenerator cyclones, the opposite of its hardness, a parameter ity of fines to escape from a reactor system,
as shown in Fig. 9, is a function of regen- defined by the catalyst manufacturers as the fines will find their way out of the unit
erator superficial vapor velocity.12 an Attrition Index.5 This index is based on via a different avenues, which are limited
Poor efficiency—Cyclone design. The a laboratory simulation of FCC catalyst to the regenerator cyclones and increased
suspicion of a poor efficiency cyclone design attrition relying on the punishment of a catalyst withdrawals. Examples of changes
will typically be raised only after the instal- laboratory sample with a high-velocity gas that increase reactor catalyst retention are:
lation of a new set of cyclones. Poor reactor jet at defined standard conditions. • Recycle of fines from the fractionator
cyclone efficiency due to coke formation • Catalyst manufacturers offer varying bottoms back to the FCC reactor via con-
within the cyclone has also been reported.9 degrees of catalyst hardness. Soft catalyst ventional slurry oil recycle system or a
Having said this, it would be a charac- is rarely an explanation for a catalyst loss slurry-oil filter system.
teristic of a low efficiency cyclone design to problem today. • Installation of new reactor cyclones
exhibit a rather large average catalyst par- • Catalyst that is too soft will manifest having a higher design efficiency.
ticle size in the lost catalyst. Also, the differ- itself as higher catalyst losses from both the Increased regenerator fines retention.
ential particle size analysis curve would have reactor and regenerator and higher than If the catalyst fines cannot get out through
only a single peak as opposed to a bi-modal normal equilibrium catalyst fines content. the regenerator, they will be forced to exit
peak associated with a damaged cyclone. A Fresh catalyst—High 0–40 micron the unit through the reactor. Examples of
low concentration of fines in the circulating content. A fresh catalyst with a high 0–40 changes that increase regenerator catalyst
inventory would also be characteristic of micron content is one that is shipped with a retention are:
low cyclone system efficiency. larger than typical fraction of particles hav- • Recycle of fines from an electrostatic
Poor efficiency—Regenerator design. ing diameters less than 40 microns. Cata- precipitator or third-stage separator back to
It would be a characteristic of a low-effi- lyst with this character will lose a higher the regenerator.
I
• Installation of new regenerator catalyst at temperatures as low as 930°F Extraordinary measures. A number
cyclones having a higher design efficiency to 1,200°F.5 of more costly and time-consuming options
• Feed contaminants and regenerator There will be times that even with in searching for the root cause of high cata-
operating conditions that lead to sticky thoughtful consideration of the answers lyst losses include:
catalyst within the regenerator. to the 20 questions, and even after unit • Cold-flow modeling
In the presence of high levels of fluxing shutdowns and inspections, the cause of • Radioactive tracers and gamma ray
agents such as sodium, potassium, calcium, high FCC catalyst losses will remain elu- scans
chlorides or vanadium that can be intro- sive. However, FCC product economics, • Cyclone pressure testing
duced with contaminated feedstock, and reliability and environmental concerns • Computational fluid dynamic simula-
especially at high temperatures, the catalyst may compel refiners to resort to extraor- tions.
can become sticky. These fluxing agents dinary tactics for finding the source of the The road to the conclusion of an investi-
can form low melting eutectics with the high losses. gation into the cause of high catalyst losses
may prove to be long and arduous. How-
ever, if the investigation stays the course,
the road will usually lead to success. HP
Pflj\\jk\\c% 1
LITERATURE CITED
Ensor D. S., and M. J. Pilat, “Calculation of
N\j\\jX]\kp%
Smoke Plume Opacity from Particulate Air
Pollutant Properties,” 63rd Annual Meeting of
the Air Pollution Control Association, St. Louis,
Missouri, June 14–18, 1970.
2 McClung, R. G., “Effect of FCC Catalyst Fines
Particle Distribution on Stack Opacity,” The

Catalyst Report, Engelhard Corp., 1994.
3 Niccum, P. K., E. Gbordzoe and S. Lang, “FCC
Emission Options,” NPRA Annual Meeting,

March 2002, San Antonio.
?lek\i9l`c[è^j`jk_\nfic[c\X[\ièk_\ 4 Montgomery, J. A., “More about Davison’s
gif[lZk`fef]hlXc`kp$\e^è\\i\[#YcXjk$
[ ] c [ Yc Equilibrium Fluid Cracking Catalyst Analysis
Program,” Davison Catalagram, No. 63, Davison
i\j`jkXekdf[lcXiYl`c[è^j%Gligfj\Yl`ck]ifd Chemical Division, W. R. Grace & Co., 1981.
k_\îfle[lg#\m\ip?lek\iYl`c[è^d\\kjXe[ 5 Linden, D. H., “Catalyst Deposition in FCC
\oZ\\[jèk\ej\jX]\kpXe[YcXjkjkXe[Xi[jkf Power Recovery Systems,” Katalistiks’ 7th Annual

Fluid Cat Cracking Symposium, Venice, Italy,
\ejli\k_\gifk\Zk`fec\m\cjpflèj`jkfe]fi May 12–13, 1986.
g\ijfee\c#Zi`k`ZXc\hl`gd\ekXe[gif[lZk`m`kp% 6 Weeks, S. A. and P. Dumbill, “Method speeds
FCC catalyst attrition resistance determinations,”

Oil & Gas Journal, April 16, 1990, pp. 38–40.
7 Zhou, F., C. Liu, J. Liu and S. Shu, “Use micro-
:ljkfd;\j`ê
graphs to diagnose FCC operations,” Hydrocarbon
J_fik$fiCfe^$K\idC\Xjè^ Processing, March 2006.
8 Fletcher, R., “Stepwise method determines source
G\idXe\ekK\dgfiXip8ggc`ZXk`fej
Dlck`gc\9cXjkFm\igi\jjli\;liXk`fe;\j`êj of FCC catalyst losses,” OGJ, Aug. 28, 1995.
9 McPherson, L. J., “Causes of FCC Reactor Coke
Cfn#D\[`ldXe[?`^_I\jgfej\;\j`êj Deposits Identified,” OGJ, Sept. 10, 1984.
Gfj`k`m\Gi\jjli`qXk`fe 10 Session II.A-Fluid Catalytic Cracking, Mechanical
:cXjj@;`m`j`fe)<c\Zki`ZXc Question 6, NPRA Q&A Session on Refining and

Petrochemical Technology, 1994.
>Xj=ì\;\k\Zk`fe 11 Zenz, F. A. and D. F. Othmer, Fluidization and
JX]\?Xm\e:XgXYc\ Fluid-Particle Systems, Reinhold Publishing Co.,

KiXejgfikXYc\n`k_Hl`ZbJ\klg New York, 1960.
12 Giuricich, N. L. and B. Kalen, “Dominant Criteria
8G@IG.,)&.,*:fdgc`Xek in FCC Cyclone Design,” Katalistiks’ 3rd Annual
9cXjkK\jk\[ Fluid Cat Cracking Symposium, May 26–27, 1982,
Marriot Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
13 Miller, R. B., Y-Lin Yang, T. E. Johnson,
S. J. McCarthy and K. W. Schatz, “REGENMAX™

J\\jX]\kp]ifdflij`[\ Ç ?lek\i9l`c[è^j Technology: Staged Combustion in a Single
b\\gjpflgifk\Zk\[]ifdk_\flkj`[\è% Regenerator,” NPRA Annul Meeting, March
1999, San Antonio.
Phillip Niccum joined KBR’s fluid catalytic cracking

(FCC) team in 1989. He has held various FCC-related
positions at KBR including process manager, chief tech-
nology engineer of FCC, and is currently director of FCC
Technology for KBR’s Technology business unit. Following
graduation from California State Polytechnic University
with a degree in chemical engineering in 1980, he began
his career in the Central Engineering Department at Tex-
_lek\iYl`c[è^j%Zfd )/(%+,)%0/'' aco USA headquarters, where he provided design and
technical assistance to Texaco FCC units worldwide.

38
Consider high-impact
constructability issues for refineries
Upfront investment has a positive effect on project execution
R. CARTER, Fluor Constructors International, Sugar Land, Texas
S
imply put, construction is the merging Successful projects—regardless of their interference studies, erection sequencing
of information, material and labor. total cost, site location, owner, industry and facilities layout. If construction has to
The construction goal is to create a type, or project schedule—utilize influen- “review” a plan and is not able to provide
product that operates at or above the speci- tial constructability goals. A summary of input to that plan, then the benefit of the
fication; a product built without any health, some of the highest impact, most reward- “review” is severely limited.
safety or environmental incidents; and a ing goals is presented here along with their
product with the highest-level of quality, expected impact on a project. Onsite productivity improvement.
meeting time and budget parameters. Clients also look for significant opportu-
In refinery construction, especially Safety in design and execution. nities to increase productivity onsite. This
operating refineries, it is challenging to bring The single most important task on a project concept can include integrating technology
all these factors together to create the perfect is to ensure that all team members work use, decreasing the number of staff and craft,
project. However, a successful project should safely in the office and at the site. Addition- improving workforce-density relationships,
always be the goal. History states that a good ally, design elements should be finalized advancing methods and materials, promot-
project start creates a better chance of achiev- after consideration is made for safe assem- ing the performance of work offsite in less
ing success than a rough start. The article will bly and operations of the subject facility. congested and unsafe areas, working at
focus on the events leading up to construc- Key considerations should include protec- grade level, pre-assembly, as well as numer-
tion and why these events are so important tion from falls, minimization of trenching ous other techniques and applications.
to the goal of a successful project. and excavation, risk analysis of heavy-lift Site productivity starts as early as the
Any project, regardless of size or com- activities, pre-assembly and modulariza- design of temporary facilities and the plan
plexity, should start with preconstruction tion, as well as numerous other safety issues to move the workforce from point to point.
planning or constructability. The Construc- and concerns. Many of these issues are Work in existing facilities is especially chal-
tion Industry Institute (CII) states that the complex, but some are as simple as pre- lenging due to space limitations, permit
greatest opportunity for project and con- punching steel columns for fall-protection requirements and blast-zone effects. Get-
struction savings comes early in the project static lines and the scheduling of heavy lifts ting craft resources to the point of work
life cycle. The opportunity to influence cost on weekends when manpower and conges- and then keeping them fully engaged has a
can start as early as the conceptual planning tion are at a minimum. It is every project tremendous effect on productivity. This is
phase and it diminishes as the project flows team member’s responsibility to reduce as important in greenfield construction as
through front end engineering and design and eliminate accidents. As such, the most it is in revamp work or work in any kind of
(FEED), detailed engineering, procurement important element of the project execution operating facility.
and ultimately field execution, commission- plan is the safety plan.
ing and startup. Work smarter, not harder. Simplic-
Input—not review. Constructability ity is a bargain for everyone involved in a
Why constructability? Effectively uti- facilitates the integration of engineering, project. Examples include plot plan layouts
lizing construction knowledge and experi- procurement and construction goals and to material acquisition and tracking, and
ence are key elements in the process and objectives. Site input saves time and money, single-source and alliance vendors offering
planning of how a project is built. As men- and it more effectively integrates a project’s competitively priced, quality products, sup-
tioned, CII studies indicate that cost sav- goals and objectives. Concurrent engineer- port and service. Innovative construction
ings associated with a project are in direct ing and site management, and modulariza- techniques such as modularization, sub-
proportion to the project phase in which tion and other fast-track project techniques and pre-assembly of piping and equipment
constructability is initiated. The earlier con- do not allow time for multiple “reviews.” It skids and modules, premanufactured form-
structability is implemented on a project, benefits everyone concerned when design ing systems, modular scaffolding systems
the greater the savings. Projects that fully and procurement is right the first time. Plot and welding processes that are automatic or
implement the constructability process can plans require site input early on to maxi- semi-automatic all contribute to simplicity
see a 10:1 benefit-to-cost ratio. mize construction equipment utilization, of construction and enhanced productivity.
I 39
Uniformity of material types and specifica- cost of your labor, regardless of the supply an example, you’ve estimated an appropriate
tions are less cost prohibitive if applied cor- and execution strategy. Execution can be cost of labor including wages, fringe benefits,
rectly. Value-engineering reviews can offer direct-hire labor, through multiple sub- payroll taxes and insurance, only to discover
simplified scope enhancements. As an exam- contractors providing the labor, or through that the labor will not come to your site
ple, consider systems running with “off-the- labor brokers. Along with labor availability, without the incentive of daily subsistence.
shelf ” pumps instead of “owner-specified” you must also fully understand its cost. As an This cost should be researched and iden-
models that cost thousands of dollars more. example, what comes with direct labor costs? tified during the bid stage, and then verified
Are there incentives that need to be paid during the preconstruction phase. You must
Know your labor and its cost. Plan- for broker fees, travel expenses, per diems, have a clear understanding of all these costs
ning and coordination will be lost if an ade- building construction camps, bonuses, to bid and execute the project successfully.
quate, well-trained and motivated workforce requirements for overtime payments, shift
is not available. Understand the source and differentials and various other benefits? As Standardize materials and fabri-
cation details. Constant review of cli-
ent standard details and specifications for
material and fabrication will result in cost
MORE THAN JUST Agriculture and productivity improvement. Examples
SHARING YOUR VISION include using “sonotube” for installing con-
Agri-food crete piers, pre-assembly of concrete catch
TOGETHER, basins and manholes, using precast founda-
Chemicals
WE CAN COMPLETE IT. and Petroleum
tions, and using consolidated bulk materi-
als such as gaskets and stud-bolts.
Environment Some projects have saved significant cost
by utilizing single sizes and specifications
Facilities for reinforcing steel and concrete, so that
and Operations the cost was minimized in the design, pro-
Maintenance
curement and construction for a single ele-
Industrial ment. As an example of commitment to this
and Manufacturing philosophy, contractors should subscribe to
the process industry practices (PIPs) that
Infrastructure are intended to standardize the practices
Mining and and standards across individual companies
Metallurgy throughout the process industry.
Pharmaceuticals Utilize automated systems. The
Power industry has many automation tools that
integrate proprietary software solutions
Telecommunications with commercial software configured to
enhance the engineering, procurement,
construction and maintenance of capital
projects. For the wide variety of industries
served, these tools enhance the ability to
execute projects on schedule, within budget
and with operational excellence.
SNC-Lavalin designs, develops and delivers leading engineering, Contractors should work with outside
construction, infrastructure and ownership solutions worldwide. We resources, including leading industry insti-
listen carefully to you, and the communities you serve, while striving tutes and university research programs, in
for excellence in our commitment to health, safety and the environ- developing technology applications that
manage resources, tasks and priorities across
ment. We have the global versatility and technical expertise to meet the project life. As an example, automation
your expectations and complete your vision. www.snclavalin.com tools exist that track material from delivery
through warehousing, installation, testing
and turnover to the client. Contractors must
implement automation tools that site per-
sonnel can access and use with ease. These
tools improve communication and efficiently
collect, store and share accurate data.
The latest wave of three-dimensional
SNC-Lavalin Engineers & Constructors Inc. (3D) modeling tools integrates multiple
9009 West Loop South, Suite 800 • Houston, Texas 77096 • USA • 713-667-9162 • sncl@sncl.us
databases to provide customers with real-
North America Latin America Europe Africa Eurasia Asia Middle East Oceania time, walk-through simulations before and
during project execution. These tools help
40
WE ARE 30,000 INNOVATORS DELIVERING SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS
J o i n u s o r h i r e u s . We w i l l s h o w y o u h o w o u r 3 0 , 0 0 0 N o r t h A m e r i c a n
employees are making the world a better place through sustainable solutions.
Learn more about our global leadership at www.veolianorthamerica.com

WATER SERVICES AND TECHNOLOGIES • WASTE SERVICES • ENERGY AND FACILITY MANAGEMENT • PASSENGER TRANSPORTATION
CREATIVE SOLUTIONS FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT

customers identify potential problems; • Ensuring the integrity of adjacent Permitting, access, training and material
link them to project progress information foundations management are significantly more diffi-
such as equipment installation and mate- • Using common trenches cult to plan, manage and coordinate. As
rial availability; generate “what if ” scenar- • Use straight runs and pre-assembly an example, hot work, such as grinding,
ios when deviations occur in scheduling, • Use flowable backfill where applicable. welding or cutting, is more difficult, if not
sequencing, material delivery and planning; entirely out of the question, without a shut-
and document construction completion. Pre-assemble and modularize. Most down in some units. Reduction of piping
projects can benefit from taking a “known” tie-ins is always a benefit, if possible. To
Minimize excavations. Excavations scope of work offsite and producing that maximize productivity in operating units,
for underground pipe and electrical systems same work with better tools, possibly a per- blast-proof or blast-resistant structures for
can cause large-scale disruptions to produc- manent and more productive workforce, bet- temporary facilities may need to be utilized
tivity and safety planning. Underground ter conditions (shop, weather, craft support), to keep the craft workforce in the work area.
plans should be carefully developed and and closer supplies and vendors, etc. By fully Having to leave the work area to clear the
sequenced if a significant portion of any site applying pre-assembly concepts and prin- blast zone for breaks and meal periods has a
is impacted by excavation, or if the critical ciples, significant cost reductions have been direct, negative effect on productivity.
path of a schedule falls on underground seen. As an example of pre-assembly, many
work. Site methods should be employed to vertical vessels can be insulated at grade and Completion and turnover of
minimize the excavation amount and the fitted with piping, ladders and platforms, as systems. Clients insist that contractors
time that trenches are left open. This is a well as electrical components and instrumen- complete and turn over plant systems and
perfect example of the merging of informa- tation, before being erected without impact- material in an orderly fashion, with docu-
tion, material and labor. Trenches should ing a crane’s safe operating capacity. Other mentation and in the proper sequence for
not be opened until all three are readily examples are the prefabrication of equip- startup. It does not make sense to turn over
available. All safety precautions should also ment and piping skids, either offsite or preas- primary process systems if the utilities or
be used. Some considerations are: sembled onsite to reduce congestion. conveying systems are not in place to sup-
• Using competent person port them.
requirement Minimize scope in operating Essential elements of a proper turnover
• Using barricades units. Productivity and safety concerns plan include: early definition of, and assign-
• Using trench boxes (when required) are heightened while performing any work ment of, responsibilities for systems identifi-
• Keeping trenches clean and dry inside or near an operating facility or unit. cation, sequencing, mechanical completion,
testing and check-out, precommissioning,
commissioning, startup and documentation
requirements. A comprehensive startup and
commissioning program should be in place
shortly after the civil phase of the project
begins. Knowing how the systems need to be
turned over and started up will influence the
project’s planning and execution phases.
Conclusion and implementa-

tion. Constructability challenges compa-
nies (owners and contractors alike) to go
beyond their conventional approach to
project execution by expanding front-end
planning. Refinery construction is complex,
inherently dangerous and subject to many
changes. As a result, an upfront investment
in constructability will undoubtedly have
a positive effect on project execution. By
applying construction knowledge and best
practices in the early stages of a project, opti-
mal financial impact will be achieved. HP
Ric Carter is president of Fluor

Constructors International, Inc. a
wholly owned subsidiary of Fluor
Corporation. Mr. Carter is a 27-year
veteran of Fluor and has 38 years of
industry experience. During those years he has par-
ticipated in construction projects across most business
lines including power, energy and chemicals, industrial
and infrastructure, governmental and maintenance and
modification in numerous industries.
42
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Bottomless refinery:
Improve refinery economics
Integrating gasification process with residue upgrading can produce
high-value multiproduct streams while decreasing total refinery emissions
P. McKENNA and F. SHEIKH, GE Energy, Houston, Texas
T
oday’s global refining environment figured to capture carbon on a pre-com- A hydroskimming refiner will typically
is very competitive, facing low mar- bustion basis to meet possible future green- add a vacuum distillation unit (VDU) as a
gins and increasingly more stringent house gas (GHG) regulations (Fig. 1). first step to upgrade the refinery. Vacuum
environmental standards. Residual fuel distillation allows some lighter fractions,
oil surpluses are emerging in places where Traditional refinery. A hydroskim- such as GO, to be separated from residue
there is a rising demand for transportation ming refinery (Fig. 2) consists of an atmo- without the need for high temperatures that
fuels and a lack of deep processing of the spheric crude distillation unit (CDU), result in thermal cracking. The vacuum res-
oil barrel. In addition, low-cost natural gas which separates the oil into product frac- idue (VR) is blended with desulfurized GO
is increasingly displacing fuel oil for power tions—liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), or light distillates as cutter stock to meet
generation. The recent MARPOL emis- naphtha, gasoline, kerosine/diesel, gasoil the local fuel oil specifications for viscos-
sions regulations on bunker fuel will fur- (GO) and residue. These product frac- ity and emissions. The refiner can go for
ther deteriorate the supply-demand balance tions are treated for sulfur removal in a deeper processing of VR to further decrease
over residual fuel oil with negative implica- hydrotreating unit to meet local regula- fuel oil production with these options:
tions for refining margins, particularly for tions on clean fuels. Hydrogen is consumed • Visbreaker is a mild thermal crack-
hydroskimming configurations. in the hydrotreating unit, combining with ing process that produces lighter products
Refiners can address this challenge by sulfur to form hydrogen sulfide (H 2S), and tar
upgrading process residue with conversion which is converted to elemental sulfur in • Solvent deasphalting is an extraction
processes to meet the increasing demand the Claus unit. process that separates the lighter fractions
for transportation fuels. However, these The hydroskimming refinery also has (deasphalted oil) from the asphaltenes
upgrading processes leave behind a more a catalytic reformer unit that produces • Delayed coking unit is a deep ther-
contaminated residue with sulfur and met- aromatics for blending in gasoline to mal cracking process that produces lighter
als that are difficult to remove. Additionally, increase octane. The reformer is a major products and petroleum coke.
the residue also requires more cutter stock source of hydrogen production for
to meet viscosity and emissions standards. the refinery. Desulfurized GO or light
Disposal of the bottom residue poses an distillates are blended in the residue to
economical and environmental challenge meet the viscosity and emissions standards
to the refiner. required for fuel oil as saleable product (380
New gasification technology can be used CST Bunker, No. 6 fuel oil, M100), thus
to help mitigate these challenges; gasifica- negatively impacting the refining margins.
tion can be applied to process the leftover The product fractions and hydrogen
residue and produce additional hydrogen demand are dependent on the °API and
supplies needed for desulfurization and sulfur content of the feed crude oil. Over-
conversion operations. Sulfur and metal all, a hydroskimming refinery is generally
contaminants can be scrubbed, signifi- short on hydrogen and long on residue
cantly reducing the refinery emissions. Any products. Incremental hydrogen demand
FIG. 1 The Sarlux S.r.l. Refinery
remaining residue can be used to generate is often met by an onsite steam methane polygeneration plant operated
power and steam, through an integrated reformer or purchased over the fence. by SARAS S.p.A. , has been
gasification combined cycle (IGCC) pro- Hydrogen demand is increasing with ever gasifying refinery residuals using
cess, resulting in a bottomless refinery. more stringent regulations on clean fuels. gasification technology since
2001. With a power block of
Alternatively, remaining residue can also Additionally, as the hydroskimming refiner three syngas turbines, the plant,
be used to produce liquid fuels for blend- upgrades and increases conversion level, located in Sardinia, produces
ing or chemicals for industrial applications. (i.e., decreases residue production), hydro- 500 MW of power, plus steam
Further, the gasification plant can be con- gen demand will increase further. and hydrogen for the refinery.

I 45
can be applied for VB and SDA, since these

Hydroskimming refinery are liquid bottoms. If a DCU is selected, a
Hydrogen CDU = Crude distillation (atm.) solids gasifier will be needed.
LPG/naphtha VDU = Vacuum distillation
HDT HDT = Hydrotreater The major building blocks of a gasifica-
Hydrogen SDA = Solvent deasphalting tion plant are:
Gasoline DAO = Deasphalted oil
Reformer • Air separation unit (ASU)
Hydrogen Kerosine/diesel Hydrogen • Gasification island
Crude oil C HDT (if hydrocracker) • Shift and cooling
D Naphtha • Acid gas removal (AGR)
U Gasoil
Cracker • Pressure swing adsorption (PSA)
Cutter-stock Kerosine/
diesel • Power island.
Long residue The gasification plant is configured
V
Phase 1 D Cutter-stock to integrate seamlessly with the refining
Residual U processes to meet hydrogen and power
fuel oil Vacuum residue Residual fuel oil demand. Planning the integration process
Phase 2 and reducing the need for feedstock storage
Gas/gasoline/naphtha can save capital cost.
Visbreaker
Phase 3 Option 1 Gasoil
Tar DAO
Partial oxidation. An entrained-flow-
Phase 3 Option 2 quench gasifier design is used for the partial
SDA Gas/gasoline/
naphtha oxidation of refinery bottoms. Feed and
Asphalt
oxygen are introduced separately through
Phase 3 Option 3 Gasoil the feed injector and mix in the gasifier
Coker
chamber. Water or steam is used as a mod-
Petcoke
erating agent to maintain the gasifier tem-
FIG. 2 Process flow diagram of a hydroskimming refinery.
perature below a certain limit, but above
the ash-fusion temperature (Fig. 3).
The resulting partial oxidation reactions
produce syngas composed of mostly hydro-
Air gen and carbon monoxide (CO), preserv-
separation ing most of the chemical energy from the
unit Power Electricity
residue feedstock. The syngas exiting the
Clean island
O2
gasifier contacts with water in a quench
syngas
Shifted
chamber, allowing efficient removal of
Refinery Gasification Syngas Shift and syngas Acid-gas CO2 solids and introducing water in the syngas
Bottoms island cooling removal for the CO shift reaction, to increase the
Pure H2 H2:CO ratio. The water contaminated with
H2S H2 Pressure to refinery
swing solids undergoes several separation stages to
Solid waste adsorption recover solid waste. Part of the clean water
is recycled back to the gasifier. Metal con-
Sulfur Sulfur
recovery
taminants in the feed can be recovered from
the solid-waste stream exiting the process.
FIG. 3 Process flow diagram of syngas production using residuals.
Gas cleanup. Clean syngas, now
scrubbed of solids and particulates, enters
GO or deasphalted oil (DAO) can be residue (Phase 1). Gasification will use the the catalytic shift process, which is designed
further processed in a fluidized catalytic residue and produce valuable hydrogen for to handle sulfur in the syngas (sour shift).
cracking unit (FCCU) or hydrocracker desulfurization, decreasing the net residue Here, CO combines with water to produce
to increase yield of transportation fuels. production. This will enable the refinery to hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). Any
Metals, sulfur and other contaminants are upgrade high-sulfur fuel oil into low-sulfur carbonyl-sulfide present in the syngas is
generally concentrated in the residual frac- fuel oil, increasing refining margins. also converted to H2S and CO2.
tion. Thus, the bottoms from the processes When the refiner adds a VDU, the The raw syngas exiting the shift sec-
described here—tar, asphalt and coke— gasification solution for the atmospheric tion is cooled in heat exchangers produc-
have higher contamination levels than the residue can be applied for VR (Phase 2) ing medium-pressure steam. The cooled
feed. Disposal of the bottoms becomes an with some configuration changes (Fig. 2). syngas is scrubbed of acid gases (H2S and
environmental challenge. Finally, when the refiner adds deep process- CO2) in the AGR unit, a solvent extrac-
ing units—visbreaker (VB), solvent deas- tion-based process.
Gasification. As the refinery upgrades, phalting (SDA) or delayed coker (DCU)— Hydrogen sulfide is removed first. A por-
a phased approach to gasification can be the ultimate goal of bottomless refinery will tion of the clean syngas is fed to the power
applied. Gasification solutions can be be achieved. The same gasification solution island, producing electric power through
implemented starting with the atmospheric from Phase 1, with some design changes, a gas turbine. The hot flue gases from the
46
gas turbine are used to generate steam with TABLE 1. Bottoms composition for 70:30 mix of Arab light and Arab heavy
a heat-recovery-steam generator (HRSG),
before releasing to atmosphere. The gener- Composition VB tar Asphalt Petcoke
ated steam is used to produce more power Carbon,% 84.84 84.60 88.41
through a steam turbine. Alternatively, the Hydrogen,% 10.16 8.91 3.34
steam can be exported to the refinery. Sulfur,% 4.50 4.90 5.91
The balance of the clean syngas is Nitrogen,% 0.31 0.68 2.04
stripped of CO2 and sent to the PSA unit
Oxygen,% 0.05 0.78 0.02
for hydrogen purification. The PSA unit
delivers 99.8% pure hydrogen to the refin- Ash,% 0.10 0.13 0.28
ery, to be used for desulfurization and con- Total,% 99.96 100.00 100.00
version. Alternatively, all the syngas can Heating value (HHV) in KJ/kg 40,472 39,775 35,123
be stripped of carbon dioxide for capture
and storage, making the gasification plant TABLE 2. Gasification cases for refinery upgrade and bottoms destruction
carbon capture ready.
The ASU uses cryogenic distillation for Cases Case 1A Case 1B Case 2A Case 2B Case 3A Case 3B
the fractionation of air. It provides oxygen Crude Oil, million 6 (120,000) 6 (120,000) 10 (200,000) 10 (200,000) 10 (200,000) 10 (200,000)
to the gasification and sulfur recovery unit. tpy (bpd)
The ASU also provides compressed nitro- Residue Visbreaker tar Visbreaker tar Asphalt Asphalt Petcoke Petcoke
gen to the gas turbine to control NOx and Feed, metric tpd 1,750 1,750 2,700 3,200 1,540 1,540
enhance power production. Gasifier size, m3 (ft3) 12.7 (450) 12.7 (450) 25.5 (900) 25.5 (900) 12.7 (450) 12.7 (450)
The sulfur recovery unit uses the Claus
No. of operating gasifiers 2 2 2 2 2 2
process to produce elemental sulfur from
hydrogen sulfide. Other ancillary units No. of spare gasifiers 0 0 0 0 0 1
include utilities, cooling water, instrument Gasifier pressure, barg 65 65 65 65 65 65
air, and tail-gas treatment. Gas Turbine model 9E 6FA 6FA 9E 6FA None
No. of gas turbines 1 2 2 2 1 None
Case study. A 70:30 mix of Arab light Syngas to hydrogen, % 37 28 50 27 41 100
and Arab heavy crude oil, yielding a
medium grade °API, is used for two dif-
ferent refinery sizes of 6 MMtpy (120,000
MICROTHERM SlimFlex
®
bpd) and 10 MMtpy (200,000 bpd) to
develop the case study.
For simplification, it is assumed that
atmospheric residue and vacuum residue
“Microtherm on a roll -
are similar to visbreaker tar, so only the vis- what could be simpler?”
breaker tar (VB) case (Phase 3 Option 1)
is explored in further detail. Table 1 sum- • 36” (914mm) wide rolls in .2” (5mm) and .4” (10mm) thicknesses
marizes the composition of VB tar, asphalt,
and petcoke for the 70:30 Arab light and • Multiple times more efficient than conventional insulations
Arab heavy crude mix. • Very low thermal conductivity over full temperature range
A total of six cases were selected for • Capable of sustained exposure to 1832 °F (1000 °C)
the two different refinery sizes and three • Fully hydrophobic throughout the material to repel water
upgrade options as described in Table 2.
• Fast and simple to cut and shape directly from the roll
The listed cases are for the co-produc-
tion of hydrogen and power, except Case Microtherm - Truly the Best Performance at High Temperatures
3B, which is for hydrogen only. Each of
MICROTHERM
®
the cases result in the complete destruc-

tion of the residue, resulting in a bottom-
Aerogel
less refinery, except Case 2A, where a lower
throughput is used to enhance the gasifier Calcium Silicate
and gas turbine configuration.
Ceramic Fiber
Hydrogen production. The gasifier and
gas turbine configuration are enhanced for Mineral Wool
hydrogen and power production. The avail-

0.000 0.020 0.040 0.060 0.080 0.100 0.120 0.140 0.160
ability requirement for hydrogen is more Thermal Conductivity (W/m-K) at 600 °C Mean Data Per ASTM
Testing Standards
critical than that for power. Power outages
www.microthermgroup.com
can be backed-up by external utility sup- C1676 Microtherm Inc. +1 865 681 0155
ASTM Standard
ply. Syngas for power can be re-directed for for Microporous
Microtherm NV +32 3 760 19 80
Nippon Microtherm +81 3 3377 2821
hydrogen production, increasingly hydro-
47
gen availability. This flexibility eliminates gen and power, it is important to estimate hydrogen from SMR is primarily driven by
the need for a spare gasifier, provided the the cost of hydrogen. This is best done by natural gas prices. A $7/MMBtu natural
syngas to hydrogen is less than 50% of total using a replacement-cost approach, where gas price assumption is valid for India and
syngas produced by the gasification island. the cost of hydrogen from bottoms gasifi- China, considering the long-term outlook.
Using this logic, the spare gasifier can cation is fixed at the cost of hydrogen from It is also applicable to Russia, if the oppor-
be eliminated thus lowering capital expense steam methane reforming (SMR). Cost tunity cost of selling natural gas to Western
(CAPEX) with the exception of the delayed of electricity (COE) and the impact on Europe is taken into account.
coking process scheme. Two different gas refining margins can be calculated based
turbine models are selected—6FA and 9E, on capital return requirement. The cost of Case study results. Using the listed
in the 50 Hz platform—to target a NOx hydrogen calculation assumes: assumptions, we can determine the cost of
limit of less than 25 ppm. A combined cycle • CAPEX for 110,000 Nm3h hydro- electricity for several processing cases:
is used to maximize power production. Effi- gen SMR plant is $150 million • Capital charge rate is 10%/yr
ciency gains are available through steam • Natural gas price is $7/MMBtu • CAPEX estimate is US Gulf Coast
integration with the refinery steam loads. (~$254/1,000 Nm3). basis as of Q1 2010 with –15% to +30%
To develop the economics of bottoms These assumptions result in a hydro- accuracy
gasification for coproduction of hydrogen cost of $0.12 per Nm3. The cost of • CAPEX for India, Russia and China
are assumed to be ~60% of US Gulf Coast
TABLE 3. Gasification cases for refinery upgrade and bottoms destruction • Depreciation period is 25 years
• Operational expenses (OPEX) and
Cases Case 1A Case 1B Case 2A Case 2B Case 3A Case 3B
maintenance expenditures per year is 3.5%
Crude oil , million tpy 6 6 10 10 10 10 of CAPEX
Crude oil, bpd 120,000 120,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 200,000 • Cost of residue is $20/metric ton
Residue VB tar VB tar Asphalt Asphalt Petcoke Petcoke • Cost of hydrogen from SMR is
Feed, metric tpd 1,750 1,750 2,700 3,200 1,540 1,540 $0.12/Nm3
Syngas to hydrogen, % 37 28 50 27 41 100 • Availability for hydrogen is 90% on
Hydrogen, Nm3h 60,000 45,500 118,000 76,000 41,000 100,000
an annual basis
• Availability for power is 75% on an
H2 (Nm3) production
annual basis.
per barrel of crude 12 9 14 9 5 12
Note: The availability of hydrogen and
Net MW export 120 165 115 275 67 0
power are consistent with global experi-
Feedstock utilization efficiency 39 38 40 36 32 52 ences in coproduction.
HHV basis (thermal for Availability of power is lower than
H2 + net electric), %
hydrogen due to the absence of spare gas-
CAPEX, Million USD 615 656 778 850 554 440 ifier. Availability of power can be increased
(60% of US Gulf Coast basis)
by supplying backup natural gas to the gas
Cost of electricity (COE), ¢/kWh 7.7 7.5 5.2 5.2 15.1 turbines in the event of a shutdown of an
operating gasifier.
The basis of the economic analysis is
COE in cents/kWh to use the listed assumptions and calculate
0 5 10 15 the net cost by considering capital charge,
CAPEX, $ per ton of
200,000 500,000
OPEX and maintenance, depreciation and
residue capacity/day feedstock (residue) cost. From this net
cost, the hydrogen cost is subtracted using
Capital charge, %/year 7 15
a replacement cost basis from SMR. The
resulting cost is the cost of electricity.
Cost of residue, $/ton 10 75 Table 3 summarizes the case study
Feedstock utilization efficiency
results. An analysis of the results indi-
HHV basis (thermal for H2+net 40% 32% cates that Case 2 has the best econom-
electric) % ics, i.e., lowest COE at 5.2 ¢/kWh. Case
Cost of hydrogen 16 0.1
2B has the highest throughput of residue
from SMR, $/Nm3 and uses a 9E class turbine. Moreover,
OPEX and maintenance, hydrogen production is enhanced for the
2.5 5 loading and selection of the gas turbine.
% of CAPEX
Residue throughputs above 2,500 metric
Availability of H2, % 98 85 tpd are advantageous for coproduction of
hydrogen and electricity.
Downside
Availability of power, % 80 70 Upside The value of hydrogen can offset the
CAPEX and OPEX excluding capital
charge (interest). Accordingly, hydrogen
FIG. 4 COE sensitivity analysis chart for Case 2B (Tornado chart.) production recovers all of the investment
costs, excluding capital charge, and there is
48
no net cost to recover from electricity. This and regulations. The CO 2 can be sepa- • Refinery gross margins will be further
is an alternative view to value the project rated for future storage or enhanced oil improved by releasing previously consumed
investment and it is important in light of recovery (EOR). All further increase value cutter-stock.
the surplus in the residue/fuel oil segment. in the event that limits on, or a cost of, • Total refinery emissions for NOx and
To better understand the impact of the CO2 is established. SOx will be reduced significantly. Addi-
assumptions made earlier on the COE, Typical emissions are: tionally, metal contaminants in the resi-
sensitivity analysis is done on Case 2B and NOx ≤ 50 mg/Nm3 due can be recovered from the solid waste
listed in Fig. 4. The Base Case in Fig. 4 is SOx ≤ 10 mg/Nm3 stream. HP
the same as Case 2B with a COE of 5.2
BIBLIOGRAPHY
¢/kWh. The tornado chart (Fig. 4) cap- Outlook. Several conclusions can be
Cambridge Energy Research Associates, “Oil demand
tures the impact of variability over COE drawn from the cases analyzed in this and supply,” January 2010.
assumptions. Note: Each assumption article: Cambridge Energy Research Associates,” Refined
is changed one at a time, keeping other • Coproduction of hydrogen and elec- products prices and margins,” January 2010.
assumptions the same as the Base Case. tricity is economically attractive when Purvin and Gertz, Inc., “Study on oil refining and oil
markets,” January 2008.
residue throughput is higher than 2,500 Surinder, P., Refining Processes Handbook, Elsevier, 2003.
Refinery margins and emissions. metric tpd
Value addition can be calculated by Eq. 1: • Increasing hydrogen production
Patrick McKenna is a commercial leader for gas-
Gross margin = (KW ⫻ COE + Hydro- results in better economics. ification technology platform at GE Energy. He has over
gen ⫻ Cost of hydrogen) – Residue ⫻ Price • The most attractive case uses 9E 18 years of engineering, construction, operations and
of residue (1) turbines and a configuration to produce business development in the energy industry including
For Case 2B, equating Eq. 1 to zero approximately 76,000 Nm3h of hydrogen. the application of gasification technologies for refining
industry. Mr. McKenna holds an MBA in finance from
results in a residue price of $176/ton. This This results in COE of 5¢/ kWh for China, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS degree in elec-
implies that, as long as the residue price is India and Russia. trical engineering from Rutgers University.
lower than $176/ton, the refinery gross mar- • As an alternative to power produc-
gin will be positive. Additional value is real- tion, producing chemicals (methanol, Farooq Sheikh was formerly a senior product line
manager for gasification technology at GE Energy. He
ized by reducing cutter stock, which is typically methanol derivatives or ammonia) or liquid has over 15 years of operations and consulting experi-
a low-sulfur, high-value distillate product. fuels for blending may be more economi- ence in the energy industry. Mr. Sheikh Farooq holds
The air emissions from the IGCC com- cal for smaller refineries with lower residue degrees from the University of Texas, Iowa State Univer-
plex meet applicable industry standards throughput. sity and the Indian Institute of Technology.

