Sei sulla pagina 1di 5

Rob Howard, Sebastien Osta, Francois van Niekerk and Jos Mara Ferrer, AspenTech

Europe, discuss how the use of best practices combined with the latest technologies
can significantly extend the benefits delivered by advanced process control (APC).
EXTENDINGAPCBENEFITS
www.hydrocarbonengineering.com Reprinted from April2007 HYDROCARBONENGINEERING
APC is now a mature and well proven technology in
the process industries with demonstrated benets
that typically offer paybacks in months. Ensuring
a proper ROI requires a concerted corporate wide
strategy and utilisation of the latest innovations,
supported by considerable inhouse expertise.
The good news is that APC technologies are
continually evolving, with enhancements to the
basic software and integration with a series of
additional tools that deliver incremental benets.
These advancements make APC easier to implement,
operate and maintain so that users can generate
value more quickly and sustain that value over a
longer period
1
. More advanced software platforms
have also been developed to address particular
control challenges.
This article reviews these advancements,
describing some of the key new tools and exploring
Reprinted from HYDROCARBONENGINEERING April2007 www.hydrocarbonengineering.com
some of the methodologies and best practices available
for the future APC implementations.
Process analysis and benefits
estimates
The benets of APC applications have been so well
documented that many companies have adopted a
strategy of standardising the technology and rolling it
out company wide. While it was possible in the past
to get projects approved in this manner for the larger
process units, today more operators are implementing the
technology on the second tier or smaller process units in
reneries and chemical complexes. Although the software
and implementation costs have come down over the
years, there is an increasing emphasis on identifying the
benets from the proposed applications to ensure project
approval. Conducting thorough yet rapid assessments of
the benets from APC applications that capture technical
and operations management attention speeds up decision
making, ensures that the benets are actively pursued and
allows them to be thoroughly post audited.
Benets of improved control translate into economic
benets through one or more of the following areas:
Increased production of more valuable products via
increased throughput/capacity and improved product
recovery/yield.
Improved quality control.
Improved reliability.
Reduced energy consumption.
Changing the average operating point on the plant
is the key to realising benets, as shown in Figure 1; so
understanding current operations is critical to estimating
the possible improvement.
Best practice guidelines
Process analysis
At the heart of any benets analysis is a detailed
process operations analysis and review to understand
the prevailing economics of the unit, operating
objectives, different operating modes (eg. seasonal and
market driven), equipment limitations and constraints,
instrumentation and quality information. This knowledge is
best gathered in a workshop environment where the key
operating, technical and planning/commercial personnel
are led through a structured discussion on the process,
beginning with the big picture before diving into details.
The key question to be answered is why is the plant
operated in this way/to this constraint, and how would
changing this make more money? A relentless focus on
exposing the real (as opposed to the inferred, assumed or
historical) constraints is required.
Understanding constraints
The all too frequent answer to a question relating to
an operating parameter setpoint or limit (eg. furnace
throughput or reux rate) is that is the design value or
we are already operating 10% above the design. The
consultants response should be what measurement on
what piece of equipment is the real limiting constraint,
and who do we need to speak to in order to understand
the constraint in more detail and what changes might be
possible?
In Europe today many of the major constraints are
not even process ones but quoted as limits by the
authorities. Not only are there operating permits that
dene, for example, maximum FCC feedrates, but also
an ever increasing number of environmental emissions
constraints. Understanding the nature of these regulations
is important as some apply not only in bulk across a site
(total sulfur emissions) but also per furnace or stack (total
duty or NOx and SOx concentrations). In many sites these
higher level constraints are mapped onto lower level local
constraints as absolutes, when in fact they are normal
variables to be controlled like any other, where APC can
make a signicant difference.
Data collection
Having understood all the major operating issues and
constraints, the historical process performance of the
plant should be analysed in this context. How much
data of what frequency is required for this analysis?
The simple answer is to collect as much as is needed
to capture the full operating constraint environment of
the plant. As a minimum it is recommended that several
months of data, from a winter and summer operation, is
collected, and preferably a full year of data. Since different
l
l
l
l
Figure 1. APC profit.
Figure 2. Prototyping APC at design phase.
Figure 3. Aspen DMCplus controller integrated in Aspen HYSYS
Dynamics.
www.hydrocarbonengineering.com Reprinted from April2007 HYDROCARBONENGINEERING
benets are normally achievable across the seasons it is
good practise to be able to validate with actual data the
basis for the amount of time in the year that a particular
benet is claimed. This data can be an hourly snapshot
or even daily average data. Additionally, a period of high
frequency data for one to two weeks should be collected
for the period when onsite. This data can be analysed to
produce simplied models of the plant and determine key
gain relationships between manipulated and controlled
variables.
