The Monitor

Globally, there’s a trend for increased policies and regulations around producing low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur (ULS) transportation fuels. These are often referred to as “clean fuels”.  “Clean” transportation fuels typically focus on removing sulfur oxides (SO_x), specifically sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and mitigating pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons and particulates, from vehicles’ exhaust. Sulfur oxides can cause respiratory problems and lung damage in humans and environmental issues such as tree, plant and stone damage; acid rain and hazy air. The less sulfur content in fuel, the less polluting SO_x emissions that fuel will release.

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Topics: Downstream, Liquid & Slurry

With fluctuating demand in your Hydrocarbon Processing, how can you be sure that unit responsibilities aren't creating silos? Answer: Manual or Automatic Hydrocarbon Sampling.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Solids & Powder, Liquid & Slurry

Accurate fiscal calculations, allocations and loss control are essential for a healthy hydrocarbon processing operation. It is also why you need to pay close attention to your sampling program. Sampling downstream and hydrocarbon-related liquids and gases such as crude oil, condensates, and oil and water mixtures means that it is critical to ensure quality control by determining product properties and composition that can directly affect your operations.

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Topics: Downstream, Solids & Powder, Liquid & Slurry

Plants and facilities of all kinds use sample coolers to cool a sample from a process stream. Cooling samples as part of your steam and water sampling system is essential to maintaining safety and the representativeness of the sample.

For example, if a sample in a power plant is too hot to handle, the operator might throttle the flow to unacceptably low levels, which means the sample is no longer representative or acceptable.

Another example comes from Hydrocarbon processing or Process Analytics. Cooling the process to handle the sample is necessary.   If you take a grab sample of a certain hydrocarbon whether it be of a liquid or a gas, the safest way is to handle the sample at below 140F.  This protects the operator when handling hot samples that need to be physically taken to the lab safely for analysis.   

In order to achieve accurate data, the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), ASTM and ASME recommend cooling water samples to 77°F (25°C) to ensure consistent, accurate test results. 

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Topics: Power, Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Liquid & Slurry, Steam & Water

How do I sample gas or liquid streams where there is no standard sampling point available?

At high-temperature, high-viscosity fluid sampling points, does the fluid need to be cooled before sampling?

What are the best practices for sampling foamy hydrocarbon liquids?

If you’ve ever asked these questions – or any others about manual process sampling in a hydrocarbon processing plant – the “Five Things to Know When Sampling in a Hydrocarbon Processing Plant” webcast is for you.

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Topics: Downstream

 

Sampling in a hydrocarbon processing plant has its hazards. Tapping into a process line to extract a representative sample requires careful planning, specialized equipment and a partnership with the right hydrocarbon service team. Commonly, however, more focus is spent on the best and safest way to extract the sample, than the method to seal the sample collection bottle. That can be just as hazardous.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Liquid & Slurry

Sampling within the hydrocarbon process is essential for gaining visibility into product quality, identifying corrosion and ensuring processes are operating as expected. It occurs at multiple points across virtually every stage of hydrocarbon processing. However, are you giving sampling the attention it needs?

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream

As Texas ramps up crude oil production and a “resilient” oil and gas industry is expected to see slow but steady growth in 2017 and beyond, it’s more critical than ever that these refining and petrochemical plants have the technologies and expertise they need to meet demand.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Company News

What does it take to design a practical and reliable steam sampling system? Find out what you need to know to practically implement steam sampling guidelines in your process environment. 

Steam sampling is sometimes viewed as a necessary evil in a process plant. However, the absence of steam due to a boiler shutdown makes for a bad day at a refinery, petrochemical or specialty chemical plant. But one size doesn’t fit all, and a number of variables must be considered to design and implement a practical, reliable steam sampling system.

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Topics: Power, Downstream, Steam & Water

Internal metal corrosion in hazardous liquid, gas transmission and gas-gathering applications is inevitable and continues to cause leaks and catastrophic failures. Due to the fact that internal corrosion is time dependent, the number of incidents could be increasing due to aging pipeline infrastructure. Such disasters can damage the environment and cause costly downtime and waste in pipeline productivity – in addition to astronomical cleanup costs.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream