Thirteen Years of Useful Tips

“Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. It is a word of Greek origin made up of the root words tris (“three”), deka (“ten”), and phobia (“fear”)” (https://shmaltzandmenudo.wordpress.com/2016/11/13/famous-sayings-36-lucky-number-13/)

Thirteen years into the Desulfurization Blog, I have developed several series of posts on a number of topics. You may find one or two of them useful. So here is a list, with a link to each series. Enjoy …

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TIPCATALYSIS  http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPCATALYSIS
Catalysis: The Series
The overarching goal of the Desulfurization Blog (www.desulf.blogspot.com) is to offer tips and tricks on how to save time in your never ending quest to stay on top of developments in your field of interest.
In that time saving vein, the following list provides easy access to each of the posts we produced on Catalysis.  Not every post will interest you.  But when you see one that does, you can just click the link and go right to it.  That way you do not have to go through the tedious process of searching the blog to find it.  Not that you would do that … who has that kind of time?

TIPREFINERYOFTHEFUTURE     http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPREFINERYOFTHEFUTURE
FuelsEurope
The EU has the ambitious objective to lead the world in addressing the global climate change challenge.
The EU refining industry is committed to contribute to this objective by continuing to reduce its CO2 emissions and providing the economy and citizens with low-carbon fuels and other products that society needs.
Development of a diversity of energies and energy carriers will give an economy flexibility, resilience and the possibility for the market to select the optimal solution for every sector and use. Liquid fuels, with their unique characteristics will continue to be employed in many transport fields. Therefore, the EU refining industry has an important and enduring role to play in the energy choices of the future, by providing low-carbon liquid fuels to complement low-carbon electrons, gas and hydrogen as energy carriers. Technology and collaboration across industries will facilitate the production of these low-carbon liquid fuels.
The contribution of the EU refining industry can be enhanced by the EU industrial strategy and a policy framework which will enable its transition, while allowing refineries to retain economic viability in the face of a declining domestic market demand and of an increasingly aggressive international competition.
source: https://www.fuelseurope.eu/vision-2050/

TIPVENTURECAPITAL   http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPVENTURECAPITAL
The Genius of Venture Capital (Part 1): Connecting Good Ideas with Money
The Genius of Venture Capital: connecting entrepreneurs with good ideas but no money to investors with money but no ideas.
So, how does that work? It is a mysterious process.
In this series of posts, we will penetrate that mystery. We begin with two excellent articles that explain how VC’s do that voodoo that they do so well.
The two articles are rich with insights into the VC world.
Here are three that jumped out at me.

TIPBREAKTHROUGH     https://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPBREAKTHROUGH
BREAKTHROUGH: How to identify promising breakthrough companies (Part 1)
This is the first post in the BREAKTHROUGH series. The THEME of the series is … How to identify promising breakthrough companies
It is an adjunct to the STARTUP series [ https://desulf.blogspot.com/2020/05/starting-down-startup-path-recap.html ]. While there is some overlap, the focus of the BREAKTHROUGH series is on how to identify companies that may be worth the risk of investing them.
I use the term “investment” in a broad sense. Venture capitalists invest money directly in a chosen company, hoping for a big win.
However, there is another kind of investment … taking a chance on a company with breakthrough but unproven technology to solve a problem your company is trying to address. That is a risk that is similar to, but different than, the risk taken by venture capitalists.
Caveat … I am not an expert on risk assessment. However, I am an expert in online research. The purpose of this series is to help you make more efficient use of online resources to achieve your objectives.
So, how do you identify companies with breakthrough technology? Well, if you are not a venture capitalist, whose job it is to identify such companies, it might be useful to see how venture capitalists go about this critical task.

TIPSTARTALAB                http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPSTARTALAB
How to design a lab: Part 1 of a series of posts
“What happens if a big asteroid hits Earth? Judging from realistic simulations involving a sledge hammer and a common laboratory frog, we can assume it will be pretty bad.” -- Dave Barry (American Writer and Humorist best known for his weekly newspaper column. b.1947)
Designing a laboratory is a seriously complex task.  If you have never designed one, how do you even start?
One place to begin is reading what experts in the field have written.  And a possible first step on the path to discovering what experts have written could be an Amazon.com search.
TIP: On the Amazon.com Web, select the Book department.  Then enter the following Amazon.com search string: laboratory design

TIPSTARTALIBRARY     http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPSTARTALIBRARY
Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 1)
“It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously.” -- Oscar Wilde (Irish Poet, Novelist, Dramatist and Critic, 1854-1900)
Individual researchers create their own personal libraries of technical literature. This can work well for small research organizations with just three or four researchers. Larger organizations need a more formal structure to support their research efforts.
This is the first in a series of posts designed to help you create a resource base which can help your researchers make more productive use of their valuable time.
We’ll begin by focusing on commercial databases.  To be honest, the first step should involve strategic planning, but since most people like to cut to the chase, the chase is where we’ll begin. The tedious stuff will come later.

