From RefinerLink.com: Advice to New Refinery Process Engineers

"Refinerlink would like to congratulate the Chemical Engineering class of 2013! We welcome all of you to the refinery community and hopefully to frequent readership here at Refinerlink.

Now that we got that nice positive out of the way (you’ll learn that positives should always come before negatives), I should be the first to tell all of you new process engineers out there that you really don’t know anything."

Read the full article here. 

My biggest problem when I entered the workforce as a new engineer was: 

I didn't know what I didn't know. 

What was your biggest issue when you were a new engineer?

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Breaking through the Heavy Oil Barrier with SimSci Software

Heavy Oils Link!

SimSci process simulation software from Invensys contains proprietary technology to model heavy oils more accurately than any other methods! Click on the link to find out more about heavy oils and what Invensys has done to meet this industry trend.

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Petro component information in PRO/II

What information must be supplied for petro comps?

A petro component is similar to a pseudo-component, except it is entered by the user directly.  Pseudo-components are petroleum fractions determined by PRO/II from assay data. 
The minimum amount of information required is two of the following properties: MW, standard liquid density, and NBP.  If all three properties are available, then they should all be entered.  All component properties required by PRO/II will be determined by characterization methods.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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SimSci Training Courses

SimSci-Esscor Training Courses

SimSci-Esscor is an Invensys solution that offers applications to give your plant a competitive edge in today’s global economy.  SimSci offers integrated simulation, optimization, training, and process control software and services. For over 45 years, these applications have been improving profitability and performance in plants across the globe.

If you have decided to use SimSci products but you do not where to begin, Invensys is now offering training courses. These courses will provide the necessary guidance to use SimSci-Esscor applications that will allow your plant to reach its full potential and maximize performance and profitability. 

New to SimSciproducts?  Are you looking to refresh your skills?  Update your skills?

Join us worldwide for a SimSci training course.

To register for the upcoming training course visit http://iomtraining.invensys.com/simsci/public

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From Downstream Today: European Refiners Squeezed in Africa by Rising U.S Exports

A sharp increase in U.S. gasoline exports to West Africa is threatening to undercut European refiners' dominance of that market, further darkening
the outlook for an industry that has already been shrinking. read full article here


Wow. Hidden in the last sentence "Europe's refining margins, or cracks, averaged $6.18 a barrel over the past year, compared with $21.17 a barrel in the United States."

That is a difference of almost $15! How do you compete when you are making $15 less a barrel?

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Stream Splitting using Stream Calculator Unit-op in PRO/II

The stream calculator in PRO/II is a flexible unit which allows you to blend any number of feed streams and produce products with defined composition and thermal condition



1. Select Stream Calculator from the Utilities tab of the PFD Palette, place it on the Flowsheet and connect feed and product streams to it

2. Double click on the Stream Calculator and enter the required the Product specification, Overhead & Bottom product Thermal Conditions

3. The Product specification is Mole fraction of N2 to C3 in overhead = 1.0, and IC4 to C6Plus(Petrocomponent) in bottom stream equal = 1.0. Please see the results table below:

Submitted by:
Saher S. Jasvi
Tech. Support for SimSci-Esscor

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Meet North America Technical Support - Rick Pelletier

1.     What is your title?

Senior Customer Support Engineer

2.     How long have you been working for Invensys?  

6 years

3.     Where did you go to school and what degree(s) do you have?

Rowan University (Glassboro, NJ) – BS Chemical Engineering 2006, BA Music 2006, Math Minor

4.     Why did you choose to go for those degree(s)?

I started off as a piano performance major.  When I realized that I would struggle to live and support a family working as a musician, I decided to double major.  I had an interest in genetics and genetical engineering, and got into chemical engineering thinking it was the closest thing to that which Rowan offered.  I was obviously misinformed, but I grew to love chemical engineering and decided to stick with it. 

5.     Why did you come to work for Invensys?

I was fresh out of college and mainly just looking for someone to give me a chance.  I liked the position of technical support because it offered me a chance to interact with customers of many different backgrounds, use my teaching experience as a piano teacher, and I always had a knack for simulation software in college. 

