Emerson Exchange 365

Activity

Jim Cahill
- 9 Jan 2019
Improving Opportunity Crude Blending Operations

Opportunity crudes provide refiners with lower feedstock costs, but they must be carefully characterized and blended with other crudes to avoid problems during the refining process. These opportunity crudes are typically discounted from typical crudes because of the refining challenges they introduce. In the 4-minute YouTube video, How to Maximize Profit by Characterizing and Blending Opportunity Crudes , Emerson...
Jim Cahill
- 11 Sep 2018
Avoid Corrosion-Induced Asset Integrity Loss

A U.S. Energy Information Administration’s post, When was the last refinery built in the United States? , reveals that more than half the “newest refineries” in their list were built in the 1970s or 1980s, or 30 to 40+ years ago. And, with 137 operating U.S. oil refineries , the rest are even older. A lot has changed over this time, but much of the piping and vessel infrastructure remains the same. In a Chemical Engineering...
Jim Cahill
- 27 Aug 2018
DP Measurement Technologies for Challenging Refinery Applications

The energy derived from crude oil has powered the advancement of civilizations across the globe. Getting this energy into usable forms such as gasoline, diesel and jet fuel is the work refineries must do safely, reliably and efficiently every day. In a Hydrocarbon Processing article, Adapting instrumentation to the needs of refineries , Emerson’s Douglas Carlson and Dan Cychosz describe the challenging applications...
Jim Cahill
- 8 May 2018
Evaluating Right Fuel Blending Strategy for your Refinery Operation

Refiners are driven to produce fuels and other products profitably, while meeting ever-increasing regulatory requirements—all while operating safely, reliably, and efficiently. Fuel blending operations are a key part of the refining process to meet these challenges. I connected with Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo about how refiners develop their blending strategies. Marcelo noted that compliance is paramount due to the...
Jim Cahill
- 27 Feb 2018
Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

The world’s energy leaders and policy makers gather in Houston next week for the annual CERAWeek conference . These energy leaders in the oil & gas production, distribution, refining, petrochemicals, coal, electrical power and alternative energy industries gather to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for performance improvement. Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo has written a post, Refiners and Petrochemical Producers...
Jim Cahill
- 27 Feb 2018
Improving Downstream Hydrocarbon Production Performance

The world’s energy leaders and policy makers gather in Houston next week for the annual CERAWeek conference . These energy leaders in the oil & gas production, distribution, refining, petrochemicals, coal, electrical power and alternative energy industries gather to discuss trends, challenges and opportunities for performance improvement. Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo has written a post, Refiners and Petrochemical Producers...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jan 2018
Advancing the Practice of Chemical Engineering

One of the ways you can share your expertise and skills developed in your work in your industry or profession is to join a relevant professional organization serving in these areas. As you participate at different levels in these organizations, you can rise up into leadership positions. I mention this to share one example—Emerson’s Tim Olsen . Tim has worked in with the refining industry for almost 30 years, first...
Jim Cahill
- 31 Jan 2018
Advancing the Practice of Chemical Engineering

One of the ways you can share your expertise and skills developed in your work in your industry or profession is to join a relevant professional organization serving in these areas. As you participate at different levels in these organizations, you can rise up into leadership positions. I mention this to share one example—Emerson’s Tim Olsen . Tim has worked in with the refining industry for almost 30 years, first...
Jim Cahill
- 29 Jan 2018
Optimizing Refinery Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units and Vapor Recovery Units

The petroleum refining process is a marvel in how it converts crude oil into so many usable and valuable products and feedstocks for other products. If you’re unfamiliar with the refining process or beginning your experience journey in the industry, I highly recommend the Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Waste Not, Want Not , by Emerson’s Bonnie Crossland . Although the focus of the article is about the use of gas...
Jim Cahill
- 29 Jan 2018
Optimizing Refinery Fluid Catalytic Cracking Units and Vapor Recovery Units

The petroleum refining process is a marvel in how it converts crude oil into so many usable and valuable products and feedstocks for other products. If you’re unfamiliar with the refining process or beginning your experience journey in the industry, I highly recommend the Hydrocarbon Engineering article, Waste Not, Want Not , by Emerson’s Bonnie Crossland . Although the focus of the article is about the use of gas...
Jim Cahill
- 24 Jan 2018
Reducing System Migration Risk for Refinery Blend and Tank Farm Operations

Regulatory bodies across the globe continue to impose stricter specifications for transportation fuels to reduce combustion byproducts. Emerson’s Murali Krishnan and Patrick Truesdale shared a story with me of an Asian refiner who needed to modernize its blend and tank farm operations to meet the sulfur-related regulations and other seasonal volatility specifications. For refiners, blending and their associated tank...
Jim Cahill
- 24 Jan 2018
Reducing System Migration Risk for Refinery Blend and Tank Farm Operations

Regulatory bodies across the globe continue to impose stricter specifications for transportation fuels to reduce combustion byproducts. Emerson’s Murali Krishnan and Patrick Truesdale shared a story with me of an Asian refiner who needed to modernize its blend and tank farm operations to meet the sulfur-related regulations and other seasonal volatility specifications. For refiners, blending and their associated tank...
Jim Cahill
- 4 Dec 2017
Improving Refinery Fuel Blending Operations