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I 49
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K10091 09/10
Biorenewables update: What is

beyond ethanol and biodiesel?
New processing technologies have broadened potential
‘drop-in’ alternatives for transportation fuels
R. CASCONE and B. BURKE, Nexant, White Plains, New York
I
n July 2007, the article entitled, • Strategic interest and investments in to being suitable for use in compression-
“Biofuels: What is beyond ethanol and ethanol-to-ethylene is emerging commer- ignited internal combustion engines, with
biodiesel?” began the quest to inves- cially on several fronts, in value chains for minimum conversion by transesterification
tigate how biofuels will be incorporated ethylene glycol (MEG), polyethylene (PE) to FAME, nature makes relatively little oil
into the transportation fuel supply. This and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as a fraction of total biomass. Thus, most
article provides a status assessment on the • More than four potential bio-routes existing supplies of natural oils and fats are
replacement of hydrocarbon-based fuels, to p-xylene—for green polyethylene committed to food, animal feed or oleo-
chemicals and polymers with carbohydrate terephthalate (PET)—are emerging, e.g., chemicals uses, and, therefore, there is not
and lipid-based materials. from Gevo, Virent, Anellotech and Global enough to meet the large volumes required
In 2007, ethanol and biodiesel were the Bioenergies (France) to replace petroleum-based diesel. Key driv-
biofuels of wide commercial interest; corn, • Bio-hydrocarbon projects (iso- ers that are impacting the development of
sugarcane, soybeans and palm oil were the prenoids, biodiesel, bio-olefins, etc.) are biorenewables are discussed here.
main feedstocks for dedicated biofuels facil- being developed in Brazil, elsewhere by Societal objectives. The most common
ities. Although that profile has not materi- Amyris and others objectives of renewable fuels, chemicals
ally changed, now there is wider interest • Refining and aircraft interests are and polymers development are to achieve
in developing more fungible biofuels that sponsoring algae, jatropha, biomass-to- or improve: lower carbon footprint, energy
are drop-ins for gasoline and diesel, and in liquid (BTL), synthetic paraffinic kero- security, jobs—rural development and
the broader concept of biorefineries, with sine (SPK) as non-recourse users of liquid reduced emissions on a lifecycle basis.
coproduction of renewable chemicals and biofuels (kerosine range) For each of these, there is competition
polymers. This change in focus reflects sev- • There is progress and further pros- from other solutions such as other lower
eral important factors: pects in fermentation routes to industrial carbon alternative fuels and alternative
• Strong public policy drivers and fund- chemicals, e.g., by NatureWorks, Metabo- renewable energy sources, energy conser-
ing, including mandated use of second-gen- lix, Amyris, Myriant, Gevo, etc. vation and materials recycling.
eration biofuels • The forest products industry, a huge
• A maturing platform of R&D data potential platform for carbohydrate-based Political atmosphere is favorable.
and experience provided by universities and biorenewables production, remains a largely While there has been much press attention
government agencies unexploited resource, except for combus- against biofuels and materials since 2007 on
• Entrepreneurial activity by individuals tion for heat and power, which has recently the points of “food vs. fuel,” and the indirect
and organizations across a wide spectrum been raised as a controversy in Massachu- land use impacts of agriculture for biofuels,
• Sponsorship and capital investments setts and elsewhere. these concerns have largely been discredited.
by venture capitalists After plummeting in early 2009, the price of
• Sponsorship, capital investments, Failure of FAME. There has been a crude oil is up to 2006–2007 levels, and it
product off-take agreements and other general failure of fatty acid methyl ether shows little prospect of returning to histori-
integral involvement by large energy, (FAME) biodiesel to develop as rapidly as cal $20–$30/bbl levels. Strength in crude
chemical, agricultural and other stake- originally planned. The resulting shortfall oil prices is driven by increasing demand in
holder companies may be relieved by other, thermochemi- developing economies, continued political
• Experience gained in commodity- cal approaches to make bio-based diesel instability in many producer nations, and
scale feedstock supply and bioprocessing. fuel, including renewable diesel, BTL and the industry having to venture farther afield
Of particular interest to readers is that: pyrolysis. The key reason for the shortfall is into increasingly difficult venues.
• Valero has become a leading player in a general paucity of virgin and used lipids ExxonMobil has embraced the poten-
North American ethanol through acquisi- (natural fats, oils and greases) feedstocks. In tial of renewables, and has taken a position
tion of production and logistics assets, inte- addition, while the lipids (or triglycerides) with Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics
grated with retail operations in natural oils and fats are relatively close for algae development. Many other energy
I 51
and chemical companies and related stake- a shift from gasoline to clean diesel (“die- stocks and to traditional petroleum-based
holders are now interested and invested in selization”). Compression internal combus- industries, which operate year-round.
renewables, including Chevron, Shell, BP, tion engines need mostly paraffinic hydro- Ways to adapt this industry to a longer
Total, Neste Oil, Petrobras, Dow, Braskem, carbons. Triglycerides are largely paraffinic, operating year (such as off-season opera-
UOP, Pemex, GE, Marathon, Solvay, Mit- but nature does not make much as a percent tion on molasses, etc.) are being developed.
subishi Chemical, BASF and PTT. From a of total biomass, and most production is If dehydration of ethanol to ethylene is the
shorter term perspective, BP’s Macondo oil already claimed for food or oleochemicals. objective, ethanol can be stored for feeding
well incident in the US Gulf of Mexico has Algae as a potential solution for large-scale, in the off-season. But if feeding the sugar
dramatically raised interest in renewable low-priced supply is judged to be at least 10 juice to another type of fermentation is
and bio-based energy and materials. years away from commercialization. With the objective, then the solutions will likely
jatropha, while there is some commercial need to be more integral and customized to
Competing renewables, lower development, this is limited to developing each technology.
carbon alternatives. Similar to countries. The business model is seen by
biorenewables, the environment is favor- many to be viable only with subsistence Poor progress in cellulosic etha-
able for other renewable and lower carbon labor, with no economic basis for mecha- nologens. Corn and sugarcane are viewed
approaches, which include: nized agriculture. as transitional feedstocks that will produce
• Unconventional/new methane • Some users have few alternatives to the vast majority of ethanol and other fer-
resources, such as: liquid fuels. Land transport can theoreti- mentation biofuels until technologies for
º Shale gas and coal-bed methane cally drastically reduce or eliminate liquid conversion of biomass become commercially
º Fugitive methane to market (M2M), fuel use, e.g., with EVs, NGVs, hybrids, competitive. The latter will yield a mixture
including landfill gas (LFG) and bio- H2, LNG, etc. But these solutions do not of C5 and C6 sugars, with lignin for sepa-
digester gas. These can be developed for use apply well to propulsion for aircraft and, to ration and utilization, and with inhibitors
in natural gas vehicles (NGVs), enabled by a lesser extent, water craft, which will have present that are typically generated in the
implementing small-scale LNG to capture, limited alternatives for liquid fuels. pretreatment and/or hydrolysis steps. The
clean and manage these resources. • Biobased technologies are challeng- role of oil companies is increasing in sup-
Shale gas is being aggressively devel- ing. Most fermentations are batch, with porting development of advanced generation
oped in North America, but there are also unit operations most different from chemi- of biofuels, including that of ethanologens
substantial resources on most major land cal/refining processing. This places limits (ethanol-producing organisms).
masses, including Central Europe, China, on economies of scale. Fermentations are Even more significantly, BP has just
Southeast Asia, India and Australia. vulnerable to feedstock inhibition, attack announced acquisition of Verenium and
• Electric vehicles (EVs), wherein the by alien microbes, phage infections, genetic its demonstration plant in Jennings, Loui-
electricity is provided by solar PV, wind, drift/mutation, etc., further limiting feasi- siana. However, Nexant believes that nei-
wave, hydroelectric and other low-carbon bility of continuous operations. Cellulosic ther corn nor sugarcane ethanol are going
sources. (In Brazil, new initiatives toward biomass feedstocks have logistics limitations away anytime soon. Also, both types of
enabling EVs are creating anxiety and due to regional growing density, bulk, mois- plants can be easily modified to produce
resentment in the sugar/ethanol industry ture content/weight, tendency to rot, etc. second- and third-generation biofuels and
and may free up ethanol capacity in the Charring/torrefaction of feeds in the field as renewable chemicals. Nexant also believes
future to supply feedstock to green chemi- a solution does not apply to fermentations. the carbon life cycle performances of both
cals and polymers production.) • Brazil has a short operating year. types of plants are better than some popular
Table 1 is a conceptual review of the While biotech companies are flocking to perceptions, especially for corn ethanol.
relative merits of competing renewables. form joint ventures (JVs) with Brazilian There is a huge diversity of life-cycle
As indicated, each has counterbalancing sugar mills, these typically operate only analysis (LCA) factors used by analysts.
strengths and weaknesses, and no clear win- about 200 days per year due to seasonal The actual performance of any one plant
ner is yet apparent. weather/growing cycles. This is a long grow- depends heavily on location, but there
The development of biofuels and renew- ing season relative to North America or has been steady progress throughout the
able chemicals and polymers involves many Western Europe. However, sugarcane and industry to improve LCA performance. For
challenges: its juice cannot be stored like corn, wheat example, the US Department of Agriculture
• Biodiesel development disappoint- and even cassava; sugar mills are capital- reported in 2009 that water consumption
ing. The world vehicle fleet is undergoing inefficient compared to using these feedrates for corn ethanol can be as low as 10
gallons water/gallon ethanol in the US Corn
TABLE 1. How “green” are alternative energy sources?
Belt region, or as high as 324 gallons water/
1 is weakest rating, 3 is strongest gallon ethanol in the Northern Plains.
Drivers/energy sources First-gen. Ferm. Next-gen. Bio New CH4 Biogas M2M
Carbon footprint 2 3 2 3
Refiners are becoming active.
It is understandable that refiners will
Energy security (incl. scale) 2 2 3 3
embrace market participation in ethanol
Jobs and rural development (incl. scale) 3 3 2 3 production, given how integral ethanol
Other sustainability 2 3 2 3 has become to the entire fuel value chain.
Feasibility (experimental=0, commercial=3) 3 1 3 3 The cost and tax structure of ethanol pro-
Total 12 12 12 15 duction can also make such involvement
Source: Nexant highly profitable for refiners.
52
RFS targets reduced. Short-term Government funding. There are sev- ergies has developed a fermentation route
Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) targets for eral major US government funding initia- directly to isobutylene. Gevo has achieved
biodiesel and second-generation biofuels tives for biofuels that serve the dual purposes demonstration-scale operation in a con-
have been cut back, due to slower than of widespread dissemination of federal funds verted corn ethanol line in St. Joseph, Mis-
anticipated progress in the commercializa- to help drive economic recovery and pro- souri. One concept proposed by Gevo is
tion of these technologies. The ethanol mote clean energy. This includes Advanced to use isobutanol together with ethanol to
“blend wall” is a potentially major barrier Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) avoid the ethanol “blend wall” in achieving
for continued growth in ethanol use in technical sponsorship through the Fungible RFS goals. As described here, bio-isobutanol
the US, making it practically impossible Biofuels and Algae Consortia. Through an can be the starting point of a value chain
to achieve the RFS goals. This is because American Recovery and Reinvestment Act leading to “green” terephthalic acid (PTA).
an increased supply is not likely to be con- (ARRA) program, 19 diverse biorefinery
sumed by the E85 (85% ethanol blended projects have been given grants totaling $564 Bio-hydrocarbons. Another exciting
fuels) market, and most of the nation’s million; Table 2 summarizes these projects. development is that Gevo and several others
retail stations have already transitioned are developing potential routes either aimed
to E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline). An n-Biobutanol vs. isobutanol. A big at, or capable of making “green” paraxylene
increase to 15% allowable ethanol (E15) development of the last three years is the (PX). This can serve as a feedstock for green
or higher in gasoline is being considered growth in interest in isobutanol relative PTA, one of the two monomers for PET.
by the US EPA, and Nexant expects a to n-butanol. Gevo, Cobalt and Butalco These developments overlap with Gevo’s
level above 10% will be approved in the (DuPont/BP joint venture) are all focused efforts at fuels production. Recognizing its
near future. on isobutanol, and French Global Bioen- progress in developing its iso-C4 platform,
TABLE 2. ARRA biorefieries grantees

DOE Other
grant, funds,
Grantee $MM $MM Project Location Description
1) Pilot and Demonstration Scale FOA - Pilot Scale
Algenol Biofuels, Inc. 25 34 Freeport , TX 100,000 gpy ethanol using algae
American Process Inc. 18 10.1 Alpena, MI Up to 890,000 gpy ethanol and 690,000 gpy potassium acetate, startup 201
Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc. 25 10.5 Emeryville, CA Diesel substitute by fermenting sweet sorghum, plus lubricants, polymers,
petrochem substitutes
Archer Daniels Midland 24.8 10.9 Decatur, IL Hydrolyze biomass with acid, for fuels or energy, make ethanol and ethyl acrylate
ClearFuels Technology Inc. 23 13.4 Commerce City, CO Renewable diesel and jet fuel, integrating ClearFuels and Rentech technologies,
use baggase and biomass mixes
Elevance Renewable Sciences 2.5 0.6 Newton, IA Complete preliminary engineering design for jet fuel, renewable diesel, high value
chemicals from plant oils and poultry fat
Gas Technology Institute 2.5 0.6 Des Plaines, IL Complete preliminary engineering design for green gasoline and diesel from woody
biomass, ag residues and algae
Haldor Topsøe, Inc. 25 9.7 Des Plaines, IL Wood to green gasoline integrating and optimizing multi-step gasification, 21 tpd feedstock
ICM, Inc. (with Gevo) 25 6.2 St. Joseph, MO Modify existing corn-ethanol plant for switchgrass and energy sorghum,
using biochemical conversion
Logos Technologies 20.4 5.1 Visalia, CA Ethanol based on switchgrass and woody biomass via biochemical route
Renewable Energy Institute 20 5.1 Toledo, OH Pyrolysis and steam reforming of ag and forest residues for green diesel,
International 25 tpd feedstock
Solazyme, Inc. 21.8 3.9 Riverside, PA Algae oil—validate projected economics of commercial scale biorefinery
UOP LLC 25 6.7 Kapolei, HI Integrate existing Ensyn/UOP technologies for green gasoline, diesel, jet fuel
based on ag residues, woody biomass, energy crops and algae
ZeaChem Inc. 25 48.4 Boardman, OR Hybrid technology to convert poplar wood to ethanol and acetic acid/acetates
2) Pilot and demonstration scale FOA—demonstration scale
BioEnergy International, LLC 50 89.6 Lake Providence, LA Succinic acid by fermentation of grain sorghum
Enerkem Corporation 50 90.5 Ponotoc, MS At an existing landfill, woody biomass from MSW to ethanol, green chemicals
via gasification and catalysis
INEOS New Planet Bioenergy, LLC 50 50 Vero Beach, FL 8 MM gpy ethanol and 2 MW electricity from ag residues and MSW,
combined gasification and fermentation, startup end of 2011
Sapphire Energy, Inc. 50 85 Columbus, NM Algae ponds for green jet fuel and diesel, using Dynamic Fuels refining
3) Increased funding of existing biorefinery projects
Bluefire LLC 81.1 223.2 Fulton, MS 19 MM gpy ethanol based on wooy biomass, sorted MSW
564.1
Source: US Department of Energy

I 53
Lanxess has recently taken a sponsoring/ ing to Brazil to forge JVs with the major and growing focus among companies on
partnership position with Gevo. players for access to cheap sugar syrup for the differences among:
The other monomer, ethylene glycol has both chemicals and fuels production. • Biodegradable renewable (PLA,
been made for decades by Indian Glycols via PHA)
the ethanol dehydration process developed Biodiesel. Biodiesel is a lame duck among • Biodegradable/degradable—non-
by Scientific Design Co. This process route bio-renewables. Biodiesel (FAME) produc- renewable or only partially so
is now being used in PET production. tion in the US has stagnated , with many • Non-biodegradable (fungible) renew-
Besides the iso-C4 developments, there ventures shutting down due to the lapse of able—“green” PE and polypropylene (PP).
is a high interest in green olefins in many the US $1.00/gal tax credit. Future growth Customers and the polymer industry are
regions. This interest is variously aimed in non-petroleum diesel will likely be driven at a crossroads in making choices among
at ethanol-to-ethylene for MEG, PE and by biodiesel from non-food oils, such as these, and in developing improvements to
PVC, as well as for many other derivatives. algae and jatropha, as well as by new supplies better fit end-use needs.
Green propylene, on the other hand, has of renewable diesel via hydrocracking.
a wide variety of potential routes for its New feedstocks. New marginal food
manufacture, including dehydrogenation of White biochemistry—biopoly- crops are emerging as biorenewable feed-
“green” propane (e.g., from renewable diesel mers. Compared to biofuels, develop- stocks. These are crops that are widely known
processes), though this is not yet commer- ment of renewable chemicals and polymers and cultivated, but must be considered sec-
cialized.) Metathesis of bio-ethylene with is much more complex and only highlights ond tier compared to corn, wheat and rice.
bio-n-butene has several possible sources. are discussed herein. There has been a pro- Among these are sorghum (grain and sweet),
A number of developers are also focused liferation of players and projects in polylac- cassava and sweet potatoes. China, for exam-
on isoprene, including Amyris, which has tic acid or polylactide (PLA) and the suc- ple, has mandated that corn not be used for
specialized in C5 hydrocarbons. These con- cinic acid/BDO value chains. At the same ethanol manufacture, in favor of crops like
sist of “isoprenoids”—isoprene, d-limonene, time, there is a great deal of confusion in sweet potatoes. With some of these starchy
farnesene—for fuels and chemicals produc- the market and in public perception over crops, however, new diseases are emerging
tion. These and other developers are flock- biopolymers’ properties, use and disposal, (e.g., cassava rot) to threaten plans for effi-
cient monoculture plantations.
Jatropha and algae have had a smaller
US PBR algae oil – 50 MMgal US open pond algae oil – 50 MMgal
impact than expected. D1 and BP, longtime
champions, pulled out of jatropha, although
there have been some successes among local
“small is beautiful” developers in developing
economies such as India and Africa.
Diesel prices for expected
Price, $/gal
range of crude oil prices

Algae. Algae are single-cell species that,
unlike other plants, can produce high lev-
els of lipids along with carbohydrates and
proteins. Algae technology has been pur-
sued for decades, with some recent break-
throughs. There continues to be more
Feedstock Catalyst and chemicals Byproduct credit interest and investment in algae, despite the
Utilities Fixed costs Capital related costs
challenges associated with it that need to
FIG. 1 PBR and open pond algae lipids conceptual cost of production. (Nexant analysis)
simultaneously meet these requirements:
• Cheap land
• Excellent insolation
• Water resources
1,000,000 • Superior biota (yield/area)
Beta carotene
• Source of clean, concentrated CO2
100,000 • Other cash flows.
DHA Generic technologies for algae are open
Kevlar ponds and photobioreactor (PBR) systems.
Price, $/ton
10,000 Caffeine
In general, the economics of both systems
Nylon 6.6 FAME
LLDPE are not competitive to conventional fuel or
1,000 n-Butanol
PVC Fertilizer chemical production economics. Develop-
Fish oil
Ethanol Corn ers of various technologies often rely heavily
100 on income from production of high-value
Portland cement byproducts to substantiate even the current
10 poor economics. Conceptual results of Nex-
0.0001 0.001 0.01 0.1 1 10 100 1,000 10,000 ant’s economic models for open ponds and
Market volume, million tons
PBRs are shown in Fig. 1. This indicates
FIG. 2 Conceptual price-volume exclusion correlation. (Nexant analysis) that even the state-of-the-art technology is
far from being commercial. Nexant believes
54
that algae oil production at true economic Many algae technology developers rely • Slow progress in technical and commer-
commercial scale operations (defined as on the high-value specialty byproducts to cial development of cellulosic-based fuels
producing tens of thousands barrels per day support their economics. There is a dan- • No clear winners from a technical
for fuels) is at least 10 years away. ger in assuming that such byproducts will approach and feedstock basis have yet to
ExxonMobil has recently announced maintain their high prices as algae capaci- emerge. HP
positive progress in its JV with Synthetic ties approach commercial scale, due to the
Genomics, opening a new greenhouse impact of market price/volume elasticity. Ron Cascone is manager of biofuels development
facility in California to examine different Fig. 2 makes it clear, considering a very wide at Nexant, Inc./ChemSystems’ White Plains, New York
growth systems, temperatures and lighting range of commodity and specialty prod- office. He is a chemical engineer with 40 years of indus-
trial experience in a broad range of energy and chemi-
systems for algal growth. This JV appears uct types (building materials to polymers, cal processes and products, most recently focusing on
to be taking a very systematic approach chemicals and nutraceuticals), that one can- biorenewables (fuels, chemicals and biopolymers) as
to algae technology development, with not have the high volumes of sales needed part of Nexant’s global practice. He deals with technol-
targets for development over time that, for commercial production of fuels, while ogy and project development through feasibility stud-
ies, market and due diligence assignments, as well as
if met, are designed to lead to large-scale maintaining high prices. Markets tolerate leading multi-client reports, including the recently pub-
commercialization. either commodity-scale production or high lished “Liquid Biofuels: Substituting for Petroleum,” and
It is not clear which technology is likely unit prices. Rarely is it possible to have both. “Algae: Emerging Options for Sustainable Biofuels.”
to accomplish this first. In addition to the Effectively, if production of algae-based
generic models, several interesting alterna- byproducts increases significantly, they will Bruce F. Burke is a vice president of Nexant’s Energy
Resources Business Unit, with responsibility for energy-
tives are being pursued: oversupply their markets and prices will rap- related consulting assignments in North America, South
• Algenol—ethanol, not lipids— idly fall to commodity levels. America and Asia. Relevant areas of interest include
production in a PBR system, with back- technology assessment, petroleum refining, natural gas
ing/partnering including Dow Chemical, Outlook. The biorenewables industry has utilization, market and price forecasting, and emerging
alternative fuel use in the global energy industry. An
Valero and Linde AG. evolved since 2007, with these key drivers: experienced international project manager, Mr. Burke
• Solazyme—sugar-fed, non-photosyn- • Strong public policy drivers and fund- has conducted numerous studies on the production and
thetic (without sunlight or CO2) algae-based ing, including mandated use of second- integration of first- and second- generation biofuels with
conventional fermentation to make lipids generation biofuels conventional refinery and chemicals production. He has
a degree in chemical engineering from the University of
• Martek (a PBR/open-pond staged • Growing interest and investment by Pennsylvania, and began his career with Gulf Oil Refin-
hybrid, with emphasis on high-value co- traditional oil and chemical firms ing, following by energy consulting with ChemSystems
products.) • Weak performance by biodiesel sector (from 1980), and Nexant (from 2001).

I 55
Results
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Upgrade FFC performance—Part 1

New ceramic feed distributor offers ultimate erosion protection
L. M. WOLSCHLAG and K. A. COUCH, UOP LLC, a Honeywell Company, Des Plaines, Illinois
F
luid catalytic cracking (FCC) technology has been a part of ysis (gamma scan) of the riser was completed. The scan results
the petroleum industry since the 1940s. Despite being a very confirmed the CFD model prediction as illustrated in Fig. 1.
mature technology, continued development is vital, especially Radioactive tracer work was also completed on the 9-ft ID
as many refiners move their FCC operations from fuels produc- riser. Irradiated Krypton-79 gas was injected into the riser base.
tion to higher-value products. Advanced diagnostic and design Detectors were positioned along the riser length and reactor to
tools are accelerating process developments. measure the tracer as it moved through the system. The results
Through the development and commercialization of world- indicated that the time of flight of the krypton gas from one
scale FCC units, technical discoveries have emerged that provide detector to another did not provide a sharp response peak. An
opportunities for improvements across all units, independent of early peak followed by a secondary peak which was skewed a high
size. Using sophisticated engineering tools, such as computational degree is shown in Fig. 2.
fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling combined with radioactive tracer A mathematical evaluation was performed to determine what
and tomography, will streamline physical inspection reports and type of continuous stir tank reactor (CSTR) response would be
commercial yield analysis. The article highlights advancements needed to emulate the measured data. To accurately reproduce the
in regenerator technology for higher capacity through existing field data plot, a composite plot modeled 100, 40 and 15 CSTR
assets, emissions reduction and feed distribution systems for responses (Fig. 2).
large-diameter risers. Unit performance, CFD modeling, tracer and tomography
tests, and mathematical analysis all indicated the same pathol-
Dual-radius feed distributors. As refiners look to capital- ogy—the feed was not adequately accessing the full cross-sec-
ize on economies of scale, design throughputs of FCC units have tional area of the riser leading to the presence of a high-density
reached record levels. At these scales, opportunities have emerged core of catalyst and a low-density annulus, which caused low
from the background noise of the data to improve FCC technol- conversion and high dry gas and coke make. One solution to
ogy. Through pushing multiple constraints to design limits on one this problem would be to install two, smaller diameter risers to
particular unit, yields and conversion deviated from benchmark match more conventional FCC sizes. However, installing dual
performance, with gasoline selectivity lower, conversion lower and risers, even with new construction, is substantially more expen-
dry gas higher than benchmark performance. To get more out of sive. For an FCC unit of 200,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd),
the existing asset, an intensive program was undertaken to achieve the estimated cost difference between a single, large-radius riser
benchmark performance. and a pair of smaller risers has a cost estimated at $60 million.
The riser for a particular FCC unit has an inner diameter A substantially lower cost solution with an implementation of
(ID) of 6.6 ft at the point of feed injection, which expands to 9 dual-radius feed distributors was developed (Fig. 3). This design
ft immediately above. The feed is injected
into the riser through a set of circumferen-
tially positioned distributors. The combi-
nation of low conversion and high dry gas
yield seems counter-intuitive, given tradi-
tional FCC operations. A hypothesis was
raised that the large riser diameter might
be preventing the feed from adequately
distributing across the full cross-sectional
area of the riser. To test this hypothesis,
a CFD model of the riser was created to
analyze the fluid dynamics of the system.
Results of the model supported that raw oil
feed would only penetrate the riser a finite
distance, thus creating a vapor annulus,
and that much of the catalyst flowing up
the riser would form a high-density core. FIG. 1 CFD prediction and gamma scan of 6.6-ft riser.
Based on CFD results, a tomographic anal-
I 57
ensures optimal feed distribution across the entire riser, while offers the ultimate in erosion protection, and feed distributors
avoiding adjacent spray impact that could cause undesirable with ceramic tips can withstand highly erosive environments with
spray interference. zero discernable erosion.
Another CFD model that incorporates the dual-radius feed
distributors was created. Fig. 4 shows catalyst density profiles of CERAMIC FEED DISTRIBUTORS
an axial slice of the riser, both with and without dual-radius feed
distributors. The riser on the left side without the dual radius feed Development. FCC feed distributor tips are subjected to a
distributors shows the high-density core of the catalyst; the CFD high-temperature, high-velocity erosive environment. To func-
model with the dual radius feed distributors indicates that the tion in this harsh environment, FCC feed distributors have his-
catalyst’s dense core is effectively eliminated. torically been fabricated from various erosion-resistant materials.
The dual-radius feed distributors were installed on a FCC unit While these materials are proven effective at reducing rates of
designed with an 8-ft-diameter riser at the point of feed injection. erosion, most erosion-resistant materials are, by their nature,
The unit was commissioned in May 2009. Results indicate that dry generally hard and brittle and can be susceptible to brittle frac-
gas yield and conversion and gasoline selectivity were within expec- ture. Erosion and brittle fracture have been an industry-wide
tations. The riser’s gamma scans indicate that the catalyst’s high issue, and can be induced mechanically or by thermal shock.
density core was effectively eliminated. The catalyst density profile This must be considered in the design of FCC feed distributors
of the riser at approximately 1 pipe diameter above the point of as erosion and brittle fracture can occur when relatively cold oil
dual radius feed injection, indicates that core annular flow has been and/or steam are rapidly introduced to the system in which the
achieved with an evenly distributed catalyst density profile (Fig. 5). tips are hot from circulating catalyst.
Additional tomography scans were completed at varying feed ratios These issues were addressed in many ways with a distribution
to optimize distribution of oil and steam across the riser. system. Following proper operating procedures will avoid thermal
Erosion of the inner feed distributors was a client concern. shock and brittle fracture. However, erosion is more a function of
This was mitigated by using ceramic feed distributors. Ceramic operating environment as opposed to improper operation.
Designs. Advanced design feed distributors include three pri-

March 14, 2007, gas injection mary designs: standard, weld overlay and ceramic. The standard
1,000
Early peak Centroid 77.18s Riser ex top – avg design—the new distributor for most FCC applications—bal-
800 feed plug t-res = 1.32s 40 – CSTR response ances the erosion issue and the possibility of cracking due to ther-
flow core? velocity 9.3 m/s Composite mal shock. The tip incorporates a more erosion-resistant metal
100 – CSTR response
alloy, changing the geometry and reducing stress concentrations.
Response
600 15 – CSTR response

Incorporating orifice extensions extends the flashing hydrocarbon
400 feed further away from the metal tip. Additional protection can
Late peak be provided by applying a very hard diffusion coating over the
200 wall holdup? cobalt-based (Co-based) alloy.
The weld overlay design is applied to resolve chronic problems
0 with wet steam and installations that have a high risk of thermal
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Seconds shock. The erosion-resistant weld overlay is applied to a softer,
more ductile base metal for superior thermal shock resistance.
FIG. 2 Mathematical composite. To further combat erosion, this tip incorporates orifice exten-
sions to move the flashing hydrocarbon feed further away from
FIG. 4 CFD models of the riser catalyst

FIG. 3 Schematic of dual-radius feed distributors. profiles with and without dual-
radius feed distributors.
58
Spray Spray Spray Spray
Nozzles Control Analysis Fabrication
Why Leading Refineries

and Engineering Firms Rely
on Us for Injectors and Quills
Retractable Injector, Slurry

Backflush Quill, Water
Wash Quill (bottom to top)
Water-Jacketed Injector
for High-Temperature
Applications
Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) Manufacturing quality and flexibility.
Need a simple quill or multi-nozzle injector? Insertion length of a
few inches or several feet? 25# or 2500# class flange? High-pressure,
high-temperature and/or corrosion-resistant construction? Special
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maintenance? Tell us what you need and we’ll design and manufacture
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the distributor tip. While a very hard diffusion coating is used and commercial application have indicated that new ceramic tips
to provide additional protection against erosion, the primary are no more susceptible to thermal shock than traditional fabrica-
design goal is resistance to thermal shock, and, therefore, it is tions with co-based alloys. Fig. 6 shows three new tip designs, as
recommended only for FCC operations that have proven to be well as older versions.
particularly susceptible to thermal shock.
Finally, the ceramic design represents a step-change improve- Ceramic tips—design challenges. Ceramic materials are
ment for superior erosion resistance. Determining the erosion widely accepted and proven to be more resistant to erosion than
potential of FCC feed distributors is based on the physical prop- metallic materials. The characteristics that impart erosion resis-
erties of the feedstock. The ceramic design is used in applications tance also tend to make these materials more brittle. Successful
where erosion is forecast to be higher than normal or in units that application of ceramics in FCC feed injection required that two
have previously exhibited high erosion rates. Even though the technical challenges be overcome: 1) selecting a suitable ceramic
ceramic material is very hard, quench testing in the laboratory material that can be fabricated into the required geometry and
2) developing a means to connect the ceramic tip to the metallic
base assembly of the distributor.
The geometry used for the ceramic distributor tip was the
same as the traditional elliptical-feed distributor. The same prin-
ciples and considerations applied to reducing mechanical stresses
and improving thermal shock resistance in metallic tips were
applied to address the brittle nature of ceramics. The ceramic
tips were subjected to laboratory quench testing to simulate the
unique temperature profiles in the feed-injection system. Quench
testing was used to help select the proper ceramic material, and it
confirmed that the final material was no more susceptible to brit-
tle fracture than previous FCC feed distributor metallic tips.
The large differences in thermal expansion coefficients
between the materials provided the next challenge—a means
of attaching the ceramic tip to the metallic base assembly.
The attachment should provide a liquid-tight seal at design
pressure drop across the distributor, while accommodating
a wide range of feed and steam temperatures experienced
across startup, normal operation and FCC unit shutdown.
Creative engineering, stress modeling, full-scale prototyping
and therma-cycle testing were all used to develop a proprietary
FIG. 5 Gamma scan of 8-ft ID riser with dual-radius feed
mechanical connection. With an acceptable ceramic identi-
distributors. fied and a means of connecting the ceramic to the metal base
assembly, the next step was to demonstrate new distributors
in a commercial application.
Ceramic tips—a commercial experience. As the design

details for the new ceramic tip and connection were finalized,
an opportunity presented itself in which two ceramic tips could
be installed in the same reactor riser at the same time as metal-
lic tips, providing an ideal side-by-side commercial test.1 The
subject FCC had a history of aggressive feed distributor tip ero-
sion, and a trial installation of the ceramic tips was welcomed.
Final design details regarding tip connection were addressed. In
FIG. 6 FCC feed distributor tip designs. FIG. 7 Metallic and ceramic feed distributor tips after 18 months
in operation.
60
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www.altairstrickland.com
April 2007, ceramic tips were commissioned in a commercial tor in which flue-gas catalyst losses appeared to increase at the
FCC reactor riser. higher end of superficial velocities that are typically stable for
After 18 months of operation, the ceramic tips were inspected smaller designs. In this case, the refiner was interested in achiev-
and were free of erosion and cracking, while the adjacent metal- ing a higher capacity through an existing asset.
lic tips exhibited signs of erosion. In Fig. 7, the metallic tip The inside of the upper regenerator has two major pieces of
shows significant erosion, while the ceramic tip shows zero equipment: cyclones and a combustor disengager. The combus-
discernable erosion. tor disengager provides the first-stage inertial separation of cata-
The viability and benefit of using ceramic tips for the feed lyst from the combustion products, and the cyclones provide the
distributor were confirmed. The expected life of the distributors final separation. Layout of this particular regenerator is unique
in this application was revolutionized, from imminent failure in that the cyclone pairs are configured on two different radii
(with an average run life of 2–3 years), to potentially a life with (Fig. 8). While this has been a common plan view layout for
perpetual success. bubbling-bed regenerators, this was the first time it was applied
Since January 2010, FCC ceramic feed distributors have been to a combustor-style unit.
delivered to three refiners in addition to the trial installation. The To start the evaluation, a CFD model of the regenerator was
second installation was placed into service on May 17, 2009, and created to study the unit-specific gas flow paths in the upper
it continues to perform well with two additional project ship- regenerator. The model demonstrated that the gas flow exiting
ments pending. Ceramic distributors are currently recommended the standard tee disengaging arms was in the range of 4–9 m/s
and supplied as the premiere offering to improve reliability in (Fig. 11). This velocity range is between 50%–100% higher at
installations with aggressive distributor tip erosion. a 15% lower superficial velocity compared to the next largest
combustor-style regenerator. The model also indicated that the
Elephant trunk arm combustor riser disengager. jet length projected from the disengaging arm was long enough
The market drive to maximize returns through economies of that the high-velocity gas stream moved horizontally in the area
scale can present technical challenges with respect to scale-up. A of the dipleg termination. This resulted in fines re-entrainment
phenomenon occurred on a large combustor style FCC regenera- with preferential flow to the inner-radius cyclone pair, at a rate
that exceeded the catalyst discharge capacity of the cyclones. This
result was initially difficult to believe, as the primary cyclone
inlets on the two different radii were only 18 in. apart. However,
the preferential flow was readily apparent upon internal unit
inspections at the turnaround six years after commissioning. A
slight change to the base design had a profound impact on the
equipment performance.
Solution. The solution developed was a variation on what

is called the elephant trunk disengager (Fig. 12). While basic
elephant trunk disengagers were used in FCC reactor riser disen-
gagers in the late 70s and early 80s, the regenerator application
required substantial engineering work to ensure that the proper
gas flow paths and catalyst separation efficiencies were achieved.
The disengager arm was curved to lower the impact transition,
reduce catalyst attrition and improve lining reliability. The shroud
was extended to direct the catalyst more into the catalyst bed, but
FIG. 8 Dual-radius cyclone system in regenerator. was limited in length so as not to provide excessive separation
FIG. 9 Tee and elephant trunk arm disengage. FIG. 10 CFD model of the gas profiles in the upper regenerator
with tee and elephant trunk arm disengagers.
62
efficiency that would lead to increased afterburn and high dilute to be closely monitored. The flue gas residence time in the
phase temperatures. The outlet area was optimized to ensure that upper regenerator increased by as much as 26%—substantially
the combustion gases bleed off horizontally with minimal cross- improving regenerator performance. The unit design and opera-
wind at cyclone dipleg terminations (Fig. 9). tion resulted in extremely low delta coke operation and a regen-
The CFD model of the final design indicated that at a super- erator average dense-bed temperature as low as 1,198°F. Even
ficial velocity of 1.05 m/s, slightly higher than the base case with this low regenerator temperature operating at maximum
model, the gas velocities exiting the arms of the elephant trunk throughput, the average afterburn is only 8°F. This is a step-
disengager were significantly lower than the gas velocities for the change advancement in regenerator combustion performance
tee disengager, with peak gas velocities reduced by 25% and the and it supports that the modeled increase in flue-gas residence
horizontal gas velocities at the dipleg outlets reduced to nearly time was achieved.2
zero (Fig. 10). The elephant trunk disengager was developed to improve the
With the original design, 10 out of 11 inner cyclones holed performance of a very large combustor. CFD modeling, tracer
through after six years of operation. With the elephant trunk work, unit inspection and operational data collectively contrib-
disengage installation, the fines entrained to the inner-cyclone uted to its creation, proof of principle and commercialization.
set were reduced sufficiently to reasonably expect a 10-year ser- However, by using these sophisticated tools, other benefits were
vice life. This enables the refiner to either significantly reduce
maintenance costs and realize greater onstream reliability, or to
push the system harder for greater operating margin.
CFD model validation. CFD models have historically

met with substantial skepticism in mixed-phase fluidized bed
systems. To validate the CFD modeling efforts, multiple oper-
ating regenerators were modeled, and the results compared
with turnaround field inspection reports. The CFD modeling
has proven to be predictive with respect to erosion of both the
cyclones and the external support braces when compared with
field inspection reports.
To further evaluate the accuracy of the CFD modeling and FIG. 12 Gull-wing and piped spent-catalyst distributor.
determine the proper boundary conditions for the models, mul-
tiple radioactive tracer tests were completed on regenerators with
the tee disengager and elephant trunk disengager. The downward
gas flow predicted with the tee disengager was validated, and the 6HQVRU6ROXWLRQV
residence time of the flue gas within the upper regenerator was
within 6% of the CFD model. Tracer studies of the elephant IRUWKH1H[W'HFDGH
trunk disengager confirmed a greater amount of gas dispersion,
eliminating regions of high gas velocity, and effectively using
regenerator volume.
The first commercial combustor riser elephant trunk disen-
gager was commissioned in 2009. Initial results have been very
promising. Catalyst containment is very good and continues
Cyclone 10 14%
Cyclone 1
12%
Cyclone 9 10%
8%
6% Cyclone 2
4%
2%
0%
Cyclone 3
Cyclone 7
Cyclone 4
Cyclone 6
Cyclone 5
FIG. 11 Catalyst tracer results for a bubbling bed regenerator with ZZZVLFNVROXWLRQVWRXUFRP
a gull-wing design.

REFINING DEVELOPMENTS
discovered that are applicable to all sized units. Eliminating the

Turn it on now! high-velocity regions reduces erosion to internals and associated
catalyst attrition. The increased residence time improves the burn-
ing capacity of the regenerator, enables lower excess oxygen opera-
tion and directionally reduces NOx emissions. Now, the elephant
trunk arm disengager has become the standard design for all new
combustor-style regenerators, with several revamp and new unit
designs in progress.
SPENT CATALYST DISTRIBUTOR
Problem. Engineering tools and associated skills used to solve

the previously discussed problems for very large FCC units can be
used on FCC units of all sizes and types, to support operating and
reliability needs of individual refiners. In one example, an 80,000-
bpsd FCC unit with a bubbling bed regenerator exhibited a regen-
erator cyclone outlet temperature differential of 100°F from one
side of the regenerator to the other. This afterburn differential
resulted in a localized hot spot that limited the throughput of the
unit against a main air-blower constraint. The regenerator was
an older design that used a gull-wing spent-catalyst distributor
design. Catalyst maldistribution in the regenerator causes fuel-rich
areas in the dense phase, with localized hot spots directly above
in the dilute phase. Hot spots can be completely invisible within
a unit depending on where instrumentation is placed in relation
to the spent-catalyst inlet.
To validate the temperature data, catalyst tracer work was
completed on the regenerator to evaluate the flow distribution
in the unit. With ideal distribution, a radar plot of the detector
7th Biennial Valve World Conference & Expo signals would show perfect symmetry. The actual unit data showed
Düsseldorf, Germany that the catalyst was heavily skewed to one side, which was not a
surprise (Fig. 11).
Nov. 30 – Dec. 2, 2010 Solution. The typical spent catalyst distributor installed in a
bubbling-bed regenerator of this vintage was the gull wing design
The Valve World Expo presents continual growth, with an external lift riser. Fig. 12 is a schematic of the distributor.
outstanding innovations and the highest level of Air maldistribution in this type of regenerator design results from
technology – now in its new home in Düsseldorf. Valves two sources. First, the external riser lift air discharges vertically out
and the complete range of accessories as well as valve- of the disengager, resulting in an oxygen-rich environment in the
related technologies are the focus. As the most important dilute phase. Second, high localized catalyst density and resultant
event for the industry, the Valve World Conference
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fascinating developments and scientific evaluations.
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FIG. 13 CFD model of the catalyst densities in a regenerator with

gull-wing and piped spent-catalyst distributors.