6.     Tell us about the toughest case you ever handled.

The toughest case I ever handled was a PRO/II case where I had to upgrade the file from an older version of PRO/II to a newer version.  The model was extremely complicated with about 25 columns and several controllers, and everything was perfectly tuned such that individual tolerance values were fine tuned to specific values.  Because of how finely tuned the model was, it was extremely sensitive to any changes in the program or the model, so upgrading from one version to another and having nothing change but defaults within the program and internal changes to thermos and other methods caused the model to no longer converge.  After weeks of troubleshooting and a lot of help from some colleagues, we got the model converged, but it was no easy task and this was just one of many files that needed to be upgraded. 

7.     What is one common error that people can avoid making in their simulation?

Double check everything you enter into the program.  The most common error in process simulation is when a user enters the wrong value or an incorrect unit of measurement.  Always double check your work. 

8.     What is your favorite part of your job?

Helping people out.  When a customer says “thank you” because I helped him with a problem, it makes it all worthwhile.  Teaching is also part of this.  When I can teach a customer something he didn’t know before and they feel better knowing that what I taught them is going to make their life easier, that’s a great feeling. 

9.     What would you say to someone considering Chemical Engineering?

It is extremely tough to be a chemical engineer, but the reward is worth it.  If you like a challenge, this is the job for you. 

10.  What do you like to do in your spare time?

Everything!  I spend a lot of time with my family and friends, including my two dogs.  I play piano professionally part-time.  I like to work out and I play several sports, my favorite being soccer.  I enjoy a lot of hobbies, including archery, cooking, fantasy football, sailing, scrapbooking, and video games, to name a few.  I love following the entertainment industry and am known for watching just about every major TV show or movie that comes out. 

11.  Tell us something interesting about yourself that others may not know.

I am a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity and I am President of my chapter’s housing corporation.  I also serve the fraternity on a national level as the Director of Scholarship. 

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Spiral Users' Meeting 2013 London, England, UK

Will you be attending?

https://www.sum2013.com/

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From Hydrocarbon Processing: US shale boom threatens Australian gas sector

Big LNG importers like Korea Gas and Japan's Osaka Gas have signed deals with US terminals, diversifying supply sources that had relied on Australia and the Middle East. read the full article here

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Registration is now open for the SimSci Client Conference in October! Early bird discount!

SimSci Client Conference

Go here to register for $100 savings before September 13th!

Agenda details coming soon!

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From Hydrocarbon Processing: US monthly oil demand plummets to 16-year low as gasoline use drops

Demand for gasoline, the most widely used petroleum product in the world's biggest oil consumer, fell 1.9% from a year earlier to a 12-year June low of 8.865 million bpd, according to the API. Second-quarter gasoline use was 2% lower than in the same period in 2012, at 8.775 million bpd. read full article here

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Workforce Enablement Technology: Training the Operators of the Future

Workforce Enablement Technology

Training The Operators Of The Future

Special thanks to Cecil F. Shewchuk, for writing this white paper illustrating the value of new operator training technology in a plant!

 
For a limited time you can request a free copy of the white paper by emailing me at joseph.mcmullen@invensys.com. All I ask is that you comment on your favorite quote from the paper in this blog post. 

Here are my top 5 quotes from the white paper:

1.     From gaming systems to Blu-ray players, the technology gap between the generations is staggering. When you consider that your plant’s operation relies on a well-trained workforce, you must realize that the training tools that worked in the past may not be effective with today’s younger workforce.

2.     As the older generation retires, technology holds the key to engaging the next generation of operators. Today’s technology enables higher workforce retention by accelerating careers and keeping the next generation of workers more engaged and invested with updated training tools that speed training time. Among the best indicators of the efficiency and success of any organization is the level and depth of its personnel training.

3.     Using an OTS system in which basic training is integrated with graphical schematics of the actual plant DCS that the operator trainee is expected to use, develops a familiarity that instills confidence. This comes from the opportunity to practice real scenarios with hands-on experience in a safe environment.

4.     A well-trained operator learns to respond efficiently and quickly to potential or real safety hazards, having had the opportunity to practice abnormal plant situations and emergencies.

5.     A plant with a workforce that actually is empowered by the confidence of knowledge will experience greater safety, improved reliability and higher efficiency. All of this will consequently result in better financial performance for the company with the foresight to make investments in this technology.

