Petrochemicals, problems with

Some of the most obvious examples of problems with gas and materials are frequently found in refining or petrochemical applications. One is the presence of hydrogen sulfide. Austenitic stainless steel, normally a premium material, cannot be used if chlorides are present due to intergranular corrosion and subsequent cracking problems. The material choice is influenced by hardness limitations as well as operating stresses that may limit certain perfonnance parameters. 

Another problem with fermentation products is often the limited outlet. The primary fermentation products such as alcohols require chemical transformations to convert them into species acceptable by the chemical industry as intermediates. This can normally occur through dehydration reactions [77]. For example, ethanol may need to be dehydrated into ethylene, isopropanol into propylene and n-butanol into n-butylene. These reactions are reversed petrochemical reactions and normally lead to products that have a lower selling price than the starting materials under the present structure of the chemical industry. For this reason, bioethanol is still used unchanged as an oxygenated gasoline additive. 

This book is a comparison of twenty-eight emerging technologies for the treatment of petrochemical wastes. It covers the full range of thermal, physical, chemical, and biological methods, providing information about processes, vendors, applications, state of development, and known or anticipated problems with each. 

The production of polymers from renewable resources is attracting considerable attention, both from academic and industrial research interests. Currently, polymers are produced on an approximately 150 million ton scale per year and are mostly derived from petrochemicals, with approximately 7-8% of worldwide reserves being consumed each year [1]. Concerns regarding the long-term sustainability of such petrochemical feedstocks, coupled with increasing and fluctuating prices, environmental pollution and problems with security of supply, have driven research into alternative means to produce polymers. 

Linear programming can be used to solve very large problems, with thousands of variables and constraints. The method is widely used in operations, particularly in optimization of oil refineries and petrochemical plants. It is used a lot less in design, as design problems almost inevitably contain many nonlinear equations. 

Europeans are enthusiastic about hydrocarbons like cyclopentane as blowing agents, and have not had too many problems with their flammability. Replacing 10% of the pentane by isobutane is said to allow the production of foams with improved insulation and mechanical properties and lower material costs. US manufacturers have observed the success of the European hydrocarbon policy and its safety record (despite fears about flammability) and are also beginning to use pentane. Several producers in South America, Australia and much of Asia have already moved to hydrocarbons, which are sold by petrochemical companies and their subsidiaries. Market share held by hydrocarbons is over 50% in some sectors of the foamed plastics industry. 

In a radial-inflow turbine the problems of erosion and exducer blade vibration are prominent. The size of the particles being entrained decreases with the square root of the turbine wheel diameter. Inlet filtration is suggested for expanders in the petrochemical industry. The filter usually has to... 

The use of gas turbines in the petrochemical, power generation, and offshore industries has mushroomed in the past few years. It is to these users and manufacturers of gas turbines that this book is directed. The book will give the manufacturer a glimpse of some of the problems associated with his equipment in the field and help the user to achieve maximum performance efficiency and high availability of his gas turbines. 

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