Knowledge

Future economic development involving worldwide computer networks and electric vehicles will require exponentially higher supplies of uninterrupted electrical power from non-fossil fuels. Hydrogen is seen as an important zero-Carbon fuel that will mitigate climate risk. This article summarizes key aspects of current Hydrogen Production technologies and relative economics of Blue and Green Hydrogen pathways.

This article provides vital information energy buyers need to participate in the volatile energy markets, trade cost-effectively, and reduce commodity costs. Industry expertise and experienced energy professionals present strategies and insider suggestions to achieve best practices in energy procurement.

Large petroleum pipe systems have been subject to leak sealing since 1922, normally a non-destructive on-site repair method.

In absorption (also known as gas scrubbing, gas absorption, or gas washing), one or more species transfer from the gas phase to a liquid solvent.

Steam is a common means of transporting thermal energy. It's perfect for use as a heat transfer medium in potentially dangerous or explosive environments. This article discusses how steam is safely produced and controlled.

LPG has numerous benefits such as easy accessibility, non-toxic, portability, and cost efficiency, on account of which it is replacing coal and is expected to witness high growth in future.

Various lessons and best practises for in-service hot tapping connections

A process that does not include any chemical reaction is known as a unit operation. Unit operations deal with only physical changes in the substances involved in the process. They are equipment that produces physical changes in materials.

Typically solar panels are mounted on land in solar farms or parks, or buildings. But they don’t have to be – they can float on water. That makes them useful in areas where land is at a premium but water bodies are numerous, such as cities, which generally have many artificial bodies of water, ranging from dams to tanks and ponds at wastewater treatment works.

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

A chemical reactor is a closed container where a chemical reaction is carried out. Process designers have to make sure that the reaction progresses as efficiently as possible towards the intended product, resulting in the best yield while needing the least money to buy and operate.

In South Asia, particularly in the Asian subcontinent, natural gas / LNG has a definite role to play in terms of replacing the declining domestic gas production to support economic growth

If storage tanks, processing units, production lines, and heat exchangers need to be drained, cleaning processes might take several weeks. The technology used and the cleaning technique used will be determined by the machinery to be cleaned.

While slower than other developing regions, Latin America & the Caribbean’s energy transition is underway, with unconventional renewables - namely solar and wind - growing their share in countries’ energy mixes. Still, moving away from fossil fuels is proving difficult for a region that suffers from political instability, underinvestment, and the effects of climate change.

The purpose of this article is to examine the most state of the art tank bottom cleaning techniques currently on the global market and to determine the best effective, safest, cost-effective, and ecologically friendly clean-up procedure.

Skid-mounted SNG Supply Systems – also known as Propane-Air or LPG-Air – can supply WI optimized SNG at remote locations and in the urban metropolis and industrial zones.

This article discusses several leak testing methods in refineries, the planning process, the test’s preparation, the pressure testing's execution, documentation, and acceptance of the test standards.

Pressure testing is a common industrial procedure carried out in all process industries. It is a procedure conducted to ensure that piping and vessel systems can safely operate at the design parameters

Jubail-II’s 83 km2 of industrial development started in 2005 in Saudi Arabia, and by the time, it was considered to be the world’s largest civil engineering project. Let’s recap its history and main features.

Argentina is South America’s largest natural gas producer and a noteworthy producer of oil too. In recent years, unconventional resources that are part of the Vaca Muerta formation in north Patagonia – one of the largest such deposits worldwide – have arisen oil majors' interest.

Intrinsic safety is a type of protection that restricts electrical energy within the apparatus and interconnecting wiring exposed to potentially explosive atmospheres to a level below which cannot cause ignition by either sparking or heating effects.

A time when the United States runs primarily on solar and wind-powered electricity - it would require a couple of scientific breakthroughs and technological leaps, as well as an unprecedented clean energy policy.

It is estimated that just from methane emissions, 21,400 Mcf of gas can be recovered annually lost during pigging operations. Learn more about that here.

Pressure testing is critical for safe and efficient industrial products manufacture, refinement, storage, and transportation. Inappropriate practices put a company's production and financial soundness in danger

This article explores the differences between auger drilling and mud rotary drilling and the benefits choosing one method over the other in a geotechnical investigation.

The wellhead is the top part of the well leading down to the reservoir. Oil from the reservoir comes out through the Well hole with casing. Read of this works.

The manipulation of materials and wastes in modern mining has become a severe problem to the extent of leading to the adoption of state-of-the-art standards and procedures. Let’s discuss some of these and see what lessons can be learnt from recent events.

This article aim is to present a general overview of petroleum products storage tanks. Only cylindrical vertical tanks are covered in this article.