During the onsite time limited process testing should
be used where necessary to understand important
relationships, particularly in areas where operations
personnel have not typically made moves in the plant.
This also helps to validate the proposed operating limit
adjustments or to determine the true operating limits.
The techniques for processing the data and
quantifying the benets achievable from APC have been
covered well by Canney
2
, and include the following:
Evaluating the differences between best, worst
and typical operations. For looking at data over
a long period of time, the gap between average
performance and the 90% percentile gives a
reasonable indication of the improvement possible.
Reduced standard deviation in key process variables.
This is the traditional statistical approach, which
assumes a certain reduction possible (typically 50%
l
l
is used, but post audits frequently show 70 - 80%
reduction), and then ties this back to an increase in
a production rate or yield. Care should be taken to
ensure that this approach takes account of all other
constraint impacts.
Finally, having translated the process constraint and
economic knowledge into a set of key plant performance
parameters or KPIs whose current performance is dened
together with expected improvements from the APC, a
full benets analysis summary can be prepared. With a
benets estimate rmly grounded in data from the current
plant operation the next phases of the project should
proceed smoothly.
APC prototyping in the
engineering design phase
During the engineering design of a new plant, engineering
rms typically take overall responsibility for the design,
construction and startup as part of a turnkey contract;
the plant is usually accepted by the client after 6 - 12
months of stable operation. In many cases, the rst
thing the client does after accepting the plant is to
start improvement programmes aimed at optimising
current operations. These programmes often identify
APC as a rst logical step, which can then require new
instrumentation, changes in the basic controller layout,
plant tests, and new hardware and software installations,
which is not desirable for a newly commissioned plant.
Therefore it clearly makes better sense to include APC
implementation within the scope of the engineering rm.
Since they design the processes using rigorous simulation
models, including detailed dynamic simulations to verify
control layouts, safety scenarios and startup/shutdown
procedures, they already possess the deep understanding
of process dynamics required to implement APC
successfully. The existing models can be used to design
and prototype the APC system, so that the most suitable
instrumentation and control layout can be selected from
the outset
3
. This approach, as shown in Figure 2, has the
advantage of shortening the time to optimum operation,
minimising the impact of plant tests, and reducing the
overall cost.
Logically, this approach is more suitable for processes
where the dynamic model provides enough rigour and
delity to the real process, for example gas plants, NGL
recovery, LNG liquefaction and general distillation.
To support this methodology, engineering simulation
tools such as Aspen HYSYS Dynamics have been
integrated with APC software such as Aspen DMCplus
(Figure 3) to efciently design and verify the optimum APC
structures
4, 5
.
Before performing step tests in the real plant, the
dynamic model serves as a virtual plant where the virtual
step tests can be performed (Figure 4). With the results,
a prototype or draft APC model can be obtained, which
makes it possible to analyse the dynamic responses of
the plant and calculate the optimum move size for the real
step tests. If Aspen SmartStep is used to automate the
real plant tests, the prototyped Aspen DMCplus model
can be used as the good seed model for the automated
testing tool, minimising the impact on plant operations
and personnel.
For new or existing plants, the advantages of this
approach are:
Figure 5. Remote visualisation using production control web server.
Figure 4. Virtual tests performed in Aspen HYSYS dynamic model.
Reprinted from HYDROCARBONENGINEERING April2007 www.hydrocarbonengineering.com
Minimises or eliminates step testing:
Generates seed model for Aspen SmartStep.
Calculates optimum amplitude of moves.
Provides confidence with the plant models.
Improves and verifies APC models:
Not contaminated by unmeasured disturbances.
Verifies linearity range of the process.
Hidden problems arise when models do not match.
FeedForward moves can be imposed.
Better testing and training:
Controller is tested in a wider range of operation.
Basic control layout improvements can be quickly
studied.
Enables models to be reused for retesting (revamps
or operation mode changes).
Simulation models available during plant
shutdowns.
Rich, risk free training of operators and engineers.
Successfully maintaining APC
applications
Value delivered by APC can be sustained by adopting
best practice technologies to improve and optimise
performance.
Remote visualisation
The APC engineer cannot always be onsite to monitor the
way the controller is being used. In a plant environment,
with operators changing shifts every eight hours or so,
the APC engineer has to be able to react quickly when a
possible incorrect use of the tool has been identied, and
to deliver training in real time to the operator.