64
vwe1002_AZ_85x255_US.indd 2 19.02.2010 13:39:16 Uhr
hydraulic head caused a preferential flow of combustion air to the coke yield, optimum coke combustion while retaining existing
opposite side of the regenerator. equipment.
To achieve a more even catalyst density and uniform coke
distribution, the piped spent catalyst distributor was developed ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
(Fig. 12). The piped distributor was designed to radially dis- The authors thank the following individuals for their assistance in providing
tribute both the lift air and spent catalyst across the regenerator data and/or support that made this article a reality—Peter J. Van Opdorp, UOP,
who provided the yield estimate comparisons between the design case and outer
bed through a set of side arms. The size and orientation of the maximum case; Reza Mostofi-Ashtiani, Mechanical Engineering and Materials
distributor arms were designed in an iterative process with CFD Engineering Center, for providing his assistance and expertise with the CFD
modeling to ensure as much even catalyst and air distribution models; and Dave Ferguson, Justin Tippit, Benjamin Chang, Pannatat Trikasem,
as possible within the back-pressure limitations of the existing Brian Octavianus and Nurudin Sidik, at Tracerco, for their dedication and effort
lift air blower. that contributed to a successful project.
CFD models of the gull-wing distributor and the piped spent
catalyst distributor were created to predict the catalyst distribu- LITERATURE CITED
1 Mitchell, T. P. and K. A. Couch, “Optimix (ER) Commercialization—
tion, gas flow paths and bed-density profiles in the bubbling-bed Ceramic Tips,” July 2009.
regenerator. With the gull wing distributor, the catalyst was 2 Couch, K. A., K. D. Seibert and P. J. Van Opdorp, “Controlling FCC Yields
concentrated in the bed center. With the piped spent catalyst and Emissions,” NPRA Annual Meeting, March 2004.
distributor, the catalyst distribution was much more uniform
throughout the bed (Fig. 13).
Lisa Wolschlag is senior manager of the FCC, alkylation and treating develop-
ment department for Honeywell’s UOP business located in Des Plaines, Illinois. She
Results. The piped spent-catalyst distributor was commis- has 18 years of experience working in various areas of UOP including research and
sioned in December 2006. Post-revamp tracer tests were con- development, field operating service, technical service and process development. Ms.
ducted on the regenerator. The actual catalyst distribution is Wolschlag received a BS degree in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois
very close to the ideal distribution as illustrated in Fig. 14. and an MBA from the University of Chicago.
Operational data also indicate a significant improvement
in the regenerator performance. The dilute phase temperature Keith Couch is senior business leader of BTX/aromatic derivatives for Honeywell’s
UOP business located in Des Plaines, Illinois. He has worked for UOP for 18 years in
differential was reduced from 100°F pre-revamp to about 15°F manufacturing, research and development, field operating service, technical service,
following the implementation of the piped spent-catalyst dis- sales support and process development. Mr. Couch received a BS degree in chemical
tributor. As a result, the refiner was able to lower the excess oxy- engineering from Louisiana Tech University and is pursuing an MBA from the Univer-
gen level in the flue gas from a pre revamp minimum of 2 mol% sity of Chicago—Booth School of Business.
to a post-revamp 1 mol%, enabling a higher capacity through
existing assets and saving on utility consumption. HP
7RXU6WRS1R1DWXUDO*DV
Part 2 of this article can be viewed online at HP’s
Website in the September 2010 issue. The article will ,VWKHUHDVWDEOH
discuss improvements in FCC technology that achieve lower
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FIG. 14 Catalyst tracer results for bubbling-bed regenerator with ZZZVLFNVROXWLRQVWRXUFRP

piped spent-catalyst distributor.

65
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Fine-tune processing heavy

crudes in your facility
A better understanding of asphaltene stability in crude oils
allows refiners to increase blending of ‘opportunity’ feedstocks
T. FALKLER and C. SANDU, Baker Hughes, Sugar Land, Texas
H
eavy crude oils are often appealing feedstocks for refin- Operational challenges. Heavy crude oils are commonly
eries, due to their lower cost. The availability of these blended with lighter crudes and other feedstocks at terminals or
heavy crudes is improving as production rates increase, in refinery crude tanks to facilitate transportation and processing.
particularly in North and South America. Refiners want to keep Each heavy crude oil has unique physical and chemical character-
certain key performance indicators (KPIs) such as heat trans- istics that can represent specific operational challenges.
fer coefficients, corrosion rates, pressure drop and throughput Heavy crudes are usually characterized by high levels of filter-
under control. However, asphaltenes present in heavy crudes can able solids, asphaltenes, water and salts, as compared to lighter
significantly affect these KPIs when they become destabilized crude oils. Industry experience indicates that blending heavy
and agglomerate to the extent where precipitation can occur. crudes with other crude oils or lighter feedstocks can form unsta-
Asphaltene particles can stabilize emulsions, causing desalter ble or incompatible crude blends that can lead to serious opera-
performance and oil carry-under tional problems such as:
problems, and can contribute to ■ The ability to measure crude blend stability • Sludge buildup in crude
accelerated fouling in crude unit and compatibility quickly and accurately can storage tanks
preheat exchangers. create a competitive advantage for refiners • Stabilized emulsions
This article reviews the prob- • More frequent desalter
wanting to improve feedstock flexibility and
lems associated with asphaltene upsets
destabilization and discusses reduce feedstock costs by processing greater • Increased desalter water
new tools available to improve quantities of heavy crude oils. A robust field and salt carryover
and control asphaltene behavior. testing instrument and analysis procedures • Increased amounts of oil in
A laboratory asphaltene stability have been developed that provide on-site the desalter effluent water
test has been successfully used to measurements of crude blend asphaltene • Greater fouling in crude-
determine heavy crude feedstock stability allowing more timely feedstock preheat exchangers, and in
compatibility. Case histories segregation and blend optimization decisions. atmospheric and vacuum tower
show how new field techniques furnaces.
were used to develop appropriate blend ratios for specific sets of Greater salt carryover can also lead to increased corrosion activity
crude feedstocks, and how this information was used, together with in the atmospheric tower and the overhead condensing system.
an asphaltene control-additive program, to improve the utilization
of these crudes and avoid downstream operational problems. Fouling impact. The economic impact from fouling is very
significant. It is estimated that billions of dollars are spent annu-
Heavy feeds. Heavy crude oils are forecast to be more significant ally to address this problem.6 Major areas affected by feedstock
feedstocks for refineries due to increased production coupled with asphaltene destabilization are:
growing global energy demand. The heavy feedstocks commonly • Crude storage tanks
processed in US refineries usually come from California, Canada • Crude unit preheat exchangers
(Alberta or the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin), Venezu- • Crude unit atmospheric and vacuum furnaces
ela, Mexico and Saudi Arabia. Canadian heavy crude imports are • Resid hydroprocessing units
steadily increasing due to the pipeline infrastructure that has been • Delayed coker furnaces
recently developed and extended.1–3 To accommodate the growing • Visbreaker furnaces and preheat exchangers.
influx of heavy crudes, several US refineries are revamping process Fig. 1 illustrates the locations where fouling is observed in
configurations; such modifications involve more bottoms upgrad- crude distillation unit operations. These impacted areas all cre-
ing capability and greater consumption of steam, hydrogen and ate significant operational problems by increasing energy costs,
power.3–5 These measures require a significant capital investment, raising greenhouse gas emissions and limiting unit throughput.
and due to present economic conditions, their implementation is Typical measures that refineries can use to mitigate fouling phe-
progressing at a slow rate. nomena include:
I 67
• Increasing the frequency of heat exchanger and furnace tube The stability of a feed is not directly proportional to the
cleaning operations asphaltene amount present. More important, it is the stability
• Increasing furnace firing rates to compensate for furnace of the asphaltenes that are present in the organic matrix, and the
inlet temperature losses quality of the solvent in the organic matrix of the feed. Light
• Chemically treating the crude charge with specialty chemi- oils with limited amounts of asphaltenes are more likely to cause
cal additives, such as asphaltene dispersants and stabilizers, to problems during production than heavy crude oils with larger
improve asphaltene stability in the blended feed. amounts of material in the asphaltene fraction.11,12
A combination of methods is often the most economical solu- Heavy crude oils, although they contain higher amounts of
tion for managing fouling.7, 8 asphaltenes vs. typical crudes, are also characterized by a rich
Considering that new, more stringent environmental regula- organic matrix of intermediate components such as resins,
tions are anticipated, and rigorous control and lower levels of aromatics, polynuclear aromatics with 2–3 rings, and naph-
carbon dioxide (CO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions will be thene-aromatics that are good asphaltene solvents. Light oils
required, refineries are challenged to identify the best approaches can consist principally of paraffinic materials in which, by
to mitigate and control fouling phenomena with minimum capi- definition, asphaltenes have very limited solubility. The key to
tal expenditures.5–8 identifying feed stability lies in having a very accurate method
to measure the optimum ratio of the “good solvent species” vs.
Role of asphaltenes. Asphaltenes are one of the major com- the paraffinic components, thus preventing the destabilization
ponents of refinery fouling deposits. Asphaltenes are defined as a of asphaltenes by maintaining the optimum ratio throughout
class of hydrocarbons that are soluble in xylene and toluene, but not the entire refining process.
soluble in paraffinic solvents such as heptane or pentane. They are
polar compounds that normally contain hetero-atoms like sulfur, Impact of blending on asphaltene behavior. There
nitrogen and oxygen. When asphaltenes form aggregates, it is possi- is no linear behavior in crude blending; only in specific cases
ble to generate sludge in storage tanks and fouling on equipment. may the behavior be close to “linear” where crude blends might
Asphaltenes can also aggregate at oil/water interfaces, where exhibit stabilities between the two individual crude oil stabilities.
they stabilize water-in-oil emulsions, or at oil/solid interfaces These cases are usually encountered when crudes with a similar
where they can alter surface wetting properties. One area in amount of asphaltenes, as well as similar organic matrixes, are
the refinery where this phenomenon is frequently encountered mixed (e.g., light crude with light crude, or heavy crude with
is around the crude unit desalter. 9,10 In several cases where heavy crude). In most real-life situations, the nonlinear behavior
heavy Canadian feedstocks were processed, it was observed that is frequently seen where blends of light crude with heavy streams
asphaltene destabilization resulted in either a stabilized water/ are used. Fig. 2 shows a real-life example of a stability trend
oil emulsion in the desalter, increasing basic sediment and water obtained by mixing light crude with heavy crude. This example
(BS&W) carryover into desalted crude, or the appearance of illustrates clearly that the crude blend obtained has lower stabil-
asphaltenes in desalter effluent water. ity vs. the initial stabilities of the blend components, and there
is no linear behavior.
Hot crude It is imperative for the refiner to assess the compatibility/
Cold crude
preheat preheat stability of the feedstocks prior to their blending, and to iden-
Desalters tify the optimum mitigation solution. Crude compatibility is
Atmos. defined as the ability to blend two or more crude types without
crude
Crude Crude tower inducing asphaltene precipitation. Crude stability is an intrinsic
storage furnace physical characteristic and refers to the capacity of the crude
oil to keep all constituents, including the asphaltenes, well dis-
Pipeline Vacuum
distillation
tower
Vacuum
furnace
FIG. 1 Crude unit locations impacted by asphaltene fouling

phenomena.
Decreased stability
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Light crude oil in blend, %
FIG. 3 Example of crude incompatibility resulting in asphaltene
FIG. 2 Example of nonlinear stability behavior upon mixing light precipitation raw crude A (right); raw crude B (left); and
crude with heavy crude. 50/50 blend of crudes A/B (center).
68
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persed. Both parameters require evaluation prior to blending change in intensity upon a titration with an asphaltene precipi-
or processing. tant (a nonsolvent such as pentane). An inflection point can be
Fig. 3 shows an example of two crude oils that, upon mixing, observed in a plot of transmittance vs. the volume of added non-
become incompatible and asphaltene destabilization occurs. On solvent as flocculation begins. The point of inflection, expressed
the left side of Fig. 3 is the heavy crude oil that, by itself, is sta- as the asphaltene stability index (ASI), corresponds to the point
ble; on the right side is the lighter asphaltenic containing crude of asphaltene precipitation and provides a relative measure of the
that is also stable. Both crudes show no evidence of asphaltenes asphaltene’s stability in the oil.
precipitated on the bottle walls. By creating a 50/50 blend of A scale of ASI values was developed that can classify the feed-
these two individual crudes, a very unstable mixture is produced stock with respect to its stability and fouling potential:
that immediately displays asphaltenes precipitated on the walls • 0–130 ASI: High fouling potential
of the bottle, thus indicating the incompatibility of these two • 130–200 ASI: Medium fouling potential
selected feedstocks. In practice, refineries blend their feedstocks • 200 and higher ASI: Low fouling potential.
by considering a series of factors such as storage-tank availability This technique is used to measure the stability of crude, crude
and capacity, feedstock availability and inventory, targeted refin- blends and the effects of chemical additives upon asphaltene
ery throughput and yield characteristics of the blend. stability.13
Measuring asphaltene stability. A series of conventional Asphaltene stability test case. A US West Coast refinery
analytical tools are used to characterize and quantify the physical displayed poor desalter dehydration and brine quality issues when
and chemical properties of received feedstocks. The most typical processing a particular heavy Canadian crude. The refinery was
characterization performed measures the amount of saturates, interested in improving the desalter operation; the emulsion or
aromatics, resins and asphaltenes (called a SARA analysis) in the rag layer was building up and significant amounts of solids and
oil sample. The asphaltene-to-resin ratio is usually used as a rough asphaltenes were present that diminished the salt-removal effi-
indication of the stability of the crude or crude oil blend (A/R > ciency and affected the quality of the effluent brine. The refinery
0.35 indicates unstable oil). Although these methods are useful was interested in solving these issues, but it also wanted to boost
directional indicators of feedstock stability and compatibility, the amount of this heavy crude processed above 7,000 bpd.
these techniques are not always sensitive enough to measure, Laboratory tests were performed on the heavy crude, the refin-
predict and control the stability and compatibility of crudes and ery blend and multiple synthetic blends to identify the optimum
heavy crude oil blends. To obtain more valuable information, a ratios for processing. The laboratory asphaltene stability test was
versatile laboratory asphaltene stability technique was developed used to perform this study. Fig. 4 shows the asphaltene stability
and is frequently used in laboratories. results obtained for the standard refinery blend, where no heavy
blend component or asphaltene stability additives were present;
Laboratory asphaltene stability technique. The labo- the heavy crude oil alone; and a blend containing 90% of the
ratory asphaltene stability test was developed to provide highly standard unit blend with 10% heavy crude.
sensitive information about the stability of crude oils as well as The standard unit feed shows a moderate fouling potential.
their blends, and to detect very small changes in the blend sta- The heavy Canadian crude is severely unstable, with an ASI value
bility. As little as a 2% change in the blend composition can be of 26. By adding only 10% of the heavy component into the stan-
resolved with the method. The asphaltene stability test measures dard crude blend, the asphaltene stability of the processed feed
the stability of asphaltenes in crude oils via determination of decreased by about 11.3%. Thus, the heavy crude is expected to
the onset of the asphaltene flocculation point using a solvent- have detrimental effects on the desalter performance, reducing
titration method. dehydration efficiency and affecting effluent water quality.
The test instrument is equipped with a coherent near-infra- A decision was made to evaluate several samples using chemical
red (NIR) source that transmits through a sample. The device additives to improve the stability of the 90/10 crude blend. Fig.
also has a solid-state detection system capable of measuring the 5 shows the results obtained with two additives that displayed
1,400 Decreased fouling potential

Heavy crude 1,400
1,200 Standard refinery feed
1,200 90/10 crude blend
26 90/10 blend 90% 149 168 Additive 1 addition 149 171 192
1,000 standard feed and
10% heavy crude 1,000 Additive 2 addition
Intensity
800
Intensity
800
600 600
400 400
200 200
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
0 50 100 150 200 250
ASI ASI
FIG. 4 Comparison of the asphaltene stability: heavy crude, FIG. 5 Chemical additives increase stability of crude blend with
standard refinery feed and crude blend of 90/10 standard 10% heavy feed: 90/10 crude blend, Additive 1 on crude
feed/heavy crude. blend and Additive 2 on crude blend.
70
Decreased fouling potential 100

1,400
85.76 94.84
Heavy crude feed
90
1,200 80/20 crude blend
45 146 172 80
Processed feed
1,000 Additive 2 applied 70
to 80/20 crude blend 57.92 62.17
Intensity
800 60
180
600
ASI
50
400 40
200 30
0 20
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
ASI 10
0
FIG. 6 Chemical additive increases stability of crude blend Untreated Current Proposed Experimental
with 20% heavy feed: heavy crude, 80/20 crude blend, crude treatment treatment stabilizer
processed feed and Additive 2 on 80/20 crude blend.
FIG. 8 Improved asphaltene stability for crude blend No. 1 using
chemical additives.
Crude # 1 Field These results illustrate the importance of identifying the sta-
Laboratory bility and/or compatibility of multiple crudes or crude mixtures
Crude # 2
when heavy streams are part of the blending formulation. Also
Crude # 3 important is determining the optimum blending ratio of the
feeds prior to charging them to the processing units, and selecting
Crude # 4 the most cost-effective chemical treatment program to improve
blend stability. By performing this exercise before the blending
Crude # 5 step, refineries can avoid significant operational problems, reduce
energy costs, and lower feedstock costs by increasing the amount
Crude # 6
of heavy crudes in the crude blend.
Crude # 7 To obtain this information, refiners usually ship samples to
testing laboratories and wait until results are returned, which can
Crude # 8 take from one week to one month. This approach is not satisfac-
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 tory in the refinery environment where decisions must be made
in a matter of hours, or where information is needed onsite for a
FIG. 7 Crude stability comparison on samples measured with particular feed with specific operating conditions.
both laboratory and field techniques from a Texas Gulf
Coast refinery. Field asphaltene stability testing. In response to refiners’
need to access valuable information onsite and to enable operators
the best asphaltene-stabilizing effect. Additive 1 increased the to screen feedstocks for asphaltene stability and blend compatibil-
stability of the 90/10 crude blend by 15%. Additive 2 showed an ity, a new portable field asphaltene stability monitoring technique
improvement of 29% and shifted the stability to a range of values was developed. Having this technical capability available onsite
indicative of lower fouling potential. can provide several advantages:
Based on these results, it was recommended that Additive 2 be • Greater flexibility in selecting feedstock types
applied in the field. Using this additive program, the refiner could • More ability to optimize the blend feedstock ratios
increase the rate of heavy oil processed from 7,000 bpd to 15,000 • Capability to improve optimization of any asphaltene stabil-
bpd, while maintaining desired salt-removal efficiency, as well as, ity additive program. The new field asphaltene stability technique
dehydration performance. is similar in principle with the laboratory method now used.
After seeing this positive response from the stabilizer additive, This instrument is more rugged, self-contained and com-
the refinery wanted to process more than 10% of the heavy crude pletely portable. As with the laboratory test, the technique itself
oil component. Another round of testing was done on the new measures the stability and blend compatibility of refinery feed-
heavy feed as well as on the currently processed feed. A blend of stocks, the impact of chemical additives on these parameters
80% processed feed with 20% heavy crude was made. Additive and the optimum amount of chemical needed to improve blend
2 was applied to this new crude blend; test results are illustrated stability. However, the field asphaltene stability test has improved
in Fig. 6. sensitivity and detection capabilities to make these measurements
The 80/20 crude blend showed a 15% decrease in its stability quickly and accurately.
in comparison with the processed feed. Treating the heavy crude
with Additive 2 prior to mixing with the processed feed resulted Case study on crude-oil blend stability. A series of
in a 23% improvement in stability. Based on these laboratory data, crude feedstocks were obtained from a Texas Gulf Coast refinery.
the refinery more than doubled the amount of processed heavy The asphaltene stability was measured using both laboratory and
Canadian crude from 7,500 bpd to 17,500 bpd and maintained field techniques. Laboratory results were obtained on samples
good desalter performance. received from the field and measured within 1–2 weeks. The
72
Refinery Heat Exchanger Networks by Optimal Management of Cleaning,”
results obtained with the field instrument were recorded in the Energy & Fuels, 2001, 15, pp. 1038–1056.
field on samples provided by the refinery. 9 Kremer, L. N., and S. Bieber, “Rethink Strategies When Handling Heavy
Fig. 7 illustrates the results from this experiment and shows the Feedstocks,” Hydrocarbon Processing, September 2008, pp. 113–122.
10 Horne, B., “Homing in on Heavy Crudes,” Hydrocarbon Engineering,
same stability trend obtained with both techniques: Crudes No.
October 2009.
1 through No. 5 are very unstable and have a high potential for 11 De Boer, R. B., K. Leerlooyer, M. R. P. Eigner and A. R. D. van Bergen,
fouling, and Crudes No. 6 to No. 8 show medium stability and “Screening of Crude Oils for Asphalt Precipitation: Theory, Practice and
have moderate fouling potential. the Selection of Inhibitors,” SPE Production & Facilities, February 1995,
Based on these results, Crude No. 1 was selected as the best pp., 55–61.
12 Branco, V. A. M., G. A. Mansoori, L. C. De Almeida Xavier, S. J. Park,
candidate to perform more in-depth studies on the effects of and H. Manafi, “Asphaltene flocculation and collapse from petroleum fluids,”
chemical additives to improve asphaltene stability vs. the current Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 32, pp. 217–230, 2001.
13 Stark, J., L. N. Kremer and J. M. Nguyen, “New method prevents desalter
chemical treatment program. Initially, one additive dosage was
tested for all stability measurements. The results are illustrated upsets from blending incompatible crudes,” Oil & Gas Journal, March 18,
2002.
in Fig. 8. As shown, a slight increase in asphaltene stability is
provided with the current treatment program. These tests also
suggest that using newly developed products can provide a 64% Thomas Falkler is a senior research scientist in Baker Hughes’ Fouling Control
Group in Sugar Land, Texas. He has over 30 years of experience with Baker Hughes
improvement in asphaltene stability. in developing technologies to improve the stability of petroleum fluids and laboratory
Working with the refinery to optimize both the blend ratio test methodologies to identify new mitigation and application strategies for refinery
and cost performance, a proposed chemical solution was recom- fouling. Mr. Falkler has authored or co-authored papers and patents focusing on
mended where a 48% stability improvement could be obtained. coker-furnace fouling, asphaltinic polymers in FCC slurries, oxidation polymerization
in naphtha streams, and asphaltene stability in crude oil and heavy hydrocarbon
This testing was performed in the test laboratory and in the field feedstocks.
at the refinery. A protocol to correlate these test results with field
experience is being planned for this refinery location. Dr. Corina Sandu is a project manager in Baker Hughes’ Commercial Develop-
ment Group, Industrial Technology, in Sugar Land, Texas. In her current position, Dr.
Overview. The ability to measure crude blend stability and Sandu is responsible for leading the development of new technologies to enhance the
performance of fireside additives for gas turbine applications. She is also responsible
compatibility quickly and accurately is an important competitive for Baker Hughes’ control/prediction programs for heavy fuel oil stability/compatibility.
advantage for refiners wanting to improve feedstock flexibil- Dr. Sandu holds a PhD in materials chemistry from the University of Houston, and a
ity and reduce feedstock costs by processing greater quantities post-doctorate from Rice University in Houston. She is a member of ACS and SPE.
of heavy crude oils. Suitable laboratory techniques have been Dr. Sandu has authored and co-authored 19 publications in peer-reviewed journals
as well as many conference publications, and has two patents.
developed that can determine these measurements, but these
techniques require long lead times to receive good results. A
robust field testing instrument and analysis procedures have
been developed that allow onsite measurements of crude blend
asphaltene stability.
Based on results obtained, this new technology is a versatile tool
that will allow more timely feedstock segregation and blend opti-
mization decisions, and it will provide more effective asphaltene TRICAT
stability additive program optimization. This new capability can
help refiners increase their heavy crude processing while maintain-
ing desired desalter operation and performance. HP 7/2,$,%!$%2).#!4!,9343%26)#%3
s#ATALYST2EGENERATION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
s2ESALE#ATALYST
The authors wish to thank several Baker Hughes employees, especially Jerry
Weers, director of Industrial Technology; Lawrence N. Kremer, technical advisor; s'UARDIAN4-!CTIVE'UARD"ED-ATERIALS
and Marco Respini, technology development specialist, for contributing to the s2%!#44-#ATALYST2EJUVENATION
manuscript and Roger Metzler, technical support manager, and Bruce Wright, s8PRES34-#ATALYST0RE 3ULPHIDING
technical field engineer, for supporting this work and reviewing the manuscript. s42)#!44OTAL#ATALYST-ANAGEMENT
s0LANTSIN.ORTH!MERICA%UROPE
LITERATURE CITED
1
s:EOLITES-OLECULAR3IEVES#USTOM#ATALYSTS
Worrell, E. and C. Galitsky, “California Industries of the Future Program,”
Energy Analysis Department and Environmental Energy Technologies, 42)#!4)NDUSTRIES)NCISALEADINGPROVIDEROFCATALYSTSERVICES
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, July 2004. ANDSUPPLIEROF CATALYTIC PRODUCTS TO THE PETROLEUM REFINING
2 “Energy Efficiency Roadmap for Petroleum Refineries in California,” AND ALLIED PETROCHEMICAL PROCESSING INDUSTRIES %STABLISHED
Energetics Incorporated Report, April 2004. IN42)#!4HASALONGANDPROVENHISTORYOFPERFORMANCE
3 “Crude Oil Forecast, Markets and Pipeline Expansions,” Canadian Association WITHMOSTRElNERIESINTHEWORLD4HROUGHITSOPERATIONSIN.ORTH
of Crude Oil Producers Report, June 2009.
4 !MERICAAND%UROPEITISSTRATEGICALLYPOSITIONEDTOSERVICETHE
“Downstream industry struggles with fewer resources,” Oil & Gas Journal,
pg. 52, 2008. NEEDSOFEVERYMAJORRElNINGCOMPLEXWORLD WIDE
5 Gunaseelan, P., “Changing US Crude Imports are Driving the Refinery 42)#!4)NC 42)#!4)NC 42)#!4'MB(
Upgrades,” Oil & Gas Journal, August 2009. .ORTH!MERICAN0LANT 7ORLD(EADQUARTERS %UROPEAN0LANTn/4'REPPIN
6 “Fouling Minimization,” Office of Industrial Technologies, US Department 3TEVEN4AYLOR"LVD 3CHILLING#IRCLE 4RICAT 3TRASSE#HEMIE0ARK!REAL" /34
-C!LESTER/+ (UNT6ALLEY-$ "ITTERFELD 7OLFEN'ERMANY
of Energy, January 1999. 0HONE 0HONE 0HONE
7 Wright, B. and T. Falkler, “Fouling Control Programs Reduce Energy &AX &AX &AX
Consumption, CO2 Emissions,” NPRA Annual Meeting, AM-09-52,
March 22–24, 2009.
8 Smaïli, F., V. S. Vassiliadis and D. I. Wilson, “Mitigation of Fouling in WWWTRICATGROUPCOM
73
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Mitigate corrosion in your crude unit

Real-time analyzers can provide improved monitoring
of chloride levels and enable better corrosion control practices
N. P. HILTON, Nalco Energy Services, Sugar Land, Texas; and G. L. SCATTERGOOD,
Nalco Energy Services, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
I
n the refining industry, 90% of crude-unit overhead corrosion The effectiveness of this testing is limited by the time it takes
occurs during just 10% of operating time. These periods of to collect and analyze samples. These tests are generally part of
unstable operation may occur during crude tank switches, the routine service performed by refinery operations personnel
slop oil processing, processing of opportunity crudes, or other or the chemical supplier, and they may only be performed at
interruptions to normal operation. Traditional approaches to daily or weekly intervals. Generally, refinery operations staff
corrosion monitoring can easily miss problems that occur during will run a few of these tests once per shift, typically pH and
this narrow “corrosion window,” or they may detect problems possibly chloride. The result is the collection of minimal data,
only after significant damage has already been done. most of it during periods of stable operation. Only rarely and
by chance is the data collected during a period of unit upset,
Traditional corrosion monitoring methods. Tradi- when 90% of corrosion occurs. When upsets do occur, refinery
tional methods used to monitor and control corrosion in the operations staff are usually busy trying to get the crude unit
overhead condensing system of an atmospheric crude distillation lined out and back to steady-state, and data collection is a very
unit (CDU) may include installation of corrosion monitoring low priority.
equipment, use of caustic in the crude oil and a variety of other Typically, the amount of data collected through a corrosion-
chemical corrosion control solutions. Some refiners have elected, control program in the course of one year is just a fraction of the
at great expense, to upgrade the overhead condensing metallurgy amount of process data captured by a refinery process historian
and all associated piping. over an equivalent period.
These traditional approaches, properly applied, provide pH is the most frequently measured parameter in the crude-
acceptable corrosion control during the 90% of operating unit accumulator boot water, which may be checked from 4 to
time when the unit is functioning normally. However, they 10 times a day, possibly more often if a low pH is observed, or if
may not detect or allow adequate or timely responses to the it is a problematic unit. Some refiners have installed online pH
upsets that occur or the damage they can cause, during 10% of probes to monitor the overhead accumulator boot water. But,
unit operating time. Tools available to the refiner and chemi- these probes have a poor track record for reliability and they
cal supplier are not sensitive enough, and the frequency, reli- require frequent calibration. Many refiners give up on these
ability and accuracy of measurements are not good enough to systems and return to a reliance on manual pH measurements.
facilitate a timely response. Result: Even the best corrosion- The frequency of sampling and performing the other wet
control programs may not detect significant problems before chemistry tests—chloride, iron and ammonia—is substantially
the damage is done. less. These tests tend to be the responsibility of the chemical sup-
Solutions. New solutions are being developed to detect plier or the refinery’s central laboratory. The result may be a total
and to capture significant changes in the corrosive environ- of between 52 and 260 data sets per year; the majority of them are
ment in realtime, to measure the changes accurately, and to collected during periods of stable operation when little or no cor-
address and correct those changes before significant corrosion rosion occurs. The same limitations apply to corrosion-rate data
has occurred. For example, a new crude unit overhead analyzer collected from probes and other monitoring devices in the over-
(patent pending) that continuously measures pH, chlorides head. Some refiners have attached data loggers to relay these mea-
and iron in refinery process water has been developed. It can surements to their central control system, in an attempt to gather
provide the accurate, real-time data required for effective and more timely information, but this is not a common practice.
timely corrosion control.
Accuracy and speed. Test accuracy and speed of results
Monitoring frequency. Refiners and chemical suppliers use turnaround are significant concerns when relying on manual
a variety of wet chemistry tests in conjunction with corrosion wet chemistry testing. Human error, choice of test method, and
monitoring tools to track the corrosive environment in crude the temptation to take shortcuts in sampling technique and
overhead condensing equipment. These wet chemistry tests preparation, can significantly affect test accuracy.
quantify several components, such as pH, chloride, ammonia, The time lag between sampling and performing the actual
sulfide and iron in the overhead accumulator water. test can also make a significant impact on the value of the data
I 75
for effective corrosion control. Samples are usually collected on incidents may be completely missed or discovered only after
a set schedule, at the end of a shift, and four to six hours may significant damage has occurred.
elapse before they are processed in the refinery’s main laboratory
and test results communicated to unit personnel. While this may Real-time solutions. The key to controlling corrosion, with-
be an adequate response time during periods of stable operation, out throwing metallurgy at the problem, is the ability to capture
and when data are used primarily to measure unit performance accurate data in real time, detecting and closing the corrosion
against a key performance indicator (KPI), it is too slow to window before significant damage occurs. At present, field test-
facilitate a timely response within the corrosion window, the ing is underway on a new crude-unit overhead analyzer at several
relatively brief period of upset when the most serious corrosion refineries in North America.
occurs. Without accurate, frequent and timely testing, corrosive Process water from the crude unit overhead is continuously
sampled and passed through the crude unit overhead analyzer,
TABLE 1. Test data summary of traditional and where specially designed pH electrodes provide a real-time mea-
online collection methods sure of the pH, as shown in Fig. 1 in the overhead water.
Industry current Crude-unit overhead
Simultaneously, the analyzer performs an automated, online
Test practice, frequency/yr analyzer, frequency/yr analysis of chloride and total iron concentration in the process
water. Chloride and iron analyses can be performed at frequen-
pH 1,460 to 3,650 52,560
cies ranging from one to six times per hour, depending on sys-
Wet chemistry (Cl, Fe) 52 to 260 8,760 to 52,560 tem conditions. With the online analyzer, the refiner can detect
the onset of a corrosion window in time to adjust the corrosion-
control chemical program, using closed-loop automated con-
trollers, thus avoiding lag time and under-feed or over-feed of
Neutralizer based on pH critical chemical components.
pH 6.5 Table 1 lists the data collected with a typical service-interval
Filmer based on iron
Iron 0.5 approach vs. a real-time monitoring system through the crude unit
overhead analyzer. This increase in the frequency of data collection
can provide the refiner with much greater capability to control
operational changes, excursions and upset conditions that can lead
to unacceptable corrosion. The continuous sampling captures data
around the clock, including the 10% of operating time during
which 90% of corrosion and fouling occur. In addition, it provides
test results in a timely manner for the refiner to respond, or for the
online closed-loop controllers to take corrective action.
Control caustic in crude based Fig. 2 illustrates the advantage of continuous chloride moni-
Online analyzer
on chloride, or customer-set limit toring with the crude unit overhead analyzer (blue dots) vs. the
Chloride 25 ppm current practice of manual collection and analysis (green dots). As
shown by the data, the industry current practice failed to capture
FIG. 1 Crude-unit overhead analyzer enables continuous any corrosion-causing excursions or upset conditions, which were
monitoring and process chemical control to mitigate
corrosion during upset and abnormal processing incidents.
captured by the more frequent samples tested by the analyzer.
Not only is data more frequently collected by the analyzer, but it
is also more accurate and repeatable. The
analyzer has eliminated human error, expo-
sure to contaminants during sampling, and
lag time due to transportation and test-
ing at the refinery central laboratory. At
any time, operations personnel can check
the current pH, chloride and iron values
by glancing at the analyzer display. Addi-
tionally, the analyzer records all data and
streams wirelessly via a proprietary server;
thus, the data can be viewed in table or
graphical format, in real time.
Performance indicators. Today’s

refinery operations place a great empha-
sis on tracking KPIs. If we set the KPI for
chloride at 50 ppm (Fig. 2), industry cur-
rent practice (red dots) shows that chlo-
ride values are in specification 100% of
the time. But the crude unit overhead ana-
FIG. 2 Chloride test data using manual field testing and online analyzer. lyzer data (blue dots) shows this not to be
the case, with chloride values out of spec
76
for considerable periods of time. The analyzer is capturing the unit slowdowns to replace damaged overhead bundles. Using data
true picture of chloride variability in the unit’s crude overhead. collected by the crude unit overhead analyzer with active partici-
Unless, by chance, the industry current practice happens to pation by operations and the chemical supplier, the refiner was
capture data during an upset condition, it will not provide the able to decrease the average corrosion rate by more than 60%.
refiner with an accurate understanding of corrosive conditions Due to the sheer amount of data available and the ease of gath-
within the system. ering it with the crude unit overhead analyzer, operations and the
chemical supplier were able to detect changes in unit operations
pH issues. Maintaining the accumulator pH within an accept- more frequently, and respond to them more promptly to optimize
able range, typically 5.5 to 6.5, is a key requirement of an effec- the corrosion control program.
tive overhead-corrosion program. While the importance of the
actual pH in the accumulator water is not as critical as the pH Analyzer beta test data
in the overhead bundles upstream, the relationship between the 80 8
two values can be established and is critical. Due to less water 70 7
being present and the absence of ammonia at the point of initial
60 6
condensation, the pH will generally be even lower upstream than
pH and Iron, ppm

in the accumulator. Fig. 3 shows another example where, over a
Chloride, ppm
50 Cl 5
weekend, the crude unit overhead analyzer picked up a signifi- Fe
40 pH 1 4
cant dip in accumulator pH, which ranged between 3 and 4 for pH 2
a full 48-hour period. Again, industry current practice would 30 3
likely have missed this significant corrosion window.
20 2
Fig. 4 shows the relationship between a large increase in
chloride and the corresponding increase in iron, with the 10 1
resulting decrease in pH level. If you only observed the pH 0 0
decrease from 7 to 6, you would assume there isn’t much cause 9/7/09
9/8/09
9/8/09
9/8/09
9/8/09
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for alarm. But the crude unit overhead analyzer clearly picks up
the increases in both the chloride and iron readings, an indica- Date
tion that immediate corrective action is required to prevent a
significant spike in corrosion. FIG. 4 Relationship between a large increase in chloride and an
increase in iron, with the resulting decrease in pH levels.
Real-world example. Results from real-world trials of the

crude unit overhead analyzer have demonstrated benefits in pro-
viding data in time for corrective adjustments to the corrosion
control program. This real-time data enables the refiner to control
overhead corrosion, extend equipment life, avoid unplanned
shutdowns, decrease off-spec material and costly reprocessing,
and reduce maintenance costs.
A clear illustration of this can be seen in Fig. 5. A North Web: www.acsseparations.com • Email: Separations@acsind.com
American refiner had a recurrent corrosion issue in the overhead
exchangers that would force unscheduled shutdowns or process
Analyzer beta test data

8
6
pH Value in Units
3 pH 1
pH 2
2
4/17/10 0:00
4/17/10 12:00
4/18/10 0:00
4/18/10 12:00
4/19/10 0:00
4/19/10 12:00
4/20/10 0:00
4/20/10 12:00
Date
FIG. 3 pH value trend in crude unit overhead.

GRASS ROOT AND REVAMP PROJECTS

77
Results
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: Cryogenic Plants - standard or
• Hydrogen custom designed:
• Carbon monoxide • Nitrogen
• H2/CO synthesis gas • Oxygen
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Selas Fluid
Subsidiary of The Linde Group
Headquarters: Five Sentry Parkway East • Blue Bell, PA 19422 USA • Tel: 610-832-8797 • Fax: 610-834-0473
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REFINING DEVELOPMENTS
Corrosion probe readings

30
Probe #1
Probe #2 9.34 avg MPY prior online
25 analyzer installed
5.39 avg MPY first 3 months

20 with online analyzer
Probe reading
15 3.62 avg MPY last 6 months

with online analyzer
10
0
1/6/09
1/22/09
2/10/09
2/17/09
3/4/09
3/23/09
4/21/09
5/13/09
6/11/09
6/24/09
7/8/09
7/22/09
8/5/09
8/19/09
9/3/09
9/16/09
9/30/09
10/14/09
10/28/09
11/11/09
11/25/09
12/9/09
FIG. 5 12/23/09
Corrosion monitoring program for a North American
refiner’s crude unit overhead.
Future development. As the example just cited shows,

real-time monitoring has greatly enhanced the refiner’s ability
to detect and take timely action to correct variations in process
conditions that can lead to corrosion. It should be noted that
these results were achieved over an 11-month period through
the use of manual adjustment of the corrosion-control program.
The next stage in development of the crude unit overhead ana-
lyzer will be the addition of state-of-the-art closed-loop, auto-
mated control of the chemical portion of the corrosion-control
program, further enhancing its value to the refiner.
Rust never sleeps. To be truly effective, a corrosion-control

program must go beyond the industry current practice of peri-
odic sampling and manual sample processing. To this end, the
crude unit overhead analyzer can provide continuous, accurate,
repeatable data, including conditions during the critical 10% of
operations when 90% of corrosion occurs. By detecting these
“corrosion windows” consistently and in real time, the analyzer
provides the refiner with a continuous view of pH, chloride and
iron levels in the system, permitting the application of timely
and effective chemical solutions before significant corrosion
has occurred. HP
Nigel P. Hilton is the marketing manager of downstream with Nalco Energy

Services, Sugar Land, Texas. He joined Nalco in 1990, starting as a technical service
representative, working in the downstream refining and petrochemicals division. Mr.
Hilton has held several positions throughout his Nalco career in sales and marketing in
both the US and Europe. His current responsibilities are the strategic development on
new technologies for Nalco’s downstream refining and petrochemical division.
Glenn L. Scattergood joined Nalco in 1978 as a quality control chemist at the

Sugar Land manufacturing facility. He then spent 8 years in RFM Research, develop-
ing test methods and new chemistries for corrosion control and emulsion breaking.
Following that, he spent 15 years in sales as an area manager and district manager in
Chicago, Illinois, and Beaumont, Texas. Mr. Scattergood has authored and presented
numerous technical papers at several industry conferences and was selected to author
the chapter on refinery corrosion inhibitors for the 13th Ed. of American Society of
Metals, Metals Handbook. At present, he is in Beijing, China as technology manager
for RFM, Asia-Pacific region.