As the development and worldwide use of well stimulation techniques have skyrocketed, so has the concern about public health, safety, and protection of natural resources.

This article describes the challenges faced when exploring the subsurface in difficult areas to access and the solutions that come with the drilling technology that currently exists.

This article looks at how to improve drilling with Reverse Circulation Drilling Rigs (RC) and Down-the-Hole Drilling Rigs (DTH).

There has been a massive shift in the environmental and sustainability awareness in the mining industry, which makes water conservation and demand management in the best interests of the mine, over and above the legislative requirements.

MPFMs measure complex fluid mixtures are coming out of a well that is yet unprocessed.

This article is intended to describe the current state of drilling applied to geotechnical site hazard assessment.

This article is intended to describe sonic drilling and its applications across different industries, including infrastructure, mining, environmental and exploration.

In 2006, Lake Albert sparked hopes in Uganda when 6.5 billion barrels of oil were discovered in the Albertine Graben, the basin of Lake Albert. The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) looks to transport that oil all the wat to Tanzania and the world.

Innovation will boost the transition towards net-zero microgrids by gradually raising the penetration of renewable sources. Let’s see how.

As global oil exploration targets progressively deeper and older rocks, data from hydrocarbon-bearing strata is increasing attention. This review article aims to examine the evolution of applied geochemical techniques with specific emphasis on isotopes' utilisation.

This article discusses how model predictive control can resolve a decline in capital productivity faced by chemical process industries. Common control strategies are reviewed, and the need for dynamic process optimisation is discussed. An outline of the model predictive control strategy and implementation strategy is presented.

This article aims to assess the impact of the energy transition on minerals availability and to answer the question of whether these could become critical to the power and the transport sectors due to the high metal content of low-carbon technologies compared to conventional technologies.

Energy companies necessitate the embracement of advanced digital technologies to improve operational efficiency. Let’s explore the importance of Data Analytics for the oil and gas industry: this article utilises evidence associated with recent Big Data deployments in oil and gas to demonstrate its vast potential.

This article is written to give an overview of the stages involved in executing a pipeline project. There are different stages in executing a pipeline project; the construction and installation stages are the most visible. However, there are fundamental stages (Feasibility Studies and Conceptual Design) that must be executed appropriately before the detailed design and construction activities.

The article will give an overview of a typical natural gas compression facility. The article will also cover other ancillaries in a gas compression facility.

Carbon capture has actually been in use for years. The oil and gas industries have used carbon capture for decades as a way to enhance oil and gas recovery. Only recently have we started thinking about capturing carbon for environmental reasons.

commercial interest in implementing solutions for flare gas utilization has significantly improved, with a range of technology applications. One of the most promising options is the conversion of flare gas to LNG through use of mini or small scale LNG liquefaction plants – modular (skid-mounted) LNG liquefaction plants

Geomechanics is shown as an ally of high importance when facing the heterogeneous challenge that a hydraulic fracturing represents.

Pyrolysis has been gaining increasing attention due to its high efficiency and reduced impact on the environment in contrast to the crude oil sector. It creates an opportunity to recover energy from agricultural residues. This article outlines how the design of the fluidised beds for combustion and pyrolysis should be conducted as well as safety measures that should be considered in the design.

This article reviews various technologies that are currently explored by the marine industry to reduce CO2 emissions. For each option, we will discuss the GHG reduction potential, the feasibility from a technical point of view and the existing demonstrator.

This study Investigates the possibility that a rainwater harvesting system can provide reliable potable water for a rural household. It looks into system design that does not require external power and is simplistic in operation. And tests whether the addition of a slow sand filter in such a system design is a viable solution to provide potable water for the household.

Pipeline pigging is the process of using a device referred to as Pig to perform various tasks including cleaning, maintenance, inspection, batching, dimension check on a new or existing pipeline.

The treatment of Natural gas is a technical procedure. The purpose of gas treatment is to clean the gas by extracting contaminants, fluids, and hydrocarbons (non-methane). In oil and gas terminology the processed gas is called pipeline friendly gas.

The demand to work remotely, or working-from-home (WFH), has steadily been increasing over the last few years. Remote working on a regular basis has been growing by 173% between 2005 and 2018, and 98% of employees in the United States have expressed their desire to work remotely on a permanent or at least part-time basis.

Why is performance management a ’thing’ in organisations at all? The textbook and international codes of good practice tell us that a responsible company has a way of assessing and rewarding the contributions of its people. In this article we are going to check the assumptions that gave rise to this ‘thing’, why it went wrong and what can be done to get it right, if indeed there is a need for it at all.

This article looks at all the basics of LPG storage. Including all the multitude of ancillary infrastucture needed in such terminals.

