Article Archive
Latest 21 news articles
The Tragic Saga of Koho Maru 5, A.K.A. Pak-1
Japan imports huge amounts of gas and does so using her own vessels rather than vessels registered to the country of origin of the imported fuel. Indeed, the ‘supertanker’ was developed to enable Japan to import increased amounts of crude oil when she expanded her refining capacity in the 1950s. Japan receives shipments not only crude oil but also liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). A vessel for LPG transport called the Koho Maru-5* was manufactured and co...
The Kirkuk Oilfield
This oilfield in northern Iraq was discovered in 1927 and has been operated by the Iraq Petroleum Company since 1934. Its known reserves are of the order of 10 billion barrels. There is evidence that management of the resource during the regime of Saddam Hussein was unsatisfactory and led to heavy losses. There are pipelines from Kirkuk which pass through part of Turkey and convey crude oil to the Mediterranean coast for transfer to tankers. The city of Kirkuk has a racially varied population a...
Non-Invasive Optimisation – Overflash Mass Flow Measurement at 380°C using the Ultrasonic Clamp-On Technology
In petrochemical refineries, a multitude of measuring instruments monitor material transport and conversion. Flow measurement of the overflash volume, which is an important indicator for well-adjusted and efficient column operation, presents a special challenge. In the BP Oil Refinery Emsland in Lingen, a clamp-on ultrasonic measuring system measures non-invasively the heavy gasoil slowly flowing back during crude oil distillation.
An Oil Company Used Dual-modality ECT and ERT to Study the Flow of Multiphase Oil-water-gas Systems Reducing Energy Costs and Improving Plant Yields
Electrical tomography techniques provide the capability for flow visualisation, regardless of material opacity, to enhance the understanding of such complex flow processes.
Liquid & Gas Flow Measurement For Oil/Gas FPSO Vessels
To meet the global demand for oil/gas production, Floating Production, Storage, & Offloading (FPSO) Vessels have been utilised for a number of years to access deep water deposits. They process oil from subsea wells and/or completions and store it until it can be offloaded onto waiting tankers or sent through a pipeline to other storage facilities onshore or refineries, etc.
FLEXIM Technology Addresses Oil and Gas Flow Measurement Needs
FLEXIM Technology and the Worldwide Market for Ultrasonic Flow Meters On the occasion of its 20th anniversary FLEXIM looks back on an impressive history. The company has grown from humble beginnings to a network of subsidiaries spanning the globe, and so has its core business of engineering and manufacturing clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters (USFMs). FLEXIM started by offering a single portable meter model in the early 90?s, and now offers comprehensive liquid and gas flow meters applying shea...
Oil Refineries with Cramped Retrofit Projects get out of a Tight Spot with Space-Saving Flow Technology
Although there are relatively few new oil/gas refineries being built today, there is a continuous stream of upgrade and retrofit projects to keep up with the strong demand for fuel. A large number of these projects are designed to increase plant efficiency or meet new environmental regulations, and these projects require new equipment of all types. Inevitably, problems arise when the amount of equipment fails to fit within the existing plant real estate available. Inaccurate fluid flow measur...
Thermal Flow Switches For Water Treatment In Oil Refineries
Reliable monitoring and treatment of water in oil refineries is essential for the production of petroleum-based products, including gasoline, diesel, kerosene, heating oil, and byproducts for plastics and a variety of lubricants (Figure 1). There are three process areas within refineries that require large amounts of water: cooling units, desalter units and wastewater treatment.
Still Going Strong – Why Venturi Tubes Continue to Enjoy Enduring Popularity in the Oil and Gas Industry
Despite being based on technology which is over 100 years old, Venturi Tubes continue to be a widely applied form of flow measurement in the Oil and Gas Industry. In this article, Harry Lawrence, Flow Product Manager for ABB Limited, explains the basic principles involved in the measurement of flow using differential pressure (DP) producers and the reasons for the enduring popularity of the technology for Oil and Gas applications.
TransitTime Flow Measurement
Transit time ultrasonic flow measurement is based on the principle of sound energy traversing the fluid or gas in a pipe both upstream and downstream where the time difference is impacted proportionally depending on the flow rate.
