Author: Jeff Johns

Jeff Johns has over 35 years’ experience in the petroleum refining industry. He was honored as a Chevron Hydroprocessing Fellow (Chevron’s highest technical recognition) for contributions to Chevron and to the industry. Jeff has expert knowledge of hydrocracker and hydrotreater design/operation, optimization, and troubleshooting, and has substantial experience in other key refinery processes. Jeff managed hydrocracking and hydrotreating technology in Chevron’s refineries worldwide where he developed and implemented best practices and projects to improve safety, reliability, and profitability. One of his special interests as a technology mentor was developing and delivering training. For 20 years, Jeff led an ad hoc Industry Committee of hydroprocessing experts dedicated to sharing safety and reliability information among North American Refiners. He was a member of the AFPM Q&A Panel in 2004 and directed multiple technology seminars as a member of the AFPM Q&A screening committee. Jeff served on the Board of Directors for Advanced Refining Technologies (ART). Jeff holds a B.S. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Utah. He holds six patents in hydroprocessing technology.

Hydroprocessing Relief Issues – Chapter 1: Backflow Prevention

By: Jeff Johns Monday, March 27, 2023

Oil Refining

Over the next few months I will cover relief issues for Hydrotreaters and Hydrocrackers. This topic will be the subject of an AFPM Safety Bulletin to be released in 2Q, 2023. Relief design and operation for hydroprocessing units has unique requirements compared to other refinery units because of the high-pressure-to-low-pressure interfaces. The trick is to […]

Under Pressure II

By: Jeff Johns Thursday, February 16, 2023

Oil Refining

CLICK HERE to view Part 1 of this series Tenets of Catalyst Selection I have had several suggestions to write about catalyst selection. This is a popular topic in many journals and blogs with some authors taking controversial stands on several issues. I thought I would approach the subject by describing the important tenets that […]

Under Pressure

By: Jeff Johns Monday, January 16, 2023

Oil Refining

Reactor Runaways – Automatic Depressuring or Manual Depressuring? Recently, I have had several discussions and inquiries regarding reactor runaway events and whether automatic depressuring systems are needed for hydroprocessing units. Short Answer ALL Hydrocrackers should have an Automatic Depressuring System Other units that use catalysts with high activation energy should consider an Automatic Depressuring System […]

UNDER PRESSURE – What Makes Hydroprocessing Technology Different Than Other Refining Technologies

By: Jeff Johns Tuesday, November 22, 2022

Oil Refining

Most of the people that have worked around refineries for some time, feel that they have mastered the basics of the major refining technologies and feel that they have some knowledge of the main strengths and vulnerabilities of those technologies. In this blog, I’d hope to go beyond the basics and provide a deeper knowledge […]