79
Risk has
always been
part of
this job.
A part we can do without.
High pressure. Extreme temperatures. Volatile products. It’s all part of the job in
hydrocarbon processing. But so is the goal of maximizing safety integrity. We make
the process more secure with our innovative valves and controls, which is why the
industry relies on us to keep their workers safe and their plants running smoothly.
Engineering transformation.™
Learn more about our plant performance solutions at CWFC.com

Improve vacuum tower

revamp projects
A ‘balanced approach’ investigates separation of vapor
and liquids in the flash zone/wash section design
S. COSTANZO, S. M. WONG and M. PILLING, Sulzer Chemtech USA, Tulsa, Oklahoma
R
evamping an existing vacuum col- PROCESS AND EQUIPMENT vacuum tower feed without exceeding
umn to operate at a higher feedrate, Fig. 1 shows the bottom portion of tube-wall temperature limits where exces-
higher flash zone temperature, lower a vacuum column along with the heater sive coking occurs. Aside from the feed
pressure and different feedstock character- and transfer line, and defines the focus composition, heater coking is mainly a
ization is a complex task. It requires review- area when reviewing the flash zone and function of tube-wall temperature and
ing the column design with respect to the wash section. Revamping the vacuum unit residence time, which are controlled by
revamp conditions and identifying suitable will likely create significant changes to feed and heater outlet temperature. Steam
solutions to reliably operate at the new con- the operating conditions for the vacuum can be injected in heater passes to miti-
ditions. Unless all of the design and operat- column, as well as, the heater and the gate coking, but this extra volume must
ing aspects work together in unison, the net transfer line. Changes in vacuum tower then be handled in the transfer line and
result will be, at best, less than optimum, products generally require modifying the column. The heater outlet stream is fed
and at worst, a very costly problem. To get tower flash zone temperature and pres- to the transfer line, typically from vari-
a complete view of the flash zone opera- sure, which are directly dependant on ous passes of a multiple-pass heater. Since
tion, we must also take into account all the the heater outlet conditions and transfer this stream is continually flashing, the
peripheral regions, including the heater, line hydraulics. All of this equipment is transfer-line hydraulics, which are quite
transfer line, inlet nozzle, inlet feed device, linked from a process performance stand- complex,1 also affect the heater and col-
stripping section, and the overflash (slop point. Any complete process study should umn operation. Extra pressure drop cre-
wax) collector tray. Also, it is important include these components. ates additional flashing, which lowers
that we consider the type and character- the fluid temperature, requiring a higher
istics of the crude oil being processed. All Vacuum heater. The vacuum heater heater-outlet temperature to maintain the
these aspects are integrally involved in the must supply the appropriate duty to the desired flash-zone temperature.
design revision; the correct balance among
them identifies the optimum solution.
Balancing conditions. The operating

requirements that determine the optimum,
balanced design are yield recovery, product
quality, operating flexibility and reliability.
An important aspect affecting recovery and
product quality is the level of entrainment
(heavier residue liquids) carried by the
vapor in the flash zone and wash section.
Entrainment generated from the flashing
feed and carried to the upper sections can
be a source of product quality deterioration
as well as operational reliability. Therefore,
it is important to understand the sources
of entrainment generation as well as the
methods used to reduce entrainment. All
good vacuum tower designs must evalu-
ate these factors to balance capacity, per-
formance and operational reliability (i.e., FIG. 1 Vacuum tower bottom section, heater and transfer line.
coking resistance).
I 81
Transfer line. The transfer line trans- transfer line into the column, separating momentum and increased entrainment
ports feed from the heater to the column- the liquid and routing it to the bottom of from the transfer line and still provide good
flash zone, with the pipe typically increas- the column while providing initial distri- liquid disengagement and uniform vapor
ing in diameter as it approaches the column bution of vapor upward to the wash sec- distribution to the wash section. Condi-
inlet. There is a significant pressure profile tion. The column inlet can have several tions in the flash zone are critical as they
created by the increasing velocity of the arrangements with single or multiple inlet affect the performance of the wash section
stream due to flashing, which progressively nozzles oriented tangentially or radially. with respect to de-entrainment capabilities,
reduces the fluid (mixed-phase) density The feed-inlet distributor functions as a coking resistance and conditioning of the
along the transfer line. Reusing an existing vapor/liquid disengagement device and as vapor flowing to the section above.
transfer line for operating conditions other a vapor distributor. It uses the feed inertia Slop-wax collector chimney tray. The
than for which it was originally designed to redirect the feed stream to contact and to next important device is the slop-wax col-
may adversely affect the new mixed-phase remove dispersed liquid particles. Liquids, lector chimney tray that separates the flash
fluid behavior traveling through the pipe. still entrained in the upward flowing vapor zone from the wash section. It serves three
The final result is that the flashing behav- portion of the feed, must be minimized purposes within the column:
ior within the pipe creates additional and/or removed because they contain • Redistributes and equalizes vapor flow
entrainment. An undersized transfer line high amounts of heavy-end contaminants on a large-scale basis due to its inherent
will increase entrainment in the vacuum such as metals and hydrogen-deficient pressure drop and chimney distribution
column feed. Therefore, the transfer line molecules. These contaminants can poi- • Provides a de-entrainment effect,
should be designed to minimize pressure son downstream catalyst, form coke, and depending on the chimney hat shape
drop as is practical, and to avoid flow adversely affect the distillate product end- • Collects liquid leaving the bottom of
regimes that create excessive quantities of point and color. the wash bed.
very small liquid droplets that are more If no modifications are made to the The slop wax liquid product collected
difficult to de-entrain. transfer line and inlet nozzles during a on the tray consists of “overflash” (heavy
revamp, the transfer line will discharge condensed components from the vapor
Column. Inside the column, we have to into the flash zone via an inlet nozzle that feed), the heavy portion of the clean wash
review the flash zone, stripping section, and was originally designed for less aggressive oil making through the packed bed with-
wash section. conditions. In this case, the inlet device out being re-vaporized and the coalesced
Flash zone. The flash zone transitions within the column becomes very impor- entertainment from the flash zone. Process
the high velocity two-phase feed from the tant since it has to correct for the higher economics usually dictate that the clean

82
wash-oil rate to the wash section Vapor distribution. Uniform

be minimized while maintaining vapor distribution to the wash
a sufficient flow so that coking bed is very important. While
is avoided. This liquid is rela- the effects of entrainment can
tively low volume; if kept on the be measured with some effort,
tray for a prolonged period, it is the effects of maldistribution are
prone to cracking due to its com- not easily measured and often
position and high-temperature are difficult to quantify. Vapor
operating conditions. Therefore, maldistribution causes higher
a specific sloped design is recom- pressure drop through the pack-
mended to lower residence time ing. It causes variations of the
and mitigate coking. vapor/liquid ratio within various
Wash zone. Vapor leaves the regions of the packing. It is cer-
chimney tray with any remain- tain that these effects reduce the
ing entrained liquids and enters de-entrainment capabilities of
the bottom of the wash section, the wash bed. Poor distribution
which is typically packed with can cause localized entrainment
a combination of grid in the FIG. 2 Elevation of vacuum tower flash zone and wash section. through the bed (i.e., localized
bottom and structured pack- “flooding”) that can allow heavy-
ing at the top. The wash section end contaminants to reach the
is critical for vacuum column VGO recovery section.
product quality. It must provide Maldistribution can result in
the lowest practicable amount hot spots in the packing where
of contaminants and entrained coking and fouling are more
liquids to upper sections with- likely to commence. Although it
out coking. A small liquid gasoil is desirable to minimize entrain-
(GO) stream (“clean wash oil”) ment from the flash zone to the
is fed to the top of the wash sec- wash bed, it is imperative that
tion to wet packing and prevent the vapor-feed distribution to
it from drying out and coking. the wash bed is uniform so the
The packing removes heavier bed can perform properly. A
components in the vapor flowing well-designed wash section will
FIG. 3 Factors affecting entrainment generation.
upward from the flash zone by provide excellent de-entrain-
condensation and by coalescing ment levels (> 98%) and sub-
entrained liquid droplets. This sequently excellent HVGO
lowers the heavy vacuum gasoil (HVGO) ery of lighter components from the residue. quality. So, if the bed is operating in a
end point by removing heavier components It is typically equipped with trays and is region where entrainment is critical and
that belong in the vacuum residue. It also fed from the bottom with steam that strips coking is likely, which is common, then
serves to reduce other contaminants such as residue liquids leaving the bottom of the maldistribution is clearly something that
organic metals, carbon and asphaltenes. column. Proper stripping in the bottom of must be minimized.
The performance of the wash section is the column directly affects column yield Entrainment levels from the flash zone
directly related to liquid distribution qual- as it recovers valuable distillate product and wash sections can almost always be
ity and flow control of the wash rate. Typi- components. The design configuration of further reduced, but this often comes at
cally, two types of liquid distributors can the stripping section itself and transition the expense of pressure drop, coking resis-
be used, either a spray header or a gravity- of vapors to the flash zone are important to tance or vapor distribution. One difficulty
flow distributor. Any design must provide avoid possible entrainment and to guaran- is actually knowing the entrainment lev-
a homogeneous distribution to the top of tee the reliability of the column. els and droplet sizes. Proprietary correla-
the packed bed to assure uniform wetting tions have been developed based on many
of the packing and to also prevent vapor DISTRIBUTION VS. ENTRAINMENT commercial reference cases to estimate the
maldistribution within the bed. Since the As discussed in Pilling et al., an issue amount of entrainment generated from
packing itself has a low pressure drop, vari- that requires close review is the feed-device various feed devices.2 These can be used
ances in liquid loads can create regions of design with respect to entrainment removal to estimate flash-zone entrainment and
higher or lower pressure drop, adversely and vapor distribution to the wash section.2 subsequent wash section de-entrainment.
affecting the vapor flow uniformity through From an operational standpoint, the true However, to have a reasonably accurate
the bed. The combination of liquid distri- goal of the flash zone and wash section is estimation, one must also be able to
bution quality, distributor reliability and to reliably provide the best possible vapor account for the entrainment rates and
coking resistance are crucial factors in feed to the VGO recovery section above the droplet sizes entering the column from
selecting a distributor. wash section. Accordingly, it provides the the transfer line.
Stripping section. The last portion of lowest possible amount of contaminants Validation of entrainment should be
the column is the bottom stripping sec- and entrained liquids, as well as the most done by running simulations of the col-
tion; this section performs the final recov- uniform vapor distribution. umn with specific attention to estimating
I 83
the true overflash at the operating condi-

tions. The balance between the measured
slop wax and overflash should give the
most reliable estimation. Unfortunately,
this exercise is not routinely practiced;
therefore, empirical correlations based on
practical data or other analytical methods
can help. Based on the understanding
of the controlling parameters, a further
validation of de-entrainment capability
in the vacuum tower can be done using
a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)
study. The goal is to associate the dynamic
behavior of vapor from the flash zone to
potential entrainment carried over due to
maldistribution.
The entrainment regions within the
vacuum column are shown in Fig. 2 and
are the regions of the flash zone immedi-
ately above the feed-inlet device and above
the wash section. These areas are essentially
open regions above the feed where liquid
can be carried upward with the vapor. The
region above the feed device is affected
FIG. 4 CFD column review at various elevations. mainly by the feedrate, composition and
flow conditions, as well as the design of the
feed inlet and the feed device itself. The
region above the wash section is affected
by distribution and characteristics of the
vapor and liquid feeds to the wash section
as well as the design of the wash section and
slop-wax collector tray.
Factors affecting entrainment.

Fig. 3 shows several factors that can affect
entrainment. Entrainment in the feed
starts as far upstream as the heater. As the
feed vaporizes within the heater and flows
as a two-phase regime through the pipes,
liquid is being entrained into the vapor.
As the feed flow continues to flash within
FIG. 5 A and B (standard vapor horn): Elevation just below chimney tray at 100% and 120%
the transfer line, velocity often increases
design rates. up to sonic velocity. A significant amount
of entrainment can be generated in the
transfer line. Typically, the cases where
the problem of entrainment is occurring
are when existing columns are going to
be operated at new conditions such as
increased feedrate or reduced flash zone
pressure maintaining the existing transfer
line and inlet nozzle. The increased feed
and/or lower flash-zone pressure (higher
feed vaporization) increase velocity in the
transfer line and inlet nozzle, thus increas-
ing entrainment. As hydraulic conditions
become more severe, more entrainment
with smaller droplet sizes will be gener-
ated. This applies to the feed nozzle and
the feed internals.
FIG. 6 A and B (high-performance vapor horn): Elevation just below chimney tray at 100% For the feed device, any design char-
and 120% design rates. acteristics that create re-entrainment or
84
droplet shattering (as opposed to coales-

cence) will create more entrainment that is
more difficult to remove. In principle, any
abrupt flow change can shatter droplets,
so placement of feed baffles (to enhance
vapor distribution) must be done carefully.
This is where the benefits of CFD can be
effectively used.
Entrainment within the flash zone is
governed by Stokes’ Law, where droplet
entrainment is a function of droplet size
and vapor velocity, with the other prop-
erties (fluid density and viscosity) being
inherent to the particular tower conditions,
and, therefore, out of our area of influence.
CFD is also effective in modeling these FIG. 7 A and B (standard vapor horn): Elevation just below wash section bed at 100% and
conditions in this part of the column. 120% design rates.
Finally, the design and performance of
the stripping section can affect entrainment
in a few different ways. First, it provides
additional vapor flow upward into the flash
zone that will influence the fluid flow pat-
terns and gradients. Second, the chimneys
at the top of the stripping section can influ-
ence the vapor flow patterns in the bot-
tom of the column. Improper designs can
cause vapor to entrain additional liquids
off the chimney tray deck. Third, improp-
erly designed chimneys and hats can be
a source of entrainment. Although their
design is typically not critical, it still must
be accounted for.
CFD STUDIES FIG. 8 A and B (high-performance vapor horn): Elevation just below wash section bed at
As mentioned earlier, fluid dynamic 100% and 120% design rates.
studies developed with CFD can be a pow-
erful tool when properly applied. A few elevation (Plane 2). This is where the first Figs. 5A and 5B show the 100% and 120%
examples are analyzed here. Fig. 4 shows transition from high velocity feed to verti- design rates for the standard vapor horn
a typical vacuum tower application where cal column flow can be seen. This view at an elevation below the chimney tray.
a vapor horn design is being evaluated. To helps when evaluating the effectiveness As shown here, there are some substantial
make a complete review of the vacuum of the vapor distribution function of the high vapor velocity regions for both cases,
tower, velocity profiles are generated at feed device. The next elevation up is just with the 120% case being more extreme.
various elevations in the bottom portion below the chimney tray (Plane 3). This Figs. 6A and 6B show the same views for a
of the tower. The lowest elevation view view helps in evaluating the vertical spac- high-performance feed device. Note: There
is just above the stripping section (Plane ing requirements between the feed device is a substantial reduction in the red areas
0). At this elevation, it is important to be and the chimney tray. The highest eleva- signifying less high vapor velocity regions
sure that the swirling action of the feed tion view is just below the wash section for this device.
above is not adversely affecting the flows bed (Plane 4). This is arguably the most Figs. 7A and 7B show an elevation just
on the stripping section chimney tray and important view as it shows the final result below the wash section packing for the
vice-versa. of vapor distribution to the wash section. If standard vapor horn. Note: Reduction of
The next higher view is at the tower this view shows substantially uneven vapor the higher velocity regions from Figs. 5A
feed elevation (Plane 1). At this eleva- distribution, modifications to the column and 5B is the result of the redistribution
tion, the flow through the inner portion design should be considered. caused by the chimney tray. Figs. 8A and
of the column can be evaluated to ensure 8B show the same view for the high-per-
that the vertical vapor velocities are not Vapor-horn design issues. It is also formance device. As expected, this view
too high. This is important when evaluat- important to study the flow distribution shows improvement over the lower eleva-
ing the effect of the cross-sectional area at the various possible design rates. Figs. tion views seen in Figs. 6A and 6B due to
blocked by the feed device. Open area of 5–8 show CFD results for a study of two the chimney tray redistribution.
the feed device is a critical parameter in devices (standard vapor horn and a high By using this analysis, the user can see
vacuum column flash-zone design. The performance vapor horn) at two different the benefits of one device over another and
next elevation view is just above the feed feedrates (100% design and 120% design). can also see the effects at varying design
I 85
rates. In certain cases, some devices handle 20% increase in flow only slightly changes eter are quite substantial, and, somewhat
high rates better than others. This is espe- the flow profiles of the vapor feed to the surprisingly, there is a large high-velocity
cially true when devices start to occupy a packed bed. region in the center of the column. This
substantial amount of the column cross- Figs. 9A and 9B show an even more further emphasizes the importance of
sectional area. Specifically, in the case extreme example of feed effects on vapor understanding the effects of loading on
shown here, the standard vapor horn profiles. These show the vapor velocities column internals.
occupies a greater amount of the column just below the wash-section packing for a
cross section. We can see from Figs. 7A cyclone-type feed device. At the base design Looking inside. Vacuum tower design,
and 7B that the 20% increase doubles the rate, there are some very small high-veloc- especially for revamps, is a complex task.
high velocity region (shown in red) below ity regions around the perimeter of the Much of the process is interdependent,
the packed bed. For the high-performance column. However, at 130% of design, the and the solution is iterative and must con-
vapor horn, Figs. 8A and 8B show that the high-velocity regions around the perim- sider a wide range of process equipment.
For a design to be successful, the engineer
must understand the fundamentals of the
process and have design tools that reflect
real world experience. By understanding
the column hydraulics, and, specifically,
flow distribution and entrainment char-
acteristics, the engineer is well on their
way to providing a successful, balanced,
effective design. HP
LITERATURE CITED
1 Ha, H., et al., “Stepwise Simulation of Vacuum
Transfer Line Hydraulics,” Petroleum Technology
Quarterly, Revamps, 2009.
2 Pilling, M., M. Roza and S. M. Wong,
“Entrainment Issues in Vacuum Column Flash

FIG. 9 A and B (cyclone-feed distributor): Elevation just below wash section bed at 100% Zones,” Petroleum Technology Quarterly, Q1,
and 130% design rates. 2010.
We design it as if we
had to run it
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Calculating the temperature

distribution in horizontal vessel
saddle supports
The heat-transfer theory of cooling fins is applied
G. N. VAN ZYL, SABIC, Jubail, Saudi Arabia
I
n the process industries, with equipment operating at high the inside of the vessel, through conduction in the saddle plate
temperatures, it is often required to know the temperature and by convection to the atmosphere. From (1) the temperature
distribution in the horizontal-vessel saddles, and more specifi- distribution in a cooling fin can be theoretically calculated as:
cally, the temperature at the saddle base. Cases where such a need
x x
may arise include: mb 2 mb
b
• Selecting the correct type of antifriction material under a e + e b
T (x) = (Tb Ts ) (1)
sliding saddle when high temperatures could be a concern + e 2mb
• Where the supporting structure integrity could be influ-
enced by high temperatures transferred from the vessel through where:
1
the saddles 2h 2
• Selecting the correct material for the saddle plates. m= (2)
Existing calculation methods mainly concentrate on pipe sup- k
ports and consider conduction through the support plates only. ha
Such calculations are applicable where the supports are also cov- m+
= k (3)
ered by insulation, but are not valid for most cases that consider ha
horizontal-vessel and heat-exchanger saddle supports. m
In this article, the heat-transfer theory of cooling fins is k
applied to develop a calculation method for the temperature
distribution in saddle supports that consider convection heat
loss to atmosphere. Calculations are supported by finite-element
analysis (FEA) and verified by on-site temperature measure-
ments. The calculations will be explained by application to an
example case study.
Case study. A steam drum operates with an internal tempera-

ture of 249°C. The drum contains liquid up to a certain level, at
relatively low-velocity flow conditions.
A steady-state thermal FEA was performed to calculate the
temperature distribution in the saddle. A convection heat transfer
coefficient of 20 W/m2K between the process fluid and the shell
was used. This is consistent with laminar-flow conditions inside
the drum. Convective heat transfer from the saddle plates to
ambient was modeled using a measured ambient temperature of
46°C and a heat-transfer coefficient of 20 W/m2K. The resulting
temperature distribution is shown in Fig.1. These results were
correlated with temperature measurements along the lines shown
in Fig. 2. The calculated temperatures are compared to measured
results in Fig. 3. This figure shows that the finite-element model
predicts the correct temperature distribution.
Theoretical calculations. The saddle plate of a horizontal FIG. 1 Calculated temperature distribution on saddle.
vessel can be considered as a cooling fin, transferring heat from
I 89
h = convection coefficient from fin faces and sides differences and (sometimes) the antifriction pad insulating prop-
ha = convection coefficient from fin tip erties, the equations can be simplified by taking ha = 0. Eq. 3
k = conduction coefficient of fin material reduces to = 1 and Eq. 1 becomes:
Tb = temperature at a fin base x
mb 2 x
Ts = surrounding temperature mb
b
+e
T (x) = (Tb Ts )
e b
Considering that the heat loss through the saddle base plate (4)
is mostly negligible due to contact resistance, small temperature 1 + e 2mb
The practical application of the method to calculate the tem-

perature distribution in a saddle then reduces to the use of Eqs.
2 and 4 where:
h = convection coefficient from saddle plate to atmosphere
k = saddle material conduction coefficient
Tb = temperature at saddle and shell junction
Ts = atmospheric temperature
In most cases, the ultimate aim of the calculation will be to
determine the temperature at the saddle base plate. In this case,
Eq. 4 reduces to:
250
A-A FEA
A-A measured
200 B-B FEA
B-B measured
Temperature, °C
C-C FEA
150 C-C measured
FIG. 2 Paths for results extraction. 100
50
0
Bartlett-Snow™ Rotary Calciners 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400 1,600 1,800 2,000
for the Activation of Carbon Distance from saddle base plate, mm
FIG. 3 Comparison of FEA-calculated and measured temperature

Custom designed to meet your requirements, Bartlett- distributions.
Snow™ Rotary Calciners provide a highly effective and
efficient means for the continuous activation of car-
bonaceous materials at high temperatures.
The calciner consists

of a cylindrical rotating
tube, housed in a gas
or electric furnace,
positively sealed to
prevent air infiltration.
Product quality is opti-
mized with a design
that establishes and maintains the temperature profile
required for the process.
Special internal flight design promotes gentle tumbling

action and provides for uniform exposure to the internal δ
atmosphere and efficient heat transfer.
b
4525 Weaver Pkwy., Warrenville, IL 60555 x
Toll Free: 877.661.5509
Air Preheater Company Tel: 630.393.1000 • Fax: 630.393.1001 x=0
Bartlett-Snow Thermal Products Email: info@airpreheaterco.com
FIG. 4 Terminology for theoretical calculations.
www.bartlettsnowcalciners.com

90
AD: www.graficadueprint.com
© 2010 Costacurta S.p.A.-VICO
SINCE 1921...
AND WE
STILL LOVE IT
For more than eighty years, we at Costacurta have

been constantly and resolutely committed to the
development and manufacture of special steel wire and
plate components used in many different industrial
processes. Every day at Costacurta, we work to
improve the quality of our products and services and the
safety of all our collaborators, paying ever-greater
attention to the protection of the environment.
Within the wide range of Costacurta products you will
also find some, described below, that are used specifically
in the oil, petrochemical and chemical industries:
- RADIAL FLOW AND DOWN FLOW REACTOR INTERNALS;
- GAS-LIQUID AND LIQUID-LIQUID SEPARATORS;
- ARMOURING OF REFRACTORY, ANTI-ABRASIVE AND
ANTI-CORROSIVE LININGS.
For more information visit our website or contact the
division 'C' components for the oil, petrochemical
and chemical industries at tcsc@costacurta.it.
Gas-liquid and liquid-liquid separators
Costacurta S.p.A.-VICO Management systems

www.costacurta.it
via Grazioli, 30 certified by LRQA:
20161 Milano, Italy ISO 9001:2008
tel. +39 02.66.20.20.66 ISO 14001:2004
fax: +39 02.66.20.20.99 OHSAS 18001:2007
2e mb 200
T (b) = (Tb Ts ) 2mb
(5) 180 A-A FEA
1+ e A-A measured
160 A-A theoretical
As in most applied engineering calculations, some assumptions 140
Temperature, °C
have to be made. For this problem, there are two basic assump- 120
tions: the temperature at the saddle-to-shell junction and the con- 100
vection coefficient for heat loss from the saddle to atmosphere. 80
With the saddle acting as a cooling fin, temperature in the
60
vessel shell near the junction with the saddle will be lower than
40
in other regions. Calculating the temperature at the saddle and
shell junction is nontrivial. In most cases, making the conservative 20
0
assumption that Tb = internal temperature will be adequate. 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 1,400
The coefficient for convection heat loss from the saddle to Distance from saddle base plate, mm
ambient depends on the difference between local wall and air
temperatures and air-flow velocity. In most cases, assuming a FIG. 5 Comparison of FEA, measured and theoretical results.
convection coefficient of 20 W/m2K, which is typical for moderate
wind conditions, will be adequate.
Assigning values to the constants that are applicable to the BIBLIOGRAPHY
case study: Kraus, A. D., A. Aziz and J. R. Welty, Extended surface heat transfer, 2001.
b = 1,200 mm
= 20 mm
Tb = 190°C (determined from FEA result)
Ts = 46°C Gys van Zyl has been a mechanical consultant at SABIC Engi-
h = 20 W/m2K neering and Project Management since 2006. Prior to joining
SABIC, he served as a principal engineer at an engineering con-
k = 46 W/m2K sultation firm in Secunda, South Africa. Mr. van Zyl holds B. Eng
Fig. 5 compares the results of the theoretical calculation to the and M. Eng degrees from Stellenbosch University in South Africa
FEA results and the on-site temperature measurements. Good and has 15 years of experience in mechanical engineering and numerical analysis for
agreement between the three sets of results can be seen. HP design and maintenance in the petrochemical and power industries.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

For Optimized Gas Treating’s upcoming
Gas Treating Learning Sessions
November 17th, 2010
Two-Day Advanced Gas Treating Seminar
November 18th–19th, 2010
Hilton Garden Inn Hotel • 12245 Katy Freeway, Houston, TX 77079
Free Learning Sessions (0.25 CEU Each) (Please register by phone)

Part 1 9:30–Noon Simulator capabilities—predicting performance
Lunch Noon-12:45 Provided by OGT
Part 2 12:45–3:30 Interpret solvent analyses, model reliability, what to believe
Two-Day Seminar (1.8 CEUs)

Advanced concepts in gas treating including amine blends, phosphoric acid additive,
activated MDEA, piperazine, heat stable salts, charge balances, effects of hydraulics,
H2S enrichment, CO2 capture, physical solvents, dehydration, corrosion. In numerous
case studies, participants apply simulation to in-depth troubleshooting of real problems.
Full details at www.ogtrt.com/seminars.cfm.
Small groups, informal, learn-by-doing, hands-on instruction
We also hold a 3-day seminar in Baden-Baden, Germany each March
While aƩending SOGAT 2011 (www.sogat.org) in Abu Dhabi, UAE,

plan to parƟcipate in our Workshop Mar 27–28
ProTreat™ — The mass transfer rate based gas treating process simulator
Optimized Gas Treating, Inc.
12337 Jones Rd., Suite 410, Houston, TX 77070
Telephone: +1 281 970 2700 Web: www.ogtrt.com
Select 171 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS Select 172 at www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS

92
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TO DESIGN AND SUPPLY OF PROCESS FIRED HEATERS,
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Saint Petersburg - Paris - New York - Houston - Tulsa - Mumbai - Seoul - Los Angeles - Johannesburg - Bucharest - Hamburg - Istanbul
www.heurtey.com
MAINTENANCE/RELIABILITY
Spiral-wound or
kammprofile gaskets?
There appears to be a shift toward the latter, but the choice
isn’t always clear. Here’s where best to apply each type.
C. YODER, Garlock Sealing Technologies, Palmyra, New York; and
D. W. REEVES, Chevron Richmond Refinery, Richmond, California
B
oth spiral-wound and kammprofile gaskets are used exten- may be formed. This is acceptable provided the flanges remain
sively in refineries and petrochemical plants for applications at a steady temperature. However, when gasket assembly stress
subject to thermal cycling, pressure variations, flange rota- cannot be adjusted to accommodate upset conditions or thermal
tion, stress relaxation and creep. In recent years, however, there cycling, the seal may be subject to premature failure. This is
has been a discernable shift away from the use of spiral-wound especially true when graphite fillers are used without inner rings.
gaskets in favor of kammprofiles, which tend to provide better In addition to its performance-related functions, the outer guide
sealing performance and longer service life. ring also serves to identify the size, pressure class and material
Spiral-wound gaskets were developed to improve performance composition of the gasket.
in high-pressure applications ranging from flanged pipe connec- Spiral-wound gasket dimensions for ASME B16.5 and B16.47
tions to heat exchangers. Consisting of alternating plies of com- flanges are delineated in ASME B16.20 (Metallic Gaskets for Pipe
pressible filler material and thin-gauge metallic strip wrapped Flanges). The outer guide ring is dimensioned to center the gasket
phonographically, spiral-wound gaskets provide the requisite in the flange off the inner edge of the bolts, allowing it 1/16 in. of
pressure resistance in these applications (Fig. 1). In the 1980s, radial movement in the flange. The ASME B16.20 specification
alternative materials such as flexible-graphite replaced asbestos also provides generally accepted sealing-element dimensions.
as the filler in these gaskets, yet their basic design has remained
unchanged since they were invented in the early 1900s. Functionality and troubleshooting. During gasket instal-
Initially, these gaskets were centered using a length of wire lation the filler material extrudes from between the alternate
looped over two opposing studs in the flange, commonly referred metallic plies to create a seal against the flange surfaces, including
to as a loop winding (Fig. 2). Today, the most common method any imperfections. Gasket failures can result from either gasket
for centering a spiral-wound gasket is a metal outer ring. This under- or over-compression.
outer guide ring serves to center the gasket in the flange and limit
its compression. If the sealing surfaces are compressed against this Vulnerabilities. Increasingly, spiral-wound gaskets are being
centering ring (and no inner ring is present) a metal-to-metal seal supplied with inner rings as well. If not, there is a greater risk
FIG. 1 The spiral-wound gasket structure is reinforced with FIG. 2 Loop winding spiral-wound gaskets to center them on a
metal rings to prevent buckling in service and damage flange has largely given way to the use of an outer guide
from improper handling. ring depicted in Fig. 1.

I 95
that the gasket windings will buckle inward, limiting the load required for the seal integrity. In some cases, highly loaded
that can be applied and maintained on them (Fig. 3). The dam- windings can also cause buckling of the inner ring itself if it is
aged inner windings can contaminate the system or damage not wide enough.
downstream components. Even if the windings are properly In addition to density and compression, ease of handling can
loaded, the graphite can move and the gasket relax as the bolted be an important factor in selecting the proper gasket for a par-
connection heats. As a result, the gasket can lose the stress ticular application. For example, installing a gasket in a confined
space or 20 feet in the air can pose a number of challenges. Spiral-
wound gasket windings are particularly susceptible to damage,
“springing” when bumped, dropped or otherwise mishandled.
Large spiral-wound gaskets can be especially difficult to handle
since the windings can have a tendency to pop out. In addition,
they are sometimes hard to seal since the initial winding density
can be so low that the guide rings are contacted before the wind-
ings are properly loaded. If the gasket is unloaded, the windings
can come apart like a spring (Fig. 4).
Kammprofile gaskets. Kammprofile gaskets were devel-

oped in Europe, where the original grooved cross-section was
developed in Germany and standardized in DIN 2697 nearly 40
years ago. Designed as an alternative to both traditional metal-
jacketed and spiral-wound gaskets, kammprofiles have seen
increased use in the US for the past decade and are displacing
spiral-wound gaskets in many systems. Although the original
design has been modified over the years, it is relatively simple:
FIG. 3 Spiral-wound gaskets without inner rings can buckle,
limiting the load that can be applied and maintained
on them.
FIG. 5 Kammprofile gaskets feature a serrated metallic core with

soft, conformable materials bonded to both sides.
FIG. 4 Improperly or unloaded spiral-wound gaskets can come FIG. 5A Kammprofile gaskets feature a serrated metallic core with
apart like a spring. soft, conformable materials bonded to both sides.
96
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TABLE 1. Causes of over-and-under gasket compression

Under-compression
Cause Effect Solution
Insufficient torque Filler not conformed to sealing surfaces Increase torque to increase gasket stress
Premature leakage or reduce winding cross-sectional area
Insufficient available bolt force Filler not conformed to sealing surfaces Reduce cross-sectional area or use a kammprofile
Premature leakage
Filler density too high Problems sealing at low stud loads Address gasket design with manufacturer
Leaks can develop if windings take the initial
load and the graphite is under-loaded
Over-compression
Cause Effect Solution
Excessive torque/available bolt force Radial buckling (especially with gaskets with Reduce torque (see gasket manufacturer)
no inner rings) of the windings and/or inner ring
Process stream contamination/leakage
Low-density winding-flanges contact outer guide ring Reduced stress within the windings Address gasket design with manufacturer
Leakage because gasket cannot be loaded properly
Filler density too high Gasket will seal if compressed sufficiently Address gasket design with manufacturer
Outer guide ring cups, warps or tilts
Can cause inner ring to buckle and excessive
guide ring roll
a solid metal core with concentric serrations and faced with a 800°F depending on the grade of graphite. (Higher temperatures
nonmetallic material such as flexible graphite or various grades may be possible by including a mica-based layer around the OD
of PTFE (Figs. 5 and 5A). to protect the graphite.) It is, therefore, recommended to specify
When the gaskets are installed, the soft facing material is good-quality, inhibited graphite when using these type gaskets.
forced into the metal core serrated grooves. The compressive In the case of ASME/ANSI flanges, the faced portion of the
stress increases the facing material density within the grooves and kammprofile ring is the same for any given flange size regard-
multiple, concentric high-pressure seals are created across the less of pipe class. However torque values for different pressure
gasket face. These gaskets can be configured simply as a profiled classes must be adjusted to obtain consistent gasket stresses since
and faced ring, or they can incorporate an outer ring, much like stud number and size will vary (Table 1). Unlike a spiral-wound
a standard spiral-wound gasket. This outer ring can be integral to gasket, all of the compressive force is transmitted directly onto
the core metal or a separate, floating ring. the kammprofile graphite facing, resulting in a very tight seal.
Kammprofile gaskets offer the advantage of sealing at a rela- Since the kammprofile is solid metal as opposed to alternating
tively low seating stresses. Radial shear tightness (RAST) testing plies of metal and filler, it is extremely stable and easy to handle
at TTRL in Canada showed these gaskets to seal reliably down even in large diameters.
to 4,000 psi seating stress, but some users consider 6,000 psi Kammprofile gaskets are significantly more expensive than
as an absolute minimum. Suggested gasket stress is generally spiral-wound gaskets, but can help avert costly, unscheduled out-
in the range of 10,000 psi to 40,000 psi. Kammprofile gaskets ages and downtime. When properly manufactured, both gasket
can also maintain a seal under extremely high seating stresses. types provide reliable seals. Spiral-wound gaskets may have a
In Europe these gaskets are replacing jacketed and clad gaskets slight advantage if the flanges are extremely close together, and the
in pressure vessels and heat exchangers, where it is difficult to gasket might be susceptible to mechanical damage during instal-
achieve and maintain sufficient gasket seating stresses due to lation. Likewise, they may be more resistant to oxidation since
flange design and system conditions, such as thermally induced the windings hold the graphite in place and protect it. Kamm-
stud-load changes and differential thermal expansion between profiles can be more tolerant of sealing surface defects and seal
sealing surfaces. more effectively in fugitive emissions services. While the choice
of which gasket to use is sometimes based on properties that
Kammprofile vs. spiral-wound gaskets. Kammprofile are specific to one or the other, often the choice comes down to
pipe flange gaskets compress significantly less than spiral-wound personal preference. HP
gaskets, on the order of 0.022 in. compared with 0.030 in. to
0.075 in. for a spiral wound. This means kammprofile gaskets
load more quickly with less risk of nonparallel flanges. One disad- Chad Yoder is an applications engineer with Garlock Sealing Technologies,
vantage is that the graphite facing is more susceptible to mechani- Palmyra, New York.
cal damage if not properly handled. Since the graphite is not
protected by the windings as it is in spiral-wound gaskets, it also David W. Reeves is senior specialist, bolting and sealing technology, Chevron
can be damaged by oxidation at temperatures between 600°F and Richmond Refinery, Richmond, California.
98
Special Supplement to
ENGINEERING
AND
CONSTRUCTION
CONTENTS
Managing projects in a global environment |E–101
Corporate Profiles
Mustang |E–105 CCC |E–107 Foster Wheeler |E–109 KTI |E–111 Shaw |E–113
Cover Photo: Shaw's Energy & Chemicals Group is providing engineering, procurement services and construction management for a benzene reduction unit in Robinson, Illinois.
6;:LI=>C<H6C:C<>C::GH=DJA9@CDLL=:C
8DCH>9:G>C<686G::GL>I=H6J9>6G6B8D/
1. The company’s massive hydrocarbon operations are expanding.

2. Saudi Aramco is a place where you can find a long and rewarding career.
3. Energy is our #1 export…Adventure stories a close second.
In other words, working for Saudi Aramco and living in Saudi Arabia offer satisfaction on a
whole different level. It is an opportunity to participate in a world-scale hydrocarbon
program, use the most advanced technologies and team up with top-notch professionals
dedicated to a secure energy future. It’s also an opportunity for you and your family to
experience international travel and work-life balance, develop friendships that last a
lifetime, and enjoy a highly competitive compensation and benefits program.
Enrich your life.

Visit www.Aramco.Jobs/HCP.
IB
ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION
2010
Managing projects in a global environment

What does it take to facilitate projects in several time zones away?
S. K. PODDAR, Poddar & Associates, Houston, Texas
Globalization is driving many EPC projects to be interna- When and Why) and one H (How). Often, the SOW will
tional in nature. As such, the project owner and/or selected include a request for proposal (RFP); the RFP may not be
contractors are from various parts of the world. Sometimes, exactly what the client’s expectations are for the project.
the international project is not located in the main contrac- Accordingly, understanding and executing the SOW is even
tor’s homeland but is located in a third country. Such sce- more important for bid preparation. Any divergence in
narios are becoming more prevalent than ever before. understanding can potentially cause substantial monetary
Managing any project, particularly an international proj- loss and lasting dissatisfaction from the client. Although the
ect, requires special leadership skills and awareness by the SOW is a technical issue, it is a significant part that requires
project manager, and his/her team must work together in a a good understanding of the diversity and differences stem-
coherent manner to drive project success. This article explains ming from the client’s culture.
the challenges and opportunities in managing international
projects. More important, it discusses the special leadership Implementing a disciplined and structured engi-
skills needed. neering
Two approach. For a typical project involving engi-
line caption
neering, procurement and construction (EPC), the total
KEY DRIVERS TO EXECUTE A PROJECT installed cost (TIC) is split between three phases: E–10% to
Successful execution of a given project is influenced by 20%, P–35% to 45% and C–40% to 50%, respectively. There-
properly controlling the budget (cost), schedule (time) and fore, the common notion is to focus heavily on the procure-
deliverables. All of these interdependent factors are accom- ment and construction phases of the project because P&C
plished by people (project manager and team) and supported are two significantly higher cost components for any given
by the best available technical knowledge and tools. project. However, the cost influence of engineering most
The leadership and management skills coupled with the often can be very significant. Attention to details should be
technical strengths of the project team—not necessarily considered at the very beginning of project development
project management consultant (PMC)—determine the suc- as shown in Fig. 1.
cess of the project. Following a rigorous systematic methodology and gated
approach during the engineering phase, E, can help avoid
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES any adverse impacts on the remaining two significantly
For an international EPC project, the challenges are: higher cost components—P and C. Once the engineering
1. Technical. This involves the engineering/technical phase is completed, the influencing factor minimizing cost
strength of the project manager and the project team mem- overruns and the overall project schedule diminishes signifi-
bers. cantly and often is completely eliminated.
2. Non-technical or cultural. This challenge requires
special leadership skills. Estimating various project cost levels at progres-
Challenges associated with the technical part are mostly sive execution stages. This part of the project is purely
similar irrespective of whether they are for a national or an
international project as long as the project manager and the
team members are technically qualified and proficient in
High
using the best available technologies and tools. Challenges Cost expenditure 100%
associated with the non-technical part, however, deserve
Conceptual/preliminary
special attention because they involve leading the project
Ability to Detailed engineering
team effectively, which requires special leadership skill sets. influence
Technical and non-technical challenges involve: cost and Procurement
schedule
Construction
Understanding and establishing the scope of work.
Startup
At the start of any project, a clear understanding of the Cost influence
Low
scope of work (SOW) is vitally important. For an interna-
tional project, the SOW must be established by careful dis- Start date Time Need date
cussions, including face-to-face clarification meetings to
arrive at the client’s real expectation. During this step, the
FIG. 1. Life cycle for a project and cost influence.
team must carefully address all four Ws (Which, Where,
SPONSORED CONTENT HYDROCARBON PROCESSING ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION 2010

I E–101
2010
technical. Typically, during the progression of the project’s ate level of involvement and input from the client, are very
life cycle, cost-estimate accuracy improves from ±40% to essential when implementing a detailed QA and QC scheme
preliminary ±25% to definitive ±10%. Although the termi- at the onset of project execution.
nology and associated percentage of accuracy may change
from country to country or organization to organization, Understanding and implementing EHS issues into
they are basically same. There is no special consideration project execution plan. Successful implementation of
of non-technical skills necessary for an international vs. a environment, health and safety (EHS) issues and require-
domestic project. ments depend on the technical knowledge, as well as a
clear understanding of various requirements of local gov-
Developing a realistic project schedule. For this ernment and other nongovernmental entities where the
activity, one must understand the client’s culture. Depend- project is located. Special attention to understanding these
ing on the country and the client’s culture, some cultures requirements and integrating them early in the project
are more tolerant and/or demanding than others. In gen- execution planning (PEP) is very important for any interna-
eral, most projects are schedule driven, and adherence to tional project. In particular, understanding cultural diver-
schedule becomes extremely important. One must remem- sity plays a significant role to determine the agreed upon
ber that the project cost and project schedule are very methodology to achieve a well-thought-out EHS strategy
much interdependent. Earned value analysis (EVA) is often and its execution.
done to evaluate and track progress with reference to
project cost. Managing risk factors associated with interna-
tional projects. These risks can be of different natures;
Negotiating contract terms to drive project execu- there could be technical risks, especially when the project
tion through EPC phases. Understanding the contract involves implementing new technologies, or a first-of-a-
language and the pros and cons of various contracts, and kind situation without any prior experience. There could
understanding the client’s culture, are extremely important be engineering and other performance risks involving con-
to achieve successful negotiation. This step is often a signifi- struction performance.
cant challenge in an international environment. For international projects, the interface management
risks with the client are often challenging. This can intensify
Developing suitable quality assurance and control when dealing with a first-time international client and/or
procedures. A rigorous quality assurance (QA) and quality any major international supplier located overseas. A few
control (QC) procedure must be developed to appropriately other risks to address include managing suppliers, especially
monitor project performance. Open intra- and inter-level new and/or unproven ones; traffic and logistics risks, such as
discussion with the project team members, with appropri- heavy hauls to the project construction site; and expatriate
content and risks for local customs and duties.
If the project is a lump-sum, turnkey (LSTK) project, then
Poddar & Associates is a consulting company the pricing risks include currency issues as appropriate.
with three major areas of expertise and interests. Sometimes, it is mitigated by choosing a basket of currency
They are: in the offer as well as incorporating currency hedging in an
1. Developing projects and businesses for its clients international project. Project location risks include local poli-
internationally tics, political stability, security, labor availability and quality.
2. Offering training courses on various aspects of Also, site accessibility could be of great importance.
project management and leadership skills and Caution should be taken in selecting subcontractors
3. Teaching selected technical courses including and negotiating subcontract languages. This requires a
Refining Overview, Chemical Engineering Fundamen- thorough knowledge of local government and non-gov-
tals for Non-Chemical Engineers and Operators, Coal ernment requirements including the local content require-
& Biomass Conversion Processes, Gas to Liquids (GTLs) ment. Sometimes, a project specific joint venture may be
and Practical Approach to Heat Exchanger Design. a better approach to mitigate some risks associated with
subcontractors.
For more information, contact Syamal Poddar Ph.D., Prior knowledge and understanding, and proper proac-
P.E., Fellow AIChE @ e-mail: associates.poddar@ tive recognition of these risks in implementing them in the
gmail.com PEP are critically important for the successful execution of
any international project.
Adding value to our customer is our motto
Managing in-country rules, regulations and spe-
cific requirements. A thorough understanding of these
requirements is important even before a project bid is pre-
pared, let alone during the project execution stage. Very
often, managing in-country becomes a catch up effort, and
it creates many difficulties.
E–102
I ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION 2010 HYDROCARBON PROCESSING SPONSORED CONTENT
2010
SPECIAL LEADERSHIP SKILLS High

There is a fundamental difference between management
and leadership. “Managers are people who do things right
and leaders are people who do the right thing.” Vision is
a unique trait of true leaders as they overcome barriers to
change. A leader is able to instill a common vision to employ-
ees across the boundary by absorbing available cultural
diversity as strength and by not setting aside such diversity
as a weakness. An organization driven by an effective leader Trust
translates vision to reality. This translation is manifested by
an effective 360° communication between leaders and their
followers. The two important leadership traits are credibility
and commitment fueled by trust and integrity. Low
Low High
Getting the message across all levels is the key Communication effectiveness
to success. This is achieved through establishing a com-
FIG. 2. Trust vs. communication effectiveness.
mon goal (vision) and creating alignment among all team
members. Trust is the glue that keeps the organization
moving forward, and effective leadership is the catalyst
that builds trust. More important, trust creates account- Technical understanding
TRUST Special leadership skills
and skills
ability, dependability, integrity, predictability and identity
for any organization. Effective leaders pull people together
by attracting, energizing and motivating them towards a
common goal. Effective leaders are proactive listeners. All
of these are achieved by special character traits and other International project
proactive day-to-day actions influenced by the leaders’
effective communication in a cross-cultural environment.
Fig. 2 is a qualitative representation of how the leaders’ Project success:
communication effectiveness influences the process of Profitable
Customer satisfaction
Trust building.
FIG. 3. Key project drivers for international project success.
Communication and cross-cultural communication.
It is important to recognize the importance of the leaders’
effective communication skills. Leaders managing interna- the project success. This is even truer for an international
tional projects must be culturally sensitive with a global project. A successful project execution delivers two impor-
outlook. Creating effective human capital from a diverse tant end-results. They are: profit, and most importantly,
cultural background is becoming more important than mon- client satisfaction.
etary capital. Proficiency in cross-cultural communications is
of tantamount importance. The leaders who create cultural
synergy emphasize similarities and common concerns, and Dr. Syamal K. Poddar brings over 35 years of professional
integrate differences to enrich organizational strength. experience combining university teaching and industry. His industry
Culturally sensitive and skilled leaders, who value diversity experience extends over a broad range of technology and in pro-
as strength and not weakness, are the leaders who are successes related to the hydrocarbon and energy industries, encom-
passing RandD, process and project engineering, project and busi-
cessful in managing international projects. The key element ness development, and management. Prior to forming a consulting company, Poddar
of success in a multi-cultural setup is proficiency in nonverbal and Associates, Dr. Poddar worked in various capacities in the hydrocarbon industry
communication skills. sector including Exxon Research and Engineering Co., Bechtel Corp. and CDI. His
global business exposure and Indian heritage helped him to acquire a unique set of
skills to develop, lead and manage international projects. In addition to his industrial
GLOBAL LEADERS FOR GLOBAL PROJECTS career, he maintained his teaching interest as an adjunct faculty for several years. Dr.
Very often, successful project execution calls for not only Poddar has given several technical, project and business development and leader-
the project manager’s and the team’s technical competen- ship courses nationally and internationally. With Bachelors and Masters degrees in
cies in effectively managing the above, but also for special chemical engineering from Jadavpur University, India, Dr. Poddar earned his PhD in
chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. In addition to authoring
leadership skill-sets to understand, integrate and manage 42 technical papers and holding 2 US patents, he has made numerous technical and
the cultural diversity. business presentations at national and international conferences, and organized
Most often, it is not the technical strength of the project and chaired many such conferences. He is a registered professional engineer in the
management team but the soft leadership skills such as State of Texas. He is a passionate volunteer and, as elected president, contributed
significantly in the growth of professional and social organizations. He has held vari-
understanding of cultural differences, effective communi- ous elected positions at the AIChE’s divisional level. At present, he is the chair of the
cation skill and extraordinary level of interpersonal skills, Fuels and Petrochemicals division, a member of Operating Council and a Trustee of
as shown schematically in Fig. 3 that create trust and drive the AIChE Foundation. He is an elected Fellow of the AIChE.

