In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
Becht joined the Gulf Downstream Association (GDA) in March 2021 as an Associate Member to better access and collaborate with customers in the Middle East. GDA is a non-profit association established by Saudi Aramco, ADNOC Refining, KNPC, KPI, BAPCO Refining, and OQ to serve as a common platform for downstream players in the region to […]
The ASME B31 Forever Medal for Excellence in Piping is a Committee Award that was established in 2010 that is awarded for distinguished contributions in the field of pressure piping including but not limited to leadership, technical, research and development, and publication efforts that have had a significant impact on the content, development, promulgation, and […]
Far too often, piping engineers fail to recognize that their responsibilities extend beyond simply meeting the code. The ASME B31 piping codes caution, “the code is not a handbook and cannot substitute for education, experience, and sound engineering judgment.” There are many different ways a piping system can fail that are not fully addressed in […]
On October 13, 2023 the Department of Energy (DOE) announced the seven regional clean hydrogen (H2) hubs that are to be funded as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). These hubs “…will kickstart a national network of clean hydrogen producers, consumers, and connective infrastructure while supporting the production, storage, delivery, and end-use of clean […]
Netflix recently released “The Railway Men – The Untold Story Of Bhopal 1984” which is based on the horrific tragedy killing so many and drove regulatory change to improve safety for the handling of highly hazardous chemicals. In particular, this incident lead to OSHA’s addition of part 119 to 29 CFR 1910 in 1992 (https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/federalregister/1992-02-24) […]
“Say it, don’t spray it.” Generally, this is good advice, but in industry it’s often profitable to spray it. In simple terms, sprays mix liquid droplets into gas, often with the aim to generate high interfacial area. In the process industries, the use of sprays is widespread. For instance: Thermal quenching/cooling of hot gas, liquid, […]
“It can’t happen!” “Our control systems have redundancies that won’t allow us to lose view!” “If we lose view, we’ll just move to the field control room and run the unit.” The comments above are what I have heard in the past when discussing emergency procedures for loss of view and loss of control on […]
By: Robert Ohmes with Nathan Barkley, Mike Annon, Greg Zoll and Jessica Hofmann An in-depth look at the supporting elements of the hydrogen supply chain: economics and regulations and how to operate within the infrastructure. Recently published in Decarbonisation Technology. Below is an excerpt from the November 2023 issue. The pursuit of the hydrogen economy […]
This October, Becht participated in the annual World Crane and Transport Summit (WCTS). I presented on “Super Heavy Lifting” this year. It was the third time in ten years that I was invited to speak. The Summit was held in Singapore and John Koo represented Becht with me. It was a great event, attended by […]
Consider the intrinsic risks of a reactor feed furnace in a hydrotreater or hydrocracker: On the outside of the furnace tube, we have intense fire from the burners On the inside of the furnace tube, we have high-pressure H2 or a H2/oil mix where the oil is above its autoignition temperature, and the vapor contains […]
