ANovelApproachtoRefineryand

ChemicalPlantPerformance:
ImprovementthroughQuantitative
Benchmarking
2010AIChE Regional
ProcessTechnologyConference,Galveston,TX

CurrentIssuesandOpportunitiesinRefining

LanyonCarr DavidGeddes
ProcessFrontier,Inc. PrepConsulting,Inc.
SanDiego,CA Denver,CO
Overview
Approach Features
New&uniqueapproachto Applicabletomultiinputmulti
performanceanalysis& outputsystemswithmultiple
improvement operatingparameters
Performanceanalysisand Shortimplementationperiod6to8
improvementofcomplexsystems weeks
Consistentapproachto Nomodelrequired onlyoperating
performanceimprovement data
Ranksperformanceofeach Sustainable nospecialist
operatingperiod maintenancerequired
QBMfindsGoldenBatch Basedonrealdata alwayscredible
operatingdays/periods=Best withOperations
Practice Rigorousmathematicalbasis
UseBestPracticeoperating Formulatedthewayplantis
informationtoimprovecurrent operated,i.e.qualities,production
operation targets,environmentaltargets,etc.
Approx.80%ofAPCbenefits

QBMistheabilitytomatchbestobservedoperations
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BenchmarkingBasics
Aisacomparisonwiththebestpossible
operation(s)notaverage
Profitalonedoesnotcontainenough
informationtomakecomparisons
Requiresthatentitiesoroperationsare
reasonablysimilar
Currentapproachescomparessingleaspectsof
operation,e.g.energy(Btu/bbl)
Degreeofsimilarityisnotclearoraddressedin
conventionalbenchmarking
Comparisonsrequiresaratioofsorts,i.e.
normalization
PerformancemeasuredefinedasOperational
Efficiency(E)
E=Outputs(production)/Inputs(resources)
I.e.returnoninputcosts,similartoROIorROA
Formulatedmathematicallyto:
Identifybestpracticeoperations
Calculatesauniqueefficiencyforeach
operation
Efficiencyaccountsforoperationalaspects:
Plantratios
Constraints
Feedstockqualities
Physicaloperations,e.g.manualbypasses

Operation InputValue OutputValue EfficiencyRatio RelativeEfficiency

A 8.6 1.8 0.209 1.000

B 2.2 0.2 0.091 0.434
C 15.6 2.8 0.179 0.856
D 31.6 4.1 0.130 0.622
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PotentialApplications
Operational
ProcessUnits
RefineryorPetrochemical
Complex
ParallelProcessingUnits,e.g.
steamboilers
Improvementmeasurement,
e.g.newcolumninternals
VerificationofPlanning
instructions
Productblending
Feedstockreceipts&Product
shipment
Offsitesoperations
ManagementSystems
Maintenanceoperations
Equipmentinspections
Safetymanagement
Environmentalmanagement
Processunitquality
management
Energymanagement
Laboratorymanagement
Warehousing
Procurementandcontracts
Operatoreffectiveness
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PerformanceMeasure
Performancemeasureistheoperationalefficiency;definedas:

Sumofoutputs(products,qualities,energy)
E=
Sumofinputs(energy,feedstocks,catalyst)

Effectivenessofhowresourcesareconvertedinto
products,i.e.minimumresourcestoachievegoals

Unitoperatinginstructionsaproxyforeconomic
performance derivativeproductofplanning E<70%
95>E=100%

70>E<80%
Profitisnotthefullstory,e.g.doesnotlocateareas
ofpoororoutstandingperformance 90>E<95%

80>E<90%

Otherperformanceratios ReturnonInvestment,
ReturnonAssets
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PerformanceMeasure Expanded
Theperformancemeasureisoperationalefficiencywhichis
definedastheweightedsumoftheoutputsdividedbythe
weightedsumoftheinputs:
Outputs products,
qualities,energy
(woi *Oi)
E=[EAlkylation =(wO1nC4+wO2RVP+wO3Octane)/wR1Energy]
(wIk *Ik) Inputsorresources
energy,catalysts,
feedstocks

Note:Thetargetsforunitoutputsandinputscomefromoperatinginstructions,whichareaproxyforthe
economicperformanceoftheunit operatinginstructionsareaderivativeproductfromplanning(LP)and
scheduling