I E–103
Using Experience to
Integrate Total EPCM Delivery
Mustang offers hands-on construction operations experience to make sure project delivery is what you
expect – safe, on time, within budget and with no surprises. We provide a fully integrated approach for every
stage on projects of any type, any size, anywhere in the world.
We handle any and all aspects of the project, from front-end planning through startup, including:
■ Safety & Environmental ■ Materials

■ Project Controls ■ Administrative/Subcontract
■ Site Planning ■ Engineering Coordination
■ Quality Assurance ■ Inspection Services
■ Construction Engineering
Contact us to put our horsepower to work on your next project.
People Oriented...Project Driven®

constructionoperations@mustangeng.com
www.mustangeng.com
CORPORATE PROFILE: MUSTANG 2010
Mustang’s construction operations

enhance EPCM capabilities
Mustang’s construction operations personnel are indus-
try professionals with vast hands-on field experience and
working knowledge of planning, scheduling, design, QA/
QC, procurement, material management, construction and
installation. That expertise helps Mustang provide its clients
with a competitive advantage. Regardless of project size, its
construction operations teams can be involved in every stage,
from initiation through pre-commissioning and startup.
In managing any project phase, Mustang puts safety first.
Mustang’s approach to Health, Safety and Environmental
(HSE) on projects extends beyond mere compliance. From the
executive level down, Mustang’s commitment to implement
and execute sound HSE practices is reflected in everything
it does and its safety performance is exceptional. Mustang’s
outstanding performance not only protects lives, but also
benefits clients with increased productivity and reduced
project costs.
all project aspects seamless and successful. It assists engi-
MAKING HEROES neering in developing inspection and execution plans. It
Mustang’s culture is designed to make heroes of all project helps develop specifications and apply appropriate codes
participants—clients, vendors, fabricators, contractors, busi- and standards to assure safety compliance and intended
ness partners and Mustangers. Project execution involves all performance. Along with procurement, inspectors evaluate
parties from the earliest stages, encouraging communication, suppliers with in-depth audits, facility surveys, Q/A assistance,
ingenuity and innovation. and vendor data assessments for safety and quality appro-
Construction operations teams work closely with engi- priateness. With a thorough understanding of all necessary
neering and design to provide constructability and cost codes, industry standards and jurisdictional requirements,
estimate input during the FEL process and provide construc- the team performs quality assurance inspections on the con-
tability planning during detailed engineering. Their input struction site, in the fabrication facility or at the equipment
greatly enhances the quality of deliverables and overall manufacturer’s plant.
project success.
FIRST CHOICE
MANAGING AN ENTIRE PROJECT OR JUST A PORTION Extensive experience and strong vendor and contrac-
Mustang’s flexibility offers the most sensible project tor relationships help Mustang take projects from concept
approach. It can manage all project phases or be designated through startup, accelerating project schedules, improving
as the owner’s representative, providing various levels of coordination, providing high levels of QA/QC and bolstering
oversight or specialized services, such as inspection or laser the bottom line. This assures that its vision of making heroes
scanning, depending on scope and client needs. It can tailor becomes a reality for all project participants.
a solution by providing various levels of support to maintain a
close, on-site relationship with the client providing the neces-
sary counsel and management services for all project phases.
Mustang’s integrated global EPCM services encompass
project controls, site planning, quality assurance, construc-
tion engineering, materials and equipment control, and
administrative oversight. Mustang’s worldwide entities are
further supported by parent company Wood Group, a multi-
national energy firm with operations in 50 countries and Contact information
annual revenues exceeding $5 billion. 16001 Park Ten Place
Houston, TX 77084
INSPECTORS PROVIDE ADDED VALUE Phone: 713-215-8000
Mustang’s highly experienced inspection team interfaces Fax: 713-215-8506
with all project participants, providing a synergy to make Website: www.mustangeng.com

I E–105
CORPORATE PROFILE: CCC 2010
Excellence, commitment, human touch

CCC is the partner of choice for all your global needs
CCC Group
Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC), founded in
1952 in Lebanon, is a diversified international construction
company active in over 50 countries across five continents;
from the Middle East to Australia.
Our diverse portfolio now encompasses energy, heavy
civil, building, infrastructure, mining, power and real estate
services.
We have had record revenues for the past five years,
and Engineering News Record has ranked CCC consistently
in the top 20 International Construction Contractors for 9
straight years.
Our diversified local workforce consists of 120,000 quali-
fied men and women representing over 70 nationalities. RasGas Onshore Onplot LNG Enpansion (Trains 6 & 7) Ras Laffan, Qatar
We have a turnover in excess of US$ 5 Billion with more Two line caption
than 70% generated from projects in the Middle East. eration and desalination projects, dams and networks in the
We have a proud history, an active past and a promising Middle East and Africa.
future. • Environment. Dedicated to the Environment, we offer
viable environmental solutions.
Our Core Business • Alternative Energy. CCC is committed to participating
CCC offers a wide range of business activities in line in the global drive towards alternative energy.
with the highest commitment to HSE, Quality and Social
Responsibility. How we Operate
Our Core Business across the EPC Chain Value We work with clients, partners and stakeholders to find
We capture all aspects of the Engineering, Procurement quality solutions for a wide range of business segments and
and Construction (EPC) value chain, starting with Feasibility activities.
Studies, into Design, Procurement, Construction, Commis- By combining our immense construction expertise and
sioning, Operations and Maintenance for: experience gained over 50 years, with our diversified services
• Oil and Gas Projects and commercial acumen, we supply innovative solutions
• Petrochemical Projects across the markets and industries around the world.
• Pipelines An essential part of our success is our responsible approach
• Offshore Construction Works towards all our operations, our employees, clients, suppliers,
• Environmental Projects local communities, the environment and society as a whole.
• Heavy Civil and Marine Works Our core business principles, derived from the CCC fam-
• Buildings ily values, set out the company values and behaviours that
• Roads and Infrastructures define how we work.
• Power and Water Projects Our diversified services, flexibility and adaptability com-
• Dams, Harbours and Airports bined with the abilities of our people, offered through
a “one address,” have made us the partner of choice for
Other Business Services many companies.
Through market and geographical diversification, CCC can
now offer, in addition to our core business, a wide range of
services and assistance in multiple market segments:
• Mining. We participate and invest in worldwide mining
exploration and development.
• Real Estate Development. With creative solutions and
commitment to excellence, we provide a multitude of real Contact information
estate development services for commercial, residential, Consolidated Contractors Company
retails, hospitality and combined properties. Phone: +30 2106182000
• Power Generation and Water. As the world is highly Fax: +30 2106199224
dependent on power, we invest and construct power gen- Website: www.ccc.gr

I E–107
Delayed Coking
and so much more...
What more can we do for you?
Visit us on the web at www.fwc.com

CORPORATE PROFILE: FOSTER WHEELER 2010
Delayed Coking… and so much more

As an EPC company with over 100 years of experience,
Foster Wheeler designs, engineers and constructs leading-
edge processing facilities and related infrastructure
for the upstream oil & gas, LNG, gas-to-liquids, coal-to-
products, carbon capture & storage, refining, chemicals
& petrochemicals, environmental and power industries,
as well as pharma, biotech & healthcare. With a proven
track record in everything from conceptual studies through
full EPC execution, we continue to invest in the process
technology that is transforming our industry.
As a pioneer in refinery clean fuels projects, with
technology leadership in delayed coking through our
SYDECSM (Selective Yield Delayed Coking) process, we are
committed to provide safe, reliable and environmentally-
conscious solutions for residue upgrading or zero fuel
oil production. We continue to evolve the technology to
improve safety, lower maintenance requirements, extend
equipment life, reduce operating costs, and so much more.
Understanding that residue upgrading can be a significant
investment, UOP / Foster Wheeler’s Solvent Deasphalting
(SDA) technology offers refiners a lower cost solution to
“bottom of the barrel” upgrading.
As refiners are faced with increasingly stringent fuel
specifications and environmental constraints, we continue
to focus on ventures in sustainable technology development
and licensing, to provide cost-effective clean fuel solutions.
Our recent partnering in micro-crop biomass to develop
clean fuels that are functionally compatible with petroleum-
based fuels is just one example. We are working to create
end-to-end market solutions for the large-scale production
of green gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and specialty chemicals.
Foster Wheeler also has extensive experience in other strategic resources allow us to execute larger and more
areas of “green” initiatives such as gasification (including complex onshore and offshore global projects from
biomass), carbon capture, power generation (including wind concept to completion. With such a breadth of global and
and solar, as well as clean coal plants). comprehensive offerings, and talented people delivering
With the need for increasing hydrogen generation to innovative and sustainable solutions to address the current
support hydroprocessing, refiners routinely turn to Foster industry challenges, we think it is clear that Foster Wheeler
Wheeler for the technology solutions that provide operating truly provides so much more.
flexibility and maximum reliability, coupled with the EPC
construction solutions that can reduce construction cost and WHAT MORE CAN WE DO FOR YOU?
schedule. We have designed, engineered and constructed
over 100 hydrogen and synthesis gas plants over the last 60
years, reforming natural gas, refinery gases and light liquid
feeds, as well as partial oxidation of both gaseous and liquid
feedstocks, ranging in size from 1.4 million standard cubic
feet (mscf) to 95 mscf.
In addition to our refining technology and EPC
portfolio, we also have a long and illustrious track record
in the chemicals, petrochemicals and polymers market. Contact details:
From consultancy and small process unit revamps to large 585 N. Dairy Ashford
integrated grass roots complexes, we deliver comprehensive Houston, Texas 77079
solutions that meet your needs. Furthermore, we are proud Phone: 713-929-5555
of our strong and expanded base to serve the upstream e-mail: Info@fwc.com
oil and gas business. Our recent acquisitions and new www.fwc.com

I E–109
CORPORATE PROFILE: KTI 2010
The market’s bouncing back—

Are you ready for the rebound?
Jump ahead of the pack with fired heater training from KTI
Since December 2007, the U.S. economy and many sec-

tors of the global economy, experienced one of the worst
recessions on record. And just when we thought we were
out of the woods, we’ve felt the back-to-back global shocks
of first the Euro crisis and now the possible slowdown
in the U.S.’s economic recovery. We’ve tried to manage
our organizations and bottom lines through significant
uncertainty, resulting in two years of work force reduc-
tions, hiring freezes and re-assigned workers. As we’ve suc-
cessfully managed through these sustained pressures, we
finally now have a positive data point that should generate
some cheer: “Exxon Mobil Corp’s second-quarter earnings
jumped 91%, helped by higher commodities prices and a
surge in refining profits and production. Exxon’s smaller
rival, ConocoPhillips, said its second-quarter earnings tri-
pled, while Chevron Corp is expected to post substantially
higher earnings.” WSJ, July 30, 2010. KTI Advanced Fired Heater School, Houston, Texas, United States
With confirmation that industry earnings have reached
solid ground, we’ll start seeing stalled projects move for- forget an industry concern that was widely shared before
ward again. However, as the recovery begins to take shape, the global recession hit—an aging workforce. While we may
our organizations may not be ready to capitalize on this not be attracting young talent like Internet search compa-
opportunity. From a staffing, training and personnel devel- nies, we’re just as vital to the global economy. Identifying
opment perspective, now’s the time to start preparing for and growing talent is critical to sustaining growth and KTI
the recovery. Managers should take this opportunity to can help as you seek to further develop your internal staff.
further develop their personnel with incremental training Whether your with an engineering service company or inte-
and personal development investment. Training programs grated energy producer, it’s time to plan ahead. For more
such as KTI’s Advanced Fired Heater School are useful tools details on KTI’s Advanced Fired Heater School, go to www.
for cost effectively strengthening technical skill sets in a kticorp.com and learn how additional, specialized training
rebounding market. can boost your team’s productivity.
KTI’s program offers comprehensive fired heater training,
from thermal process design to commissioning, over two and
one half days of structured presentations. KTI’s objective is
to train professional attendees in the fundamentals of fired
heater design and auxiliary equipment. The program cov-
ers each step in a project’s life-cycle with a focus on quality
assurance throughout the entire process. In-depth discus-
sion includes many of the key topics which focus on fired
heater technology and innovation. Attendees will complete
the program with a strong understanding of all aspects
of managing a fired heater project, with special emphasis
on operations and maintenance. The cost for this class is a Contact details:
nominal $250 per attendee—a must attend for the refining KTI Corporation
and petrochemical industries. 11720 Katy Freeway, Suite 110
Despite the depth and severity of the recession, industry Houston, TX 77079
innovation kept advancing. While the recession forced less Phone: 281-249-2400
competitive suppliers to the sidelines, market dynamics Fax: 281-249-2328
continued to shape our global supply chain. If you haven’t e-mail: sales@kticorp.com
been keeping up, it’s time to get caught up. And let’s not Website: www.kticorp.com

I E–111
OUR TECHNOLOGY & EPC SOLUTIONS,
YOUR MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE
At Shaw, we understand today’s market challenges and the demand for profitable,
efficient solutions. Whether the need is for licensing process technology, building
a grassroots plant or revamping an existing unit, Shaw can help you achieve
optimum operating performance.
CONSULTING
LICENSED TECHNOLOGY
FEASIBILITY STUDIES
FRONTEND ENGINEERING
ENGINEERING
PROCUREMENT
CONSTRUCTION
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
ENERGY & CHEMICALSs&!"2)#!4)/.-!.5&!#452).'

0/7%2s%.6)2/.-%.4!,).&2!3425#452%
www.shawgrp.com
34M062010D
CORPORATE PROFILE: SHAW 2010
Shaw’s Energy & Chemicals Group

Shaw is one of the world’s leading technology-driven
engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contrac-
tors. A full-service organization, Shaw can provide the engi-
neering talent needed for the design and construction of
new facilities, as well as refurbishment and modernization
of existing facilities. We also are recognized for our ability
to develop, commercialize and integrate a wide range of
process technologies.
Refining. From improving cracking margins to produc-

ing petrochemicals from the bottom of the barrel, Shaw
offers the technology, expertise, and experience necessary to
meet our client’s challenges. We are a leader in the applica-
tion of fluidized catalytic cracking (FCC) technology, having
licensed 48 FCC grassroots units and performed more than
200 revamps to plants based on both Shaw and non-Shaw
technology designs.
Consulting. Shaw Consultants International provides
Olefins. Shaw’s ethylene plants have a worldwide reputa- independent commercial, financial and technical advice
tion for exceptionally high operational reliability. Since our to operating companies, the financial sector, developers,
first ethylene plant was built in 1941, we have designed and/ utilities and governments, with projects in the hydrocarbon
or built more than 120 grassroots ethylene/propylene units. processing, power and related industries.
Petrochemicals. Our services support all stages of a project, Select Technology/Know-how

from conceptual development to sustaining the total business
asset for petrochemical complexes worldwide. Through our Olefins: Ethylene and propylene production, Pyrolysis fur-
research center, we offer a wide range of services (many in naces, Ripple TraysTM, Refinery Off-Gas
conjunction with alliance partners) for process development,
commercialization, and modernization. Refining: Fluidized Catalytic Cracking (FCC), FCC propri-
etary equipment, Catalytic high olefins cracking, Benzene
Upstream. Our legacy of oil and gas experience includes reduction
projects ranging from conceptual design through project
management consultancy. Shaw’s experienced upstream Petrochemicals: Ethylbenzene, Styrene monomer, Cumene,
personnel are well versed in delivering oil and gas produc- Bisphenol-A (BPA)
tion facilities, gas processing, transmission and storage, and
syngas projects safely and effectively. Polymers: Polyolefins, Polystyrene, Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-
Styrene (ABS)
Integration. Oil and petrochemical companies are look-
ing for ways to integrate their refining and petrochemical Upstream: Gas-to-liquids, Syngas
facilities to improve profitability. At Shaw, we leverage our
refining and petrochemical technologies and our EPC experi-
ence to deliver an integrated solution that reduces costs and
increases plant reliability.
Project Management Consultancy. Shaw’s background

in technology and EPC enables us to manage complex proj-
ects that involve many different technology-licensed units.
We offer the convenience and reliability that comes with a
single-point, client-contractor contact. This direct line of com- Contact information
munication is essential to maintaining consistency from all 1430 Enclave Parkway
licensors and their deliverables. As a project is implemented, Houston, TX 77077
Shaw functions as a client representative for all aspects of the Phone: +1 281.368.4000
project including EPC. Website: www.shawgrp.com

I E–113
Knowledge is power.
At URS, we believe that the more involved you are with
a process from beginning to end, the better equipped you
are to provide solutions. So when it comes to meeting
today’s increasing demand for oil and gas, we bring proven
experience with us. From oil sands, gas production, and
petroleum refining to constructing a facility, maintaining
one, or developing an expansion plan. Which is why, in the
Industrial & Commercial sector, more people are turning
to us to get it done. We are URS.
POWER
INFRASTRUCTURE
FEDERAL
INDUSTRIAL & COMMERCIAL
URSCORP.COM
LOSS PREVENTION
Hydrobulging of storage tanks and

its effect on first support selection
Case studies prove that installing variable spring supports is a viable option
M. G. CHOUDHURY, S. JOHRI and R. TRIPATHI, BecRel Engineering Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India
I
n the hydrocarbon industry, especially refineries, many storage This type of support will also settle by the same amount as the
tanks exist. A storage tank is a container or vessel generally used tank foundation.
to store raw crude, intermediate and final-product liquids from Tank bulging—radial growth occurs on the shell due to
refineries or other process industries. The roots of these tanks can product static head for large-diameter tanks. Bulge formations
be fixed, cone, domed or floating. Tanks vary in diameter and can appear because a static head may cause circumferential and
measure up to 102 m. Large-diameter tanks, larger than 90 m longitudinal strains.
with heights up to 20 m are not uncommon in refineries. These
tanks act as feed sources to feed pumps and as reservoir to store Methodology. For large-diameter storage tanks with heavy liq-
discharge from pumps. uid, tank bulging occurs since there is a slight growth of the tank
With regards to differential settlement between the tank and shell in radial direction. When this radial-shell growth occurs at
connected piping (generally large pipes), there are two pipe- the nozzle location, the nozzle is rotated slightly. Even the smallest
supporting approaches: nozzle rotation will cause the associated piping to either lift-off
• Spring support—first support away from the tank nozzle from the first support from the tank foundation or excessively
that supports the connected pipe compress the pipe at the first support from the tank foundation.
• Support directly from the tank foundation or extended tank This happens even if the vertical displacement of the tank nozzle
foundation. is in a downward direction. This assumes that the first support is
The effectiveness of both approaches will be discussed in rela- a rigid support from the tank foundation extension.
tion to the effect of hydrobulging on large-diameter liquid-filled A case study was done on the piping connected to a 36-in.
tanks and the interrelated effects on nozzle-load analysis. nozzle on a 76-m-diameter tank that was used for crude stor-
age in a refinery tank farm. Various interrelated aspects of tank
Background. Tank settlement occurs in large diameter tanks bulging on the first support from the tank foundation and nozzle
holding heavy products, so stress analysis needs to be performed loads were studied. Radial-shell growth and nozzle vertical dis-
on piping that is connected to tank nozzles. To take care of heavy placement at varying heights and shell thickness were tabulated.
loads on the nozzle due to tank settlement, spring support is an A vertical displacement effect on the nozzle occurred due to it
acceptable approach. However, another school of thought advo- rotating from tank bulging. This caused the support of the asso-
cates first support from the tank foundation—this avoids using a ciated piping to lift off or come down. Nozzle-load analysis for
spring support, saving cost. This support is taken directly from the both systems—first support from the tank foundation and spring
tank foundation or by extending the tank foundation. supports—were developed.
Before proceeding, the following terms need to be understood: A similar stress-run was made where all design parameters
Tank settlement—gradual settling of the tank foundation dur- were kept similar except that the first support from the tank foun-
ing an extended period of time which creates a relative difference dation was replaced by a spring support. Nozzle loads for both
in elevation between the piping and the tank nozzle. Most settle- the stress-runs and the behavior of first support from the tank
ment occurs during hydrotesting of the tank but it can continue foundation and spring support were compared and studied.
for years since it’s a slow process and it may take more years to
reach full settlement. The tank settlement amount depends on soil Case study with the following tank design
characteristics—primarily, consolidation and compressibility. parameters:
Spring supports—flexible supports used when excessive Tank diameter: 76,000 mm
loads are encountered on the nozzle due to vertical displace- Tank product design height (H): 18,500 mm
ments of line and equipment. These supports are used to absorb/ Specific gravity of liquid (G): 1.0
accommodate the vertical displacement and to support the line Vertical distance (L) between nozzle (N1) and tank bottom:
in these conditions. 875 mm
First support from tank foundation—refers to normal rest Shell thickness at shell-nozzle junction(t) : 38 mm
supports that are taken from the tank foundation or by extending Nozzle (N1) standout from outer shell (S): 340 mm
the tank foundation to support the line connecting to the tank Nozzle (N1) and connecting pipe size: 36 in.
nozzle. This serves the same purpose as using a spring support. No anchor chair on tank base.
I 115
LOSS PREVENTION
Notes: ΔT = normal operating temperature minus installation

1. The case study was done for a hydrostatic condition; how- temperature (°C)
ever, the temperature effect on tank bulging was not considered. ␪ = unrestrained shell rotation resulting from product
2. Radial deflection due to tank bulging is calculated based head (radians)
on Appendix P clause P.2.5.1 of API-650, using the understated S = Nozzle standout from outer shell
formula: X = Vertical displacement of nozzle due to rotation,
9.8 106 GHR 2 L i.e., lifting-off support (mm)= S x tan ␪
W = 1 e L cos(L)
+ RT (1)
Et H Calculating radial growth in relation to height:
Temperature effect, i.e., ␣ RΔ T; in Eq. 1 is considered 0. Thus, ␤ = characteristic parameter = 0.001068815 (1/mm)
Eq. 1 is rewritten as: ␤ L = 0.935213 (radians)
W = 24.4738 mm
9.8 106 GHR 2 L ␪ = –0.01811 radians; –1.0376 degrees
W = 1 e L cos(L)
Et H tan ␪ = –0.01811
where: X = –6.1583 mm
W =
the shell’s unrestrained radial growth (mm) A negative sign indicates lifting-off support since the nozzle
G =
design specific gravity of the liquid rotates in a clockwise direction. Table 1 shows W calculated at
H =
maximum allowable tank filling height (mm) different thicknesses and varying heights from the tank base.
R =
nominal tank radius (mm) Based on Table 1, an L vs. W chart is plotted to observe the
␤ characteristic parameter, 1.285/ (Rt)0.5 (1/mm)
= trend of changing radial-shell growth at different heights from
L =
vertical distance from the opening centerline the tank base (Fig. 1).
to the tank bottom (mm)
E = modulus of elasticity (MPa) Vertical displacement effect on nozzle due to tank
t = shell thickness at the opening connection (mm) bulging on nozzle loads
␣ = thermal expansion coefficient of the shell material Case 1—Nozzle load with first support from the tank foundation
(mm/mm, ºC) and vertical displacement due to nozzle rotation because of a bulge.
For the piping arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2, nozzle loads are
listed in Table 2. The loads and displacements for first support from
35 the tank foundation are listed in Table 3.
30 Series 1
TABLE 1. Calculation scenarios when using different
25
shell thicknesses
20
W
15 t (mm) W (mm) L (mm)
10 38 31.5062825 2,500
5 34 27.62671196 5,000
0 33 27.34424293 7,250
2,500 5,000 7,250 10,000 12,500 15,000 17,500 18,000
26 22.8354091 10,000
L
22 19.04995468 12,500
FIG. 1 Radial-shell growth (W ) vs. heights from tank base (L ). 16 15.27965145 15,000
11 6.349985021 17,500
10 3.492491761 18,000
Tank modeled
Vertical displacement from as rigid element
nozzle rotation due to bulge
input at nozzle node using Tank foundation as
displacement anchor with settlement
260
Tank modeled 260
250 270 Tank modeled
as rigid element 250 270 320
240 320 240 as rigid element
230 290 230 290
280 220 280
220
Y Y
First support (rigid) from tank foundation First support (rigid) from tank foundation
with settlement same as using anchor Z X with settlement same as using an anchor
Z X C node and displacement concept C node and displacement concept
FIG. 2 Piping arrangement of line connected to tank nozzle using FIG. 3 Piping arrangement of line connected to tank nozzle with
first support from tank foundation. first support from tank foundation.
116
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LOSS PREVENTION
Behavior of first support from tank foundation—it is evi- tank bulging is not considered at nozzle node 340. For the piping
dent from Table 3 that the line doesn’t rest on the support taken arrangement shown in Fig. 3, nozzle loads are listed in Table 4.
from the tank foundation at node 290. The support doesn’t take The loads and displacements for the first support from the tank
any load in both operating and sustained conditions. foundation are listed in Table 5.
Case 2—nozzle load with first support from the tank founda- Table 4 indicates that, if there is no hydrostatic bulge and no
tion, without vertical displacement. nozzle rotation, the rigid support from the extended foundation
The piping arrangement shown in Fig. 3 is similar to Fig. 2, is reliable.
except that the vertical displacement due to nozzle rotation from Behavior of first support from tank foundation—Table 5
indicates that the rest support from the tank foundation serves its
TABLE 2. Calculated nozzle loads and moments purpose of supporting the line when vertical displacement due to
using first support from tank foundation and vertical nozzle rotation is taken out of the picture. This support settles at the
same rate as that of the tank, thereby reducing the loads coming on
displacement nozzle. This is similar to the function served by the spring support at
the same location as that of the rest support (refer to Cases 3 and 4).
Node 340 FX FY FZ MX MY MZ
Operating case 7,764 –61,076 –9,422 79,100 12,966 –8,965
TABLE 7. Spring details for spring support at node 290
Sustained case –310 –61,043 596 79,119 –435 –8,937
Type Variable spring support
MAX 7,764 –61,076 –9,422 79,119 12,966 –8,965
Load variation 13%
Quantity 1
TABLE 3. Calculated loads and displacements on first
Model DV35
support from tank foundation with vertical displacement
Size 17
from nozzle rotation because of bulge
Horizontal movement 9.529 mm
Node 290 FX FY FZ DX DY DZ Vertical movement –9.279 mm
Hot load 51,349 N
Operating case 0 0 0 1.145 0.460 9.050
Installed load 44,850 N
Sustained case 0 0 0 –0.038 –0.448 –0.411
Spring rate 700 N/mm
MAX 0 0 0 1.145 –0.460 9.050
TABLE 4. Calculated nozzle loads and moments using Tank foundation as

anchor with settlement
first support from tank foundation, without vertical
displacement from nozzle rotation because of bulge
Node 340 FX FY FZ MX MY MZ 260

Operating case 7,924 –33,689 –9,942 2,626 12,918 –37,469 250 270 320 Tank modeled
240 as rigid element
Sustained case –144 –32,476 55 501 –469 –37,053 290
Y 280
MAX 7,924 –33,689 –9,942 2,626 12,918 –37,469
Z X First support spring
TABLE 5. Calculated loads and displacements

FIG. 4 Piping arrangement of line connected to tank nozzle using
using first support from tank foundation, no vertical spring support as first support.
displacement from nozzle
Node 290 FX FY FZ DX DY DZ
Vertical displacement due Tank foundation as
Operating case 0 –16,362 0 1.140 –13.0 9.459 to nozzle rotation from bulge anchor with settlement
input at nozzle node using
Sustained case 0 –17,751 0 –0.042 –13.0 0.002 displacement
MAX 0 –17,751 0 1.140 –13.0 9.459
TABLE 6. Calculated nozzle loads and moments 260

Tank modeled
250 as rigid element
considering spring support, without vertical 270
240 320
displacement 290
Y 280
Node 340 FX FY FZ MX MY MZ
Z X First support spring
Operating Case 7,987 –8,231 –9,956 –34,760 13,173 –16,950
Sustained Case –87 –8,044 45 –35,504 –235 –17,292 FIG. 5 Piping arrangement of line connected to tank nozzle with
first support as spring support.
MAX 7,987 –8,321 –9,956 –35,504 12,918 –37,469
118
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LOSS PREVENTION
Case 3—Nozzle load, using first support with a spring and foundation at node 290. Vertical displacement from nozzle rota-
no vertical displacement. tion because of a bulge is not considered at nozzle node 340. For
The piping arrangement illustrated in Fig. 4 is analyzed with this case, nozzle loads are listed in Table 6. The details for spring
a variable spring support in lieu of rest support from the tank support at node 290 are listed in Table 7.
Case 4—Nozzle load with first support as spring, with vertical
TABLE 8. Calculated nozzle load moments using a displacement.
spring support, with vertical displacement from nozzle The piping arrangement shown in Fig. 5 is analyzed with a
rotation because of bulge variable spring support in lieu of rest support from the tank foun-
dation at node 290, with consideration of vertical displacement
Node 340 FX FY FZ MX MY MZ from nozzle rotation because of bulge considered at nozzle node
Operating case 7,857 –23,871 –9,445 –24,238 13,340 21,081 340. For this case, nozzle loads are listed in Table 8. Details for
spring support at node 290 are listed in Table 9.
Sustained case –223 –23,844 580 24,265 –78 21,104
For all cases, all forces (FX, FY and FZ ) at nozzle node 340 are
MAX 7,857 –23,871 –9,445 24,265 13,340 21,104 in Newtons. Moments (MX, MY and MZ) are in Newtons-meter.
All displacements (DX, DY and DZ) at node 290 are in mm. Pip-
TABLE 9. Spring details for spring support at node 290 ing analysis is done using stress analysis software.
Type Variable spring support Inferences. As seen from the calculations, using the first sup-
Load variation 7% port from the tank foundation in lieu of a spring support is not
Quantity 1 the best approach. Although this support settles with the same
Model DV35
value as that of the tank foundation, this support is not active
since nozzle rotation occurs from tank bulging, resulting in
Size 17
nozzle loads that are higher than should be allowed.
Horizontal movement 9.126 mm First support for lines connected to nozzles on large-diam-
Vertical movement 4.982 mm eter tanks with significant settlement values is better served to
Hot load 51,291 N use a spring support. Keep in mind, the spring support should
Installed load 54,780 N
be designed to take in settlement effects. Also, the spring sup-
port, if possible, should be designed for vertical displacement
Spring rate 700 N/mm
of the nozzle due to nozzle rotation from tank bulging. This
is evident from the spring behavior as seen in calculation. The
spring may show opposite displacement behavior during settle-
ment and the nozzle’s vertical displacement from rotating due
to tank bulging.
Conclusion. For large-diameter tanks, tank bulging plays a

role in nozzle loads and support selection. The nozzle rotation
effect when considered in stress analysis, gives an indication of
adverse effects from first support from the tank foundation on
nozzle loads. Therefore, it is advisable to install variable spring
supports for such cases. HP
M. G. Choudhury is senior vice president and head of piping

engineering at BecRel Engineering Pvt. Ltd. He has over 38 years of
experience in piping design and engineering, including pipe stress
analysis. Mr. Choudhury has also worked at EIL, TOYO, CHEMTEX
and SABIC.
Saurabh Johri has been working extensively in the field of

pipe stress analysis for the past four years at BecRel Engineering Pvt.
Ltd., Mumbai, India. Mr. Johri is a production engineering gradu-
ate and also has a mechanical engineering diploma from Aligarh
Muslim University, India. He was involved with pipe stress analysis
for Reliance SEZ Refinery in Jamnagar, Gujrat, India (JERP).
Radharaman Tripathi is a mechanical engineering graduate

and has been associated with pipe stress analysis at BecRel Engi-
neering Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, India. He has a mechanical engineering
diploma. Recently, Mr. Tripathi has been involved with the pipe stress
analysis for Reliance SEZ Refinery in Jamnagar, Gujrat, India (JERP).

120
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upstream / downstream
SHOWCASE
A Supplement to &
The following companies are display advertisers in the Fall 2010 edition of the Upstream/Downstream
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Haverly Systems Inc. is an independent software company operational planning. The company is built upon a foundation of lead-
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North America unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa
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Heat Transfer Research Inc. (HTRI) is an international manufacture and supply of instrumentation,
consortium founded in 1962 that conducts industrially process control, and automation solutions. Headquaretered in Newnan,
relevant research and provides software tools for design, GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America services a diverse customer base
rating and simulation of process heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produces with market-leading products including analyzers, flow meters, transmit-
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ENGINEERING CASE HISTORIES
Case history 58: Piston pin plug wear

A wear analysis can help when failure data are meager
T. SOFRONAS, Consulting Engineer, Houston, Texas
A
n internal combustion engine experienced aluminum • Follow the specifications for straightness and plug fits and
particles in the oil after only 700 hr of operation. Previ- use harder AlBr plugs.
ously the engine was overhauled at 1,700 hr with no wear As with all troubleshooting efforts, only continued monitor-
noted. A literature review and discussions with the manufacturer ing and time will tell if the actions taken have been successful.
did not identify any definitive causes. At least the effects of some of the critical variables are now better
Figs. 1 and 2 show the aluminum piston pin plug that failed understood and so is the problem complexity. HP
due to excessive wear. The plugs keep the steel piston pin from
contacting the cylinder wall. LITERATURE CITED
1 Sofronas, A., Analytical Troubleshooting of Process Machinery and Pressure
With only historical data on the engine available an aluminum
Vessels: Including Real-World Case Studies, p. 113, John Wiley & Sons, ISBN:
plug wear model was developed to understand how the variables 0-471-73211-7.
contributed to the wear, ␦ .1
␦ = [ 0.042 K ␴ V t ] / BHN, in.
Cylinder wall Connecting
The piston speed, V, is 20,000 in./min, BHN is the plug rod
Brinell hardness, ␴ is the pressure pushing the plug against the Cylinder
cylinder wall and t is the rubbing time in hr. The plug boundary head end
rubbing condition against the cylinder wall is K and is obtained
from calculated life data. It is the key to understanding the lubri-
cation and surface finish effect, and can range from metal-to-
metal to a nonmetal contacting hydrodynamic film.
A sensitivity analysis of the variables on wear with 1,700
hours and a ␦ of 0.005 in. is used as a basis for normal life and
is shown in Table 1. Aluminum plug
The first row of Table 1 represents a normal wear life of 1,700
Steel pin
hr from which K is calculated with a cylinder finish of 2 μ-in. after Plug
Piston rub track
break-in. This is a mirror finish as observed at rebuild and 0.005
in. plug wear. Using the harder new-design aluminum bronze plug Wear, δ
with 170 BHN would reduce the wear to 0.003 in. FIG. 1 Piston pin plug rub track on cylinder wall.
The second row represents the calculated K value required for
0.35 in. wear in 700 hr. Since K increases as the square of the rough-
ness, this represents a roughness of 25 μ-in., which is a typical break-
in honing pattern. However, the finish at 700 hr was smoothed to a
mirror finish by the rings and is probably not the failure cause.
The third row illustrates that the load on the plug would have
to increase 150 times to result in only a 700-hr life and 0.35
in. actual wear. This might be possible with a stuck plug or rod
misalignment.
While loose plug fits and rod misalignment were mentioned as
possible causes in the literature, neither were evident at rebuild.
Even though no root cause was identified from the analysis, a
plan forward can be established. FIG. 2 Aluminum piston pin plug wear.
TABLE 1. Effect of variables on wear rate

Condition ␴ psi K unit-less BHN Wear, ␦ in.
Dr. Anthony (Tony) Sofronas, P.E., was worldwide lead
Normal, 1,700 hr cylinder finish 2 µ-in. 1 4 x 10-7 100 0.005
mechanical engineer for ExxonMobil before his retirement. Infor-
700 hr cylinder, determine finish 1 6 x 10-5 100 0.35 mation on his books, seminars, technical help and comments to this
700 hr. same K, determine ␴ 150 4 x 10-7 100 0.35 article are available at http://mechanicalengineeringhelp.com.

