Question

how can we decrease the usage of petrochemicals

Answer 1

The first step in reducing petroleum consumption is to understand what products are made from petroleum. Petroleum turns up in the ingredients list of more things than most people might be aware of. Here's a partial list:

Gasoline, Motor oil, kerosene, fuels, home heating oilPlastics (and synthetic rubber)Paint, paint thinners, lacquers, solvents, floor cleaners, hair spray, printing inks, asphaltPetroleum (or paraffin) wax used in candy making, packaging, candles, crayons, matches, and polishesPetrolatum (petroleum jelly) used in medical products and toiletries (lip gloss)Synthetic fibers like polyesterFertilizers, pesticidesPetroleum coke used as a raw material for many carbon and graphite products, including furnace electrodes and liners, and the anodes used in the production of aluminumPetroleum is used in the generation of electricity (from fossil fuel power plants), and in the transportation of products to market

Answer 2

Ensuring continuity and operational excellence

In an industry where there are constant price fluctuations, and profit margins are highly sensitive to oil and gas prices and other external factors, process optimization is key.

In order to ensure continuous production capacity, cost-control, and compliance with ever–changing HSE regulations, refineries and petrochemical companies must have access to multi-disciplinary engineering and technical information.

How we help
Elsevier’s R&D Solutions empowers chemical, process and mechanical engineers to:



Maximize product yield and product quality

Reduce downtime by optimizing new process technology, equipment and catalyst technology

Ready to take the next step?
Contact us

Reduce energy usage

Improve environmental performance and sustainability

Customer stories

Designing a substation



When a company had to build a processing substation to provide gas to a local community, one of their engineers used Knovel to help design an efficient purification system.
Read the customer story

Reducing fumes without costs



When new regulations demanded this company mitigate its benzene emissions even more, Knovel helped find an alternative adsorption agent, saving the company time and money.
Read the customer story

Elsevier's R&D Solutions for Refining & Petrochemicals

Knovel

Knovel helps customers reduce plant and manufacturing costs and mitigate HSE risks with plant designs and systems by providing manufacturing and engineering staff access to design change examples, materials property data, operational best practice insights and more.
Learn more about Knovel

ScienceDirect

ScienceDirect provides access to Elsevier's interdisciplinary full–text articles and books, supporting oil ∧ gas companies with crucial scientific data and information covering critical subject areas required by refining and petrochemical companies.
Learn more about ScienceDirect

EnCompass

EnCompassLit and EnCompassPatprovide comprehensive access to worldwide technical data, information and patents specifically for the petroleum refining, petrochemical, and natural gas industries. With over 1 million abstracts and more than 600,000 patent records from over 48 patenting authorities around the world, companies can stay up–to–date on latest technologies, processes and products.
Learn more about EnCompass

Reaxys

Reaxys helps customers ensure that manufacturing processes are optimized for quality and safety standards by providing chemists working in production the shortest path to data for understanding synthetic routes, manufacturing yield expectations and manufacturing by–products.



Learn more about Reaxys

Ideas and insights for industry professionals

Challenges in achieving operational excellence in refining & petrochemicals



Facing decreasing margins and slowed growth, downstream operators in the oil and gas industry must look to other areas to improve their fortunes.

Read this white paper

How to optimize your debottlenecking process with engineering & technological information



With the need to increase efficiency (and therefore profitability) becoming more critical in downstream oil and gas, the quest for successful de–bottlenecking strategies is intensifying.
Read the white paper