In this situation, technologies are available to provide
remote visualisation of what the multivariable controller
l
s
s
s
l
s
s
s
s
l
s
s
s
s
s
is doing through a standard web interface (Figure 5). This
provides:
Remote navigation and trending.
Role based assess to tuning parameters.
Visualisation of the custom calculations and current
model matrix.
Management functions of the controller.
Performance analysis
A critical part of being able to maintain an APC application
is the ability to perform a quick analysis of what the
multivariable controller did in the past. If the APC engineer
is not able to understand the reason why a controller
did not behave properly or why an operator turned the
application off under particular circumstances, then the
situation will repeat in the future.
To address this situation, tools exist that allow users
to analyse controller performance using a series of user
friendly features:
Automatic configuration of each controller in the
toolkit.
Trending of any external/internal parameters present
in the database over several months using industry
standard historian package.
Drill down graphical web based analysis to detect
underperforming applications.
Detailed analysis and understanding of the
performance compared to baseline or benchmark key
performance indicators.
Adapting the control application
Another important maintenance function is the ability to
adapt the control application to a changing operating
environment. In a typical plant situation, the process is
changing continuously as a result of operational issues
such as fouling or instrument failures, while operational
objectives are revised in order to adapt to changes
such as increased market demand or varying feed
composition.
New technologies now exist that automate the
process of updating the control application. These tools
provide a fast cycle upgrade of the control application that
consist of:
Automatic step testing with reduced supervision.
Daily reinjection of improved models.
Web based analysis to check new results in terms of
controller performance.
Sustained value programme
Another fundamental requirement for maximising returns
from an APC application is the creation of a dedicated
maintenance organisation as part of a sustained value
programme. This will help management to retain their
focus on the importance of this function after the APC
project is completed, and will also help ensure that APC
maintenance retains an identied budget.
A sustained value programme can be based on
internal or external resources, depending on the existing
local support and the complexity of the application.
Agnes Devichi, project manager at Naphtachimie (France),
which implemented a complex APC and real time
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
Figure 7. Aspen State Space Controller Desktop.
Figure 6. Block structure of State Space Controller.
www.hydrocarbonengineering.com Reprinted from April2007 HYDROCARBONENGINEERING
optimisation system on its ethylene plant in partnership
with AspenTech, stated that a sustained value programme
is absolutely necessary to cope with the complexity and
the size of the installed applications. The programme gave
full attention to the continuous training of operators and
engineers, and was structured to give exible support
to the plant accommodating changes in the production
schedule and demand across the different maintenance
areas.
APC using state space
controllers
An important growth area for the application of APC
systems is in the use of state space models. The
AspenTech state space controller (SSC) advanced
process technology (Figure 6) is a fth generation MPC
algorithm
6
that has been designed from the start to
provide a platform for future control applications. It
was built using the newest software architecture, which
will enable extension and enhancement without the
limitations associated with older software generations.
The SSC controller is best suited for small to medium
parts of a unit and is initially targeted for non-olens
and speciality chemicals manufacturing, which has
traditionally been underserved due to project complexity
and implementation costs.
SSC has been designed with the non-expert user in
mind and this improvement in the tools for implementation
will provide faster time to benets as required by the latest
ARC advice
1
. The user can maintain the SSC application
through a web browser interface (Figure 7) which allows
for global collaboration and remote monitoring. The
supporting infrastructure and tools allow for long term
support and sustaining the controller benets through the
entire lifecycle of the application.
Conclusions
While the use of APC is well established, the introduction
of the latest technologies, methodologies and best
practices can provide process manufacturers with
signicant opportunities to increase the benets they
realise from APC implementations. Recent advancements
make APC easier to implement, operate and maintain, so
that users can generate value more quickly and sustain
that value over a longer period.
References
FISKE, Tom, Advanced Process Control: the Right Stuff, ARC
Insights, November 2005.
CANNEY, William M., The future of Advanced Process Control
promises more benefits and sustained value, Oil & Gas Journal,
April 2003.
VALAPPIL, Jaleel, MESSERSMITH, David, WALE, Sanjay and
MEHROTRA, Vibhor, Lifecycle Dynamic Modelling in the design
and Testing of Advanced Process Control, IEEE Advanced
Process Control Applications for Industry Workshop, May 2006.
TRIVELLA, F. and MARCHETTI, G., Integration for innovation,
Hydrocarbon Engineering, November 2004.
ALSOP, N. and FERRER, J.M., What dynamic simulation
brings to a Process Control Engineer - Applied Case Study to
a Propylene/Propane Splitter, ERTC Computing, London May
2004.
FROISY, Brian, Top Model Hydrocarbon Engineering, January
2006.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Potrebbero piacerti anche