Knowledge

A quarter of all anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide emissions emanate from combustion processes in the energy and industrial sectors. Capturing Carbon Dioxide directly from Flue gases will mitigate emissions from existing power plants and industrial units. This article reviews current Flue gas Carbon Dioxide capture technologies that are commercially available.

Membrane bioreactors are suspended-growth activated sludge treatment processes in which bacteria are grown in a suspension of culture medium/wastewater/food and oxygen.

The world has high ambitions regarding renewable energy from plants and animals. Biomass is converted to energy through various processes, including direct combustion, thermochemical and biological conversion.

Safety and hazard management is crucial for process industries to ensure business and operational reliability. The large diversity of chemical operations, processing conditions, and equipment makes hazard identification and management challenging work. This article will provide a compressive guide on safety and hazard management in different process industries to make a well-informed decision for operators and engineers about which approach might be most appropriate to choose as per the process nature.

Dimethyl ether (DME) is an essential industrial product and serves as a viable replacement for petroleum diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).

Bioremediation is the practice of converting harmful substances to environmentally safe products by the action of microorganisms.

The importance of renewable and green energy sources is growing over fossil fuels because of fewer environmental problems and increasing our focus on sustainable solutions. This article will discuss the significance and challenges associated with prominent renewable energy source types.

Green Ammonia is an emerging Carbon-free energy source and Hydrogen carrier, in addition to its importance as a fertiliser input. After outlining the features of conventional and Green Ammonia technologies, this article focuses on Green Ammonia Project development aspects including power supply, equipment, CAPEX and OPEX.

This document is intended for anybody in charge of handling oil and gas products that might leak and pollute the environment. It could also be helpful for individuals who respond to leaks or are in charge of handling or storing waste material spilt as a result of a leak. It includes guidance about over and underground oil and gas tanks.

This article will focus on calculating pipelines wall thickness and selecting appropriate thickness with a focus on pipelines made of carbon steel materials e.g. API 5L. In addition to performing the wall thickness calculation, inputs to the wall thickness calculation formula will be explained

Combined Heat and Power systems (CHP) are the core of decentralised energy systems due to their operative flexibility and greater efficiency.

The separator is the pressure vessel that separates the liquid and gaseous constituents.

Any process that has to concentrate (purify) a stream by eliminating water or another solvent utilises evaporation.

This article aims to give a general overview of waste incineration, focusing on non-hazardous waste. Typical components of fixed hearth incinerators will be discussed.

This article focuses on both state-of-the-art and traditional technologies for energy engineers and HVAC designers to solve supply and pumping issues with chilled and hot water.

This article describes what it means to tokenise an asset on a blockchain, how smart energy contracts are accomplished, and why blockchain has the potential to disrupt the clean energy industry.

Solar energy could alleviate the financial burdens of energy efficiency projects, but targeted policies will be necessary for solar to expand into industrial facilities and lower-income communities.

The global floating solar demand is expected to keep growing rapidly. Increasing focus on clean energy and water conservation, coupled with competition for land use, will boost the market growth during the next decade.

Decarbonizing the industrial sector is critical for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. In this article, we research the opportunities and challenges of industrial innovation and offer practical steps that policymakers and industrial leaders can take to accelerate action.

A general introduction to the fascinating world of data centres in the fast-growing African market – where South Africa is the dominant player – and the enormous promise that market holds

The major focus of the article is the technical requirement for the successful design and construction of pig traps. The article's key focus areas include the length of pig traps, length of minor and major barrel, the type of reducer, nozzle orientation and locations, supports requirements, etc.

Drag reducers, also referred to as drag reducing agents (DRA) or flow improvers, are materials that minimise frictional pressure drop in a pipeline or conduit during fluid flow. The resistance experienced by flowing fluid in contact with the pipe wall causes frictional pressure decrease or drag.

Today’s successful refinery projects are based on integration and enhancement of business processes, practices and technical developments across the entire HCVC (Hydrocarbon Value Chain) – Upstream, Midstream and Downstream.

Solar is one of the fastest-growing energy sources, and with countries racing to avow the hype, bigger facilities join the market. Here we portray the biggest solar power plants in the world.

A shutdown is an expensive predetermined phase in a refinery in the oil and gas sector. During this period, many operations are shut down because facilities are being examined and updated.

Tank gauging plays an important role in the smooth functioning of the Petroleum Supply Chain. Some gaseous petroleum products like LNG and LPG (also measured by tank gauging while in the liquid phase.

The Line 3 pipeline replacement project will enable crude oil from Western Canada to be reliably transported to refinery markets in the U.S. It will reduce apportionment, increase overall reliability, and generate thousands of jobs — not exempt from environmental and cultural risks.

Carbon capture and storage facilities are considered key contributors to emissions reduction, with the world's large-scale CCS plants directly capturing approximately 40 million tonnes per annum of carbon dioxide (CO2).

