Featured Articles

Modeling and optimization of pressure distillation to achieve pharma-grade THF

This case study details the production of tetrahydrofuran (THF), with a purity of 99.96 wt% and water moisture of less than 200 parts per million (ppm).

Surfactant contaminants in feed gas streams to amine units—The phantom foaming agent

Contamination in feed gas streams to processing plants is a leading cause of lost revenue, upsets and low throughput. More detailed testing shows that surfactants in the gas stream are among the most damaging contaminants affecting the process. Surfactants pose a number of challenges, such as foaming and emulsification. In the feed gas, surfactants may be the predominant cause of amine foaming leading to high H2S in the treated gas and amine solvent losses.

LNG plant design in cold climates

Monetizing natural gas via LNG technology in cold climates (e.g., Kenai, Alaska; Hammerfest, Norway; and Sakhalin, Russia) has proven commercially viable.

Automated process for coldown of main cryogenic heat exchanger

No matter how reliable an LNG plant is, situations will arise that require restart from a shutdown condition. These situations include initial plant startup after completion of construction, and restart after scheduled compressor or driver maintenance.

OTC commemorates 50 years in Houston

The Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the offshore oil and gas industry’s largest equipment exhibition, is celebrating its 50th edition this year. The annual conference—scheduled to take place at Houston’s NRG Park from April 30 to May 3—will showcase the latest technology for offshore drilling, exploration, production and environmental protection. Since it began, in 1969, OTC has expanded into the largest conference and exhibition of its kind. Today, OTC is a global event and also includes the Arctic Technology Conference, OTC Brasil and OTC Asia in its suite of offshore technology conferences.

Planning and operating a duo-lateral well in Mittelplate oil field

Mittelplate field, Germany’s largest oil field, was discovered in 1966 and appraised between 1980 and 1981. It has produced since 1987, with current daily production of about 25,000 bopd. The field sits within the German Wadden Sea (Fig. 1), which has achieved status as a national park and UNESCO World Heritage site. Therefore, field development is restricted to the existing artificial drilling and production island, Mittelplate A. A plan for multilateral wells was applied successfully for the field’s development, to optimize the limited available slots.

Shaletech: Permian Basin

Despite an aerial reach of more than 75,000 sq mi, overlaying up to 12 prospective zones, the growing population of rigs and frac spreads in the invincible Permian basin of Texas and southeastern New Mexico has made well spacing a dicey issue.

France's nuclear plans under pressure

Piping weld issues reported at Électricité de France's Flamanville nuclear reactor project last week threaten to delay similar reactor builds across Finland and the UK, eroding confidence in the technology's future role in western Europe's energy mix.

Saudi Aramco looks far and wide

Ahead of its planned initial public offering, Saudi Aramco is in a dash to expand operations at home and abroad. It's exploring new openings in the upstream and downstream, with a march into petrochemicals turning into a run.

How much Iranian oil will be lost if Trump scraps the JCPOA?

President Donald Trump will probably ditch the Iran nuclear deal on 12 May—on that, most everyone seems to agree. But consensus over the impact on oil supply is lacking. More than 1m barrels a day of supply could be lost over the next 18 months. Worse still, the White House might not really have a plan.

What About Infrastructure?

In 2017, Washington politics continued as usual – if anything, even more bitterly partisan than ever before. Congress remains deeply divided down political lines and even among the parties themselves, crippling concerted efforts to accomplish the multitude of high-profile issues demanding immediate attention. Political issues and international threats abound, yet rhetoric and posturing tended to occupy the time of Washington.