Introduction

The plant to be considered under this heading is primarily that which uses a hydrocarbon feedstock. Inorganic chemical, metallurgical and nuclear power plant are not covered and fossil-fired steam plant is dealt with later in this chapter.

The primary purpose of structural steelwork is to support platforms that may be used for transport, manufacture, merchandising or other useful activities. Process plant, on the other hand, is for the containment and treatment of fluid to produce useful substances. Such processing often requires elevated temperatures and pressure, and exposure to corrosive substances. The materials used in this field therefore include almost all engineering alloys, ferrous and non-ferrous, and a number of corrosion-resistant or heat-resistant non-metals. ^[14] There is some common ground with structural work; structures are required to support pipework and structural steel is employed in the construction of storage tanks for hydrocarbons that are liquid at room temperature.

Petroleum or rock oil is generally considered to have been derived from the remains of living organisms deposited over millions of years in sedimentary layers. It migrates to porous formations and becomes trapped below impervious strata, often floating on a layer of water and held under pressure, below methane (natural gas). In some parts of the world it leaks out at the surface, and has been used in various ways for thousands of years. The modern oil industry was born in 1859 when Colonel Drake drilled the first oil well at Oil Creek, Pennsylvania. Drake, whose military connections were...