A variety of dangerous situations can arise during the chemical cleaning of oil tanks. This article discusses possible dangers which might take place

This article is focused on pigging execution planning for gas pipelines and the requirements of pigging.

Cryptocurrencies — and blockchain in general — are exploding into the mainstream, and that’s a good thing. But Bitcoin's increasing energy consumption has triggered a passionate debate about the sustainability of the sector.

This article focuses on providing energy (gas and electricity) related utilities for the operational and occupational needs of a residential/commercial tall building

This article is aimed at presenting an overview of centrifugal pumps with emphasis on pump sizing calculation. A brief overview of other types of pumps is also discussed.

Most hydrostatic testing for pressure vessels is carried out in workshops/labs where skid-mounted units are not required. Skid-mounted equipment is mostly needed at plant sites or along transport pipelines during construction or maintenance works.

The current era of IoT brings a new insurgency in the capabilities of end nodes that are interconnected through the internet. Ultimately, IoT is an omnipotent tool to maximise energy efficiency in industrial environments.

Africa, a land full of opportunity and rich with natural resources. We take a closer look at five big pipelines bringing crude oil from the heart of Africa to the rest of the world.

Green hydrogen is a plausible enabler for transforming the world's energy, industrial and transport sectors and a means for decarbonising energy-intensive industries. As the market grows, so should our focus on ensuring that this fuel is produced using the lowest environmental impact.

Green hydrogen is the extraction of hydrogen from water through electrolysis using renewable energy. This is the cleanest and most effective way of producing hydrogen from substances.

This article explores wireless sensor networks for SCADA applications in the utility sector, especially pipelines.

New technologies such as Industrial IoT can undertake the functions of SCADA systems and do much more. This article explores the integration of industrial IOT with the SCADA system.

Compressors are one of the most crucial pieces of equipment on oil and gas rigs. The compressors are used to keep the fluid flow constant at the desired pressure. Any compressor failure may cost the plant millions of dollars

The issue of quality applies to all types of businesses and industries — electromechanical systems included. Quality assurance is crucial if we think about achieving an optimal useful life and increasing profitability within them.

Enhanced oil recovery for tight shale reservoirs can redefine what it means to be a shale producer. This is the crucial process looming over the future of the unconventional sector.

The world has high ambitions regarding a bio-based and circular economy. This article focuses on biogas and biomethane, with the aim to increase the knowledge about their techno-economic preconditions.

This article aims to examine the influence of tenant and user types on small retail/lifestyle centre development in towns.

Produced water is the largest amount of waste product generated during oil and natural gas exploration and production. The customary practice to dispose of the water is becoming more challenging. Obstacles and opportunities for produced water reuse are presented.

Natural gas can provide a feasible alternative to curtail fuel oil dependency in the Caribbean. Advances in the global natural gas markets are creating an opportunity to bring it to the region.

The electric car is not zero-emission: you have to build it, and you have to produce and transport the electricity for recharging. But then, how better is it compared to the traditional fossil-fuelled vehicle?

Pipe wall thickness design is a crucial part of pipeline design – for performance, safety and commercial factors. This article covers onshore pipeline wall thickness calculation – based on the ASME B31.8 standard.

Fire suppression systems field contains many different engineered categories with different ideologies. They are all gathered to build a system to extinguish fires through various types of applications and substances

This article looks at various waste water treatment and effluent reuse opportunities, including an in-depth look at the underlying biological and chemical reactions.

This article looks at the various processes involved in the process of refining crude oil

Women’s participation in architecture across the borders of the world has been remarkably varied, and has its scars on the face of history to show for it. The nature of this participation depended on time, place, and custom where women have historically served as patrons, architects, engineers, managers, and muses; acting as key figures on small and large scale construction projects.

This article explains the principle of horizontal directional drilling as it relates to pipeline installation. It will also highlight some technical requirements that should be fulfilled for the successful execution of horizontal directional drilling.

Twenty-Two African countries have proven gas reserves. Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt contain 91% of Africa’s gas reserves, and Africa itself contains approximately 10% of the global gas reserves. This gas could help tremendously in addressing the severe power shortage that plagues most of Africa. This is one of the fundamental driving forces behind the LNG development in Africa.

A shell and tube heat exchanger is one of the most popular types of exchangers due to its flexibility. In this type, there are two fluids with different temperatures, one of them flow through tubes and another flow-through shell.

In this article, we are going to look at the concept of acceleration and what you need to know, to protect your interests as a contractor or as a principal agent. We also ask the fundamental question: Can the principal agent issue an instruction to accelerate work under the JBCC Contract?

A Heat Exchanger is a piece of equipment built for efficient heat transfer. In exchangers, usually, there are no external heat or work interactions. They are used in both cooling and heating purposes.

Understand how digitalization effects top management leadership while condidering the different forms of leadership and their unique characteristics

The work of engineers affects the lives of millions of people and society as a whole. As such, this presents an ethical and moral dimension to the decisions engineers are required to make.