TIPCASESTUDY http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPCASESTUDY
TIAX LLC
Searching for ExxonMobil patents, I ran across one with a co-assignee named TIAX LLC (see below).  This caught my eye.  When a giant like ExxonMobil teams with a small firm like TIAX, it makes me want to learn more.
This post is the first of a series.  Besides exploring TIAX LLC, the series provide a case study on how to glean useful information about any small company of interest.

TIPLITERATURESEARCH             http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPLITERATURESEARCH
Whaddya Know? Literature Search Method Case Study
To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, We don’t know what we don’t know.
That’s true. Unfortunate, but true.
Here’s another paraphrase from a great sage known as Anonymous … Sometimes, we don’t know what we DO know.
And that is the theme of this post … i.e., how do we know what we DO know?
A recent study on the integration of Building Information Modelling (BIM) with Additive Manufacturing (AM) illustrates the point.

TIPPATENT         http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPPATENT
TIPS & TRICKS FOR PATENT SEARCHING – TABLE OF CONTENTS
As easy as it is to search patents online these days, there are nuances to the process. Over the past year or so, we at the Desulfurization Blog (http://desulf.blogspot.com) have posted tips and tricks that can help you improve your effectiveness in a patent search.
For your convenience, we have compiled a TOC-Table of Contents of these posts.
TIP: Click http://desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPPATENT to visit ALL the patent searching tips that have appeared (and will continue to appear) in the Desulfurization Blog.

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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at research@jeansteinhardtconsulting.com  with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

Green Machine: Pipeline Technology Journal 2/2022

The 2nd Issue of Pipeline Technology Journal for 2022 is out. The issue focuses on decarbonization and hydrogen.

One of the articles was produced by pipeline experts from Saudi Aramco …

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Enhancing the Availability of Oil Network using Focused Reliability Assessment of Critical Valves
Dr. K.A. Al-Jabr, Dr. Q. Ahmed, Z.A. Al-subai, Dr. D.M. Al-Anazi > Saudi Aramco
Abstract
The Reliability Focused Analysis Technique is a method of analysis that can be used to evaluate reliability for a specific system, and addresses availability and maintainability related issues. This approach is based on holistic reliability and evaluation and analysis of maintenance data, which involves reviewing maintenance strategies, system capacity to identify operational and maintenance gaps, and recommending and resolving chronic and critical issues. A case study was conducted by using this technique to improve reliability and availability of critical valves in the Saudi Aramco Oil and Gas Supply Network. These valves are classified based on their criticality and failure consequences. A comprehensive reliability assessment was conducted for the top critical valves in the pipeline network. It addressed the chronic problems by validating the equipment criticality categorization, reviewing their maintenance strategies, analyzing valve data and failures modes, and identifying bad actor items and common failures. The reliability and maintenance data were benchmarked with other industry databases such as OREDA.
The implementation for the addressed recommendations of the Valve Reliability Assessment has improved the reliability for top critical valves by 10% and reduced their emergency maintenance cost by 43%. The study supported concerned organizations with developing the pipeline valves Reliability & Maintenance Databank, and selecting the appropriate valve types during the design stage.
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Here is the table of contents for the issue …

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Applications of Vibroacoustic Technology to support pipeline assets re-use, integrity management and energy transition projects
SolAres (Solgeo/Aresys), Eni S.p.A

Considering leak detection systems for carbon capture and storage (CCS)
Atmos International

Energy Transition And The Impact On Pipeline Integrity
ROSEN Group

Enhancing the Availability of Oil Network using Focused Reliability Assessment of Critical Valves
Saudi Aramco

Methane Emissions Reduction System in Pipeline Compressor Stations: ENAGAS & BAKER HUGHES Experience
Baker Hughes, Enagás

What’s your purpose? Reusing gas infrastructure for Hydrogen transportation and storage!
Intero Integrity Services
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TIP: Visit https://www.pipeline-journal.net/journal/pipeline-technology-journal-22022 to read the full text of the articles above.

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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at letters@jeansteinhardt.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

Seriously? A Series of Tips on Setting Up a Research Library (Part 13)

 
During my career as research librarian for various engineering firms, I had to negotiate once a year with vendors of bibliographic and technical databases. Each time I faced a vendor meeting, I braced myself.  
 
Each vendor has its own set of rules and conditions. And I often wished that someone, somewhere, had produced a systematic approach to the negotiation process.
 
