The Main Column

Hydrocarbon Processing's Reliability Editor, Heinz Bloch summarizes the experience of a former colleague in which he was selected as the expert witness for a company in litigation against a supplier of bulk raw material. The plaintiff’s profitability depended on the uninterrupted flow of raw material from the defendant. The startup was delayed, and the unforeseen consequential losses for the plaintiff were far-reaching.

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How can companies adapt to the challenges brought on by COVID-19 and oil/gas market volatility? This podcast examines four levers of transformation that could push companies into the future: energy transition, integrated human-machine collaboration, recoded careers and organizational agility. 

This podcast provides an overview of some of the many digital technologies being adopted in the HPI to increase safety, productivity, profitability and sustainability. 

Several challenges facing the downstream processing industry have led to reduced insurance limits/coverages at significantly higher prices, leading to a cyclone market that seems inescapable for HPI companies that need coverage for their capital-intensive units. This podcast provides several steps that could help asset owners out of this whirlwind market.

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This podcast dives into the trends that cause vibration issues in boilers and furnaces, along with several techniques to mitigate vibration within these pieces of equipment.

WirelessHART sensors, whether used with existing control and monitoring systems or with new technical applications, provide the data required to improve process efficiency and safety. This podcast examines seven practical examples where wireless instrumentation networks can optimize plant operations.

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This podcast provides an overview on galvanic corrosion, including causes or corrosion, vulnerable areas and prevention.

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This podcast examines future global energy demand and how the energy mix will transition to 2050.

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This podcast dives into Sphera's 2020 process safety management/operational risk management survey. It provides insights into the industry's safety culture, reality of risks, methods organizations are using to identify risks and adopting digital technologies to increase safety in hazardous facilities.

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In this hypothetical case (EPC-2020), the global EPC market is explored and, from that basis, guidelines are presented on how to make an EPC firm more competitive and increase its profit to a healthy 5%-6% of sales.

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