Amine gas treating, widely known as amine scrubbing, gas sweetening, and acid gas removal, represents the group of processes where aqueous solutions of various amines are used to remove hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and carbon dioxide (CO2) from gases. The H2S is gaseous acid; therefore, the removal process got the name sweetening. The amine gas treatment is used as a pretreatment of natural gas.

EPCM has developed a low-cost ventilator to address the fight against Covid-19 in poor regions. This article talks all things ventilators.

A grand vision of an interconnected gas market has been painted by South African Development Community (SADC) leadership. In order to better understand this vision, high level market research on the gas market in the SADC region has been undertaken, and we assess the current position of SADC, and suggest a roadmap to achieve it.

Advances in coating technology can offer significant cost saving and performance advantages if developed, specified, applied and maintained correctly.

Any gas distribution system consists of a myriad of various parts, from storing, transferring, controlling flows and pressures and temperatures to measuring volumes sold to end-users. And so much more.

Upstream producers continually adopt the most agile and effective technologies, including dual-fuel and dedicated natural gas engines. Skyrocketing availability of inexpensive natural gas has produced an equally agile fuel source, while modular design allows for simple turnkey LNG fueled drilling rigs that reduce cost and emissions significantly for operators.

Current BIM uses in Oil and Gas profoundly impact project teams, O&G companies, and data analytics as it spurs industry wide developments.

The vast majority of our company are millennials. How do we manage them? Keep them motivated? Get the best out of them? It's not so hard, but it is a completely different way of approaching your team than traditional methods.

Magnetic flux leakage (MFL) is a non-destructive testing (NDT) technique used to assess materials for corrosion, pitting, and deformations. MFL testing can be applied to pipelines, storage tanks, railways, cables, and other ferromagnetic materials. Inline Inspection (ILI) refers to the use of inspection devices commonly called intelligent pigs.

When engineering firms recruit new graduate employees, they look at the candidates’ academic record, or may opt for giving bursaries to the top performing student and ensure they attract the best talent. Offering high initial salaries to graduates is another frequently employed technique to ensure the top employees can be recruited into the business. This is a problem.

There has been no major disruption and engineering and constructing firms are still mostly executing projects the way it has been done 20 years ago. As a result, there has not been real efficiency gain with reduced efficiencies reported in some countries. There is, therefore, a major potential in the engineering and construction industry to implement technologies to improve efficiencies.

This extract discusses the typical process steps for developing service stations in South Africa.

The finding of significant quantities of gas condensate on the Brulpadda prospects, has ramifications for the energy sector and especially the gas economy in South Africa and has everyone including our president talking, but what does the find actually mean and how will it impact our industry.

This article provides detailed information regarding the layout and sizing considerations for the design of bulk LPG storage facilities.

Remembering a person's name is more important than you think, this article will strive to give you some basic techniques that can be followed to remember the names of people you meet.

A case study for determining the correct cathodic protection for a pipeline in Bangladesh

The PCM has been designed to overcome the shortcomings of the existing techniques CP fault finding techniques and now provides pipeline engineers with an accurate, cost-effective product that can be used in all weather and ground conditions. This article explains more about Pipeline Current Mapping Surveys.

Project finance is as crucial to driving infrastructure projects and ensuring their success than engineering, if not more. A lot of time of EPCM is spent raising finance on our own or client's projects. Learn the basics here of what elements are role players are involved with infrastructure Project Financing.

Tropical cyclones (also known as hurricanes or typhoons) are formed over warm waters of the tropical oceans and have the potential to produce intense rain and abnormally high winds. This article outlines the difficulties faced by engineers tasked with designing coastal infrastructure to withstand such events and presents some best practice approaches for undertaking this task.

Driven by innovation and commitment to the industry, a lot of effort has gone into optimizing the retail fuel station market and to provide better value to existing and new clients. One area of specific improvement is material selection for underground fuel tanks.

This article focus on getting the most out of the people that work for you in the engineering project environment by motivating them correctly.

In the project environment, two major execution models are used; EPCM (Engineering, procurement and construction management) and EPC (Engineering, procurement, and construction). Although the outcome of the project should be very similar, the two models have distinct differences. It's important to understand when to select the correct model.

Natural gas will be the world's faster growing major energy source through the year 2040. This energy source carries tremendous benefits for the consumers and the environment. It is versatile, clean burning, and abundant.

Dimethyl ether (DME) has been identified as an attractive fuel alternative and has seen an exponential increase in demand in the Asia Pacific. Dimethyl ether (DME) is a non-petroleum based transportation fuel, to act as a clean replacement for diesel fuel. Forecasts predict that the DME market will increase rapidly in the rest of the world.

The future of natural gas and liquid natural gas looks promising in Africa: Both as a natural gas resource and a potential import market. We summarise the key points here for 'Understanding Natural Gas and LNG Option Handbook' which has a specific focus on LNG for Africa

This article documents the current hypothesis for developing and testing a continuous Carbon Dioxide capture system using Stirling Coolers as the driving force.

API 650 Tank Fabrication course presentation