And, voilá, I recently discovered that the University of California has done just that …
 
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Negotiating with scholarly journal publishers
A toolkit from the University of California
A North American framework for creating transformative change in the scholarly publishing industry based on initial insights from the University of California’s 2018-19 negotiations with Elsevier
Prepared by the UC Publisher Strategy and Negotiation Task Force
May 2019
The University of California’s (UC) 2018-19 journal contract negotiation with Elsevier has been widely followed. In response to ongoing demand for information, this negotiation toolkit was created to provide support and insight for institutions, particularly university librarians/directors and faculty in North America, interested in restructuring their publisher contracts for journal content.
This support testifies that there is a growing will to utilize publisher negotiations to sustainably reduce expenditures for academic journal subscriptions in the service of transforming journal publishing to open access.
Thanks to the efforts of open access pioneers around the world and, in particular, our European colleagues (including Projekt DEAL, the Bibsam Consortium, FinELib, Hungary’s Electronic Information Service National Programme, and more), UC has stood on the shoulders of giants, building upon existing knowledge and expertise to leverage publisher negotiations to effect a transition away from the standard subscription model and towards open access. With this toolkit, UC hopes to enable others to do the same, following UC President Janet Napolitano’s open access call to action.
source: https://osc.universityofcalifornia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/UCNegotiationToolkitforTransformativeAgreements_May2019.pdf
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The toolkit goes on to describe in detail the framework used to design an effective strategy for successful negotiation.
 
It finishes with a case study of the University of California’s development of and use of this framework.
 
The report includes a number of links to related documents that can be very helpful, as well.
 
Read this report if you are a librarian in charge of a technical library, or if you are a researcher or corporate leader interested in setting up resources that will help achieve meaningful research results.
 
TIP: This is the 13^th in a series of posts. Visit http://www.desulf.blogspot.com/search/label/TIPSTARTALIBRARY to read the other 12.
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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at letters@jeansteinhardt.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

Call for Papers: Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc) 2023 wants you

 Pipeline Technology Conference (ptc) 2023 wants you. They have issued a call for papers. Details appear in a recent email, reproduced below.

Why respond to a call for papers? I Googled that question. One of the results is …

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TIP: Google® why answer a call for papers

How-To(sday): How to Write a Paper or Conference Proposal Abstract
By Karen Kelsky | July 12, 2011

Tuesdays I will occasionally feature “How-To(sday)” posts,  short  guides to certain genres of academic writing.  I’m happy to take requests for these. Just email me at gettenure@gmail.com.

Today we look at the paper/conference proposal abstract.  This is a critical genre of writing for scholars in the humanities and social sciences.  Usually between 200 and 500 words long, it is a short abstract that describes research/a talk/a journal article that you are GOING to write.  This is in contrast to the abstract of the research/dissertation/article that you have already written.
We can help with your conference abstract. Get in touch.

Mastering the paper abstract is one of the most important skills you can acquire while still a graduate student.  Learn the tricks of the paper abstract and you have the ticket in hand to a steady ride of conference and publishing opportunities.  These are the conferences and publications that a few years down the line, set your c.v. apart from your peers, and land you that job.

The paper abstract is highly formulaic.  Let’s break it down.  It needs to show the following:
1) big picture problem or topic widely debated in your field.
2) gap in the literature on this topic.
3) your project filling the gap.
4) the specific material that you examine in the paper.
5) your original argument.
6) a strong concluding sentence.

Each of these six elements is mostly likely contained in a single sentence.

Read the full text of this post at: https://theprofessorisin.com/2011/07/12/how-tosday-how-to-write-a-paper-abstract/
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Call for Papers Now Open for ptc (Pipeline Technology Conference) 2023

Interested speakers are invited to submit an abstract (max. 300 words) describing the main ideas of their paper together with the presenter’s CV (max. 200 words).

    Abstracts should not focus on company presentation but on technical/managerial classifications, R&D, new technologies or recent case studies.
    Your abstract should avoid the use of a language that is commercial in tone.
    Joint presentations between pipeline operators and technology providers are welcome.
    If you have already presented this abstract in the past, you can still submit it, but you must indicate when and where it was presented in the past.
    All abstracts will be reviewed in the ptc Advisory Committee.
    Confirmed speakers are requested to provide a multi-page conference paper for publication in the conference proceedings.
    All speakers are invited to join the exclusive ptc Meetup on 8 May together with the members of the advisory committee, session chairs, sponsors and exhibitors.

Each speaker gets a presentation time of 20 minutes. Papers will be published via the official ptc smartphone app and distributed to the conference attendees. All abstracts, papers and the approved recordings will also be published in our ptc Pipeline Open Knowledge Base.

All speakers are requested to register for a regular conference ticket (confirmed speakers from pipeline operators / municipalities attend free-of-charge, poster session presenters benefit from a reduced entrance fee).

