In this section of the site contributing authors submit interesting articles relating
to the various services, industries and research & development efforts of Becht.
Valero’s Three Rivers Refinery is a 400-acre site with a total throughput capacity of approximately 100,000 barrels per day. It is located midway between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, in the heart of the southeast Texas shale oil counties, most notably the Eagle Ford Shale formation. When the first members of the Becht Engineering team […]
Industry is concerned about the “Black Boxes” on Cranes. Are they a useful tool or a liability? They record everything from load related data, engine data, geometric data and configuration changes. There is a wealth of information being stored and it can be used to improve safety and for more effective fleet management. It can […]
Rich Basile joined Becht Engineering in June 2012, after his retirement from ExxonMobil Research and Engineering. During his career at EMRE, Mr. Basile was the Commercial Technology Owner for Pressure Vessels, Fluid Solids and Advanced Analysis/FFS, responsible for the mechanical design, analysis and technology development for ExxonMobil pressure vessels and other equipment in units such […]
The Valero Port Arthur Refinery was commissioned in 1901 and has had many process additions and improvements in its history. It has a total throughput capacity of 310,000 MBD. The refinery is strategically located on the Texas Gulf Coast, approximately 90 miles east of Houston. Manuel Lozano has over 40 years of experience in Heavy […]
The CMAA Standard for Cranes: Becht Engineering recently completed the structural analysis for a single girder 5-ton crane bridge with an under-running hoist per CMAA-74 for nuclear waste handling operations. CMAA is the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, and CMAA-74 is the Specification for Top Running and Under Running Single Girder Electric Traveling Cranes Utilizing […]
A lesson from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident – The series of events that followed the March 11, 2011 tsunami caused hydrogen explosions that damaged the reactor buildings of three units at Fukushima Dai-ichi. In June 2013, the US NRC issued order EA-13-109 “Order to Modify Licenses with Regard to Reliable Hardened Containment Vents Capable of […]
I was the Principal Investigator for the recently issued EPRI Technical Report “Guidelines for the Evaluation of Cracks in Cement Linings and Coatings”, Technical Report 3002000599, December 2013. I worked with EPRI’s Doug Munson to develop these guidelines to help nuclear plant utility engineers make fitness-for-service assessments of damage in cement-lined and cement-coated pipes. Cement […]
Following the 2011 tsunami and accident at Fukushima-Daiichi in Japan, the nuclear power industry has embarked on a significant effort to evaluate the effect of beyond-design-basis (BDB) events, particularly earthquakes, tsunamis, and floods, on the safety of nuclear power plants. What are BDBs? Beyond-design-basis (BDB) events (sometimes also labeled BDBE) are accident sequences that have […]
My assignment as a Heavy Lift and Rigging Advisor was to observe and consult with the client onsite during the lift and assembly of the Process Tower (52-V01). My assignment was thought to be 14 days or less. The Project’s plan was to lift the base section of the tower and set on the foundation […]
I was recently preparing for a cross-country trip and I had to decide what to take. Normally it is necessary to bring several large binders of subject and reference material, but in between airline baggage restrictions and the need to travel light I didn’t want to take a lot of stuff. Fortunately, modern technology is […]
