Editorial comment
As parts of the world start to slowly and cautiously emerge from the lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses are taking the opportunity to reassess their priorities and establish new ways of working under the ‘new normal’ dictated by social distancing guidelines.
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It is inevitable that COVID-19 will accelerate new ways of working, with automation and digitalisation likely to be at the forefront of the revolution. Many in the downstream sector will now start to explore opportunities for optimising operations through a digital transformation programme.
Digitalisation will be one of the key topics under discussion on 25 June, when Hydrocarbon Engineering hosts an online conference dedicated to exploring the trends and technology driving the future of the refining sector. Refinery of the Future 2020 will kick off with a presentation from Alan Gelder, Vice President of Refining, Petrochemicals & Oil Markets at Wood Mackenzie, who will examine the immediate challenge of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the medium and long-term demand trends and opportunities for refiners to consider. Other presentations will follow from Honeywell UOP, KBC, Sulzer, Honeywell Process Solutions, and MISTRAS Group, each exploring challenges faced by the refining sector, and the latest technology and solutions that will help to shape the industry going forward.
Refinery of the Future is a completely virtual conference, so you can join us from anywhere in the world, free of charge! All you need to do is register to attend and then we’ll send you all of the information that you’ll need to join us on the day from the comfort of your home or office. We’ll also be sending all registered attendees a link to view every presentation after the event, so if you’re unable to join us on 25 June you’ll have the opportunity to catch up at your leisure.
For more information on each of the presentations, and to reserve your free space at Refinery of the Future, please visit: www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refinery2020
The topic of digitalisation also features heavily throughout this issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering. We have articles from a range of companies including Honeywell Process Solutions (discussing control system migration and modernisation), Bentley Systems Inc. (looking at digital twins), Novotek (outlining the value of data), and Seeq Corp. (examining how to leverage advanced analytics to improve availability, reliability and uptime). And in a preview of their presentation at the Refinery of the Future online conference, we also have an article from Jim McVay and Russ Davis at MISTRAS Group, outlining risk-based inspection planning and the utilisation of advanced non-destructive evaluation methodologies.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Hydrocarbon Engineering, and hope to see you at Refinery of the Future on 25 June.
