Processing Unit News

As crews began returning to U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore facilities on Thursday, this year's repeated oil and gas production halts were already hitting energy firms' results.Eight named storms entered the U.S. Gulf of Mexico this year, most spiraling up to damaging storms that required offshore facility evacuations or temporary well shutdowns."It has been a difficult and challenging year because of the number of storms," said Erik Milito, president of trade group National Ocean Industries Association. U.S.

A strengthening Hurricane Delta dealt the greatest blow to U.S. offshore Gulf of Mexico production in 15 years, halting most of the region's oil and nearly two-thirds of its natural gas output.An already large and powerful storm, Delta could intensify further on Friday as it churns through the Gulf's prime oil-producing area. Its winds reached 120 miles per hour (195 kmh), according to the National Hurricane Center.Delta has shut 1.67 million barrels per day, or 92% of the Gulf's oil output…

Shom, the French national hydrographic and oceanographic office selected SBG Systems’ inertial navigation sytems to renew their whole fleet of INS. They chose Navsight Apogee INS for their speedboats and survey vessels for both shallow and deep-water real-time bathymetric surveys and Qinertia PPK software for post-processing tasks.Shom has 3 major objectives: national hydrography and cartography, defense support in hydro-oceanographic fields, and support in maritime geospatial products and services for public policies on the sea and the coast.

At SK Energy's largest refinery in South Korea, engineers are rushing to complete a new processing unit ahead of schedule as the firm looks to boost sales of low-emission fuels before new marine fuel standards take effect in just one month.In Japan, the country's second-biggest refiner Idemitsu Kosan Co is taking a more cautious stance, increasing capacity for low sulphur fuel oil (LSFO), but also relying on blending to produce IMO 2020 compliant bunker fuel.The different approaches…

Finnish shipping company Langh Ship said that it takes environmental matters into account in their day-to-day operations, and efforts to improve the state of the world’s seas are important to all Langh companies."The environmental perspective has been at the core of the Langh companies’ operations for some time now, and the companies are a partner of the John Nurminen Foundation and a supporter of the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects," said a press release from the owner of the fleet capable of operating in challenging Northern conditions.Langh Tech’s closed loop scrubbers were installed in Langh Ship’s five cargo vessels back in 2013 and 2014.

Japanese shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K. Lines announced the joint development, along with SenseTime Japan, of a new vessel image recognition and recording system, and the system’s installation for demonstration testing aboard the cruise ship "Nippon Maru" operated by Mitsui O.S.K. Passenger Line.The system’s graphic recognition engine was developed by incorporating MOL’s knowledge and applying artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning technology, allowing it to recognize surrounding vessels.The system recognizes and automatically records vessels with high accuracy using a terminal equipped with a graphic processing unit (GPU) and ultrahigh-resolution cameras.The image recognition technology…

Ecoslops, an innovative technology company that upgrades ship-generated hydrocarbon residues, or “slops”, into valuable new fuels and light bitumen,  has  announced the formal application to the French competent authorities for an authorization to operate an oil residue waste-processing unit at La Mède, near Marseilles in partnership with Total group. Within this partnership, in which Ecoslops will get a majority stake, and as soon as a unique authorization is given (building and operation permits), the building of a micro-refinery unit with a 30,000 tons per year capacity should start mid 2018. This unit should be operational by the end of 2018.

Royal Dutch Shell is considering expanding the capacity of one of its German refineries to make oil products that meet an upcoming cap on the sulphur content of fuels used in shipping. In the past few days, Rheinland refinery representatives met local officials and environmental groups to present preliminary plans for an investment at the plant's 140,000-barrels-per-day Wesseling site, Shell said on the refinery's website. Shell is considering "a modernization of the residue processing unit at Rheinland refinery and to enhance the desulphurisation plant there", Shell told Reuters in an emailed statement. Shell declined to give further details on the project, saying it was in the "very early phase of the planning process".

Ecoslops, a company that upgrades ship-generated hydrocarbon residues, or “slops”, into valuable new fuels and light bitumen, said is has signed an agreement with TOTAL Group to set up a maritime transport induced oil residue waste-processing unit at La Mède, near Marseilles in the Bouches-du-Rhône. The agreement comes after the completion of technical and commercial studies, which commenced last year and were announced as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in September 2016. ECOSLOPS will build and operate the micro-refinery in La Mède, while TOTAL will provide services and all necessary utilities. The valuable commercial products (new fuels and light bitumen) produced by the unit will be sold on local or international markets.

“RECAB is a provider of rugged computers; we are a hardware company,” said Bjørn Espen Aase, Managing Director, RECAB Norway. We met with RECAB at the recent Norshipping in Oslo to catch up with this fast-growing computer integrator, a company which sees its business spread across many industries that demand high-performance rugged computing. “We are a typical subcontractor for the big players like Kongsberg and Rolls-Royce, for example. We are enabling world-class applications so they can put their software on top and integrate with the sensors.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has developed a new series of centrifugal chillers, dubbed the "ETI-Z Series," adopting a new refrigerant, HFO-1233zd(E), that offers outstanding environmental compatibility. The various models in the new series will be progressively launched starting this September. The ETI-Z series marks the world's first small-size centrifugal chillers to adopt the new refrigerant. The ETI-Z Series carries on the fundamental product concept of the ETI Series: high performance combined with compact size. The ETI series with built-in inverter panel have been widely spread in to the market since the first models were introduced in 2008. Models in the new ETI-Z Series have a cooling capacity within a range of 80 to 700 refrigeration tons*1 (RT).