I 123
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CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NC, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, E-mail: Japan@GulfPub.com
RI, SC, VA, VT, WV, EASTERN CANADA UNITED KINGDOM/SCANDINAVIA, NORTHERN
Merrie Lynch BELGIUM, THE NETHERLANDS PAKISTAN—Karachi
S. E. Ahmed
20 Park Plaza, Suite 517, Boston, MA 02116 Peter Gilmore
Intermedia Communications
Phone: +1 (617) 357-8190, Fax: +1 (617) 357-8194 57 Keyes House
Karachi-74700, Pakistan
Mobile: +1 (617) 594-4943 Dolphin Square
Phone: +92 (21) 663-4795, Fax: +92 (21) 663-4795
E-mail: Merrie.Lynch@GulfPub.com London SW1V 3NA
United Kingdom
DATA PRODUCTS AND CLASSIFIED SALES Phone: +44 (0) 20 7834 5559, Fax: +44 (0) 20 7834 0600 REPRINTS
Lee Nichols, Gulf Publishing Company E-mail: Peter.Gilmore@GulfPub.com
Rhona Brown, Foster Printing Service
Phone: +1 (713) 525-4626, Fax: +1 (713) 525-4631 Phone: +1 (866) 879-9144 ext. 194
E-mail: Lee.Nichols@GulfPub.com E-mail: RhondaB@FosterPrinting.com
128
FREE Product and Service Information—SEPTEMBER 2010
HOW TO USE THE INDEX: The FIRST NUMBER after the company name is the page on which an This information must be pro-
advertisement appears. The SECOND NUMBER, appearing in parentheses, after the company vided to process your request:
name, is the READER SERVICE NUMBER. There are several ways readers can obtain information: PRIMARY DIVISION OF INDUSTRY
1. The quickest way to request information from an advertiser or about an editorial item is to go to www. (check one only):
HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS. If you follow the instructions on the screen your request will be forwarded for A 䊐-Refining Company
immediate action. B 䊐-Petrochemical Co.
C 䊐-Gas Processing Co.
2. Go online to the advertiser's Website listed below. F 䊐-Equipment Manufacturer
G 䊐-Supply Company
3. Circle the Reader Service Number below and fax this page to +1 (416) 620-9790. Include your name, company, complete
H 䊐-Service Company
address, phone number, fax number and e-mail address, and check the box on the right for your division of industry and
J 䊐-Chemical Co.
job title.
P 䊐-Engrg./Construction Co.
Name ________________________________________________________ Company ________________________________________________________ JOB FUNCTION
Address ______________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ____________________________________________________ (check one only):
B 䊐-Company Official, Manager
Country ______________________________________________________ Phone No. _______________________________________________________
E 䊐-Engineer or Consultant
FAX No. ______________________________________________________ e-mail ___________________________________________________________ F 䊐-Supt. or Asst.
G 䊐-Foreman or Asst.
This Advertisers’ Index and procedure for securing additional information is provided as a service to Hydrocarbon I 䊐-Chemist
Processing advertisers and a convenience to our readers. Gulf Publishing Co. is not responsible for omissions or errors. J 䊐-Purchasing Agt.
ADVERTISERS in this issue of HYDROCARBON PROCESSING

Company Page RS# Company Page RS# Company Page RS#
Website Website Website
ACS Industries Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 (166) Gas & Air Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 (75) Prosernat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 (153)
www.info.hotims.com/29423-166 www.info.hotims.com/29423-75 www.info.hotims.com/29423-153
Alstom Power, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 (170) Grace Davidson GmbH . . . . . . . . . . 119 (91) Prosim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 (171)
www.info.hotims.com/29423-170 www.info.hotims.com/29423-91 . . . . . . . www.info.hotims.com/29423-171
Altair Strickland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 (56) Haldor Topsoe A/S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 (72) Rentech Boiler System . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 (58)
Asco Filtri Srl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 (161) Heurtey Petrochem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 (67) Saint-Gobain NorPro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 (52)
Axens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 (53) Hunter Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 (156) Saudi Aramco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100 (65)
Baldor Electric Company . . . . . . . . . . 28 (80) ITT Goulds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 (86) Selas Fluid Processing Corp.. . . . . 56, 78 (60, 96)
BASF Catalysts LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 (92) Johnson Screens Europe . . . . . . . . . . 18 (88)
Shaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112–113 (85)
Bently Pressurized Bearing Co . . . . . . 42 (158) KBC Advanced Technologies Inc . . . . . 74 (82)
Sick Ag (Sick Maihak) . . . . . . . . . 63, 65 (162)
Burckhardt Compression Ag . . . . . . . 87 (74) www.info.hotims.com/29423-162
KBR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 (83)
www.info.hotims.com/29423-74 www.info.hotims.com/29423-83 SNC-Lavalin Eng. & Constr. Inc. . . . . . 40 (157)
C&I Engineering Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86 (169) KTI Corporation . . . . . . . . . 44, 110–111 (90, 95) www.info.hotims.com/29423-157
www.info.hotims.com/29423-169 www.info.hotims.com/29423-90 SO.CA.P. Srl . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 (168)
Cameron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 (55) Linde Process Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 (81) www.info.hotims.com/29423-168
www.info.hotims.com/29423-55 www.info.hotims.com/29423-81 Spraying Systems Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 (62)
CB&I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 94(70, 71) Lurgi GmbH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 (59) www.info.hotims.com/29423-62
www.info.hotims.com/29423-70 www.info.hotims.com/29423-59 Sulzer Chemtech, USA Inc.. . . . . . . . . . 4 (151)
CCC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .106-107 (77) MBI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 (99) www.info.hotims.com/29423-151
www.info.hotims.com/29423-77 www.info.hotims.com/29423-99 T.D. Williamson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 (66)
Chemstations Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 (160) MBI Leasing LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 (94) www.info.hotims.com/29423-66
www.info.hotims.com/29423-160 www.info.hotims.com/29423-94 Team Industrial Services. . . . . . . . . . . 43 (73)
Costacurta SpA Vico . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 (57) Merichem Company . . . . . . . 23, 25, 27 (79) www.info.hotims.com/29423-73
www.info.hotims.com/29423-57 www.info.hotims.com/29423-79 Thermo Fisher Scientific . . . . . . . . . . . 33 (97)
Curtiss-Wright Flow Control Corp . . . 80 (76) Messe Dusseldorf North America . . . . 64 (163) www.info.hotims.com/29423-97
Trachte USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120 (173)
DuPont Vespel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 (61) Microtherm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 (159) www.info.hotims.com/29423-173
Tricat, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 (165)
Eaton Filtration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 (119) Mustang Engineering . . . . 66, 104–105 (69) www.info.hotims.com/29423-165
Unifrax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 (68)
Emirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 (54) NPRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 (98)
Flexitallic LP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 (93) Ohmart/Vega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 (155) United Lab. Intl., Llc/Zyme-Flow . . . . . 19 (152)
Foster Wheeler . . . . . . . . . . . . 108–109 (100) Optimized Gas Treating . . . . . . . . . . . 92 (172) UOP LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
www.info.hotims.com/29423-100 www.info.hotims.com/29423-172 Veolia Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Garlock Sealing Technologies . . . . . . . 12 (84) Parcol SpA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 (167) Washington Group (URS). . . . . . . . . 114 (101)
For information about subscribing to HYDROCARBON PROCESSING, please visit www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com

I 129
HPIN WATER MANAGEMENT
LORAINE A. HUCHLER, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Huchler@martechsystems.com
Utility water boot camp for process engineers—Part 1

The refining and petrochemical industries employ a large treatment training and general experience in plants challenges
number of process engineers. Plants often assign newly gradu- new process engineers. This series of articles will focus on the
ated engineers to the utility water area. Process engineers in basic understanding required by process engineers.
each operating unit are responsible for the cooling water cir-
cuit and waste-heat steam generators. A lack of specific water Crisis management. Equipment failures and unplanned
shutdowns are expensive ways to learn lessons about proper
operation of utility water systems. Table 1 lists some of the
Update: Legionella standard (CTI STD-159: Legio- failures that require immediate action and the consequences
nellosis Related Practices for Evaporative Cooling Water Sys- of choosing to continue operating. HP
tems) the committee has modified the standard significantly,
incorporating many of the suggestions described in this Next month: Slowly developing problems. Often, problems
column in May 2010 and June 2010. The most important develop slowly, with failures occurring with no clear causal
change is giving the cooling tower owner more control: the event. Next month, we will discuss how to detect and avoid
owner has the primary responsibility to assess the magnitude long-term problems.
of a change, the requirement to conduct a hazard assessment,
and the need to conduct a revalidation of the microbiologi- The author is president of MarTech Systems, Inc., an engineering con-
sulting firm that provides technical services to optimize water-related sys-
cal protocol. To register as a corresponding member of the tems (steam, cooling and wastewater) in refineries and petrochemical
committee contact Virginia A. Manser, CTI administrator, plants. She holds a BS degree in chemical engineering and is a licensed
by e-mail: vmanser@cti.org or by phone at 281-583-4087. professional engineer in New Jersey and Maryland. She can be reached at:
huchler@martechsystems.com.
TABLE 1. Crises management situations and recommended actions
Failure Recommended action Consequence of no action or insufficient corrective action
Partial or complete loss of water • Shutdown • Unplanned boiler tube failures for weeks or months
purification equipment capability • De-rate due to deposits and overheat
(influent clarifiers, softeners, • Immediately obtain mobile water • Carryover in boilers
demineralizers, reverse osmosis units) as necessary to restore production • Risk of turbine fouling and failure
Process leak from a heat exchanger (HX) • Isolate HX from service (if it is redundant) • Additional damaged HX from deposition, microbiological fouling,
to repair or replace under-deposit corrosion
• Implement leak response procedures in • Collateral damage: perforations in tubes of other HX in the same
cooling water treatment program cooling water circuit
• Shut down process as necessary to repair • Legionella risk: process contaminants feed bacteria; drift containing
or replace HX legionella bacteria infects susceptible persons downwind
of the cooling tower
Partial loss of mechanical • Increase oxygen scavenger chemical • Economizers or boiler tubes will fail rapidly (in days) with inadequate
deaeration capability feedrate for boilers deaeration; the risk increases with boiler pressure
• If dissolved oxygen > 20 ppb with
increased chemical, shutdown immediately
for repairs
• If dissolved oxygen < 20 ppb with increased
chemical but exceeds ASME guidelines,
shutdown within one month for repairs
130
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with a minimum of downtime.
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A SUPPLEMENT TO
Publisher Advertising Sales

upstream / downstream Bill Wageneck Laura Kane
Production Manager Phone: +1 (713) 520-4449
Angela Bathe Gulf Publishing Company
Cover Design P.O. Box 2608
Amy Dodd Houston, Texas 77252-2608
Advertising Production Manager Phone: +1 (713) 529-4301
Cheryl Willis Fax: +1 (713) 520-4433
CONTENTS Visit the Software Reference Website: www.gulfpub.com/gpc/
Advertising Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31 Predictive Maintenance and Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Process Control and Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . .18
Process Engineering and Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18

Budgeting, Capital Allocation & Planning . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Refining, Petrochemical and Gas Processing . . . . . . . . . .20
Business Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Enterprise Operations Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 SIS/Safety Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Land and Leasing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring . . . . . . . . . .5
Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
UPSTREAM
Alarm Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
DOWNSTREAM Data Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Alarm Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
Data Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Asset Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Design, Construction and Engineering. . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Collaboration and Knowledge Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Exploration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Configuration Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
Field Data Capture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Design, Construction and Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
Dynamic Simulation and Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Process Control and Information Systems . . . . . . . . . . .28
Energy Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
Process Engineering and Simulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
Enterprise Portal Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Online Monitoring & Optimization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Production Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Planning, Scheduling and Blending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Regulatory Compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring . . . . . . . . .16 Well Log Data Access and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
F A L L 2010 SOFTWARE REFERENCE 3

Business Management U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWA RE REFERENCE
BUDGETING, CAPITAL Company Bio

m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft-
ENTERPRISE OPERATIONS
ALLOCATION AND PLANNING ware products company which enables petro-
leum refining, petrochemical and other indus-
MANAGEMENT
tries to achieve total integration of information
sources and applications, from business systems,
ERP and supply chain management through to
plant information, production planning, sched-
uling and operations decision support.
Products: Oildex
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solu- 1999 Broadway, Suite 1900
3esi tions - easy and fast to implement - which truly Denver, Colorado 80202
#200, 1601 Westmount Road N.W. Phone: 303-863-8600
integrate the production and business applica-
Calgary, Alberta T2N 3M2 Toll Free: 888-922-1222
tions required to manage the overall assets.
Canada Fax: 303-863-0505
Phone: 403-270-3270 E-mail: info@oildex.com
m:pro enables, consult and assists business
Fax: 403-270-3343 www.oildex.com
process improvements, especially for refining
E-mail: info@3esi.com
supply chain management (SCM). Other Oildex Office Locations:
www.3esi.com
11777 Katy Freeway, Suite 350
The m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides Houston, Texas 77079
Company Bio: the total integration of information sources and
3esi is an international E&P, Software and Ser- Phone: 281-741-6300
applications including ERP, planning, schedul- Fax: 281-741-6296
vices Company committed to serving the Oil ing, functional databases, plant information
and Gas industry by creating Integrated Busi- systems, forecasting in a phased justified ap-
ness Planning and Capital Management Soft- proach. The m:ip enables and improves the use
Company Bio:
ware Solutions designed to increase efficiency Oildex is the energy industry’s leading Software
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap-
by streamlining all of the processes associated as a Service (SaaS) provider of ePayables, digital
plications = asset maximization.
with the Oil and Gas Value Chain. data, workflow, and spend analysis solutions.
With Oildex, companies can do more in less time,
Products: The m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our
and managers can get up-to-the-minute data to
esi.manage™ is an Integrated Business Planning integration, data storage/management, and
help them make well-informed decisions. That’s
and Capital Management solution that sup- business intelligence back-end. The m:owh is
why today, more than 8,400 companies depend
ports the E&P processes focused on managing based on standard and open relational data-
on Oildex to receive and process their electronic
the portfolio of opportunities (projects) from base technology.
invoices, check stubs, and joint interest bills.
the planning stages through execution and look-
backs. esi.manage™ allows companies to collect The m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user in-
Service products and descriptions:
and analyze opportunities, perform portfolio Oildex provides software solutions to companies
analysis in order to create Long Term Plans and terface including build and administration
looking to get the most out of their resources, so
Budgets. esi.manage™ offers the capability of tools. The m:exp can run as the portal or can
they can quickly and accurately process, track,
importing actuals from 3rd party applications seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
and manage critical business information. Oil-
to allow companies to prepare variance reports environments.
dex is the energy industry leader when it comes
and perform look-backs analysis. to supplying digital data, workflow, and spend
m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
analysis solutions to companies that want to
esi.manage™ improves an E&P companies busi- faces for:
boost productivity and cut costs.
ness results through superior decision making • Production planning, scheduling and blending
due to enhanced corporate agility and improved • Performance monitoring and dashboards
Proven Technology to Transform the Business
data quality; by entrenching best practices and • Data and process quality
of Energy:
key business processes and by improving work- • Information analysis, visualization, flow-
force effectiveness. sheeting, trending and reporting
Spendworks™—Oildex’s ePayables (EIPP) sys-
Featured applications/interfaces are:
tem for simplifying the way companies manage
www.info.hotims.com/33224-401 • Analyzer Monitoring
invoices and track spending.
• Blend Monitoring and Reporting
• Crude Composition Tracking
Checkstub Connect™ (CDEX)—The industry’s
BUSINESS INTEGRATION • Crude Scheduling
• GRTMPS Planning Interface
largest eRevenue data exchange which speeds-
up the processing of check stub data.
• Heat Exchanger Monitoring
• KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
JIB Connect™—Oildex’s ePayables, joint inter-
• Lab Interface and Reporting
est bill exchange for automating JIB processing
• LP Data Collector
and eliminating routine monthly data entry.
• Oil Movement Logging
• ORION Scheduling Interface
CDEX Complete™—The industry’s only eRev-
m:pro IT Consult GmbH • PIMS Planning Interface
enue solution to address time-consuming check
Kirchgasse 47 • Quality Tracking
stub detail. It eliminates hand-keying and con-
65183 Wiesbaden • Tank Calculation System
verts paper check stub data into a digital, up-
Germany loadable format.
Phone: +49 611 39843 0 www.info.hotims.com/33224-402
Fax: +49 611 39843 12 Owner Relations Connect™—Oildex’s eIn-
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com formation, owner-relations tool for providing
www.mpro-it.com secure web access to monthly statements of rev-
4 SOFTWARE REFERENCE FALL 2010

UPS TR EAM / DOW N S T R E A M S OF T WA RE R E FE REN CE Business Management
enue, production, gas balance, JIBs, frequently tical insights that can help you make more seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
asked questions, and more. profitable decisions about petroleum plays. environments.
From reserve and production data through to m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
Oildex Helps Energy Companies: full-cycle economics, petroCUBE gives you faces for:
• Save time & work smart immediate access to a full spectrum of current • Production planning, scheduling and blending
• Spot opportunities geostatistical, technical and financial informa- • Performance monitoring and dashboards
• Cut up to 70% of processing costs tion and comprehensive analytical tools. pet- • Data and process quality
• Track revenue & expenses roCUBE instantly delivers the data engineers • Information analysis, visualization, flowsheeting,
• Collaborate via the Internet and geologists need to accurately assess risk trending and reporting
and justify exploration and development pro- Featured applications/interfaces are:
www.info.hotims.com/33224-403 posals before wells are drilled. • Analyzer Monitoring
LAND AND LEASING www.info.hotims.com/33224-404 • Crude Composition Tracking
• Crude Scheduling
PLANT LIFECYCLE AND • GRTMPS Planning Interface
• Heat Exchanger Monitoring
PERFORMANCE MONITORING • KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual
• Lab Interface and Reporting
• LP Data Collector
geoLOGIC systems ltd. • PIMS Planning Interface
900, 703 6 Avenue SW • Quality Tracking
Calgary, AB • Tank Calculation System
Canada T2P 0T9 m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Phone: 403 262-1992 Kirchgasse 47 www.info.hotims.com/33224-402
Fax: 403-262-1987 65183 Wiesbaden
E-mail: sales@geologic.com Germany
www.geologic.com Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales Fax: +49 611 39843 12
E-mail: info@mpro-it.com
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. is a widely recognized
developer of high quality databases and premi- Company Bio:
um software products that offer more compre- m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft- Quest Integrity Group, LLC
hensive, relevant solutions to the Oil and Gas ware products company which enables petro- 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110
industry. geoLOGIC has provided Oil and Gas leum refining, petrochemical and other indus- Boulder, CO 80301
professionals with industry-leading, integrated tries to achieve total integration of information Phone: 303-415-1475
software and value-added data coupled with sources and applications, from business systems, Fax: 303-415-1847
unsurpassed customer support for 27 years. The ERP and supply chain management through to Email: Info@QuestIntegrity.com
company is an innovator in supplying data in plant information, production planning, sched- www.QuestIntegrity.com
more accessible and usable forms so clients can uling and operations decision support.
make better decisions—from the well head to Products: Company Bio:
senior levels of accounting and administration. m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solutions - Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate,
Products: easy and fast to implement - which truly integrate technology-enabled inspection and assessment
geoSCOUTTM is a fully integrated, Windows- the production and business applications required solutions that help companies in the process,
based exploratory system that combines presen- to manage the overall assets. pipeline and power industries increase profit-
tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools ability, reduce operational and safety risks, and
with data handling and analysis software. It m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro- improve operational planning. The company is
integrates public and proprietary data on wells, cess improvements, especially for refining sup- built upon a foundation of leading-edge science
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and ply chain management (SCM). and technology that has innovated and shaped
facilities, fields and pools, and seismic stud- industries for nearly forty years.
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for The m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and Products:
searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
applications including ERP, planning, schedul- Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-for-
ing, analysis and managing information.
ing, functional databases, plant information Service and fracture mechanics analyses on
systems, forecasting in a phased justified ap- fixed and rotating equipment. It implements
The gDC™ (geoLOGIC Data Center) is a com-
proach. The m:ip enables and improves the use the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard
prehensive online solution that integrates pub-
of best-in-class software, plant and business ap- and performs crack assessments in accordance
lic wells and land data across Western Canada.
plications = asset maximization. with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can per-
Designed on a PPDM 3.8 model, geoLOGIC
The m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our in- form Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw
value-added data is accessible through virtually
tegration, data storage/management, and business and equipment types. An advanced fracture
any petroleum industry software application.
intelligence back-end. The m:owh is based on mechanics module allows users to also per-
The gDC offers spatial data in an industry stan-
standard and open relational database technology. form limited Level 3 assessments.
dard GIS format that is accessible through most
mapping applications. The m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich, FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software
fully web-enabled common graphical user in- that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utiliz-
TM
petroCUBE is an innovative suite of prod- terface including build and administration ing an intuitive interface. Users can perform
ucts that provide unbiased, consistent statis- tools. The m:exp can run as the portal or can

Business Management U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFER
REFERENCE
ENC E
PLANT LIFECYCLE AND The standard functionality of COMPRESS Products:

includes everything needed to perform ASME VCEPlant ManagerTM is a fully-integrated
PERFORMANCE MONITORING, CONT. Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu- software tool for the lifecycle management of
lations. This includes the U.S. Customary and plant assets. It offers equipment and data man-
detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with un- Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well agement in one application and database on a
limited levels of crack mesh refinement. as a selection of Building Codes and related universal .net standard platform that encom-
Engineering Standards. passes all modules with a single IT installation
LifeQuest™ Heater software provides com- procedure.
plete analysis and remnant life assessment of To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
fired heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis uti- lowing optional modules are available: Plant Manager takes advantage of the integra-
lizing API 579. The final output is a system • ASME Section VIII, Division 2 tion of design and in-service codes and stan-
risk curve displaying remaining life in hours • Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA dards that is now becoming a focal point in the
versus probability of failure. It combines with Standard, ASME UHX rules, tube field layout industry, and can be used for the design and
heater performance monitoring and process capability and bi-directional interface with subsequent management of a plant’s reliability
modeling for extensive heater reliability man- HTRI’s Xchanger Suite) program. The design features in Plant Manager
agement. • Drafter (converts COMPRESS files into are provided in VCESage and cover pressure
AutoCAD drawings) vessel, heat exchanger, piping, and tankage de-
LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspec- • Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel sign in accordance with ASME and API codes
tion and Fitness-for-Service assessment results cost estimates) and standards. The fixed equipment reliability
through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and tools include:
assessment capabilities include standard cal- COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab- • VCESage for performing Fitness-For-
culation methods B31G, B31G Modified and breviated reports, the former suitable for use Service assessments
API 579. as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also • API RBI for inspection planning
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms. • CMLWise for tracking and analyzing
RMS™ software facilitates the implementation Once finalized, forms can be saved in PDF thickness reading data from inspections
of risk-based assessment programs in a wide or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant • IMS for developing equipment-specific,
range of industries. It addresses the needs files can be directly submitted to the National detailed inspection plans and reports
of pressure systems not met by existing reli- Board electronically. To simplify document • VCEDamage for identifying and under-
ability management programs and eliminates management, a new “Project” feature allows standing your plant’s potential damage mecha-
the high data and manpower demands of fully users to organize, view and backup files of any nisms
quantitative systems. type from within COMPRESS. • VCEIntelliJoint for troubleshooting and
eliminating flange joint leakage problems.
www.info.hotims.com/33224-405 Visit www.codeware.com to download your
complimentary COMPRESS trial software To find out more about how Plant Manager can
today. benefit your plant’s reliability program, contact
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE www.info.hotims.com/33224-406
plantmanager@equityeng.com or check our
website at www.equityeng.com.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670 The Equity Engineering Group,
Fax: (941) 927-2459 Inc.
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com 20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
www.codeware.com Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519
Company Bio: Fax: 216-283-6022
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu- E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
sively on providing the most comprehensive www.equityeng.com
software for the design and analysis of ASME Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
vessels and exchangers. Codeware’s Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper- Company Bio:
tise needed to understand the complexities of The Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
the Code rules and the practical experience re- nized leader on aging infrastructure fixed equip-
quired to implement an effective solution. ment service and support for the oil and gas
Products: industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant. improve profitability with cutting-edge soft-
From individual components to complex mul- ware and consulting strategies that maximize
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model equipment operational availability, control in-
virtually any geometry. spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.

UPS TR EAM / DOW N S T R E A M S OF T WA RE R E FE REN CE Downstream
ALARM MANAGEMENT Company Bio:
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Electric
Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
Yokogawa Electric Corporation and supply of instrumentation, process control,
World Headquarters and automation solutions. Headquartered in
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome, Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan serves a diverse customer base with market-leading
www.yokogawa.com products including analyzers, flow meters, trans-
mitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition
PAS Yokogawa Corp. of America products, meters, instruments, safety instrument-
16055 Space Center Blvd. Ste. 600 12530 West Airport Blvd, ed systems, distributed control systems and more.
Houston, TX 77062 Sugar Land, TX 77478
Phone: +1.281.286.6565 Products:
www.yokogawa.com/us CAMS—Yokogawa’s Consolidated Alarm Man-
Fax: +1.281.286.6767
Email: info@pas.com agement System (CAMS) is an alarm manage-
Yokogawa Europe B.V. ment software designed on the innovative concept
www.pas.com Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, of acquiring real-time alarms and events from a
The Netherlands variety of various automation systems - not only
Company Bio: www.yokogawa.com/eu from Distributed Control Systems (DCS) but
PAS improves the automation and operation- also Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), Super-
al effectiveness of process plants worldwide Yokogawa Engineering Asia visory and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA
through innovative software products and ex- PTE. LTD. and DAQ) and Plant Asset Management Sys-
pert consulting services. Our solutions ensure 5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, tems (PAM); then to sort and deliver only essen-
safe running operations, maximize situation Singapore tial alarms to the right person at the right time.
awareness, and reduce plant vulnerabilities. www.yokogawa.com/sg Important information such as the root cause of
Our comprehensive portfolio includes Alarm alarm occurrence and role-based guidance are
Management, Automation Genome Mapping, Yokogawa Electric China Co., LTD. also added to the displayed message.
Control Loop Performance Optimization, and 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
High-Performance Human Machine Interfaces. 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) AAASuite—AAASuite is a comprehensive alarm
Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China management system that optimizes and enhances
Products: Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 process alarms issued by control systems. AAA-
PAS pioneered the first commercially available Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 Suite improves operator performance by minimiz-
alarm management software in 1996, which ing nuisance alarms and providing timely notifica-
is still the most widely used in the industry.
PlantState Suite (PSS) software from PAS is
recognized as the only comprehensive solution
in the market addressing all requirements out-
lined in EEMUA 191 guidelines and ISA 18.2
standards. PSS is system and vendor neutral.
PSS aggregates and stores all alarm-related in-

formation and provides a broad set of analyses,
reports, and metrics that help identify the state
of the alarm system, discover improvement
opportunities, and provide powerful visualiza-
tion.
PSS Alarm Advanced Elements ensures that

plant alarm systems are equally as effective
during abnormal situations, when operators
need them the most, as they are during normal
conditions. PSS Alarm Advanced Elements
includes Alarm Shelving, Documentation and
Rationalization, Dynamic Alarming, and Audit
and Enforce applications.
PAS also developed the first Six Sigma alarm

improvement methodology and authored the
first comprehensive “how to” book for improv-
ing an alarm system. The seven-step alarm im-
provement methodology outlined in The Alarm
Management Handbook has become a best prac-
tice for alarm management practitioners world-
wide. This best practice is fully embodied in
PlantState Suite software.

7
Downstream U PSTREA M / D O WN STREA M SOFTWARE REFERENCE
ALARM MANAGEMENT, CONT. To find out more about how Plant Manager can management programs and eliminates the high
benefit your plant’s reliability program, contact data and manpower demands of fully quantita-
tion of only necessary alarms, thereby preventing plantmanager@equityeng.com or check our tive systems.
alarm flooding and enabling safe, stable and cost website at www.equityeng.com.
effective plant operations. www.info.hotims.com/33224-405
ASSET MANAGEMENT Yokogawa Electric Corporation

World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
Quest Integrity Group, LLC www.yokogawa.com
2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110
Boulder, CO 80301 Yokogawa Corp. of America
The Equity Engineering Group, Phone: 303-415-1475 12530 West Airport Blvd,
Fax: 303-415-1847 Sugar Land, TX 77478
Inc. Email: Info@QuestIntegrity.com
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200 www.yokogawa.com/us
www.QuestIntegrity.com
Shaker Heights, OH 44122
Phone: 216-283-9519 Yokogawa Europe B.V.
Fax: 216-283-6022 Company Bio: Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, The Netherlands
www.equityeng.com technology-enabled inspection and assessment www.yokogawa.com/eu
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service solutions that help companies in the process,
pipeline and power industries increase profit- Yokogawa Engineering Asia
ability, reduce operational and safety risks, and
Company Bio: improve operational planning. The company is PTE. LTD.
The Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog- built upon a foundation of leading-edge science 5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
nized leader on aging infrastructure fixed equip- and technology that has innovated and shaped Singapore
ment service and support for the oil and gas industries for nearly forty years. www.yokogawa.com/sg
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
improve profitability with cutting-edge soft- Products: Yokogawa Electric China Co.,
ware and consulting strategies that maximize Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-for-Ser-
equipment operational availability, control in- LTD.
vice and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns. and rotating equipment. It implements the 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Products: API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China
VCEPlant ManagerTM is a fully-integrated performs crack assessments in accordance with Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
software tool for the lifecycle management of the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Lev- Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
plant assets. It offers equipment and data man- el 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equip-
agement in one application and database on a ment types. An advanced fracture mechanics
Company Bio:
universal .net standard platform that encom- module allows users to also perform limited
passes all modules with a single IT installation Level 3 assessments.
procedure. Corporation, a global leader in the manufacture
FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software
that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utiliz- and supply of instrumentation, process control, and
Plant Manager takes advantage of the integra- automation solutions. Headquartered in Newnan,
ing an intuitive interface. Users can perform
tion of design and in-service codes and stan- GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America serves a
detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with un-
dards that is now becoming a focal point in the diverse customer base with market-leading products
limited levels of crack mesh refinement.
industry, and can be used for the design and including analyzers, flow meters, transmitters, con-
subsequent management of a plant’s reliability LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete trollers, recorders, data acquisition products, meters,
program. The design features in Plant Manager analysis and remnant life assessment of fired instruments, safety instrumented systems, distrib-
are provided in VCESage and cover pressure heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing uted control systems and more.
vessel, heat exchanger, piping, and tankage de- API 579. The final output is a system risk curve
sign in accordance with ASME and API codes Products:
displaying remaining life in hours versus prob- PRM™—Plant Resource Manager (PRM) is a
and standards. The fixed equipment reliability ability of failure. It combines with heater per-
tools include: real-time instrument device maintenance and
formance monitoring and process modeling for management software package that provides
• VCESage for performing Fitness-For- extensive heater reliability management.
Service assessments a platform for advanced instrument diagnos-
• API RBI for inspection planning tics. PRM is an integrated software solution
LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspec- that unifies the monitored data from intelli-
• CMLWise for tracking and analyzing tion and Fitness-for-Service assessment results
thickness reading data from inspections gent and non-intelligent field devices running
through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and within Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP and STAR-
• IMS for developing equipment-specific, assessment capabilities include standard cal-
detailed inspection plans and reports DOM control systems or as a stand-alone
culation methods B31G, B31G Modified and solution. The key feature of PRM is that it
• VCEDamage for identifying and under- API 579.
standing your plant’s potential damage mecha- provides easy access to automatically collected
nisms data from field networks such as Foundation
RMS™ software facilitates the implementation
• VCEIntelliJoint for troubleshooting and Fieldbus, and HART allowing integration,
of risk-based assessment programs in a wide
eliminating flange joint leakage problems. management and maintenance these devices
range of industries. It addresses the needs of
using a common database.
pressure systems not met by existing reliability
PRM provides integrated plant and device
performance data, maintenance records, audit
Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT
trails, device configuration with auto-device Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
detection, historic data management, param-
eter comparison, advanced device diagnostics Company Bio:
information, and access to on-line documen- Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North
tation such as device drawings, parts list and American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Elec-
manuals in a client server architecture that tric Corporation, a global leader in the manu-
provides information to multiple users within facture and supply of instrumentation, process
a plant facility. It provides the ability to adjust control, and automation solutions. Headquar- PAS
the parameters of intelligent devices online tered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation 16055 Space Center Blvd. Ste. 600
and allows comparison of the current data to of America serves a diverse customer base with Houston, TX 77062
historical data of a device. market-leading products including analyzers, Phone: +1.281.286.6565
flow meters, transmitters, controllers, record- Fax: +1.281.286.6767
Fieldmate™—FieldMate™ is an asset manage- ers, data acquisition products, meters, instru-
ment software developed for portable laptop Email: info@pas.com
ments, safety instrumented systems, distributed www.pas.com
computers that provides configuration and control systems and more.
maintenance of intelligent field devices. Field-
mate™ supports the use of open interface Field Products: Company Bio:
Device Tool (FDT) technology to facilitate Exapilot—Exapilot is a patented Advanced PAS improves the automation and operation-
the configuration and adjustment of field de- Operation Efficiency Improvement software al effectiveness of process plants worldwide
vices such as sensors and valves at production package that plant operators use to develop a through innovative software products and ex-
sites, regardless of the manufacturer or the structured methodology of operating certain pert consulting services. Our solutions ensure
communication protocols. Fieldmate™ also standard procedures. Exapilot makes it pos- safe running operations, maximize situation
supports Electronic Device Description Lan- sible to incorporate the know-how and plant awareness, and reduce plant vulnerabilities.
guage (EDDL) interface technology. operation expertise of experienced operators in Our comprehensive portfolio includes Alarm
automated plant operation procedures that en- Management, Automation Genome Mapping,
With its device navigation and device mainte- Control Loop Performance Optimization, and
nance information management features, this sure standard and uniform plant operation. By
enforcing a common and structured operating High-Performance Human Machine Interfaces.
software relieves users of the difficulties with
dealing with a variety of communication proto- methodology, Exapilot helps plants run more
efficiently and safely. Products:
cols and configuration methods from multiple Manage, leverage and make sense of the com-
manufacturers which used different configura- www.info.hotims.com/33224-409 plex configurations in, and interactions among,
tors and/or multiple configuration procedures.
COLLABORATION
AND KNOWLEDGE CAPTURE
Yokogawa Electric Corporation

World Headquarters
www.yokogawa.com
Yokogawa Corp. of America

12530 West Airport Blvd,
Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.yokogawa.com/us
Yokogawa Europe B.V.

Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort,
The Netherlands
www.yokogawa.com/eu
Yokogawa Engineering Asia

PTE. LTD.
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270,
Singapore
www.yokogawa.com/sg
Yokogawa Electric China Co.,

LTD.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
9
CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT, CONT. Products:

CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simu-
The standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
your automation systems. Gain quick access to lation Software - Includes database of chemical Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
the large and continually changing automation components, thermodynamic methods, and lations. This includes the U.S. Customary and
systems configuration databases and provide unit operations to allow steady state simulation Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
comprehensive management of change (MOC) of continuous chemical processes from lab scale as a selection of Building Codes and related
for them. Dramatically improve the productiv- to full scale. Engineering Standards.
ity of plant personnel by significantly reducing CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
the time required to find accurate and up to To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
Software—Takes your steady state simulations lowing optional modules are available:
date plant information. to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic • ASME Section VIII, Division 2
analysis of your flowsheet. The combination of • Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Stan-
PAS’ Integrity™ Software maps the Automation two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
Genome™, which is the collective configura- dard, ASME UHX rules, tube field layout
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy- capability and bi-directional interface with
tions within and among all automation systems namic simulator of choice.
in a plant. It aggregates and contextualizes plant HTRI’s Xchanger Suite)
automation configuration databases, programs, CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation • Drafter (converts COMPRESS files into
and user interfaces, and simplifies the visualiza- Software—As an add-on or stand alone pro- AutoCAD drawings)
tion of their information in context with work gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation • Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel
being performed. simulation and design easy with intuitive, op- cost estimates)
eration step based input.
COMPRESS generates both detailed and ab-
Additional layered applications for Integrity are CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
breviated reports, the former suitable for use
available to improve the productivity of plant ing Software—As an add-on or stand alone
as a calculation audit trail. COMPRESS also
personnel. Integrity Loop Sheets automatically program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
generates ASME U forms and NBIC R forms.
generates, on demand, a single loop sheet con- international standards for design and materials
Once finalized, forms can be saved in PDF
taining the full signal genealogy from instru- to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
or EDT compliant format. EDT compliant
mentation, wiring, marshalling, and through and more accurate.
files can be directly submitted to the National
the entire automation system configuration. CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net- Board electronically. To simplify document
Integrity Recon™ monitors and reports vital work Simulation Software—A subset of CC- management, a new “Project” feature allows
information and vulnerabilities about critical STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous users to organize, view and backup files of any
automation infrastructure. It provides an effec- analysis of any piping network. type from within COMPRESS.
tive means for defining and managing common CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase
operating environments (COE) within the au- Equilibria Calculation Software—A subset of Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
tomation firewall. the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD plimentary COMPRESS trial software today.
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili- www.info.hotims.com/33224-406
Integrity currently supports over 40 different au- ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
tomation systems from a multitude of vendors. of pure component and mixture physical prop-
www.info.hotims.com/33224-408 erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
AND ENGINEERING Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
Worldwide
150 Venture Drive
Codeware, Inc. College Station, TX 77845 USA
Codeware, Inc. Phone: 979-690-5050
5224 Station Way Fax: 979-690-3250
Sarasota, FL 34233 E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
Chemstations, Inc. United States www.HTRI.net
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305 Phone: (941) 927-2670 Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Houston, TX 77042 Fax: (941) 927-2459 Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Toll Free: 800-243-6223 E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com Development
Phone: 713-978-7700 www.codeware.com
Fax: 713-978-7727
Asia - Pacific
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
www.Chemstations.net Company Bio: Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu- Chiba 261-7114 Japan
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
sively on providing the most comprehensive Phone: 81-43-297-0353
software for the design and analysis of ASME Fax: 81-43-297-0354
Company Bio: vessels and exchangers. Codeware’s Austin, E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
With offices worldwide, Chemstations is a lead- Texas based development team has the exper- Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Manager
ing global supplier of process simulation soft- tise needed to understand the complexities of
ware for the following process industries; Oil the Code rules and the practical experience re-
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
& Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine The Surrey Technology Centre
quired to implement an effective solution.
Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We 40 Occam Road
currently offer several individually licensed, and Products: Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
tightly integrated, technologies to address the Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant. Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing From individual components to complex mul- Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
new process design or working in the plant. tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
virtually any geometry. Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager

India Design programs:
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B, “Indraprasth • Shell and tube heat exchangers
Complex” • Waste heat boilers
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North) • Cooling towers
Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
KRC Technologies • Steam heaters
6637 Covoy Ct.
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775 • Heat recovery steam generators
San Diego, CA 92111
HTRI.India@HTRI.net • Fluid mixers and atmospheric tanks
Toll Free: 888-467-2127
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator • Mixer designs in vertical tanks
Phone: 858-490-0028
• Vertical and horizontal storage tanks
Fax: 858-777-5462
Company Bio: • Plate-fin heat exchangers
E-mail: support@engineering-software.com
HTRI operates an international consortium • Compact heat exchangers
www.engineering-software.com
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially • Heat transfer in process vessels and
Mike Stephenson, President
relevant research and provides software tools fermenters
for design, rating, and simulation of process heat Physical properties:
Company Bio: • Steam tables (IFC-97)
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
KRC Technologies provides engineering soft- • Gas compressibility calculators (AGA-8)
range of technical publications and provides oth-
ware solutions. The company sells hundreds of • Psychrometrics
er services including contract research, software
commercial engineering software applications • Combustion analysis
development, consulting, and training.
from the company’s website. KRC Technolo- • Thermodynamic and transport properties of
Products: gies also develops custom engineering solu- over 600 common organic and inorganic com-
HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphical tions and has delivered software for the design pounds
user environment for the design, rating, and and analysis of heat exchangers, on-line six Economic evaluation:
simulation of heat transfer equipment. sigma, factory automation and valve tray de- • Cogeneration
Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per- sign software. • Flash tanks
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat Products: • Insulation
recovery units, and air preheaters. KRC Technologies develops, sells and distributes Transport:
Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. software to engineers. Our mission is to provide • Piping pressure loss
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and software solutions to increase the productivity • Pipe Networks
box heaters and the convection section of fired of engineers. For this reason, our products tran- • Duct design
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and scend most engineering disciplines. You can find • Flow calculation (nozzle, orifice, venturi)
performs combustion calculations. software on our website to solve a multitude of Structural:
engineering tasks. Some of these include: • Wind Load analysis
Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
• Snow load analysis
formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
Xist—Designs, rates, and simulates single- and
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in-
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall-
ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers.
Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed-
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. COMPRESS ™
Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and-
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
Simplify ASME VIII Code Calculations
ally using local physical properties and process
conditions.
Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral
plate heat exchangers. We have the expertise needed to understand
Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
out software; also integrated with Xist. the complexities of the Code rules and the
Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy- practical experience required to implement
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to an effective solution. Let COMPRESS be
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari- your expert assistant.
ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom-
etries it can handle.
Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver- x Intuitive interface
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to x Code rule reminders during input
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate- x ASME U and NBIC R form generation
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
tional institutions only. x New “Project” view
R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist. DOWNLOAD YOUR TRIAL SOFTWARE TODAY
www.info.hotims.com/33224-411 www.codeware.com