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Google Glass Comes to Manufacturing

Google Glass Comes to Manufacturing

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Stream Splitting using Stream Calculator Unit-op

The stream calculator in PRO/II is a flexible unit which allows you to blend any number of feed streams and produce products with defined composition and thermal condition




1. Select Stream Calculator from the Utilities tab of the PFD Palette, place it on the Flowsheet and connect feed and product streams to it

2. Double click on the Stream Calculator and enter the required the Product specification, Overhead & Bottom product Thermal Conditions

3. The Product specification is Mole fraction of N2 to C3 in overhead = 1.0, and IC4 to C6Plus(Petrocomponent) in bottom stream equal = 1.0. Please see the results table below:

Feel free to contact SimSci-Esscor Technical support if your require any further information or if there is anything specific you would like to know about

Submitted by:

Saher S. Jasvi
Tech. Support for SimSc


About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

Read More

From DownstreamToday: Fla. Re-Refinery to Run Waste Oil Rather than Vacuum Gas Oil

What a great concept - re-use oil by re-refining it. Why didn't I think of that!

TAMPA - The oil will come in used. Dirty. Polluted. Drained from crankcases all over Florida.
When it leaves, it will be like new. Clean. Clear. Safe. The purest form of oil there is.

The process is called oil re-refining. It is environmentally sound. Practical.Profitable. Read the full article here 

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Pure-component data and their affect on K-values

Pure-component data and their affect on K-values

• For liquid activity coefficient (LACT)  methods such as the NRTL method, vapor pressure data for the pure components affect the vapor-liquid equilibria;
• For equation of state (EOS) methods such as SRK and PR, the K-values are affected by the critical temperature and pressure, the acentric factor, and the alpha formulation of the pure components.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

Read More

Optimizing Boiler Operations through Adaptive Modeling of Advanced Process Control

By Thomas Kinney, Product Management, Advanced Applications, Invensys Operations Management

Read this great article in Power Engineering - check out the article here



About Connoisseur: Connoisseur is advanced process control (APC) software developed by Invensys to improve process profitability and control. The quality improvements that result from using Connoisseur model-based predictive control software are also met with considerable economic improvements. RBF neural nets, a key feature of this solution can be mixed with step test derived models. The standard deviation of key product parameters from target specification is significantly reduced, leading to increased throughput and significantly reduced material and/or energy consumption, providing a total payback in three to six months or less. Applications of Connoisseur include mining, power, chemicals and refining, among others.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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From BreakingEnergy.com: US Ranks #5 on Petroleum Risk List

US Ranks #5 on Petroleum Risk List

"The US may be at the forefront of the shale revolution, but in a list of countries where above-ground factors are most conducive to oil and gas development, the country lags behind competitors such as Canada and the UK." Read the full article here

Very interesting story that accounts for the ease of tapping those shale resources. 

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Invensys Software Customer Conference - North America - SimSci Customer Conference

Invensys Software Customer Conference - North America

We'll cover our capabilities and solutions in Process Design, Training Simulation, Optimization, Trading, Planning and Scheduling, Manufacturing Operations Management (MES), Asset Management, Production Information Management and HMI & Supervisory. We’ll also present how our partners are creating solutions to provide outstanding value across many industries.

Ideal for those responsible for Planning and Scheduling, Operations Management, Process Design, Systems Integration, Original Equipment Manufacturers & Value-Added Resellers, Maintenance, Testing and Quality and IT.

October 15-16, 2013
Hilton Anatole Hotel
Dallas, Texas
Save the Date!

Registration will be available soon at this site

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Customer Conference Series

Customer Conference Series

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From HydrocarbonProcessing: Integration is crucial to compete with future US plants

Reliance says integration of a downstream value chain is essential for global players to compete
with upcoming US facilities. read the full article here

As I was reading this, I was thinking doesn't Reliance have the world's largest integrated refinery....then I read the last sentence: “We own and operate the world’s largest refinery complex [at Jamnagar],” he said. “We have a top 10 global ranking [in integration]. We’re moving from a regional to a global leader.”

So integration is important, and it isn't anything new for Reliance.