On 26 March, the Solitaire pipe-laying vessel started on the first stage of the Polarled installation project. The 482-kilometre long pipeline will transport gas from the Aasta Hansteen field in the Norwegian Sea to Nyhamna in western Norway. Statoil is operator during the development of the Polarled project and therefore responsible for laying the pipeline between Aasta Hansteen and Nyhamna. As operator for the gas plant, Shell is responsible for preparing the Nyhamna processing plant for gas reception. “I am pleased to note that the pipeline is now connected to the Nyhamna processing plant. The pipeline pull-in to Nyhamna is an important milestone to the project and the Polarled licensees,” says Håkon Ivarjord, MPR’s project venture manager.

The Port of Indiana-Burns Harbor handled more shipments in 2014 than any year since the port opened in 1970. Total tonnage was up 30 percent over 2013 driven by strong shipments of steel, grain and salt. "It was a terrific year thanks to our port companies, steelmakers and businesses that use our port," said Rich Cooper, CEO for the Ports of Indiana. "Federal Marine Terminals, the port's terminal operator, and its labor force did a tremendous job handling the significant cargo increases that arrived at the port by ship and barge.

PIRIOU selects iXBlue’s QUADRANS as reference gyrocompass for the French Navy B2M multi-mission ship program as iXBlue QUADRANS sales tops 400 units since launch. For each vessel, iXBlue will supply the complete navigation suite, including QUADRANS gyrocompass, NETANS data distribution and processing unit, and the warfare navigation software. iXBlue is a global provider of navigation, positioning and imaging solutions and services for civil and defense applications. PIRIOU specializes in the design, construction and repair of high value-added ships.

ExxonMobil affiliate Esso Norge AS announced today plans to install a new processing unit at the Slagen refinery to enable production of high quality vacuum gas oil, a higher-yield feedstock used to create finished products such as diesel. The new residual flash tower is an upgrading unit that will improve the facility’s overall crude distillation process by replacing production of heavy fuel oil with lighter, higher-value gas oil. “The new investment in Slagen builds upon other strategic investments in Europe and further strengthens the industry-leading position of our advantaged assets in meeting increasing demand for energy,” said Jerry Wascom, president of ExxonMobil Refining and Supply Company.

A new spar platform being built for Statoil's Aasta Hansteen field off the coast of Norway will feature Wärtsilä's Inert Gas and Nitrogen Generator systems, the power solutions company said. The contract has been issued in the first quarter 2014 by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea, the yard building the platform. The Wärtsilä Inert Gas Generator will utilize titanium in its construction, the first time ever that this material has been used in such a system. Titanium was preferred due to its superior corrosion resistance in relation to sea water. Wärtsilä's claims its experience and technical expertise in gas handling systems were critical factors in the award of this contract…

Continental Refining Company Now Processing Low Sulfur Marine Diesel T90-700 and Completes Upgrades to Receive Transmix for Finished 500ppm LM Diesel Fuel Production; CRC Expands with Two New Niche Market Product Offerings that Serve Marine Users and Help to Prevent Bottlenecks in the U.S. Today Continental Refining Company, LLC announced a new product offering for the marine market with the production of low sulfur marine diesel, a special blend distillate fuel that has a T-90 greater than700° f…

Chart Industries, Inc., an independent global manufacturer of highly engineered equipment used in the production, storage and end-use of hydrocarbon and industrial gases, today announced that Chart Ferox, a.s., a member of its Distribution and Storage (D&S) segment in Europe, has been awarded a contract by Hybrid Port Energy Gmbh & Co. KG (HPE), a subsidiary of Becker Marine Systems Gmbh & Co. KG, to provide LNG fuel storage and processing equipment for an LNG-Hybrid Barge, which will operate in Hamburg's HafenCity. The LNG-Hybrid Barge is a unique project between HPE and cruise liner operators and will provide power to cruise liners…

Sweden's MMT Group has purchased a new Kongsberg EM2040-04 dual TX high resolution multibeam system which has been installed on their survey vessel 'MV Seabeam'. The new EM 2040-04 dual TX model, which consist of two TX-Transmitters and two RX-Receivers is designed for mapping in shallow areas at higher speed and will deliver high resolution, accurate survey data and great range performance (both depth and swath width) at the highest resolution available in the market, claims Kongsberg.

Increased emission legislation is impacting on the maritime industry and the development of LNG as a fuel is growing at a pace. The marine engineers and designers at Houlder have recognized this and are developing specialist equipment as a result. An example, announced this week at the Lloyd’s Maritime Academy LNG Bunkering Seminar, is a standalone processing unit that efficiently manages boil-off gas on board bunker vessels and client ships. With potentially 5,000 LNG fuelled vessels on the horizon, Houlder’s unit is expected to make a significant impact to LNG powered vessels in the future.

Atlas Elektronik U.K. Ltd. (AEUK) confirmed that that their Cerberus Mod2 Diver Detection Sonar has now successfully completed its Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) at their premises in the U.K. against a particularly comprehensive and demanding set of requirements set by the German Government. Of particular significance was the accreditation of a completely new design and build of a bespoke Power Supply and Processing Unit (PSPU) to the Mil-Std EMC and Environmental qualification standards set by the customer as well as the stringent German Information Security (BSI) testing which further complements the integrity of the AEUK design.

The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) advises on safe use of Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's). Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are widely used in a variety of small and large pieces of equipment on marine construction vessels, for example, cranes, winches, handling systems, dive systems and power management systems. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has issued a PLC information note to help ensure that operation and failure modes are understood, and highlighting the importance of carrying out an FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) and testing the components and complete systems.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) are widely used in a variety of small and large pieces of equipment on marine construction vessels, for example, cranes, winches, handling systems, dive systems and power management systems. The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has issued a PLC information note to help ensure that operation and failure modes are understood, and highlighting the importance of carrying out an FMEA (failure modes and effects analysis) and testing the components and complete systems. “When a PLC controlled piece of equipment is in use and a main power failure occurs, the equipment should revert to a fail-safe position…