Magazine: 403 Nov-Dec 2022

New supply-side capacity additions in 2023 will increase export availability from the Middle East. Projects have already been ramping up in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Operating plants in extreme environments can present unique challenges. If these challenges are not anticipated and addressed in design and commissioning, the plant will not be able to start up nor meet its specification. This article examines the challenges faced in commissioning amine plants operating in three diverse environments (extreme heat, extreme cold, and offshore) and the technical and procedural solutions employed to resolve them. Mike Sheilan, Ben Spooner, Kaiyr Tekebayev, and Philip le Grange , Amine Experts.

The capabilities of OGT’s ProTreat ® simulator were recently enhanced by the addition of gas treating with hybrid solvents. The functionality was developed generically to make it as broadly applicable as possible. In this article, Ralph H. Weiland of Optimized Gas Treating investigates the effect of TEG as a contaminant on the performance of DEA, MDEA, and piperazine-promoted MDEA in a gas treating application.

The energy transition has already commenced and while sulphuric acid production is already virtually carbon free, there will likely still be impacts on the sulphuric acid industry resulting from this energy transformation. Hannes Storch, Shailesh Chandrol, Collin Bartlett and Jens Kleiber of Metso Outotec present their view on a roadmap to sustainability, preparing for energy transition in the sulphuric acid industry through permanent product development, digitalisation and new technologies.

A report on CRU’s annual Sulphur + Sulphuric Acid conference, which returned to being face to face meeting at the end of October 2022.

Topsoe has made a number of changes to its board. Kim Saaby Hedegaard has been appointed as the company’s new Executive Vice President, Power-to-X. Hedegaard has served as interim Head of Power-to-X since May 2022. Before that, he held the position as Chief Operations Officer (COO). He joined Topsoe in 1999 and has since held various leadership positions within engineering, technology, and sales. Since 2017, he was responsible for Catalyst Production and Technology globally. He holds a MSc in chemical engineering from the Technical University of Denmark. He is replaced as COO by Andreas Bruun Jørgensen.

In its final report on the June 2019 explosion and fire at Philadelphia Energy Solutions in southwest Philadelphia, the US Chemical Safety Board has said that US refineries need to strengthen their safeguards surrounding the use of hydrofluoric acid, and has also recommended that the US Environmental Protection Agency take steps to improve its oversight of the chemical, which is used as an alkylation agent.