11
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775

CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation HTRI.India@HTRI.net
AND ENGINEERING, CONT. Software—As an add-on or stand alone pro- Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
• Single or multiple span beams gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
• Rods simulation and design easy with intuitive, op- Company Bio:
• Self supported stacks eration step based input. HTRI operates an international consortium
• Guy wire supported stack CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat- founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
• Analysis of horizontal vessels supported on ing Software—As an add-on or stand alone evant research and provides software tools for
two saddles program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple design, rating, and simulation of process heat
KRC Technologies also creates custom software international standards for design and materials transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
to various industries, including oil and gas. to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster range of technical publications and provides
These have included: and more accurate. other services including contract research, soft-
• Factory automation CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net- ware development, consulting, and training.
• On-line leak testing with six-sigma on-line work Simulation Software—A subset of CC-
analysis Products:
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphical
• Mist eliminator design analysis of any piping network.
• Valve tray design user environment for the design, rating, and
CC-FLASH Physical Properties & Phase Equi- simulation of heat transfer equipment.
• Compact heat exchanger design libria Calculation Software—A subset of the
Many products have demo versions that CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
can be downloaded from the website, Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili- formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
www.engineering-software.com. ties), this program allows rigorous calculation recovery units, and air preheaters.
of pure component and mixture physical prop- Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters.
www.info.hotims.com/33224-412 erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE). Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
www.info.hotims.com/33224-410 box heaters and the convection section of fired
DYNAMIC SIMULATION heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
AND OPTIMIZATION ENERGY MANAGEMENT Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers.
Chemstations, Inc. Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed-
2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305 Heat Transfer Research, Inc. pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
Houston, TX 77042
Worldwide Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and-
Toll Free: 800-243-6223
150 Venture Drive frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
Phone: 713-978-7700
College Station, TX 77845 USA gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
Fax: 713-978-7727
Phone: 979-690-5050 ally using local physical properties and process
E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
Fax: 979-690-3250 conditions.
www.Chemstations.net
E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
www.HTRI.net Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral
Company Bio: Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO plate heat exchangers.
With offices worldwide, Chemstations is a lead- Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Development Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
ing global supplier of process simulation soft- out software; also integrated with Xist.
ware for the following process industries; Oil Asia—Pacific
& Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine World Business Garden Marive East 14F Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy-
Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.
currently offer several individually licensed, and Chiba 261-7114 Japan It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to
tightly integrated, technologies to address the Phone: 81-43-297-0353 calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari-
needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing Fax: 81-43-297-0354 ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom-
new process design or working in the plant. E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net etries it can handle.
Products: Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr. Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver-
CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simu- EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to
lation Software—Includes database of chemical The Surrey Technology Centre design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat
components, thermodynamic methods, and 40 Occam Road exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate-
unit operations to allow steady state simulation Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K. and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa-
of continuous chemical processes from lab scale Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100 tional institutions only.
to full scale. Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101 R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis-
CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin-
Software—Takes your steady state simulations Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic ing environment with optional link to Xist.
India
analysis of your flowsheet. The combination of
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B, “Indraprasth Complex” www.info.hotims.com/33224-411
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
namic simulator of choice.
ENTERPRISE PORTAL SYSTEMS • Crude Composition Tracking
• Crude Scheduling
Company Bio:
With offices worldwide, Chemstations is a
• GRTMPS Planning Interface leading global supplier of process simulation
• Heat Exchanger Monitoring software for the following process industries;
• KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and
• Lab Interface and Reporting Fine Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals.
• LP Data Collector We currently offer several individually li-
• Oil Movement Logging censed, and tightly integrated, technologies
m:pro IT Consult GmbH • ORION Scheduling Interface to address the needs of the chemical engineer,
Kirchgasse 47 • PIMS Planning Interface whether doing new process design or working
65183 Wiesbaden • Quality Tracking in the plant.
Germany • Tank Calculation System
www.info.hotims.com/33224-402 Products:
Phone: +49 611 39843 0 CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simu-
Fax: +49 611 39843 12 lation Software—Includes database of chemical
www.mpro-it.com ONLINE MONITORING components, thermodynamic methods, and
unit operations to allow steady state simulation
AND OPTIMIZATION of continuous chemical processes from lab scale
Company Bio to full scale.
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and
software products company which enables CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
petroleum refining, petrochemical and other Software—Takes your steady state simulations
industries to achieve total integration of in- to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic
formation sources and applications, from analysis of your flowsheet. The combination of
business systems, ERP and supply chain man- Chemstations, Inc. two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
agement through to plant information, pro- 2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305 DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
duction planning, scheduling and operations Houston, TX 77042 namic simulator of choice.
decision support. Toll Free: 800-243-6223 CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
Products: Phone: 713-978-7700 Software—As an add-on or stand alone pro-
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solu- Fax: 713-978-7727 gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
tions - easy and fast to implement - which truly E-mail: sales@chemstations.net simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
integrate the production and business applica- www.Chemstations.net eration step based input.
tions required to manage the overall assets. Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro-

cess improvements, especially for refining sup-
ply chain management (SCM).
The m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justified ap-
proach. The m:ip enables and improves the use
The m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our
integration, data storage/management, and
business intelligence back-end. The m:owh is
based on standard and open relational database
technology.
The m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
fully web-enabled common graphical user in-
terface including build and administration
tools. The m:exp can run as the portal or can
seamlessly be embedded in popular web portal
environments.
m:pro provides standard applications/inter-
faces for:
• Production planning, scheduling and blending
• Performance monitoring and dashboards
• Data and process quality
• Information analysis, visualization, flowsheeting,
trending and reporting
Featured applications/interfaces are:
• Analyzer Monitoring
13
Downstream U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFERENCE
ONLINE MONITORING PLANNING, SCHEDULING Company Bio:

Haverly Systems Inc. is an independent soft-
AND OPTIMIZATION, CONT. AND BLENDING ware company that has specialized in the devel-
opment and use of optimization-related prod-
CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat- ucts and services for over four decades. Their
ing Software—As an add-on or stand alone systems are used in more than 50 countries
program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple worldwide by international and independent
international standards for design and mate- oil companies, chemical companies, and many
rials to make sizing your next heat exchanger other industrial and government entities. The
faster and more accurate. effectivenss of their products has long been rec-
ognized in the continued patronage and good-
CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net- will of their clients. The ownership has been
work Simulation Software—A subset of CC- AMI Consultants, Inc. unchanged since the company’s founding, and
STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous 4102 Tremont Ct. most senior management and technical staff
analysis of any piping network. Sugar Land, TX 77479 has been with the company for more than 15
Phone: 281-565-4745 years. This continuity in ownership, manage-
CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase Fax: 281-565-1196
Equilibria Calculation Software—A subset ment, and business specializaiton is reflected in
Email: Info@AmiConsultants.com the corporate stability, continued profitability,
of the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEM- www.AmiConsultants.com
CAD Suite products include CC-FLASH and very personal pride found in satisfying each
capabilities), this program allows rigorous client’s need for technically excellent products
Company Bio:
calculation of pure component and mix- and services.
AMI Consultant develops and markets software
ture physical properties and phase equilibria for Petroleum refinery planning and economics. Products:
(VLE, LLE, VLLE). Since the introduction of the PetroPlanSM soft- H/CAMS: a software system for the manage-
ware in 1996, AMI’s customer base has grown ment, development, analysis, and application of
www.info.hotims.com/33224-410 with installations now at over 50 sites world- crude assay data. H/CAMS determines and relates
wide. Licensees include operating and E&C the effects associated with mixing and distilling
companies as well as educational institutions. crude oils, as well as other virgin hydrocarbons.
Hundreds of varying whole crude, distillate, and
Products: residue properties are accepted, reported, corre-
PetroPlanSM is a software to simulate the whole lated, or otherwise calculated. Raw assay data is
refinery using a truly user-friendly graphic in- easily entered and results displayed through vivid
terface. Applications include: evaluation of re- graphs. These can be readily smoothed, augment-
vamp/expansion options, planning of grassroots ed, and contraasted against other properties and
Flexware, Inc. facilities, evaluation of alternative feedstocks, known references to provide the very best repre-
PO Box 110 changed product specifications and optimiza- sentation of crude behavior to applications that
Grapeville, PA 15634-0110 tion of plant operations. depend on good assay data. Correlations and
Phone: 724-527-3911 calculations-based sound engineering principles
In the simulation each refinery unit is repre-
Fax: 724-527-5701 provide users additional intelligence in determin-
sented by a block (e.g. FCC). For each block,
E-mail: sales@flexwareinc.com ing data quality and best data interpretation. H/
the prediction of product yields and properties
www.flexwareinc.com CAMS features several useful utilities that allow
is based on feed characteristics and user speci-
easy updating of existing assays with refinery labo-
fied parameters (e.g. conversion). The equa-
Company Bio: ratory or current operating data and assure accu-
tions for predicting a block’s performance are
Flexware® is focused on servicing compa- rate representations. H/CAMS may be supplied
visible to the user and are editable. Crude oil
nies interested in monitoring and improv- with one or more high quality, industry developed
cutting and specification product blending are
ing turbomachinery performance for energy crude assay libraries to supplement a user’s local
integrated into the main simulation.
conservation and capacity improvements. library and extend the application of the system.
Central to this is software development to H/COMET: the on-line version of H/CAMS
assist the rotating equipment engineer in as- which allows for the quick access and evaluation
sessing the operating equipment along with of crude oils from a large, on-line crude assay da-
training programs and supporting consult- tabase. Crudes may be easily cut, blended, com-
ing services. pared, and analyzed using advanced graphical
and computational techniques. LP optimization
Products: technology is used to calculate netback value for
Gas Flex®, first developed as a DOS program selected crude or blends of crude. Crude netback
in 1990, does gas compressor performance values may readily be determined for a user cus-
calculations using BWR (Benedict, Webb Haverly Systems, Inc. tomized set of refinery configurations.
& Rubin) equations of state. In it’s present 12 Hinchman Avenue
form, Gas Flex® “Live Analysis” will auto- Denville, NJ 07834 GRTMPS: Haverly’s premier economic opti-
matically process compressor data. Gas Flex® Phone: 973-627-1424 mization planning system. GRTMPS is used
will read raw data, process it and store results Fax: 973-625-2296 to model individual refinery and petrochemical
for trending purposes while you watch the E-mail: newjersey@haverly.com plant operations, as well as entire business enter-
results displayed on the OEM performance www.haverly.com prises, of any size and complexity, and over any
curve. The trending, including transients like Other Haverly Office Locations time horizon. It employs both advanced linear
hard startups aid troubleshooting efforts. Ventura, CA: 805-653-5355 and non-linear modeling techniques. Its non-lin-
Houston, TX: 713-776-3161 ear modeling abilities extend to cut-point optimi-
www.info.hotims.com/33224-413 St. Albans, U.K.: +44 1727 826321 zation, reformulated gasoline modeling, rigorous
Singapore: +65 9630 6364 process simulation interfacing, and investment

14
opportunity studies. Haverly also offers an ad- intelligence back-end. The m:owh is based on
vance refinery modeling platform in GRTMPS standard and open relational database technology.
structure and developed by the industry consult- The m:pro explorer (m:exp) is our feature rich,
ing firm: Turner, Mason & Company -- to assist fully web-enabled common graphical user inter-
in the development and execution of models. face including build and administration tools. The M3 Technology, Inc
H/Sched: advanced operations scheduling tools. m:exp can run as the portal or can seamlessly be 10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 380
Each H/Sched system couples superior schedule embedded in popular web portal environments. Houston, TX 77042
simulation and generation technology with state- m:pro provides standard applications/interfaces Phone: +1-713-784-8285
of-the-art graphics to provide tools with unsur- for: Fax: +1-832-553-1893
passed scheduling optimization abilities. Schedules • Production planning, scheduling and blending E-mail: m3.sales@m3tch.com
are automatically generated and optimized, using • Performance monitoring and dashboards www.m3tch.com
Haverly’s own Progressional LP technology. After • Data and process quality
reviewing informative Gantt charts, flow diagrams, • Information analysis, visualization, flowsheeting, Company Bio
inventory profiles and detail windows - schedulers trending and reporting M3 Technology is the premier supplier of supply
may directly modify these mediums to alter their chain management solutions focused on enterprise
schedules and obtain more desirable results. Featured applications/interfaces are:
• Analyzer Monitoring planning, advanced asset scheduling and optimiza-
H/Gal-XE: an expert H/Sched application • Blend Monitoring and Reporting tion solutions for the petroleum, petrochemical &
specifically designed for the optimization of • Crude Composition Tracking LNG industries. M3’s solutions capture economic
gasoline blend scheduling. Allow for fast con- • Crude Scheduling oppor-tunities and reduce the cost of managing
struction and execution of models constrained • GRTMPS Planning Interface complex facilities at the plant level, regional operat-
by operational parameters typically found in • Heat Exchanger Monitoring ing level and global enterprise level. M3 has a global
gasoline blending and distribution operations. • KPIs, Operating Envelops, Plan vs Actual network of implementation partners to provide lo-
• Lab Interface and Reporting cal consulting expertise and customer support.
• LP Data Collector Products:
• PIMS Planning Interface
• Quality Tracking
• Tank Calculation System
SIMTO™ Scheduling
m:pro IT Consult GmbH
Kirchgasse 47
65183 Wiesbaden
Germany
Phone: +49 611 39843 0
Fax: +49 611 39843 12 (AVERLY3YSTEMS)NC
(#/-%4
www.mpro-it.com
Company Bio
m:pro IT Consult is a project services and soft-
ware products company which enables petro-
leum refining, petrochemical and other indus-
tries to achieve total integration of information
sources and applications, from business systems,
Crude Oil Management Evaluation Tool
ERP and supply chain management through to
plant information, production planning, sched-
uling and operations decision support.
Revolutionary Web-Based Application
Products: With H/COMET you can:
m:pro delivers enterprise wide or point solutions -
easy and fast to implement - which truly integrate • Quickly access & evaluate crudes from a large assay database
the production and business applications required • Select crudes based on user-defined criteria
to manage the overall assets. • Compare crudes side-by-side for any desired qualities
m:pro enables, consult and assists business pro- • Re-cut and blend crudes using Haverlyʼs H/CAMS technology
cess improvements, especially for refining sup-
ply chain management (SCM).
• Determine netback values of crudes or blends for a variety of
refinery configurations.
The m:pro Integration Platform (m:ip) provides
the total integration of information sources and
applications including ERP, planning, schedul-
ing, functional databases, plant information
systems, forecasting in a phased justified ap-
proach. The m:ip enables and improves the use
The m:pro object warehouse (m:owh) is our in- Visit www.haverly.com to learn more or call us at (973) 627-1424
tegration, data storage/management, and business
15
PLANNING, SCHEDULING Intuitive and easy to use interfaces

• Provides blend performance analysis for
Versatile supply and distribution optimization
• Trade Management— make/buy/exchange
AND BLENDING, CONT. comparing schedule vs. actual, and adjusting • Cost Management—Transportation pricing,
blend correlations availability and routing
SIMTO™ Scheduling is the next generation • Blend operators can customize and configure • Inventory Management—safety stock, sea-
plant scheduling technology Gantt charts, trends and tabular view, to fully sonal changeover, turnarounds
meet individual needs • Terminal Management—right product, place,
Powerful comprehensive flowsheet modeling • Visualization of inventories and specification price and time
• Models facility connections violations improves understanding of blend- • Product Mix—material blending
• Easy to create multiple modes of unit opera- ing effects
tion Flexible, user advantage
• Models pipeline and jetty operations Fast and low cost implementation • Provides customizable presentations of the
• Handles imperfect tank mixing • Outputs standard blend recipes or transfers to supply and distribution environment
an advanced blend control system • Provides optimized solution for decision
Flexible Plant Simulator • Easy to maintain; saves manpower support
• Predicts plant inventories, compositions, • Empowers the planner/scheduler/trader to
properties, and unit yields Leverageable blend knowledge base builds make fast, accurate and profitable decisions
• Runs multi-month simulations in seconds competitive advantage • Easy to maintain; saves manpower
• Friendly and easy to use interfaces • Blend Knowledge Base contains data about
• Interactive, dynamic process flowsheet product specifications, property bonuses and Profitable: low cost, very short payback
• User configurable Gantt charts, trends and interactions, and blending methods used in Bottom-line reduction in distribution cost,
tabular view, all are fully synchronized blending optimization. right sizing terminal inventory and safety stock,
• Custom scheduling logic without programming • Easy to update blend methods to assure com- maximizes profit across the planning horizon,
pliance with government regulations. able to assure timely completion of transactions
Quick and low cost implementation
• Many customers self implement Profitable, high ROI, fast time-to-cash and transfers; empowers people to seize profit
• Easy to maintain; saves manpower opportunities.
Reduces quality giveaway, maximizes profit
Scalable Enterprise Workflow/Collaboration across the planning horizon, able to capture www.info.hotims.com/33224-416
• Users are notified of data changes detailing profit opportunities, assures timely comple-tion
who changed what, when of blends to minimize demurrage, effi-cient use
• Easy to integrate with plant and enterprise
systems using standard web services.
of human resources, empowers per-sonnel to
quickly troubleshoot profit stealing problems.
PLANT LIFECYCLE AND
• Standardized reports PERFORMANCE MONITORING
Profitable:
Today it is not enough to drive cost out of your
supply chain. SIMTO Scheduling pro-vides
you the agility to take full advantage of profit
opportunities. SIMTO™ Distribution
SIMTO™ Distribution is a supply and distri-
bution optimizer designed specifically for the
petroleum downstream industry. It is built with Quest Integrity Group, LLC
the latest software systems such as .NET and 2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110
SIMTO™ Blending SQL Server along with integration via industry Boulder, CO 80301
standard web services. SIMTO Distribution de- Phone: 303-415-1475
SIMTO™ M-Blend is a multi-period, multi- livers sustainable benefits today and in the fu- Fax: 303-415-1847
blend optimization technology for blending ture. It is part of M3’s ongoing commitment to Email: Info@QuestIntegrity.com
crude oil, gasoline, distillate, fuel oil, asphalt, our customers to develop best-in-class solutions. www.QuestIntegrity.com
petrochemical feedstock and more.
Powerful supply chain modeling system Company Bio:
M-Blend is part of the native construct of SIM-
TO Scheduling and inherits the rich capability Inventory and location modeling Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate,
and robustness of the parent. • Buy—supply locations and materials technology-enabled inspection and assessment
• Sell—demand locations and materials solutions that help companies in the process,
Powerful blend modeling • Trade/exchange—locations and materials pipeline and power industries increase profit-
• Models rundown streams, component tanks • Locations—inventory/material constraints ability, reduce operational and safety risks, and
and group blending • Point-to-point network improve operational planning. The company is
• Respects logistic and running gage con- • Logistics for point-to-point movements built upon a foundation of leading-edge science
straints and technology that has innovated and shaped
• Models multiple blenders operating separate- Material blend modeling industries for nearly forty years.
ly or in parallel • Recipes for material blending
• Supports non-linear blend correlations such • Quality specification for blending Products:
as CARBOB • Components used for blending Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-for-
• Material qualities used in blending Service and fracture mechanics analyses on
Flexible blend recipe optimization fixed and rotating equipment. It implements
• Predicts non-linear, linear and index based Route modeling the API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard
properties • pipeline and vessel routes and performs crack assessments in accordance
• Optimizes single blend and multiple blends with the BS 7910 procedure. Users can per-
Commercial modeling
• Allows priority for near term blends form Level 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw
• All cost and contract matters including tiered
• Issues component buy/sell signals and equipment types. An advanced fracture
pricing

mechanics module allows users to also per- Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu-
form limited Level 3 assessments. lations. This includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software as a selection of Building Codes and related
that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utiliz- Engineering Standards.
ing an intuitive interface. Users can perform
detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with un- To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
The Equity Engineering Group,
limited levels of crack mesh refinement. lowing optional modules are available: Inc.
• ASME Section VIII, Division 2 20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete • Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Stan- Shaker Heights, OH 44122
analysis and remnant life assessment of fired dard, ASME UHX rules, tube field layout Phone: 216-283-9519
heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing capability and bi-directional interface with Fax: 216-283-6022
API 579. The final output is a system risk curve HTRI’s Xchanger Suite) E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
displaying remaining life in hours versus prob- • Drafter (converts COMPRESS files into www.equityeng.com
ability of failure. It combines with heater per- AutoCAD drawings) Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
formance monitoring and process modeling for • Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel
extensive heater reliability management. cost estimates) Company Bio:
LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspec- The Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a rec-
tion and Fitness-for-Service assessment results ognized leader on aging infrastructure fixed
through a powerful data viewer. Analysis and equipment service and support for the oil
assessment capabilities include standard cal- and gas industry. Equity helps plants manage
culation methods B31G, B31G Modified and risk and improve profitability with cutting-
API 579. edge software and consulting strategies that
maximize equipment operational availabil-
RMS™ software facilitates the implementation files can be directly submitted to the National
ity, control inspection costs and avoid costly
of risk-based assessment programs in a wide Board electronically. To simplify document
shutdowns.
range of industries. It addresses the needs of management, a new “Project” feature allows
pressure systems not met by existing reliability users to organize, view and backup files of any Products:
management programs and eliminates the high type from within COMPRESS. VCEPlant ManagerTM is a fully-integrated
data and manpower demands of fully quantita- software tool for the lifecycle management
Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
tive systems. of plant assets. It offers equipment and data
plimentary COMPRESS trial software today. management in one application and database
www.info.hotims.com/33224-406 on a universal .net standard platform that en-
compasses all modules with a single IT instal-
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
AND REPAIR
Codeware, Inc.
Codeware, Inc.
5224 Station Way
Sarasota, FL 34233
United States
Phone: (941) 927-2670
Fax: (941) 927-2459
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com
www.codeware.com
Company Bio:
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu-
sively on providing the most comprehensive
software for the design and analysis of ASME
vessels and exchangers. Codeware’s Austin,
Texas based development team has the exper-
tise needed to understand the complexities of
the Code rules and the practical experience re-
Products:
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant.
From individual components to complex mul-
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model
virtually any geometry.
The standard functionality of COMPRESS
includes everything needed to perform ASME
17
Downstream U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFERENCE
PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE Yokogawa Electric China Co., PROCESS ENGINEERING

LTD.
AND REPAIR, CONT. 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre AND SIMULATION
lation procedure. 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road)
Plant Manager takes advantage of the integra- Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
tion of design and in-service codes and stan- Fax: 86-21-5211-0299
dards that is now becoming a focal point in the
industry, and can be used for the design and Company Bio:
subsequent management of a plant’s reliability Yokogawa Corporation of America is the Chemstations, Inc.
program. The design features in Plant Manager North American unit of US $4 billion Yokoga- 2901 Wilcrest, Suite 305
are provided in VCESage and cover pressure wa Electric Corporation, a global leader in the Houston, TX 77042
vessel, heat exchanger, piping, and tankage de- manufacture and supply of instrumentation, Toll Free: 800-243-6223
sign in accordance with ASME and API codes process control, and automation solutions. Phone: 713-978-7700
and standards. The fixed equipment reliability Headquartered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Fax: 713-978-7727
tools include: Corporation of America serves a diverse cus- E-mail: sales@chemstations.net
• VCESage for performing Fitness-For- tomer base with market-leading products www.Chemstations.net
Service assessments including analyzers, flow meters, transmit- Steve Brown, V.P. Sales/Marketing
• API RBI for inspection planning ters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition
• CMLWise for tracking and analyzing products, meters, instruments, safety instru- Company Bio:
thickness reading data from inspections mented systems, distributed control systems With offices worldwide, Chemstations is a lead-
• IMS for developing equipment-specific, and more. ing global supplier of process simulation soft-
detailed inspection plans and reports ware for the following process industries; Oil
• VCEDamage for identifying and under- Products: & Gas, Petrochemicals, Chemicals, and Fine
standing your plant’s potential damage mecha- CENTUM VP™—CENTUM VP is an inte- Chemicals, including Pharmaceuticals. We
nisms grated production control system used to man- currently offer several individually licensed, and
• VCEIntelliJoint for troubleshooting and age and control the operation of plants. The tightly integrated, technologies to address the
eliminating flange joint leakage problems. highly acclaimed, extremely reliable integrated needs of the chemical engineer, whether doing
production control system combines rugged new process design or working in the plant.
To find out more about how Plant Manager can control station and remote I/O hardware with
a scalable Windows XP/VISTA-based op- Products:
benefit your plant’s reliability program, contact CC-STEADY STATE Chemical Process Simula-
plantmanager@equityeng.com or check our eration. Designed to handle information and
control from small-scale facilities to the very tion Software - Includes database of chemical com-
website at www.equityeng.com. ponents, thermodynamic methods, and unit opera-
largest of plants, the CENTUM VP provides
www.info.hotims.com/33224-407 a highly scalable, easy to operate, engineer, tions to allow steady state simulation of continuous
and maintain, high performance automation chemical processes from lab scale to full scale.
platform. The system architecture includes a CC-DYNAMICS Dynamic Process Simulation
PROCESS CONTROL AND 1 GB control and information highway utiliz-
ing Yokogawa’s deterministic VNet protocol
Software - Takes your steady state simulations
to the next level of fidelity to allow dynamic
INFORMATION SYSTEMS over Ethernet that provides built-in security
for critical communications. CENTUM VP is
analysis of your flowsheet. The combination of
two pieces of software, CC-ReACS and CC-
an open platform for control and information DCOLUMN make CC-DYNAMICS the dy-
providing high performance with low cost of namic simulator of choice.
ownership and a seamless technology migra- CC-BATCH Batch Distillation Simulation
tion to its installed base. Software - As an add-on or stand alone pro-
Yokogawa Electric Corporation gram, CC-BATCH makes batch distillation
World Headquarters ExaQuantum™—Exaquantum is an intelligent simulation and design easy with intuitive, op-
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome, and scaleable Plant Information Management eration step based input.
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan System that provides a platform for collecting,
www.yokogawa.com storing and displaying current and historical CC-THERM Heat Exchanger Design & Rat-
data from production equipment. It’s histo- ing Software - As an add-on or stand alone
rian software processes and stores process data, program, CC-THERM makes use of multiple
Yokogawa Corp. of America international standards for design and materials
12530 West Airport Blvd, alarms and events acquired from the produc-
tion control system through a standard OPC to make sizing your next heat exchanger faster
Sugar Land, TX 77478 and more accurate.
www.yokogawa.com/us interface. Plant operational performance can
be monitored and analyzed using this data as CC-SAFETY NET Piping & safety relief Net-
Yokogawa Europe B.V. it is an enabling platform for production man- work Simulation Software - A subset of CC-
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, agement applications like data reconciliation, STEADY STATE, this program allows rigorous
The Netherlands production accounting, performance monitor- analysis of any piping network.
www.yokogawa.com/eu ing, environmental monitoring, and operations CC-FLASH Physical Propertieis & Phase
electronic logbook. Exaquantum also enables Equilibria Calculation Software - A subset of
supervisory enterprise applications to be able to
Yokogawa Engineering Asia share this data.
the CHEMCAD Suite (all of the CHEMCAD
Suite products include CC-FLASH capabili-
PTE. LTD. ties), this program allows rigorous calculation
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, www.info.hotims.com/33224-409
of pure component and mixture physical prop-
Singapore erties and phase equilibria (VLE, LLE, VLLE).
www.yokogawa.com/sg
18
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
Codeware, Inc. India
Codeware, Inc. C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
5224 Station Way “Indraprasth Complex”
Sarasota, FL 34233 Heat Transfer Research, Inc. Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
United States Worldwide Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
Phone: (941) 927-2670 150 Venture Drive Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
Fax: (941) 927-2459 College Station, TX 77845 USA HTRI.India@HTRI.net
E-mail: inquiries@codeware.com Phone: 979-690-5050 Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
www.codeware.com Fax: 979-690-3250
www.HTRI.net Company Bio:
Company Bio: HTRI operates an international consortium
Since 1985, Codeware has focused exclu- Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
sively on providing the most comprehensive evant research and provides software tools for
software for the design and analysis of ASME Development
design, rating, and simulation of process heat
vessels and exchangers. Codeware’s Austin, transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
Texas based development team has the exper-
Asia—Pacific
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. range of technical publications and provides
tise needed to understand the complexities of other services including contract research, soft-
World Business Garden Marive East 14F
the Code rules and the practical experience re- ware development, consulting, and training.
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
Chiba 261-7114 Japan Products:
Products: Phone: 81-43-297-0353 HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphical
Let COMPRESS be your expert assistant. Fax: 81-43-297-0354 user environment for the design, rating, and
From individual components to complex mul- E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net simulation of heat transfer equipment.
tiple diameter towers, COMPRESS can model Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
virtually any geometry.
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
The standard functionality of COMPRESS The Surrey Technology Centre recovery units, and air preheaters.
includes everything needed to perform ASME 40 Occam Road Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters.
Section VIII, Division 1 pressure vessel calcu- Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
lations. This includes the U.S. Customary and
Metric Editions of Section II, Part D as well
as a selection of Building Codes and related
Engineering Standards.
To tailor COMPRESS to your needs, the fol-
lowing optional modules are available:
• ASME Section VIII, Division 2
• Heat Exchangers (includes TEMA Standard,
ASME UHX rules, tube field layout capabil-
ity and bi-directional interface with HTRI’s
Xchanger Suite)
• Drafter (converts COMPRESS files into Au-
toCAD drawings)
• Coster (creates Excel compatible vessel cost
estimates)
files can be directly submitted to the National
Board electronically. To simplify document
management, a new “Project” feature allows
users to organize, view and backup files of any
type from within COMPRESS.
Visit www.codeware.com to download your com-
plimentary COMPRESS trial software today.

19
Downstream U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFER ENC E
PROCESS ENGINEERING ment service and support for the oil and gas Phone: 81-43-297-0353
industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and Fax: 81-43-297-0354
AND SIMULATION, CONT. improve profitability with cutting-edge soft- E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
ware and consulting strategies that maximize Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
box heaters and the convection section of fired equipment operational availability, control in-
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns. EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
performs combustion calculations. The Surrey Technology Centre
Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
Products: 40 Occam Road
VCEPlant ManagerTM is a fully-integrated Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
software tool for the lifecycle management of Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Xist—Designs, rates, and simulates single- and plant assets. It offers equipment and data man- Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in- agement in one application and database on a HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall- universal .net standard platform that encom- Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers. passes all modules with a single IT installation
Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed- procedure. India
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
Plant Manager takes advantage of the integra- “Indraprasth Complex”
Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and- tion of design and in-service codes and stan- Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro- dards that is now becoming a focal point in the Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu- industry, and can be used for the design and Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
ally using local physical properties and process subsequent management of a plant’s reliability HTRI.India@HTRI.net
conditions. program. The design features in Plant Manager Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral are provided in VCESage and cover pressure
plate heat exchangers. vessel, heat exchanger, piping, and tankage de- Company Bio:
Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay- sign in accordance with ASME and API codes HTRI operates an international consortium
out software; also integrated with Xist. and standards. The fixed equipment reliability founded in 1962 that conducts industrially
tools include: relevant research and provides software tools
Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy- • VCESage for performing Fitness-For- for design, rating, and simulation of process
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. Service assessments heat transfer equipment. HTRI also produc-
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to • API RBI for inspection planning es a wide range of technical publications and
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari- • CMLWise for tracking and analyzing provides other services including contract
ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom- thickness reading data from inspections research, software development, consulting,
etries it can handle. • IMS for developing equipment-specific, and training.
Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver- detailed inspection plans and reports
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to • VCEDamage for identifying and under- Products:
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat standing your plant’s potential damage mecha- HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphical
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate- nisms user environment for the design, rating, and
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa- • VCEIntelliJoint for troubleshooting and simulation of heat transfer equipment.
tional institutions only. eliminating flange joint leakage problems. Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis- To find out more about how Plant Manager can formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin- benefit your plant’s reliability program, contact recovery units, and air preheaters.
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work- plantmanager@equityeng.com or check our
ing environment with optional link to Xist. Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters.
website at www.equityeng.com. Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and
www.info.hotims.com/33224-407 box heaters and the convection section of fired
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and
performs combustion calculations.
REFINING, PETROCHEMICAL Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
AND GAS PROCESSING formance of hairpin heat exchangers.
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers.
Worldwide Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed-
150 Venture Drive pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers.
The Equity Engineering Group, College Station, TX 77845 USA
Inc. Phone: 979-690-5050 Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and-
20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200 Fax: 979-690-3250 frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro-
Shaker Heights, OH 44122 E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net gram, each plate channel is calculated individu-
Phone: 216-283-9519 www.HTRI.net ally using local physical properties and process
Fax: 216-283-6022 Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO conditions.
E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral
www.equityeng.com Development
plate heat exchangers.
Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service Asia—Pacific
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay-
Company Bio: World Business Garden Marive East 14F out software; also integrated with Xist.
The Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog- Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy-
nized leader on aging infrastructure fixed equip- Chiba 261-7114 Japan sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle.

It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to assets and inventories, inherits and synchro- Service Oriented Architecture enables collabo-
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari- nizes with multi-plant scheduling models ration across the entire enterprise. Recently a
ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom- SIMTO user said, “Thanks for this GREAT
etries it can handle. SIMTO Integration Depot provides integra- tool. We are in preparation for a turnaround and
tion with the plant information system, LIMS, without this amazing software I would be totally
Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver- oil movements, plant LP planning, advanced lost.”
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to optimization process models, crude assay sys-
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat tem, and ERP for crude nominations, and is Benefits:
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate- made easy and robust through the use of web SIMTO Refining produces benefits of over
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa- services standards and a multitier architecture. $11–18 million for a 200,000 bpd high-con-
tional institutions only. version refinery or about 15–25¢/bbl.
User Experience:
R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis- SIMTO Refining is used by planning, schedu- www.info.hotims.com/33224-416
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin- ing and operating personnel. The soft-ware’s
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work-
ing environment with optional link to Xist.
M3 Technology, Inc
Introducing
VCEPlant
10375 Richmond Ave., Suite 380
Houston, TX 77042
Phone: +1-713-784-8285
Fax: +1-832-553-1893
E-mail: m3.sales@m3tch.com
www.m3tch.com
Manager
Company Bio
M3 Technology is the premier supplier of sup-
ply chain management solutions focused on
enterprise planning, advanced asset schedul-
ing and optimization solutions for the petro-
leum, petrochemical & LNG industries. M3’s
solutions capture economic oppor-tunities and
reduce the cost of managing complex facilities
at the plant level, regional operating level and
global enterprise level. M3 has a global network
of implementation partners to provide local
consulting expertise and customer support. Life Cycle
Products:
Management
SIMTO™ Refining
on a
Single Platform
SIMTO Refining is a comprehensive solution
for refinery planning, scheduling and blending
that includes:
SIMTO Scheduling schedules all pipeline and
tank transfers, crude oil receipts, process unit
operation, product run downs, product single
For more information, contact
blend optimization and shipment plantmanager@equityeng.com
SIMTO M-Blend™ provides multi-period
blend optimization including rundown blend- www.equityeng.com
ing for gasoline, distillates, fuel oil, other refin-
ing products, crude oil that blends from vessels,
pipelines & tanks with or without a separate
crude feed tank
SIMTO Dock Manager calculates and visual-
izes demurrage, automatically schedules vessels
and berths/jetties
SIMTO Global manages distributed refining
21
SIS / SAFETY SYSTEMS TRAINING

Yokogawa Electric Corporation
World Headquarters
www.yokogawa.com
exida Yokogawa Corp. of America The Equity Engineering Group,
64 North Main Street
Sellersville, PA 18960 12530 West Airport Blvd, Inc.
Phone: 215-453-1720 Sugar Land, TX 77478 20600 Chagrin Blvd., Suite 1200
Fax: 215-257-1657 www.yokogawa.com/us Shaker Heights, OH 44122
E-mail: Info@exida.com Phone: 216-283-9519
www.exida.com Yokogawa Europe B.V. Fax: 216-283-6022
Iwan van Beurden, Senior Safety Engineer, Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, E-mail: gcalvarado@eng.com
Iwan.vanbeurden@exida.com The Netherlands www.equityeng.com
www.yokogawa.com/eu Greg Alvarado, VP Sales and Client Service
Company Bio:
exida is an engineering consulting firm special- Yokogawa Engineering Asia Company Bio:
izing in safety critical / high availability auto- PTE. LTD. The Equity Engineering Group, Inc. is a recog-
mation systems, control system security, and 5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, nized leader on aging infrastructure fixed equip-
alarm management. Core competencies in de- Singapore ment service and support for the oil and gas
sign, analysis, implementation, operation, and www.yokogawa.com/sg industry. Equity helps plants manage risk and
maintenance of critical automation systems, improve profitability with cutting-edge soft-
along with expertise in the application of the ware and consulting strategies that maximize
Yokogawa Electric China Co., equipment operational availability, control in-
IEC 61508 and IEC 61511 / ISA 84 functional
safety standards, has allowed exida to develop LTD. spection costs and avoid costly shutdowns.
an extensive suite of software tools that assist in 22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
the implementation of the Safety Lifecycle. 31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) Products:
Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China VCEPlant ManagerTM is a fully-integrated
Products: Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 software tool for the lifecycle management of
exSILentia® Integrated Safety Lifecycle Suite: Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 plant assets. It offers equipment and data man-
The exSILentia® integrated toolset helps tackle agement in one application and database on a
three of the most important steps in the safety Company Bio: universal .net standard platform that encom-
lifecycle: Safety Integrity Level (SIL) selection, Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North passes all modules with a single IT installation
Safety Requirements Specification, and SIL American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Elec- procedure.
verification. exSILentia lets the user define a tric Corporation, a global leader in the manu-
project consisting of one or more Safety In- facture and supply of instrumentation, process Plant Manager takes advantage of the integra-
strumented Functions. It helps you manage control, and automation solutions. Headquar- tion of design and in-service codes and stan-
project documentation through easy report tered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation dards that is now becoming a focal point in the
generation and viewing of reports in Microsoft of America serves a diverse customer base with industry, and can be used for the design and
Word. Sharing data for multi-person projects, market-leading products including analyzers, subsequent management of a plant’s reliability
for independent review, or for input into other flow meters, transmitters, controllers, record- program. The design features in Plant Manager
lifecycle tools (e.g. PHA), is easy with the built- ers, data acquisition products, meters, instru- are provided in VCESage and cover pressure
in exSILentia import/ export functionality. ments, safety instrumented systems, distributed vessel, heat exchanger, piping, and tankage de-
control systems and more. sign in accordance with ASME and API codes
exSILentia provides fully customizable SIL se- and standards. The fixed equipment reliability
Products: tools include:
lection options like risk graph, hazard matrix,
ProSafe-RS™—ProSafe-RS is an integrated • VCESage for performing Fitness-For-
and frequency based targets. In addition, a com-
safety instrumented system (SIS) designed Service assessments
plete SIF SRS template ensures completeness
for such applications as emergency shutdown • API RBI for inspection planning
in requirements definition. exSILentia contains
(ESD), Fire and Gas (F&G), Boiler manage- • CMLWise for tracking and analyzing
the most comprehensive SIL verification pro-
ment (BMS). It provides safe, reliable and avail- thickness reading data from inspections
gram on the market, SILver, allowing extensive
able control without compromise and is certi- • IMS for developing equipment-specific,
Safety Instrumented Function definition, and
fied by the German certification organization, detailed inspection plans and reports
an IEC 61508-approved calculation engine
Technische Üeberwachungs-Verein (TÜV) to • VCEDamage for identifying and under-
based on the Markov Modeling technique. Fi-
meet Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 as specified standing your plant’s potential damage mecha-
nally exSILentia includes a built-in reliability
in IEC 61508. An integral feature is that it nisms
database from the best-selling Safety Equip-
can be combined with Yokogawa’s CENTUM • VCEIntelliJoint for troubleshooting and
ment Reliability Handbook (SERH), speeding
VP DCS system that allows all information to eliminating flange joint leakage problems.
up the process of SIL verification by allowing
be combined into one screen integrating alarms
users to select equipment items directly from
and events, tag data onto graphics and trends. To find out more about how Plant Manager can
the database without having to manually enter
With ProSafe-RS, the safety-instrumented sys- benefit your plant’s reliability program, contact
reliability data. For more information, please
tem uses the common DCS network for safety plantmanager@equityeng.com or check our
visit www.exSILentia.com.
communications—with absolute integrity. website at www.equityeng.com.

