In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
Introduction: Before continuing with CCR Naphtha Reforming Turnarounds it seemed appropriate to explain the cause and effects of unchecked thermal cycles and high catalyst bed pressure. This information is vital to understanding how to mitigate Rx internals damage and improves the ability of operators and engineers to evaluate unit equipment and catalyst performance more effectively. […]
Last month, Becht facilitated a knowledge sharing event between 25 innovative individuals from nearly a dozen energy industry owner/user organizations. One topic was drone based inspection. Here is an excerpt from Damodaran Raghu’s technical primer which kicked off the group discussion, one of many covered during the sessions. With contributing author Mark Fronek Digital Transformation […]
Introduction Scheduled turnarounds (TA’s) on CCR naphtha reforming units are infrequent with customers targeting every 5+ years, and frequently hitting their targets. That leaves little opportunity for many engineers and operators to participate in these events. So, it seemed appropriate to generate an article that shares what I’ve experienced during my career, while keeping each […]
With Contributing Author Ed de Saegher When buying crude, intermediate feedstock, blending components, or finished products for your refinery, you have multiple ways to transport and delivery them into your tanks. Additionally, you also have several options for the conditions under which those hydrocarbons are purchased (Incoterms). These terms provide many variations for when you […]
With Contributing Author – Rafael Rengifo Above ground storage tanks (AST) are widely used for the storage of large volumes of flammable liquids in tank farms, depots, and terminals. It is mission critical to effectively manage all ignition sources around and in the proximity of AST due to the high risk of fire escalation that […]
Feedback on my last blog “Can Feed Sulfur be Both Good and Bad,” led to our new topic on catalyst pinning. This is a great topic suggested by a LinkedIn connection. With that, I went to the Internet and searched for articles published on “Catalyst Pinning”. I found several, but they were all scholarly articles that […]
It’s hard to imagine life without electricity. We flip a switch and things start working. It powers your lights, television, refrigerator, air conditioner and so much more. Powerlines deliver electricity to our homes and offices and don’t seem dangerous because they are normally mounted up high and out of reach. The truth is, they have […]
The potential formation of nickel carbonyl is a hazard for all hydroprocessing units – both hydrocrackers and hydrotreaters. Fortunately, there have not been a lot of incidents in the refining industry related to nickel carbonyl, but there have been fatalities due to nickel carbonyl exposure. This blog will cover the risks of nickel carbonyl exposure, […]
Implementing strategy across the hydrogen supply chain as a critical component in addressing climate change. A blog written by Robert Ohmes, Nathan Barkley, Mike Annon, Greg Zoll, and Jessica Hofmann Recently published in Decarbonisation Technology – August 2023 Issue (digitalrefining.com) As governments as well as energy and research firms look to meet global carbon footprint […]
This blog provides some historical context to my previous blog, Metal Catalyzed Coking and feed Sulfur (S) requirements. Moreover, I will also address the flip-side of too little feed S and discuss the impact of too much and its effect on catalyst performance. I’ll also cover how catalyst Surface Area (SA) impacts the recovery from […]
