In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
Overview This past spring, we described how we’ve incorporated well-established void growth modeling into our high temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA) assessment approach [1]. The purpose of this extension was to blend a reliable time basis for HTHA with our existing critical factor-based method (also published in the Inspectioneering Journal 6 years earlier [2]). The Inspectioneering […]
Space Shuttle Challenger Many of us can remember exactly where we were at 11:39 AM EST on January 28, 1986. That was when the Space Shuttle Challenger failed in flight killing all seven crew members. Normalization of Deviance was a major factor in the Challenger shuttle disaster. Normalization of Deviance is when what was unacceptable […]
by Dave Dewees & Zumao Chen Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling can be used as an efficient and low-cost alternative to improve the design and operation of a new burner. There are many factors that affect the performance of burners in a charge heater in a refinery. The burner must maintain a certain heat flux […]
Shaft alignment is likely the most misunderstood facet of rotating installation and maintenance. Most shaft alignment today is done by laser alignment tools. But, the laser alignment tools are a “black box”. The problem with a black box is that you only get outputs with no knowledge of what is going on inside the box. […]
In the final installment of the Winners, Losers, and Everything In Between series, we address “Planning for Sustainability”. What is sustainability and how does one plan for it? Sustainability relates to: Reduced usage of water and general carbon, Lower greenhouse gas emissions, and Enhanced recycling and reuse, both corporately and individually. In order to plan […]
Background Refiners have been reforming naphtha to improve its octane or to produce aromatic chemicals since the 1930s. Initially the desired chemical reactions were achieved in Thermal Reformers without the use of catalyst by simply heating the naphtha to about 540°C (1000°F) to “crack” non-aromatics out of the naphtha boiling range. This was effective but […]
It’s time that we shift our focus away from the doom, the gloom, the fear, and the uncertainty of today’s industry news. Flip to the Comics section for a moment in your mind. In the first panel, picture a distraught teenager, feeling alone. In the next panel, we see that teenager’s astonished face as The […]
Excerpt below taken from NJBIZ… “The business world is full of successful leaders deserving of recognition—many of whom NJBIZ honors annually through various special awards programs ranging from Best Fifty Women in Business to Heath Care Heroes to General Counsel of the Year. Then there are those business leaders who are in a class of […]
Published in Hydrocarbon Processing, August 2020 hydrocarbonprocessing.com/magazine by Dave Dewees, Zumao Chen, Magnus Gustafsson Mixing tees – in which two fluid streams with different physical and/or chemical properties mix – are widely used in the petrocemcial industry. When there is a large temperature difference between two streams, large metal temperature fluctuations can occur in the […]
Published in Inspectioneering Journal July|August 2020 by Gerrit Buchheim, Winston Robbins and Frank Sapienza For more than 100 years, it has been understood in the petroleum refining industry that certain crude oils—or, more accurately, crude oil fractions—contain sulfur (S) species and levels of organic acids that may be very corrosive to equipment and piping in […]