UPS TR EAM / DOW N S T R E A M S OF T WA RE R E FE REN CE Upstream
ALARM MANAGEMENT process alarms issued by control systems. AAA-
Suite improves operator performance by mini-
readers and additional Automatic Identifica-
tion and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies
mizing nuisance alarms and providing timely and consulting services to provide a complete
notification of only necessary alarms, thereby solution for all asset tracking needs even under
preventing alarm flooding and enabling safe, the harsh conditions of drilling, subsea and in-
stable and cost effective plant operations. dustrial operations.
Yokogawa Electric Corporation www.info.hotims.com/33224-409
DynaCap Asset Tracking Software: Configu-
World Headquarters
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome, rable asset tracking system manages operational
www.yokogawa.com
ASSET MANAGEMENT assets for increased efficiency, risk mitigation
and regulatory compliance. DynaCap captures
any type of data that may be needed, includ-
ing asset location, dimension, manufacturer
Yokogawa Corp. of America specifications, maintenance and inspections.
12530 West Airport Blvd, The System can serve as an enterprise system
Sugar Land, TX 77478 or can interface with in-house or leading 3rd
www.yokogawa.com/us party ERP/EAM systems such as Maximo, SAP
Merrick Systems, Inc. and others. Providing access in near-real time to
Yokogawa Europe B.V. 4801 Woodway, Suite 200E vital asset information across the organization,
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, Houston, TX 77056 DynaCap allows companies to make informed
The Netherlands Toll Free: 800-842-8389 decisions on asset use and re-use, manage as-
www.yokogawa.com/eu Phone: 713-579-3400 sets efficiently, reduce inventory, downtime and
Fax: 713-579-3499 operational cost and reduce the risk of cata-
Yokogawa Engineering Asia E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com strophic failure, improving the safety of both
www.MerrickSystems.com operations and people.
PTE. LTD. Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, RFID features include:
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
Singapore • Asset tracking solution includes rugged
www.yokogawa.com/sg Company Bio: RFID tags, intrinsically safe (I.S.) or non-I.S.
Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most mobile or fixed readers, software, complementa-
Yokogawa Electric China Co., robust software and hardware solutions ad- ry technologies and consulting services for proj-
LTD. dressing production operations, engineering ect scoping, management and implementation
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry • A suite of fit-for-purpose, durable and
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) expertise and innovative technologies, Merrick rugged RFID tags and mounting methods
Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China is committed to delivering best of breed solu- for different components including drill pipe,
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 tions to improve production operations, help- HWDP, subs, drill collars, bits, risers, flow
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 ing companies extend oil and gas producing as- irons, casing, production tubing, safety equip-
set life, lower lifting costs, increase production ment and any other downhole, sub-sea and
and optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated surface equipment components that requires
Company Bio: tracking
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North applications, installed or hosted (Software as a
Service), include real-time surveillance and op- • Tags are rated for sustained temperatures
timization; field operations management; field up to 200C (400F) and pressures up to 2070
data capture; hydrocarbon production account- bar (30,000 psi), expected under harsh drilling
and supply of instrumentation, process control,
ing; mobile computing for field and drilling and operating conditions
and automation solutions. Headquartered in
operations and ruggedized RFID for drilling • Tags can be installed during the compo-
Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America
and asset management. nent manufacturing process or retrofitted in the
serves a diverse customer base with market-leading
field
products including analyzers, flow meters, trans-
Products: • RFID data is linked to corporate-wide
mitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition
RFID Diamond Tags: Industrial, rugged, pat- asset management, maintenance management
products, meters, instruments, safety instrument-
ented Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and ERP/EAM systems including Merrick’s
ed systems, distributed control systems and more.
tags that survive extreme environmental condi- DynaCap software or any in-house asset track-
Products: tions including high impact, vibration, corro- ing system.
CAMS—Yokogawa’s Consolidated Alarm Man- sion, sustained temperatures up to 200C (400F)
agement System (CAMS) is an alarm manage- and pressures up to 2070 bar (30,000 psi) and www.info.hotims.com/33224-418
ment software designed on the innovative concept are readable through thick layers of drilling
of acquiring real-time alarms and events from a mud, for tracking surface, subsurface and sub-
variety of various automation systems - not only sea drilling and industrial assets. The tag suite
from Distributed Control Systems (DCS) but includes various durable and rugged tags and
also Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS), Super- mounting methods for different components Yokogawa Electric Corporation
visory and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA including drill pipe, HWDP, subs, drill collars, World Headquarters
and DAQ) and Plant Asset Management Sys- bits, risers, flow iron, casing, production tub- 9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome,
tems (PAM); then to sort and deliver only essen- ing, safety equipment and more. The tags al- Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan
tial alarms to the right person at the right time. low to uniquely identify, trace and document www.yokogawa.com
Important information such as the root cause of high-value assets for location, measurements,
alarm occurrence and role-based guidance are maintenance, use, inspection history and certi- Yokogawa Corp. of America
also added to the displayed message. fications. The RFID Diamond Tags are part of 12530 West Airport Blvd,
AAASuite—AAASuite is a comprehensive alarm Merrick’s Asset Tracking system which includes Sugar Land, TX 77478
management system that optimizes and enhances the DynaCap software, rugged mobile or fixed www.yokogawa.com/us

Upstream U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFER ENC E
ASSET MANAGEMENT, CONT. face Field Device Tool (FDT) technology to The gDC offers spatial data in an industry stan-
Yokogawa Europe B.V. facilitate the configuration and adjustment of dard GIS format that is accessible through most
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, field devices such as sensors and valves at pro- mapping applications.
The Netherlands duction sites, regardless of the manufacturer
www.yokogawa.com/eu or the communication protocols. Fieldmate™ petroCUBETM is an innovative suite of products
also supports Electronic Device Description that provide unbiased, consistent statistical in-
Language (EDDL) interface technology. sights that can help you make more profitable
Yokogawa Engineering Asia decisions about petroleum plays. From reserve
PTE. LTD. With its device navigation and device mainte- and production data through to full-cycle eco-
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, nance information management features, this nomics, petroCUBE gives you immediate access
Singapore software relieves users of the difficulties with to a full spectrum of current geostatistical, tech-
www.yokogawa.com/sg dealing with a variety of communication proto- nical and financial information and comprehen-
cols and configuration methods from multiple sive analytical tools. petroCUBE instantly deliv-
manufacturers which used different configura- ers the data engineers and geologists need to
Yokogawa Electric China Co., tors and/or multiple configuration procedures. accurately assess risk and justify exploration and
LTD. www.info.hotims.com/33224-409 development proposals before wells are drilled.
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) www.info.hotims.com/33224-404
DATA MANAGEMENT
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 DATA VISUALIZATION
Company Bio:
and supply of instrumentation, process control,
and automation solutions. Headquartered in geoLOGIC systems ltd.
Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation of America 900, 703 6 Avenue SW geoLOGIC systems ltd.
serves a diverse customer base with market-leading Calgary, AB 900, 703 6 Avenue SW
products including analyzers, flow meters, trans- Canada T2P 0T9 Calgary, AB
mitters, controllers, recorders, data acquisition Phone: 403 262-1992 Canada T2P 0T9
products, meters, instruments, safety instrument- Fax: 403-262-1987 Phone: 403 262-1992
ed systems, distributed control systems and more. E-mail: sales@geologic.com Fax: 403-262-1987
www.geologic.com E-mail: sales@geologic.com
Products: Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales www.geologic.com
PRM—Plant Resource Manager (PRM) is a Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
real-time instrument device maintenance and Company Bio:
management software package that provides a geoLOGIC systems ltd. is a widely recognized
platform for advanced instrument diagnostics. Company Bio:
developer of high quality databases and premi- geoLOGIC systems ltd. is a widely recognized
PRM is an integrated software solution that um software products that offer more compre-
unifies the monitored data from intelligent and developer of high quality databases and premi-
hensive, relevant solutions to the Oil and Gas um software products that offer more compre-
non-intelligent field devices running within industry. geoLOGIC has provided Oil and Gas
Yokogawa’s CENTUM VP and STARDOM hensive, relevant solutions to the Oil and Gas
professionals with industry-leading, integrated industry. geoLOGIC has provided Oil and Gas
control systems or as a stand-alone solution. The software and value-added data coupled with
key feature of PRM is that it provides easy access professionals with industry-leading, integrated
unsurpassed customer support for 27 years. The software and value-added data coupled with
to automatically collected data from field net- company is an innovator in supplying data in
works such as Foundation Fieldbus, and HART unsurpassed customer support for 27 years. The
more accessible and usable forms so clients can company is an innovator in supplying data in
allowing integration, management and mainte- make better decisions—from the well head to
nance these devices using a common database. more accessible and usable forms so clients can
senior levels of accounting and administration. make better decisions—from the well head to
PRM provides integrated plant and device Products: senior levels of accounting and administration.
performance data, maintenance records, geoSCOUTTM is a fully integrated, Windows-
audit trails, device configuration with auto- Products:
based exploratory system that combines presen- geoSCOUTTM is a fully integrated, Windows-
device detection, historic data management, tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
parameter comparison, advanced device di- based exploratory system that combines presen-
with data handling and analysis software. It tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
agnostics information, and access to on-line integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
documentation such as device drawings, with data handling and analysis software. It
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
parts list and manuals in a client server archi- facilities, fields and pools, and seismic stud-
tecture that provides information to multiple well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for facilities, fields and pools, and seismic stud-
users within a plant facility. It provides the searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
ability to adjust the parameters of intelligent ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for
ing, analysis and managing information. searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
devices online and allows comparison of the
current data to historical data of a device. ing, analysis and managing information.
Fieldmate™—FieldMate™ is an asset manage- prehensive online solution that integrates pub- The gDC™ (geoLOGIC Data Center) is a com-
ment software developed for portable lap- lic wells and land data across Western Canada. prehensive online solution that integrates pub-
top computers that provides configuration Designed on a PPDM 3.8 model, geoLOGIC lic wells and land data across Western Canada.
and maintenance of intelligent field devices. value-added data is accessible through virtually Designed on a PPDM 3.8 model, geoLOGIC
Fieldmate™ supports the use of open inter- any petroleum industry software application. value-added data is accessible through virtually

any petroleum industry software application. Company Bio: lighting and light reflection, and change the
The gDC offers spatial data in an industry stan- PIXOTEC, LLC specializes in the develop- center of rotation of your data image.
dard GIS format that is accessible through most ment of software for the analysis of com-
mapping applications. Pricing for Slicer Dicer starts at only $495. Go
plex data in three or more dimensions. Dr.
to our web site, SlicerDicer.com, to download
David Lucas, the originator of Slicer Dicer,
petroCUBETM is an innovative suite of products a full-featured demo that is limited only by a
heads the software development efforts and
that provide unbiased, consistent statistical in- 15-day trial period. Low-cost upgrades from
is co-owner of PIXOTEC. Slicer Dicer® and
sights that can help you make more profitable previous versions of Slicer Dicer are also avail-
its precursors have been under development
decisions about petroleum plays. From reserve able from the SlicerDicer.com web site.
since the late 80s.
and production data through to full-cycle eco-
nomics, petroCUBE gives you immediate access Products: www.info.hotims.com/33224-419
to a full spectrum of current geostatistical, tech- Slicer Dicer—Volumetric Data Visualization
nical and financial information and comprehen-
sive analytical tools. petroCUBE instantly deliv-
Software for Windows, is designed for geosci-
entists and engineers involved with complex
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION
ers the data engineers and geologists need to
accurately assess risk and justify exploration and
data defined in three or more dimensions. This
easy-to-use tool is employed for the analysis
AND ENGINEERING
development proposals before wells are drilled. of seismic data and geological model outputs.
www.info.hotims.com/33224-404 It has users in over 50 countries. The latest
version of Slicer Dicer, v5, includes 3VOTM
Slicer Dicer’s powerful new 3D viewer. It
simplifies rotating, zooming, and other ma-
nipulations of your data scene, all by simply
moving your mouse.
Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
With Slicer Dicer, you can explore your mul- Worldwide
PIXOTEC, LLC tidimensional volume data visually by “slicing 150 Venture Drive
15917 SE Fairwood Blvd. and dicing” to create arbitrary orthogonal and College Station, TX 77845 USA
Renton, WA 98058 US oblique slices, rectilinear blocks and cutouts, Phone: 979-690-5050
Phone: 425-255-0789 isosurfaces, and projected volumes. You can Fax: 979-690-3250
Fax: 425-917-0104 generate animation sequences featuring contin- E-mail: HTRI@HTRI.net
E-mail: info@slicerdicer.com uous rotation, moving slices, blocks, paramet- www.HTRI.net
www.slicerdicer.com ric variation (time animation), oblique slice ro- Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Skip Echert, Director of Marketing tation, and varying transparency. Use the new Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
3VOTM viewer to easily rotate, zoom, control Development
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25
DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral

plate heat exchangers.
prehensive online solution that integrates pub-
AND ENGINEERING, CONT. Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay- lic wells and land data across Western Canada.
out software; also integrated with Xist. Designed on a PPDM 3.8 model, geoLOGIC
Asia—Pacific value-added data is accessible through virtually
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy- any petroleum industry software application.
World Business Garden Marive East 14F sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. The gDC offers spatial data in an industry stan-
Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to dard GIS format that is accessible through most
Chiba 261-7114 Japan calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari- mapping applications.
Phone: 81-43-297-0353 ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom-
Fax: 81-43-297-0354 etries it can handle. petroCUBETM is an innovative suite of products
E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver- that provide unbiased, consistent statistical in-
Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr. sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to sights that can help you make more profitable
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat decisions about petroleum plays. From reserve
EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate- and production data through to full-cycle eco-
The Surrey Technology Centre and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa- nomics, petroCUBE gives you immediate access
40 Occam Road tional institutions only. to a full spectrum of current geostatistical, tech-
Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K. nical and financial information and comprehen-
Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100 R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis- sive analytical tools. petroCUBE instantly deliv-
Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101 tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin- ers the data engineers and geologists need to
HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work- accurately assess risk and justify exploration and
Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager ing environment with optional link to Xist. development proposals before wells are drilled.
India www.info.hotims.com/33224-411 www.info.hotims.com/33224-404
C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
“Indraprasth Complex”
Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
EXPLORATION FIELD DATA CAPTURE
Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
HTRI.India@HTRI.net
Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Company Bio:
HTRI operates an international consortium Merrick Systems, Inc.
founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel- geoLOGIC systems ltd. 4801 Woodway, Suite 200E
evant research and provides software tools for 900, 703 6 Avenue SW Houston, TX 77056
design, rating, and simulation of process heat Calgary, AB Toll Free: 800-842-8389
transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide Canada T2P 0T9 Phone: 713-579-3400
range of technical publications and provides Phone: 403 262-1992 Fax: 713-579-3499
other services including contract research, soft- Fax: 403-262-1987 E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com
ware development, consulting, and training. E-mail: sales@geologic.com www.MerrickSystems.com
www.geologic.com Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
Products: Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com
HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphical
user environment for the design, rating, and Company Bio:
simulation of heat transfer equipment.
Company Bio:
geoLOGIC systems ltd. is a widely recognized Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most
Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per- developer of high quality databases and premi- robust software and hardware solutions address-
formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat um software products that offer more compre- ing production operations, engineering and
recovery units, and air preheaters. hensive, relevant solutions to the Oil and Gas asset tracking. Recognized for its industry ex-
Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. industry. geoLOGIC has provided Oil and Gas pertise and innovative technologies, Merrick is
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and professionals with industry-leading, integrated committed to delivering best of breed solutions
box heaters and the convection section of fired software and value-added data coupled with to improve production operations, helping
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and unsurpassed customer support for 27 years. The companies extend oil and gas producing asset
performs combustion calculations. company is an innovator in supplying data in life, lower lifting costs, increase production and
more accessible and usable forms so clients can optimize operations. Merrick’s integrated ap-
Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per- make better decisions—from the well head to
formance of hairpin heat exchangers. plications, installed or hosted, include real-time
senior levels of accounting and administration. surveillance and optimization; field operations
Xist—Designs, rates, and simulates single- and management; field data capture; hydrocarbon
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in- Products:
geoSCOUTTM is a fully integrated, Windows- production accounting; mobile computing for
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall- field and drilling operations and ruggedized
ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers. based exploratory system that combines presen-
tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools RFID for drilling and asset management.
Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed- with data handling and analysis software. It
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. integrates public and proprietary data on wells, Products:
Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and- well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and eVIN—Used in 20% of all oil & gas wells in
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental pro- facilities, fields and pools, and seismic stud- the US and multiple global locations, eVIN en-
gram, each plate channel is calculated individu- ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for ables data capture from oil and gas fields using
ally using local physical properties and process searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph- handhelds and PCs. Designed to meet field op-
conditions. ing, analysis and managing information. eration needs anywhere in the world, including
the unique complexities of difficult environ-

ou or
n acc FID f or
ments and products such as coal bed methane, DynaCap allows companies to make informed
a r b o
r shi p R
e O ffs h
water floods and CO2, eVIN handls mixed decisions on asset use and re-use, manage as- n e l a n c
of Ow r ve i l ss
units of measure and multiple languages. sets efficiently, reduce inventory, downtime and
operational cost and reduce the risk of cata-
C o st Industrial IT
re s e r v o ir su
ld D
a t a Acce
and
for the Digital Oil Field O i l fi e ana
Field operators use eVIN to easily enter data strophic failure, improving the safety of both We l l D ig i t a l
k i n g&m
from the field with automated field calculations operations and people. a c
ng et tr ng
of different gas metering devices and oil tick- coun o r ass oun
ets. eVIN provides error validation and reliable www.info.hotims.com/33224-418 hydrocarbon
R F I D f production
on a c c
nt c a r baccounting re s
transfer of the data to the company’s central geme H yd ro e ll and
ce W
offices 24/7 where production supervisors, ac- illan ent m p ro
v
counting personnel and engineers can access it OPERATIONS u r ve a n agem c ess I
m r o
in near real time. It also allows SCADA and cking
& g P ance
H
other automated readings and information to t ramobility R e p or n
solutions for
m p l ifield
lato r
y Co
Re g u and drilling e m e operations ship
nt
wner
be transmitted to field personnel for review and g
a n a o f O
action. eVIN’s configurability enables captur- M
r vo i r C o st an
ing any desired data, allowing it to be used for Re s e u c vity We l l
ro d e
asset tracking, environmental and safety com-
ved P field lianc
o m poperations arbo
pliance and much more. Merrick Systems, Inc. m p ro o r y C y d ro c
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E management
egu l a t
ells
and fieldO p
H
t R a r t Wdata capture Field
Designed for use in remote locations, eVIN Houston, TX 77056 men S m n s
s o
can be deployed in areas of low bandwidth and Toll Free: 800-842-8389 a on ty so
lu ra
Oper obili l Ope
manages interruptions in connectivity without Phone: 713-579-3400
s s M G loba
disruption to the data capture process. Easy to ce ent bility
ta A c
Fax: 713-579-3499
deploy, eVIN can manage updates via a simple E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com ruggedized
a n agem n
RFID
g M ofor
g & m drilling o u n and asset re s e
set-up, a single point of deployment and stan- www.MerrickSystems.com ackin b o n acc e l l and
dard TCP/IP protocol. The software can be Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales,
yd ro
ca r management
t W ro c e
used on multiple devices including desktop, Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com e H a g e men n g P
m a n o r
y Re p
Pocket PC or TabletPC.
ng & aris
Company Bio: ra c k i e g u l ator t a C omp
real o n stime surveillance
R Da and
RFID Diamond Tags—Industrial, rugged, Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most ime oun
patented Radio Frequency Identification robust software and hardware solutions ad- p e ra R e a l Toptimization b o n acc
CO 2 c a r
(RFID) tags that survive extreme environmen- dressing production operations, engineering nt yd ro wner
sh
tal conditions including high impact, vibration, eme i a n c e H o f O
and asset tracking. Recognized for its indus- pl C o st
corrosion, sustained temperatures up to 200°C Com vity plian
try expertise and innovative technologies, ent o d u c r y Com
(400°F) and pressures up to 2070 bar (30,000 P r t o
egula
Merrick is committed to delivering best of
ove d Smar
tW
psi) and are readable through thick layers of breed solutions to improve production op- Impr e n t R n s
drilling mud, for tracking surface, subsurface erations, helping companies extend oil and agem e ra
o
man e Op ss M
ob
and subsea drilling and industrial assets. The gas producing asset life, lower lifting costs, ng & O ff s h o r
A c c e
tag suite includes various durable and rugged nce ata
increase production and optimize operations.
ve i l l a ld D & ma
tags and mounting methods for different com- Merrick’s integrated applications, installed or a l O i l fi e
t r a c king
Digi t et o
ponents including drill pipe, HWDP, subs, drill hosted, include real-time surveillance and
ng r ass H yd r
collars, bits, risers, flow iron, casing, production optimization; field operations management; R F I D fo la n c e
tubing, safety equipment and more. The tags men
t r ve i l ing &
field data capture; hydrocarbon production
nage r v o ir su t ra c k
allow to uniquely identify, trace and document accounting; mobile computing for field and r e s e s e t
and or as ons
high-value assets for location, measurements, drilling operations and ruggedized RFID for We l l R FID f p e ra
maintenance, use, inspection history and certi- drilling and asset management. i a n c e e a O
omp
l Subs pari
fications. The RFID Diamond Tags are part of s C c e C O2
a t a Com
Merrick’s Asset Tracking system which includes illan D
We Understand
Products: ime ac
u r ve eal T rbon
the DynaCap software, rugged mobile or fixed Merrick’s suite of products provides a complete oir s R o c a
readers and additional Automatic Identifica- production and drilling management solution. CO2 H yd r fO
tion and Data Capture (AIDC) technologies eme
nt p l i ance C o st o
From the field to the back office, all of your o m y
and consulting services to provide a complete ent
C c vit to r y
data is integrated into a single system:
age m ro d u
solution for all asset tracking needs even under • eVIN—Mobile and PC-based field data r o v e d P
R egula
the harsh conditions of drilling, subsea and in- Imp men
t o
dustrial operations.
capture system designed for simple, fast and ef- ons m a nage r e O p e ra
ficient entry of daily readings with field valida- g& o
ackin O ffs h A
tion and AGA calculations built in. et tr i l l a n ce l d D ata
DynaCap Asset Tracking Software—Configu- v e l fi e
• ProCount—Comprehensive hydrocar- sur al Oi t ra
vo i r Digit sset
rable asset tracking system manages operational bon accounting solution to manage simple and eser g 4801 Woodway
f o r a
assets for increased efficiency, risk mitigation complex daily and monthly production allo- un n FID
and regulatory compliance. DynaCap captures bon
acco m e n t R Suites u200E r veil
la
cations, including full component allocations
n a g e v o i r
a
any type of data that may be needed, includ- with over 100 standard reports included. ons M re s e r TX 77056
Houston,
r ass
e
ing asset location, dimension, manufacturer • Carte—Web based production monitor- e ra e l l a n d +1.713.579.3400 I D fo
s W R F
a on e
specifications, maintenance and inspections. ing and reporting tool for viewing, graphing,
Oper l i a n c 800.842.8389 Subs
ea
The System can serve as an enterprise system analyzing and exporting daily and monthly oil C omp O 2
ns nce C
or can interface with in-house or leading 3rd lu o ve i l l a e Da
party ERP/EAM systems such as Maximo, SAP
& gas production trends. Catch potential pro-
t y s owww.MerrickSystems.com
r s u r e al Tim
duction areas before they become problems. v o i R
and others. Providing access in near-real time to re s e r CO2
ce H
yd
• PetroRegs—Complete regulatory com- and m e nt l i a n
vital asset information across the organization, ove p
pliance modules for state and MMS reporting.
Impr Com vity
cess m e nt r oduc
n a g e d P
OPERATIONS, CONT. flow meters, transmitters, controllers, record-

ers, data acquisition products, meters, instru-
PROCESS ENGINEERING
• RIO—Petro technical data store for ex- ments, safety instrumented systems, distrib- AND SIMULATION
ploitation, exploration, property evaluation, uted control systems and more.
reservoir analysis, and field operations. Used to
manage and analyze production, reservoir, geo- Products:
logical, and petrophysical data, allowing mul- FAST/TOOLSTM (Advance Process Control
tiple applications to utilize and benefit from the Management software) is a powerful, state-
same data. of-the-art, flexible, distributed Supervisory
• RFID-Based Asset Tracking System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)
for tracking down-hole, subsea and surface system. It is a client/server based open archi-
equipment onshore and offshore. The system tecture that provides support for standards
includes a portfolio of fit-for-purpose rugged such as XML, HTML, Java, ODBC and Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
RFID Diamond tags, DynaCap software for OPC ensures uniform and standard inter-
drill-site and corporate-wide asset tracking, faces to other packages and applications.. It Worldwide
rugged readers and consulting services. has been developed and evolved over a period 150 Venture Drive
of three decades to span a wide range of op- College Station, TX 77845 USA
www.info.hotims.com/33224-418 erating platforms such that it offers stability Phone: 979-690-5050
and scalability during the lifetime of the pro- Fax: 979-690-3250
cess. It has a proven track-record, guaranteed
PROCESS CONTROL AND ‘best-of-class’ availability, data integrity, high
www.HTRI.net
INFORMATION SYSTEMS levels of performance and on-line configura-
tion capabilities. FAST/TOOLS is scalable
Claudette D. Beyer, President and CEO
Fernando J. Aguirre, VP, Sales and Business
from less than a hundred to more than a Development
million I/O points, and supports multiple
architectures from single node solutions to Asia—Pacific
multi-node client/server systems and is used Heat Transfer Research, Inc.
in many application areas, such as: World Business Garden Marive East 14F
Yokogawa Electric Corporation • Oil & Gas exploration, production and dis- Nakase 2-6, Mihamaku
World Headquarters tribution supervision Chiba 261-7114 Japan
9-32, Nakacho 2-chrome, • Pipeline Management Phone: 81-43-297-0353
Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-8750, Japan • Ship monitoring and control Fax: 81-43-297-0354
www.yokogawa.com • Production control supervision E-mail: HTRI.Asia@HTRI.net
• Utilities like water, waste-water treatment, gas Hirohisa Uozu, Regional Mgr.
Yokogawa Corp. of America and electricity distribution and management
12530 West Airport Blvd, • Embedded applications in advanced produc- EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa)
Sugar Land, TX 77478 tion equipment. The Surrey Technology Centre
www.yokogawa.com/us 40 Occam Road
STARDOMTM, network based control system, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7YG U.K.
is coupled with FAST/TOOLS to provide the Phone: 44-(0)1483-685100
Yokogawa Europe B.V. remote terminal units (RTU). STARDOM
Databankweg 20 3821 AL Amersfoort, Fax: 44-(0)1483-685101
consists of a family of highly functional auton- HTRI.Europe@HTRI.net
The Netherlands
omous controller RTUs and application port- Hans U. Zettler, Regional Manager
www.yokogawa.com/eu
folios. It features small, scalable architecture
which is capable of being highly distributed, India
Yokogawa Engineering Asia both within a facility and also geographically. C-1, First Floor, Tower-B
PTE. LTD. STARDOM family of controllers include a “Indraprasth Complex”
5 Bedok South Road, Singapore 469270, Field control node (FCN)– a modular control- Near Inox Multiplex, Race Course (North)
Singapore ler with a wide range of I/O modules and two Vadodara 390007, Gujarat, India
www.yokogawa.com/sg expansion units suitable for mid-size applica- Phone: +91 (982) 514-7775
tions, a Field Control Junction – an all-in-one HTRI.India@HTRI.net
compact controller with built-in I/O suitable Rajan Desai, International Coordinator
Yokogawa Electric China Co., for direct installation on equipment or utilities
LTD. and a FCN-RTU suitable for low power ap- Company Bio:
22nd Floor Shanghai Oriental Centre plications. STARDOM enables operation and HTRI operates an international consortium
31 Wujiang Road (699 Nanjing West Road) monitoring of the process anywhere, anytime founded in 1962 that conducts industrially rel-
Jing’an District, Shanghai 200041, China using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) com- evant research and provides software tools for
Phone: 86-21-5211-0877 ponents. STARDOM autonomous controllers design, rating, and simulation of process heat
Fax: 86-21-5211-0299 are FOUNDATION fieldbus certified and can transfer equipment. HTRI also produces a wide
be adapted to any infrastructure to integrate range of technical publications and provides
Company Bio: all process information. STARDOM autono- other services including contract research, soft-
Yokogawa Corporation of America is the North mous controllers have great remote manage- ware development, consulting, and training.
American unit of US $4 billion Yokogawa Elec- ment and stand-alone capability, and reduce Products:
tric Corporation, a global leader in the manu- running costs by making flexible use of e-mail, HTRI Xchanger Suite—Integrated graphi-
facture and supply of instrumentation, process the Web, and SCADA technology. cal user environment for the design, rating,
control, and automation solutions. Headquar- and simulation of heat transfer equipment.
tered in Newnan, GA., Yokogawa Corporation www.info.hotims.com/33224-409
of America serves a diverse customer base with Xace—Designs, rates, and simulates the per-
market-leading products including analyzers,

formance of air-cooled heat exchangers, heat rick is committed to delivering best of breed • Integrates with revenue/financial systems
recovery units, and air preheaters. solutions to improve production operations, like Artesia, Excalibur, SAP as well as Aries for
Xfh—Simulates the behavior of fired heaters. helping companies extend oil and gas produc- Petroleum Economics
Calculates the radiant section of cylindrical and ing asset life, lower lifting costs, increase pro- • Regulatory filing of production for all key
box heaters and the convection section of fired duction and optimize operations. Merrick’s states and MMS either in electronic format or
heaters. It also designs process heater tubes and integrated applications, installed or hosted, printed
performs combustion calculations. include real-time surveillance and optimiza- • 100+ reports included for daily opera-
Xhpe—Designs, rates, and simulates the per- tion; field operations management; field data tions, daily and monthly accounting/alloca-
formance of hairpin heat exchangers. capture; hydrocarbon production accounting; tions and management/partner reporting.
mobile computing for field and drilling opera- • Available installed or hosted as a service
Xist—Designs, rates, and simulates single- and tions and ruggedized RFID for drilling and as- from Merrick
two-phase shell-and-tube heat exchangers, in- set management.
cluding kettle and thermosiphon reboilers, fall- Carte—Carte is a web-based production
ing film evaporators, and reflux condensers. Products: management dashboard and monthly oil &
Xjpe—Designs, rates, and simulates jacketed- ProCount—ProCount is a comprehensive hy- gas production reporting system that allows
pipe (double-pipe) heat exchangers. drocarbon accounting solution for daily and access to information by a single well, field or
Xphe—Designs, rates, and simulates plate-and- monthly volumetric allocations, management entire asset, viewed graphically or in tabular
frame heat exchangers. A fully incremental program, and partner reporting. Used onshore, offshore, form. Carte reads data from Merrick’s Pro-
each plate channel is calculated individually using domestically and globally, ProCount helps Count software or other standard third-party
local physical properties and process conditions. meet allocation needs in both operated and production databases and provides KPI and
Xspe—Rates and simulates single-phase spiral non-operated properties and handles simple variance reports. It allows operations staff and
plate heat exchangers. to complex allocations by mass, energy and executives to easily access production data at
Xtlo—Graphical standalone rigorous tube lay- volume, with plant and pipeline, meter, tank varying levels, including corporate division
out software; also integrated with Xist. and fuel wellhead allocations. ProCount has and asset summaries, or drill down to comple-
a proven track record working in unconven- tion levels. As a web –based solution it offers
Xvib—Performs flow-induced vibration analy- tional oil and gas operations in shale plays. simple deployment from a central location
sis of a single tube in a heat exchanger bundle. The software is available both installed or as a to field and office personnel at multiple loca-
It uses a rigorous structural analysis approach to hosted solution. tions. It can also be used to share information
calculate the tube natural frequencies for vari- with partners.
ous modes and offers flexibility in the geom- Providing daily and monthly volume reconcil-
etries it can handle. iations that are used to minimize month-end Carte features include:
Xchanger Suite Educational—Customized ver- operational surprises and operational discrep- • View allocated production data to spot
sion of Xchanger Suite with the capability to ancies, ProCount also supports allocations early trends and potential problem areas
design, rate, and simulate shell-and-tube heat for production sharing agreements and other • Drill down to the completion level and ac-
exchangers, air-coolers, economizers, and plate- contractual needs. Handling multiple units of cess critical information for decision making
and-frame heat exchangers. Available to educa- measure, ProCount has built-in integration • Activate Excel from within Carte to gen-
tional institutions only. with several standard ERP accounting and fi- erate user spreadsheets
R-trend—Calculates and trends fouling resis- nancial systems as well as third-party engineer- • Annotate with ‘sticky notes’ on well pro-
tances for shell-and-tube heat exchangers in sin- ing and economic analysis software packages. duction graphs
gle-phase service. Uses Microsoft Excel as work- • Print one or all production graphs with a
ing environment with optional link to Xist. With over a hundred standard reports and ad- single mouse click
hoc reporting capabilities, ProCount is highly • Graph the forecasted economic model
www.info.hotims.com/33224-411 scalable, configurable and built to integrate versus actual production on a daily basis
well with other software packages. In addi-
tion, It has a built-in auditability and trace- PetroRegs—From production form filings
PRODUCTION ACCOUNTING ability which are required for financial regula-
tory compliance.
with state and federal agencies to gas allowable
computations and well test calculations, these
modules help ensure regulatory compliance.
ProCount features include:
• Simple drag and drop tool that allows us- Regulatory features include:
ers to create simple to complex multi-tiered • Flexible filing options with hard copy re-
connections for allocation networks ports, electronic filing and PDF format
Merrick Systems, Inc. • Quick setup of daily and monthly allo- • Automatic handling of prior period ad-
4801 Woodway, Suite 200E cations using templates for multiple objects justments (PPA)
Houston, TX 77056 (meters, tanks, equipment and completions) • Each module generates state-approved
Toll Free: 800-842-8389 • Allocate by volume, energy based – BTU digital filings
Phone: 713-579-3400 and analysis, including component allocation • Generate error reports for identifying po-
Fax: 713-579-3499 of plant products and liquids/NGL tential problems before filing with the state
E-mail: sales@MerrickSystems.com • User defined error checking and valida-
www.MerrickSystems.com tion, custom formulas for allocation require- www.info.hotims.com/33224-418
Faisal Kidwai, V.P. Sales, ments and user configurable data fields and
Faisal.Kidwai@MerrickSystems.com screens
• Handles requirements for mixed units of
Company Bio: measurement (Imperial and Metric) within
Merrick Systems provides the industry’s most one data store
robust software and hardware solutions ad- • Scalable to handle daily allocations for
dressing production operations, engineering 20,000+ wells (with related equipment in a
and asset tracking. Recognized for its industry network)
expertise and innovative technologies, Mer-

Upstream U PSTREA M / D OWN STREA M SOFTWARE REFERENCE
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE the BS 7910 procedure. Users can perform Lev-

el 1 and 2 assessments on many flaw and equip-
WELL LOG DATA ACCESS
ment types. An advanced fracture mechanics AND MANAGEMENT
module allows users to also perform limited
Level 3 assessments.
FEACrack™ is finite element analysis software
that rapidly generates 3D crack meshes utiliz-
Quest Integrity Group, LLC ing an intuitive interface. Users can perform
2465 Central Avenue, Suite 110 detailed fracture and fatigue analyses with un-
Boulder, CO 80301 limited levels of crack mesh refinement.
geoLOGIC systems ltd.
Phone: 303-415-1475 LifeQuest™ Heater software provides complete 900, 703 6 Avenue SW
Fax: 303-415-1847 analysis and remnant life assessment of fired Calgary, AB
Email: Info@QuestIntegrity.com heater tubes on a foot-by-foot basis utilizing Canada T2P 0T9
www.QuestIntegrity.com API 579. The final output is a system risk curve Phone: 403 262-1992
displaying remaining life in hours versus prob- Fax: 403-262-1987
Company Bio: ability of failure. It combines with heater per- E-mail: sales@geologic.com
Quest Integrity Group provides highly accurate, formance monitoring and process modeling for www.geologic.com
technology-enabled inspection and assessment extensive heater reliability management. Andrea Hood, VP Business Development & Sales
solutions that help companies in the process,
pipeline and power industries increase profit- LifeQuest™ Pipeline software delivers inspection
and Fitness-for-Service assessment results through
Company Bio:
ability, reduce operational and safety risks, and geoLOGIC systems ltd. is a widely recognized
improve operational planning. The company is a powerful data viewer. Analysis and assessment
developer of high quality databases and premi-
built upon a foundation of leading-edge science capabilities include standard calculation methods
um software products that offer more compre-
and technology that has innovated and shaped B31G, B31G Modified and API 579.
hensive, relevant solutions to the Oil and Gas
industries for nearly forty years. RMS™ software facilitates the implementation of industry. geoLOGIC has provided Oil and Gas
risk-based assessment programs in a wide range of professionals with industry-leading, integrated
Products: software and value-added data coupled with
Signal™ FFS software performs Fitness-for-Ser- industries. It addresses the needs of pressure sys-
tems not met by existing reliability management unsurpassed customer support for 27 years. The
vice and fracture mechanics analyses on fixed
programs and eliminates the high data and man- company is an innovator in supplying data in
and rotating equipment. It implements the
power demands of fully quantitative systems. more accessible and usable forms so clients can
API 579-1/ASME FFS-1 2007 standard and
www.info.hotims.com/33224-405 make better decisions—from the well head to
performs crack assessments in accordance with
senior levels of accounting and administration.
Products:
Asset Longevity geoSCOUTTM is a fully integrated, Windows-
based exploratory system that combines presen-
Plant & Pipeline Performance tation-quality mapping and cross-section tools
with data handling and analysis software. It
integrates public and proprietary data on wells,
well logs (Raster and LAS), land, pipelines and
facilities, fields and pools, and seismic stud-
ies. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools for
searching, viewing, mapping, reporting, graph-
ing, analysis and managing information.
We provide highly accurate, technology-enabled prehensive online solution that integrates pub-
inspection and assessment solutions that help companies lic wells and land data across Western Canada.
in the process, pipeline and power industries increase Designed on a PPDM 3.8 model, geoLOGIC
profitability, reduce operational and safety risks and value-added data is accessible through virtually
improve operational planning. any petroleum industry software application.
The gDC offers spatial data in an industry stan-
Quest Integrity Group is built on a foundation of leading dard GIS format that is accessible through most
mapping applications.
edge science and technology that has innovated and
shaped industries for nearly forty years. As a private petroCUBETM is an innovative suite of products
business with a global presence, we are responsive to that provide unbiased, consistent statistical in-
your needs and focused on empowering your operating sights that can help you make more profitable
and maintenance decisions. decisions about petroleum plays. From reserve
and production data through to full-cycle eco-
nomics, petroCUBE gives you immediate ac-
(281) 557-2255 cess to a full spectrum of current geostatistical,
(253) 893-7070 technical and financial information and compre-
hensive analytical tools. petroCUBE instantly
www.QuestIntegrity.com delivers the data engineers and geologists need to
Sales@QuestIntegrity.com accurately assess risk and justify exploration and
development proposals before wells are drilled.

30
Software Reference Index
UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM SOFTWARE REF ERENCE
How to use this index:
1. Learn more about the display advertisers by visiting the pages provided in the first column under “Display Advertisers.”
For more information, go to www.HydrocarbonProcessing.com/RS and follow the instructions.
2. The companies shown in bold-faced type have product listings on the page numbers provided.
Equity Engineering Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Training

DISPLAY ADVERTISERS Lloyd’s Register
Expertune
Equity Engineering Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
ICONICS
Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
www.info.hotims.com/33224-410 Intergraph UPSTREAM
KBC Advanced Technologies
Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Quest Integrity Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Alarm Management
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Equity Engineering Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Collaboration and Knowledge Capture Asset Management
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 IHS Energy Group
geoLOGIC systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Configuration Management Landmark (Halliburton)
www.info.hotims.com/33224-404 Merrick Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
PAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Haverly Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Design, Construction and Engineering
AVEVA Data Management
Heat Transfer Research Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Decision Dynamics Technology
www.info.hotims.com/33224-411 Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Enertia Software
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
M3 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
www.info.hotims.com/33224-416 KRC Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Open Spirit
Peng Engineering Paradigm
Merrick Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
www.info.hotims.com/33224-418 Dynamic Simulation and Optimization Data Visualization
Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Slicer/Dicer (PIXOTEC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
www.info.hotims.com/33224-402 Invensys
Kinesix Software Design, Construction and Engineering
PAS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 9 RSI Simcon BlueCielo ECM Solutions
www.info.hotims.com/33224-408 COADE
Economic Evaluation
Quest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Spiral Software Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
www.info.hotims.com/33224-405 Drilling Engineering
Energy Management
Yokogawa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Knowledge Systems
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
www.info.hotims.com/33224-409 Pegasus Vertex
Enterprise Portal Systems
m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Exploration
Digital Formation
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Fluid Flow Analysis geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
ABZ Knowledge Systems
Budgeting, Capital Allocation and Planning CPFD-Software
Engineered Software
Field Data Capture
3esi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Merrick Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Schlumberger Information Solutions Online Monitoring and Optimization
Operations
Business Integration Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Merrick Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Baker and O’Brien Flexware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Ensyte Energy Software Process Control and Information Systems
Planning, Scheduling and Blending
IBM Solutions Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
AMI Consultants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Haverly Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Process Engineering and Simulation
Enterprise Operations Management m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Oildex. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 M3 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Softbits
OSIsoft Sun Microsystems
Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring
P2 Energy Solutions Dassault Systemes Production Accounting
Land and Leasing innotec Merrick Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Quest Integrity Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Production Engineering
Ventyx Well Flow Dynamics
Plant Lifecycle and Performance Monitoring
ABB Predictive Maintenance and Repair Production Optimization
Emerson Process Management Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Fekete Associates
m:pro IT Consult. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Equity Engineering Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Joshi Technologies
Quest Integrity Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Metegrity OVS Group, Inc.
Siemens Energy and Automation Pavilion Technologies
Production Yield/Accounting
Bolo Systems Process Control and Information Systems Regulatory Compliance
CGI Solutions and Technologies Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Quest Integrity Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Data Scavenger Process Engineering and Simulation Reserves Management
Regulatory Compliance Ansys Geomechanics International
Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Bryan Research and Engineering Petro-Soft Systems
Chemstations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Roxar
Risk Management Codeware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Sitelark
Equity Engineering Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Farris Engineering Services Reservoir Modeling
Decisioneering
Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 CMG
Dyadem Total Systems Resources Geomodeling
Production/Yield Accounting
DOWNSTREAM Soteica
Seismic Data Interpretation and Analysis
Earth Decision
Refining, Petrochemical and Gas Processing Fugro-Jason
Alarm Management Equity Engineering Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 I/O
PAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Heat Transfer Research, Inc. (HTRI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Seismic Processing
Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 M3 Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CGGVeritas
Asset Management SIS/Safety Systems TGS
Aspen Technology exida . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Well Log Data Access and Management
Asset Performance Networks Yokogawa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 geoLOGIC systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Your company can be listed under a single category in this index at no charge. For information, please contact Laura Kane at 1-713-520-4449 or laura.kane@gulfpub.com
32
32 SOFTWARE REFERENCE F A L L 2 0 10
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