Technical papers by authors who do not attend the conference in Berlin to present their papers may be excluded from publication in the ptc Pipeline Open Knowledge Base. In special circumstances, it will be possible to hold lectures online.
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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at letters@jeansteinhardt.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide

China Lake, Geothermal, and all that …

There is a U.S. Navy base located in the middle of the Mojave desert.

According to an official Web site …

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NAWS China Lake provides and maintains land, facilities and other assets that support the Navy’s research, development, acquisition, testing and evaluation (RDAT&E) of cutting-edge weapons systems for the warfighter.
source: https://www.cnic.navy.mil/regions/cnrsw/installations/naws_china_lake.html
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But, as interesting as this is, the reason for its mention in this post is that for a quarter of a century this Naval station has operated several geothermal power plants. A byproduct of the power production process is sulfur.

An article in the May 2022 issue of Decarbonisation Technology (https://www.decarbonisationtechnology.com/ ) offers a detailed description of the Lo-Cat desulfurization technology employed to remove the sulfur.

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Decarbonisation Technology, May 2022
Geothermal sulphur removal
Vent gases from a geothermal power plant have consistently met H2S emissions specifications for over 25 years
David Jackson Merichem Company
Mark Kolar Coso Operating Company
[ EXCERPT ]
Dubbed “the sun beneath our feet”, geothermal energy has moved from being a niche player to becoming a viable contender in making 100% clean electricity available to the world. It is a reliable source of power that has a small land footprint compared to other renewable sources and can be harnessed at both large and small scales. The industry is expanding, and its infrastructure is long-lasting.
In the eastern portion of Central California on the military-owned Naval Air Weapons Station near China Lake, the Coso Geothermal Field, operated by Coso Operating Company, has been producing geothermal power continuously since 1987. It is one of the top three producers of geothermal electrical power in the US. Coso provides power to the southern California power grid and plays an important role in supporting the State’s mandated Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). It also supplies approximately 8% of the entire geothermal power in the US.
The Coso generating facility consists of four separate but interlinked geothermal power plants with nine 30 MW turbine-generator sets for a total of 270 MW of rated capacity, enough power to supply 250,000 homes. Due to the high pressures and temperatures encountered in the field, which allow the units to operate above their initial rated capacity, the net running capacity is higher than the rated capacity at 302 MW. Between 80 and 90 production wells operate at any given time, producing a mass flow rate of more than 14 million pounds per hour.
Depending on the volume of fluid that needs to be handled and where pressure support is required, the Coso field can employ 30-40 injection wells. Because of the high-temperature fluids, the power plants utilise double-flash technology for steam extraction. Wellhead pressures range from 85-500 psig. Produced fluids are moderately saline chloride brines with total dissolved solids from 7,000-18,000 ppm. Non-condensable gases account for 6% of the gas fraction, with 98% of that from CO₂. Hydrogen sulphide ranges from <10-85 ppm. After the wells are tapped and gathered, the steam wells produce electricity from the renewable geothermal energy source. The produced steam passes through a set of turbines/ generators, and the non-condensable vapours are separated from the condensed steam (water) at low pressure. Finally, the brine is reinjected into the geothermal field.
The non-condensable vapours cannot be vented to the atmosphere until the particles of hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) are removed. During the initial facility start-up, the H₂S-laden vapours were reinjected into the geothermal field with the water. Over time, this H₂S abatement method became more costly, mostly due to compressor maintenance. In 1993, a Merichem Lo-Cat unit was installed, the first of three. Poststart- up, the non-condensable carbon dioxide (CO2)and H₂S are flashed, compressed, and routed to the Lo-Cat unit for sulphur removal before being emitted into the atmosphere. The Lo-Cat process has been removing H₂S at this facility for over 25 years and has significantly reduced sulphur emission exceedances and operating costs compared to other technologies previously employed.
The site now has a total of four power generation facilities, two of them containing Lo- Cat units: the Navy 1 power plant and Navy 2 power plant with three Lo-Cat units (see Tables 1 and 2). There are two Lo-Cat units at the Navy 2 site: Navy 2 and Navy 210. Only Navy 210 will be discussed here because Navy 2 is operated periodically.
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Jean Steinhardt served as Librarian, Aramco Services, Engineering Division, for 13 years. He now heads Jean Steinhardt Consulting LLC, producing the same high quality research that he performed for Aramco.

Follow Jean’s blog at: http://desulf.blogspot.com/ for continuing tips on effective online research
Email Jean at letters@jeansteinhardt.com with questions on research, training, or anything else
Visit Jean’s Web site at http://www.jeansteinhardtconsulting.com/ to see examples of the services we can provide