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Guest Blogger Wanted

I am looking for a few people within Invensys and outside of Invensys who are willing to be guest bloggers. We have over 90,000 views, and average 250-300 views/day now.

I’d like to offer our readers a forum to present their ideas and opinions on how to improve process simulations. All you need to do is to send their article to me, and I’ll attribute it to you & post it on their behalf - provided it is appropriate and relevant to our readers.

Please let me know if you are interested!

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Pseudocomponents generation from ASTM curves

How are pseudocomponents obtained from ASTM curves?

The following steps are performed by PRO/II:

- The assay data is converted to a TBP at 760 mm if necessary.

- The TBP curve is fit by a cubic splines or other curve fit.

- Substitute the front part of the curve with light ends if available.

- The LV % for each temperature cutpoint is determined from the curve.

- To determine the NBP of each cut, the temperature curve is integrated between the starting and ending LV % of each cut.  The resulting integrated area under the temperature curve is divided by the total LV % for the cut.  Thus the NBP is weighted average TBP of each cut.

- The API gravity is determined from the average gravity which is supplied in the input file.  Constant Watson K is assumed.  The entire TBP curve is integrated to get the average TBP (NBP) for the entire curve.  Then the Watson K is determined for the whole curve.  It is straightforward to calculate the specific gravity for each cut from the constant Watson K and the known NBP for that cut.  If user data is available, then it is used instead.

- The MW of each cut is determined from the NBP and API gravity, using the correlation shown in Figure 2B2.1 of the API Technical Data Book.  If user data is available, then it is used instead.

- The NBP, API gravity, and MW for each pseudo-component is adequate information to determine all other properties that PRO/II requires.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Join SimSci related groups on LinkedIn

Join SimSci  related groups on LinkedIn

• SimSci (245 members - and growing rapidly)
• PRO/II Users Group (1,074 members - our largest and most active group)
• PIPEPHASE Users Group (69 members - our smallest group - but with highly dedicated members)
• DYNSIM Users (336 members - be #337)
• ROMeo Users (668 members - - think of all the insight that is shared in this group)

Which goups are you going to join?

Or connect with me (Joseph McMullen) on LinkedIn - I regularly post updates for all SimSci software!
If you have an idea for a blog post, please let me know!

All groups have discussions from users, new release announcements, and technical tips!

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Toolbar Customization in PRO/II

To customize the toolbars in PRO/II, right click in the toolbar area and you will get this menu –

Clicking on one of the listed toolbar groups will turn it off, removing it from the toolbar. Clicking on “Customize” will bring up the customization dialog window –

To add a your own toolbar, click on the “New” button and give the toolbar a name. Then click on the “Commands” tab, select the category you wish to use, and then drag the command icons into the blank toolbar (outlined in red below). An example toolbar with all the draw commands dragged across is shown below as well.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

Read More

From DownstreamToday: Shell to Spend $115MM to Reduce Refinery Air Pollution in Houston Area

The Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Shell Oil and affiliated partnerships (Shell) have agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act
at a large refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas by spending at least $115 million to control harmful air pollution from industrial flares and other processes, and by paying a $2.6 million civil penalty. read the rest of the article here 

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Boiler Optimization with Connoisseur SmartFire

The SmartFire solution from Invensys is based on an extension to the Connoisseur Advanced Process Control (APC) software. This solution is a boiler optimization application that offers multivariable model predictive control and neural networks.
It is often applied to bias furnace air flow distribution and address O2 imbalances and regions of high CO. The original application needed some adjustments in order for it to achieve its fullest potential. It was decided that improvements could be made if this offering could automatically determine more optimum air/fuel settings at individual dampers.

SmartFire completes the boiler optimization offering from Invensys by compensating for a phenomenon in coal fired boilers known as roping. Roping occurs when pulverized coal is fed to a utility boiler causing disruption to the distribution of coal flow to the coal pipes that supply the burners. This imbalanced distribution causes some regions of the furnace to have more fuel and others to have less fuel.

SmartFire continuously tests the APC system and adapts the models to capture the characteristics of shifting relationships. Operators do not interfere with this process, which optimizes work performance and greatly enhances the bottom line. This solution offers significant improvements in boiler efficiency. After testing the system, there were estimated benefits of $78,000 a year - in addition to the benefits of APC which typically exceed $500,000. This shortens the payback period and is truly unique to the Invensys APC offering. 