New Measurement Method Increases Efficiency
The Fluxys LNG Peak Shaving in the back port of Zeebrugge (Belgium) dates from 1978. Here, liquid natural gas, supplied by trucks from the LNG terminal in the front port of Zeebrugge, is stored. When the gas demand is higher than the primary supply (through pipelines from Norway and Great Britain or LNG tankers, such as the Methania), the “supply” in the LNG Peak Shaving is “heated” to 2°C and sent into the network.
Flow Measurement In Refineries: A Short Summary
In order to make material and energy balances it is mandatory to be able to measure the amount of oil and gas imported and product exported in any hydrocarbon facility. This difference is the refinery loss and world-class benchmarked installations have figures well below 0.5%. There are many ways to measure flow and these have been classified by BS EN 7405 (1991) according the basic technology used.
Thermal Mass Flow Meter Improves Refinery Flare Gas Vent Monitoring Accuracy
To ensure the flow rate of combustible gases in a vapor header line connected to its incinerator were measured accurately, a major oil/gas began searching for a higher reliability instrumentation solution. Combustible toxic vapours result during the refining process at the plant and must be captured for safe disposal. Incorrectly measuring the rate of vapor flow in the header line during the refining process could result in an improper mix of toxic waste gases that would fail to combust in...
Custody transfer at Preemraff Lysekil in Sweden
Loading the right mass Promass provides a direct and highly accurate mass measurement for loading and off loading. This is due to the fact that all Endress+Hauser mass flow meters are calibrated on an accredited test rig with hydrocarbons that have the same characteristics as the hydrocarbons that are measured by the flow meters in customers’ applications. Promass is also calibrated and approved by NMi for bidirectional use, meaning that Promass can be used for loading and off loading...
Storage Tanks - Liquid Measurement and Leak Detection Using Reed Switch Technology
The use of aboveground storage tanks presents several concerns for both level measurement and leak detection. In the US, aboveground storage tanks are subject to both Federal regulations and state and local regulations. Such aboveground storage tanks need to meet the U.S. EPA’s Spill, Prevention, and Countermeasure (SPCC) requirements (40 CFR, Part 112). This particular regulation applies to any single storage tank with a capacity greater than 660 gallons or a multiple-tank site with a combi...
Is it worth ‘splashing out’ just in case?
Chris Brennan, Level Product Specialist at Endress+Hauser Ltd discusses the benefits of investing in high level alarms when considering the subject of overspill prevention.
Gulf Coast hurricanes and their impact on offshore oil production.
We have been hearing in recent months of Hurricane Katrina and of the damage it caused on- and offshore. The Gulf of Mexico has a long history of hurricanes. This first recorded hurricane in the Gulf was in 1527, at which time Spanish conquistadors were exploring there. Five vessels bearing conquistadors encountered a hurricane and were, in the words of one historian, ‘tossed like driftwood’. The first Gulf hurricane in the 20th Century hit Texas in September 1900 and claimed 6000 lives....
Oil Movements and Blending Management for Global Refineries
At the heart of Visa-OM is the object-oriented plant model. This enables users to build and modify the informational relationships that exist between the raw data (both real-time and historic) associated with the tanks, lines, pumps, valves and process units around the refinery. The plant model interfaces with the plant DCS, PIMS, LIMS, PLC, ERP and MRP systems, and incorporates key characteristics and relationships. Included in the model is every relevant tank farm configuration, data co...
The Displacer Replacer: Guided Wave Radar in the Oil & Gas Industry
John Hulme, Level Product Manager at Endress+Hauser Ltd (UK) examines how the increasing sophistication of level instrumentation has resulted in a viable alternative to traditional displacer systems in the petrochemical and oil & gas industries.
New High Capacity Coriolis Flowmeters From Krohne (The March of the Titans!)
There is an unrelenting pressure on Coriolis meter suppliers to continuously develop and adapt their product portfolio to the ever changing market needs.
Thermowells – a Lesson in Performance Under Pressure
Thermowells must be properly designed and specified to withstand the pressure and stresses of their environment. Andrew Dunbabin, Product Manager, High Temperature Products for ABB Limited’s instrumentation business, argues that users should be aware of all the relevant standards, in order to guard against potentially disastrous failures.