October 2012

This issue’s regional report comes from Euro Petroleum Consultants, and focuses on the increasing role of shale and LNG in European gas markets. The gas theme is continued with gas processing articles from Linde Gas, Optimized Gas Treating and UOP, and LNG articles from Ebara and Pittsburgh Corning. Sulfur is another prevalent topic, and the lead feature is a preview of the Sulphur 2012 show in Berlin. Other features include compressors, pumps and valves and measurement control.

COMMENT

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

THE NEW SHALE FRONTIER
Stefan Chapman, Euro Petroleum Consultants, UK, and Andrey Kosulnikov, Euro Petroleum Consultants, Russia & CIS, give an overview of the increasingly central roles played by shale and LNG in the gas and petroleum industry, focusing particularly on Europe.

THE SUPPORTING CAST
Stephen Harrison, Linde Gases Division, Germany, explains how industrial gases can be used to support natural gas processing.

AMINE REGENERATOR INSTABILITIES
Ralph H. Weiland and Nathan A. Hatcher, Optimized Gas Treating, Inc., USA, examine the stable operating limits in amine regenerators.

CONTAMINANT CONTROL: PART ONE
Fedrik Vancraeynest, UOP N.V. (A Honeywell Company), Belgium; Steven Struyf, UOP Middle East Company (A Honeywell Company), UAE; and Raj Palla, UOP LLC (A Honeywell Company), USA, explain how an integrated approach can offer total contaminant control for sour gas feed pretreatment.

PUMPS IN SHIP SHAPE
Christopher Finley, Ebara International Cryodynamics, USA, explains how low flow LNG fuels pumps form an essential component of LNG fuel systems in vessels.

FROM FIRE TO FOOTPRINTS
Steve Oslica, Pittsburgh Corning, USA, overviews the evolution of design requirements for LNG facilities.

A HEALTHY HEART
Klaus Stachel and Markus Wenisch, HOERBIGER Compression Technology, Austria, outline a new protection and diagnostic system for reciprocating compressors.

THE FACTS OF LIFE
Roger Turley, CRANE ChemPharma, USA, describes why life cycle costs should be factored into valve selections.

TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF
Sari Aronen, Metso Automation Inc, Finland, demonstrates how depressurising can be safely achieved using intelligent valves.

SAVE A BUNDLE
Chris Wajciechowski, Alfa Laval, USA, describes how one refinery managed to cut its emissions to a third of federal requirements by using new heat exchanger technology.

WORKING WITHIN THE PARAMETERS
Jim Costain, GE Measurement & Control, UK, describes how sensing and metering technologies are developing to meet the demands of the oil and gas sector.

COLUMN SENSE: A CASE STUDY
Andrew Riley, Emerson Process Management, USA, describes how the MOL Group achieved significant energy savings by optimising its gas distillation columns with an advanced process control system.

GET IT TOGETHER
Chris Hotblack, Invensys Operations Management, UK, offers a solution for the integration of refinery business and operations.

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM
Gordon Cope, Contributing Editor, offers a warning to refiners that the global sulfur supply is set to soar.

SRU MAKEOVERS: PART ONE
Mahin Rameshni, Rameshni & Associates Technology & Engineering (RATE), USA, details various scenarios that could trigger the need for a sulfur recovery unit revamp. The first part of this two part article presents five case studies where revamps have been undertaken in response to these situations.

SULPHUR 2012 PREVIEW
Hydrocarbon Engineering previews a selection of companies that are exhibiting their downstream oil and gas sulfur technologies at Sulphur 2012.

15 FACTS ON... EUROPE
15 nuggets of information on the European continent and its oil and gas industry.

THE LAST WORD: ERTC
Roberta Trevisiol, PE/Production Technology, IES Italiana, offers a final thought on behalf on the ERTC about the challenges facing refiners in the contemporary European market.

October 2012

Contents