Effectivenessofhowresourcesareconvertedinto
products,i.e.minimumresourcestoachievegoals
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QuantitativeBenchmarking
Features
Determinesoveralleffectivenessofallresources
Benchmarksarebasedonpastoperationoftheexactsameunit
AbilitytodealwithmultipleInputsandOutputssimultaneously
Inputs=resources,e.g.energy,feedstocks,catalysts,chemicals&additives,tec.
Outputs=products,productqualities,energyexports,environmentalproducts
Problemisformulatedinthewaytheplantisbeingoperated,i.e.operatorshaveto
controltheunittomeetcertainqualitytargets,productiontargetsforproducts,
environmentalconsiderations
Outputfromsystem
Calculatesauniquesinglenumberforoveralloperationthatcan becomparedto
otherpreviousoperations
ProvidetargetsforInputsandOutputstoimproveoverallperformance
ProvideeffectiveKPItargets
Directlyprovidetargetsforoperatingparameterstoimproveoverallperformance
Targetsareupdatedatleastoncepershift

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HFAlkyFlowDiagram

iC4Spec

RVPSpec setnC4inAlkylate
Octane setIsotoOlefinsMolarratio
IsotoOlefinsVolumeratio 8
AlkyProblemStatement
Parametersvariedduringsimulation
DeC3toIsostripperfeedratio
Isostripperfeedheatexchanger
duty
Isobutanerecycle
Isostrippersidereboilerduty
DeC3reboilerduty
HFStripperfeedtoOverheadratio
Isobutanetoolefinsvolumeratio
OperatingParameters
IsobutanetoOlefinsratio(volume)
nButanedrawrate
AlkylateRVP
nC4%inalkylate
DeC3toIsostripperfeedratio
Isostripperfeedheatexchanger
duty
SensitivityAnalysis
Constantratios
Feedcompositions
Isostrippermaximumcapacity
variedfeedrate
Isostripperfeedheatexchanger
duty
Isobutaneinnbutaneproduct
nButaneinalkylateproduct
Isobutanetoolefinsmolarratio
DeC3toIsostripperfeedratio
Cis2buteneinolefinsfeed
CausesofEfficiencychanges
Operatingratios
Constraints
OperationalEffects
TransportPhenomenologicaleffects
(HeatTransfer,Momentum
Transfer,MassTransfer) not
simulated
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 QBMUsesProcessData

2HEX 3Iso 8 13Stm 14NC4

Norm Norm 4Iso 5Iso Iso_DeC3 12 Feed Norm
Duty Duty Rec Rec 6Iso 7 Feed 9iC4in 10nC4 11 Octane Norm Product
Case MMBtuMMBtu Ratio Ratio Molar Recycle Ratio NC$% inAlk% Alkylate Recycle MMBtu RateBbl 20
Number Hr Hr Vol Molar Rate Bbl Molar Vol Vol RVP Addition Bbl Hr Efficiency
1 11.649 49.119 4.5058 6.3897 4430.2 1537.4 2.38056 5 5 5.8706 5.5178 21.259 34.14 0.99989
2 7.0315 35.889 3.0369 3.7757 2617.8 993.96 1.44621 5 5 5.8486 3.3682 16.501 35.453 0.93682
3 5.2489 30.73 2.467 2.8965 2008.2 782.63 1.08423 5 5 5.8267 1.9441 14.646 37.325 0.81164
4.1 12.363 77.688 6.9749 10.175 7054.3 2452.9 3.95215 5 5 5.8831 6.4164 31.532 33.549 0.76218
5.1 12.232 62.804 5.7066 8.1382 5642.4 1983.8 3.14546 5 5 5.8781 6.0991 26.18 33.913 0.8817
6.1 12.228 79.03 7.061 10.153 7039.2 2486.5 4.0065 1 5 5.8273 6.4048 32.014 32.098 0.74978
7.1 12.221 79.944 7.0561 10.149 7036.8 2484.6 4.00405 1 2 3.8443 6.1486 32.343 44.63 0.76
8.1 12.014 89.121 8.0174 11.663 8065.5 2840.2 4.61456 1 10 8.9374 6.8749 35.643 12.674 0.69859
8.11 11.319 60.333 5.5348 7.6338 5292.8 1921.2 3.03424 1 10 8.9364 6.3261 25.291 12.877 0.9168
8.12 11.2 74.089 6.6871 9.6937 6721 2345.8 3.7674 7 9.25 8.6246 6.6852 30.237 16.546 0.80643
9.1 13.023 76.63 6.8609 9.9936 6928.9 2406.8 3.87864 10 2 3.9258 6.1414 31.151 49.153 0.78656
10 4.361 26.726 2.1803 2.315 1605.1 678.47 0.90308 1 10 8.9244 1.1063 13.206 14.609 0.44289