For a refinery, the efficiency and reliability of the fuel blending operations largely determines its overall financial performance. These fuels, including gasoline, diesel, fuel oils, jet fuel, and kerosene require the right blend of fuel components and additives such as anti-oxidants, anti-knock agents, octane enhancers and more to meet their specifications for sale. Exceeding the specifications, also known as product...
Jim Cahill
- 4 Dec 2017
Improving Refinery Fuel Blending Operations

For a refinery, the efficiency and reliability of the fuel blending operations largely determines its overall financial performance. These fuels, including gasoline, diesel, fuel oils, jet fuel, and kerosene require the right blend of fuel components and additives such as anti-oxidants, anti-knock agents, octane enhancers and more to meet their specifications for sale. Exceeding the specifications, also known as product...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Sep 2017
Best Practices for Solving Crude and Fuel Blending Challenges Webinar

It used to be that refineries had a fairly constant and predictable supply of crude with similar properties coming in. Blending on the front end with the crudes and on the back end with the fuels produced were optimized for the crude oil properties. As new supplies from shale oil production have come along with their attractive pricing, the properties of the crude are more variable. This variability poses challenges...
Jim Cahill
- 13 Sep 2017
Best Practices for Solving Crude and Fuel Blending Challenges Webinar

It used to be that refineries had a fairly constant and predictable supply of crude with similar properties coming in. Blending on the front end with the crudes and on the back end with the fuels produced were optimized for the crude oil properties. As new supplies from shale oil production have come along with their attractive pricing, the properties of the crude are more variable. This variability poses challenges...
Jim Cahill
- 8 Sep 2017
Gaining Experience in the Refining and Petrochemical Industries

The work is ongoing along the Texas & Louisiana gulf coast to come back from the massive flooding from Hurricane Harvey. A MarketWatch article notes that more that 20% of the total U.S. refining capacity was shut down and only slowly now coming back online. And an RBN Energy post highlights the impact on the natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemical manufacturers in this region. As a key supplier to these industries...
Jim Cahill
- 8 Sep 2017
Gaining Experience in the Refining and Petrochemical Industries

The work is ongoing along the Texas & Louisiana gulf coast to come back from the massive flooding from Hurricane Harvey. A MarketWatch article notes that more that 20% of the total U.S. refining capacity was shut down and only slowly now coming back online. And an RBN Energy post highlights the impact on the natural gas liquids (NGL) and petrochemical manufacturers in this region. As a key supplier to these industries...
Jim Cahill
- 17 Aug 2017
2017 AIChE Board of Directors Election

Professional societies are very important in advancing knowledge, standards, peer networks and more. Within our world of manufacturing and automation there are several including the International Society of Automation (ISA) and the Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA) to name but two. There are also numerous engineering societies around the globe focusing on many of the engineering disciplines including...
Jim Cahill
- 17 Aug 2017
2017 AIChE Board of Directors Election

Professional societies are very important in advancing knowledge, standards, peer networks and more. Within our world of manufacturing and automation there are several including the International Society of Automation (ISA) and the Measurement, Control & Automation Association (MCAA) to name but two. There are also numerous engineering societies around the globe focusing on many of the engineering disciplines including...
Jim Cahill
- 7 Aug 2017
Optimized and Flexible Refinery Blending for Current Market Conditions

Refinery blending operations are the “cash registers” since it “ …is the last chance to optimize the final saleable product, as well as the final opportunity to achieve as close to product specifications as possible. ” A recent RBN Energy blog post, The Price You Pay (For Premium Gasoline) – The Widening Price Differential Between Premium And Regular Gasoline , notes the growing cost spread between regular and higher...
Jim Cahill
- 19 May 2017
Improving Refinery Corrosion Monitoring

With the diversification of crude oil types brought about by U.S. shale production, refineries have increased risk for vessel and piping corrosion. Many of the aging refineries also are operating past the design life of some of their plant assets. In a Chemical Processing article, Refineries: Rethink Corrosion Monitoring , Emerson’s Jake Davies describes some of these challenges and ways that wireless corrosion monitoring...
Jim Cahill
- 15 Mar 2017
Gaining Insights in Addressing Corrosion and Flaring Challenges

The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) Annual Meeting is rapidly approaching—March 19-21 in San Antonio Texas. It is: …the world’s premier refining meeting, assembling key executives, decision-makers, and technical experts from refining businesses, technology providers, contracting and consulting firms, and equipment manufacturers around the world. If you’ll be attending, make sure to catch...
Jim Cahill
- 5 Jan 2017
Maximize Opportunity Crude Blend Percentages

A recent Hydrocarbon Processing article highlighted the changing financial picture for refiners over the past 24 months: Those margins collapsed this year in a global fuel supply glut, providing an incentive for refiners to undertake the shutdowns necessary for maintenance. Adding pressure to falling margins are increased costs for craft labor such as pipe fitters and ironworkers. One way to address these cost...
Jim Cahill
- 12 Dec 2016
Improved Refinery Performance via Direct to Ship Blending

For refineries, blending operations can be challenging due to unscheduled downtime, off-spec production requiring reblending operations and quality giveaways by exceeding specifications. I caught up with Emerson’s Marcelo Carugo who noted that poor recipe management and control throughout the blending process increases variability in product quality, which not only leads to off-spec product that requires reblending...