About Connoisseur: Connoisseur is advanced process control (APC) software developed by Invensys to improve process profitability and control. The quality improvements that result from using Connoisseur model-based predictive control software are also met with considerable economic improvements. RBF neural nets, a key feature of this solution can be mixed with step test derived models. The standard deviation of key product parameters from target specification is significantly reduced, leading to increased throughput and significantly reduced material and/or energy consumption, providing a total payback in three to six months or less. Applications of Connoisseur include mining, power, chemicals and refining, among others.


Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Simulation Brings Training to Life | Automation World

Simulation Brings Training to Life | Automation World

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Cyber Security: How to increase your online privacy

Cyber Security: How to increase your online privacy

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What is assay knowledge management?

Guest Blogger, Emma Price, Customer Relationship Manager for Spiral Software

Spiral was founded with a vision to transform the oil industry’s use of software, helping to maximise the value of every drop of crude oil. The inspiration behind this was twofold.

Firstly, the evolving industry context creates new challenges and opportunities. Refiners are seeing a more diverse feedstock market than ever before
—diverse in both quality and pricing. There are now many crude oils available which present some processing challenges in return for a discounted market price. At the same time, product specifications are becoming more stringent and legislation is tightening around safer operational limits. Put together, this makes a confident understanding of feedstock refining behaviour more important than it has ever been.

Secondly, the new capabilities of information technology enable effective collaboration, even across huge global organisations. It is perfectly realistic to gather real-time information from operating sites and provide meaningful analytics that help users collaborate to make the best possible decisions. This is the step from looking at assay data as simply a set of laboratory measurements to seeing it as “assay knowledge”: bringing together assay measurement with operational data, refinery models, past experience, market information and even news feeds.

This is what we mean by “assay knowledge management” and since 1998, our tools span this whole space: from traditional implementations at laboratories that help them validate and work-up assay data, through to oil major implementations with over 2,500 users in a single enterprise, spanning every area of the business, across upstream exploration, feedstock trading, strategy and operations.

This pushes well outside the bounds of legacy assay management software. For example, some of the largest commodity trading companies use our tools to run thousands of cases to understand how markets would react to feedstock and refining capacity changes. In parallel, engineering and consulting companies use our tools to analyse strategic investments, understanding the future value and risk of capital investments and green field developments.



-Note from Joe McMullen, blog owner-
Back in October, 2012 Invensys acquired Spiral Software. Since then we have been actively integrating Spiral technology with SimSci products, and learning more and more about all that Spiral has to offer our customers. I truly believe that Invensys provides unparalleled coverage of the refinery value chain, something that greatly benefits our customers. Spiral Integration with both PRO/II and ROMeo are due to be released in coming months. I look forward to hearing feedback from our customer on how valuable that will be!

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From HydrocarbonProcessing.com: Canadian crude production projected to double by 2030

A report from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) forecasts Canadian crude oil production will more than double to
6.7 million bpd by 2030 from 3.2 MMbpd in 2012 (Fig. 1). This includes oil sands production of 5.2 MMbpd by 2030, up from 1.8 MMbpd in 2012.

Read the full article and see the chart here

"Conventional tight oil production is increasing because new technology allows industry to produce oil from formerly uneconomic resources, reversing a significant declining production trend over the last decade."

I believe this will continue - as technology always does - and it will have a large impact on the global supply of crude as we continue to enable the production of oil from sources that were previously unattainable.

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Column initial estimates in PRO/II

Good initial estimates for recycle streams and columns should aid model convergence. From PRO/II 7.1 onwards, users can update their recycle stream estimates, in a solved model, by selecting the Update Recycle Stream Initial Estimates from the Input menu. All recycle streams will be updated with solution data.