Tank farms are exciting places for engineers. Most people think that tank farms, with their storage vessels, pipes and pumps, are the exclusive hunting grounds of mechanical and chemical engineers, while civil engineering is about structures, roads, water and concrete, right?

Whether remote taiga, barren desert, on high-elevation mountainside, or deep ocean, the most impressive and difficult production projects undertaken in today’s industries are those which take place in remote environments. These projects often require the skills of dozens of teams who draw materials and expertise from around the world.

Natural Gas Metering and Regulator stations form a vital link the the Oil and Natural Gas supply chain, providing key services and industry solutions, modular designs, and greater information connectivity.

Hydraulic fracturing uses advanced well design and high pressure fluid injection to dramatically increase hydrocarbon (oil and natural gas) well production. One of two technologies responsible for the U.S. Shale Revolution.

Gas-fired water bath heaters are a type of heater utilized in a wide variety of settings and industries for process heating. This article takes you through all the basics of this technology.

Our book review for Moral Case of Fossil Fuels by Alex Epstein. A fantastic read that demonstrates why the continued use of fossil fuels is not only necessary but morally defendable - providing us with cheap, and reliable energy.

Infographics detailing the makeup of South Africa's Electricity Generation by Source, and South Africa's Energy Supply by Source

The Miracle Worker of Modern Industry. Emergency and short notice situations are ideally solved by the use of onsite machining - engineers rapidly deploy portable machining tools to mitigate the disastrous impact of these scenarios.

Multi-Product Pipelines are used to transport different hydrocarbon liquid products in batches in a single pipeline such as diesel, petrol, kerosene and jet fuel. This article looks at the design standards and considerations that are crucial when designing, installing, and operating a multi-product pipeline.

This article explains the basic operating principles as well as the requirements for a Cathodic Protection system.

In this article, EPCM will discuss the major items that can be supplied in modular format for hydrocarbon pipelines

A detailed research study has been completed on existing work specific to micro-scale (less than 275 tones per day or 5 million GJ per annum) liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities. Results were analysed, compared and summarised to serve as initial design conditions for proposed process designs.

Construction projects can be executed under a variety of delivery models, including design-build, early contractor involvement and alliance models, amongst others. In order to ensure the success of a construction project, it is vital to choose the most appropriate delivery model. Each delivery model comes with distinct features and the client should consider how the differences align with the project's goals and characteristics.

EPCM has partnered with Krah Pipes to offer turnkey solutions for large PE marine application pipelines (up to 5m) for cooling and desalination intake/outfalls. This article by Krah discuss the various technical matters related to the installation and performance of these type of marine pipelines

A Single Point Mooring (SPM) CALM system is an offshore mooring point used to facilitate tankers loading or discharging various forms of liquid product cargo near onshore storage or production fields. In this guide, we give you a full overview of what this system is all about.

Although a number of new options exist to fuel vehicles, it will take a long time to replace infrastructure for alternative fuels. Mature countries have started to move their vehicles onto natural gas, electricity, and hydrogen as alternatives to petrol and diesel. In this article, we looked at the option of fueling vehicles with Liquid Natural Gas (LNG)

This article explains the procurement process when procuring from China and also explain how to control quality when procuring from them. Although China has been trading with the whole world for almost 40 years now, a number of companies, especially from developing countries, are still very worried about the perceived quality they get from China. This needs to change.

Many really solid projects or products get lost in translation between engineers trying to present and sell their product and the audience they want to sell to. This article will thus attempt to give engineers some simple rules for technical presentations that they should follow to help them get their message across to the rest of the world.

From rapid surveillance deployment to scanning an unreachable and/or dangerous area of interest, drones are proving to be extremely beneficial in places where man cannot reach or is unable to perform in a timely and efficient manner.

Concentrated solar power (CSP) has long been proposed as a source for energy generation applications. The purpose of this article is to provide a summary of relevant theory regarding main aspects of concentrated solar powered energy production

Energy derived from biogas is used in the form of fuel, heat, and electricity. Biogas is a renewable source of energy derived from biodegradable substrates such as agricultural wastes, animal wastes, domestic wastes, crops and industrial waste. It is produced by anaerobic digestion, which is a biochemical process in the absence of oxygen. The main product of biogas is methane and carbon dioxide.

The marine indsustry is increasingly looking at Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as a cost effective alternative marine bunkering fuel in order to reduce emissions.

This article reviews conventional processes used for recovery of helium from natural gas and examines the potential of emerging technologies for more efficient helium production processes, with main focus on Southern Africa’s new helium rich gas reserves.

Systems, parts, and design considerations needed in the designing of large scale seawater intake & brine outfall systems for desalination plants or power station cooling water.