Column initial estimates can also be generated/updated from a solved model. The column initial estimates can be updated by either by selecting the Update Column Initial Estimates from the Input menu; or by right clicking on the column and selecting the Update Column Initial Estimates option. If used, the Update Column Initial Estimates option, will use solution data for heater/cooler duty estimates and provide column temperature, net vapor and liquid rate profiles.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

Read More

From HydrocarbonProcessing: Brazil's Petrobras sets new company record for refinery production

"The record volume was volume is 30,000 bbl more than the previous record. This strong performance has enabled a reduction in oil product imports and reflects the high level of operational efficiency at its refineries and in the integrated management of downstream operations." Read the full article here

"2.2 million bpd of oil at its refineries" --- that is a lot of oil!

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Anyone going to ERTC in Budapest?

Anyone else going to ERTC in November? 

I will be presenting in Stream A “Challenged crudes, bottom of the barrel and heavy oil technologies” at 11.15am on Thursday 21st November. 

The title of my presentation will is "Processing Heavy and Extra Heavy Oils"

I hope to see you there. If you see me, introduce yourself. I always want to meet the readers of my blog. 

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PRO/II Keystroke shortcuts

The latest versions of PRO/II allow you to alleviate the stress on your mouse clicking finger as most menu items can be accessed by keystrokes. The menus can be accessed by hitting the
Alt key with the first letter of the menu name, for example Alt-F for the File menu (note the Output menu is Alt-U). The key letter for individual menu items is underlined, so for example hitting Alt-I, T will take you to the Thermodynamic data entry window.


Individual keystrokes can be used for zoom control and certain menu items, such as some edit commands, can be accessed by hitting the Control key and a key letter, for example Ctrl-R shortcuts Restore Input Data on the Input menu.

Many right mouse click menu items can also be accessed by key letter once the menu is brought up.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Pasting stream information into PRO/II

Composition data for process streams is often kept in Excel spreadsheets. When streams contain many components, transferring this data from Excel to PRO/II can seem arduous; however, this data can be transferred easily and accurately into PRO/II using standard Windows Copy/Paste functionality. In Excel, simply select the cells containing the composition data and type <CTR>-C; then open the PRO/II stream, click in the cell for the first component and type <CTR>-V. The composition data will be pasted into PRO/II starting at the first selected cell and continuing until the data is exhausted or the stream data is completed (Note: take care to use the same component order in both Excel and PRO/II).

This method can be used to transfer assay data, tabular data, compressor curves and other properties from Excel to PRO/II. In cases where the copied data extends beyond the default table size in PRO/II, the tables can be re-sized automatically.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Cyber Security: Password fatigue leads major companies to consider password alternatives

Funny - I just had to change my network password this week. This always causes so many problems for me. I ultimately lock myself of of my various accounts at least twice in the first week. I would love an easier solution.

Cyber Security: Password fatigue leads major companies to consider password alternatives

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From HydrocarbonProcessing.com: Innovative solutions for processing shale oils

The refining of shale oil (also known as tight oil) extracted through fracturing from fields such as Eagle Ford, Utica and Bakken has become prevalent in many areas of the US. Although these oils are appealing as refinery feedstocks due to their availability and low cost, processing can be more difficult.
The quality of the shale oils is highly variable.
These oils can be high in solids with high melting point waxes. The light paraffinic nature of shale oils can lead to asphaltene destabilization when blended with heavier crudes. These compositional factors have resulted in cold preheat train fouling, desalter upsets, and fouling of hot preheat exchangers and furnaces. Problems in transportation and storage, finished-product quality, as well as refinery corrosion, have also been reported. Operational issues have led to cases of reduced throughput and crude unit shutdowns. The problems encountered with shale oil processing and possible prediction and control strategies will be presented. read the full article here

Interesting background on Shale oil.
I am currently working up a paper on how modeling can be used with Shale oil. Any opinions on the modeling of shale oil?

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Infographic: The Mechanical Monstrosities Of Fossil Fuel Extraction - Sustainable Plant

Infographic: The Mechanical Monstrosities Of Fossil Fuel Extraction - Sustainable Plant

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From HydrocarbonProcess.com: Refinery closures hurt Europe's energy security

"Fifteen European refineries have shut down since 2008, idling 8% of the region's fuel-processing capacity, while many others are running at reduced capacity. "  

WOW!
8%! is a lot for a region.

Some of Europe's largest economies face a growing risk of fuel-supply disruptions, as issues that drove many of the region's refineries out of business are set to intensify. Read the full article here

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