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 ConstantRatios=ConstantEfficiency
ReducedFeedRate ReducedFeedRate corrected
CaseNumber BaseCase(40) (15) ratios(42.1) RatioedValues
OlefinsFeedrate 370.792 280.000 280.000
IsobutaneFeedrate 132.050 99.912 99.647 99.716
IsostripperHeatExchangerDuty MMBtu/hr 11.576 4.394 8.721 8.742
IsostripperReboiler MMBtu/hr 28.722 31.985 20.901 21.690
IsostripperSideReboiler MMBtu/hr 20.000 20.000 15.000 15.103
DeC3Reboiler MMBtu/hr 20.000 15.000 15.700 15.103
HFStripperReboiler MMBtu/hr 1.750 1.750 1.310 1.322
Propane Bbl/hr 78.706 59.774 58.880 59.434
nButane Bbl/hr 34.150 25.077 25.826 25.788
Alkylate Bbl/hr 318.563 241.109 240.577 240.560
AlkylateAPI DegAPI 72.600 72.617 72.600
D8650%Temp DefF 201.657 201.610 201.658
AlkylateRVP Psi 5.870 5.880 5.870
AlkylateOctane MON 88.585 89.378 88.585
IsoRecRatio Vol 4.471 5.711 4.355
IsoRecRatio Molar 5.970 8.073 5.974
OlefinsMolarRate lbmol/hr 693.329 523.561 523.561 523.561
IsobutaneMolarRate lbmol/hr 4139.451 4226.813 3127.889 3125.866
IsobutaneRecycle Bbl/hr 1525.851 1499.150 1119.822 1152.851
Iso/DeC3FeedRatio mol/mol 2.362 3.178 2.341
DeC3OH/Reflux mol/mol 1.220 1.219 1.206
IsoFeed/DeC3Bot mol/mol 2.910 3.917 2.894
HFFeed/OH mol/mol 2.523 2.069 2.522
Steam/Feed (MMBtu/hr)/Bbl 13.667 17.632 13.592
iC4innButane 5.000 5.000 4.780
nC4inAlkylate 5.000 5.000 4.220
OperationalEfficiency 0.979 0.811 0.990

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FeedCompositionChanges
Figure 1 Figure 2

Figure 3
Figure1
C3=aredetrimentaltoalkylateoctaneandalkylate
rate(producesmorepropane).QBMcorrectlypredicts
decreaseinefficiencywithanincreaseinpropene

Figure2
1butenesarebetter(notasgoodas2butenes)for
octaneandalkylaterate.QBMcorrectlypredictsan
increaseinefficiencywithanincreasein1butenes

Figure3
2butenesarethebestfeedstockforoctaneand
alkylaterate.QBMcorrectlypredictsanincreasein
efficiencywithanincreasein1butenes

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IsostripperMaxConstraint

Efficiencygoesthrougha
maximumasenergycostis
E
reducedandalkylateproduct
rateisincreasedbutoctane
additiondecreases

OlefinsFeedRatebbl/hr

OlefinsFeedRatebbl/hr
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EfficiencySensitivities
0.7% innC4
fora1% inE
4.5% iniC4
fora1% inE

0.5MMBtu/hr in
0.4 inIsoMolar Dutyfora1% inE
Ratiofora1% inE

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RankEfficiencies

findsEfficient
benchmark
operatingpoints

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IdentifyBenchmarks

thatdetermine
thebestoperation
frontier

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SelectBenchmarks

whichisusedtocalculate
operationimprovement
moves

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Improvecase10Operation

maxefficiency
casesnoted

1 Case 20 Benchmarks Weights and Benchmarks

Number Efficiency Wt BM Wt BM
10 0.450 0.148 11 0.481 19

lookatimproving
case10operation

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Newvaluesfor10.5inputvariables

calculatedusingbenchmarkvalues(ingrey)andweights

therestofthe10.5valuescomefromtheprocess

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Improvecase10.5Operation

1 Case 20 Benchmarks Weights and Benchmarks

Number Efficiency Wt BM Wt BM
10.5 0.828 0.022 11 0.685 19

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Movefrom10.5to10.7

Newvaluesfor10.7inputvariables

calculatedusingbenchmarkvalues(ingrey)andweights

therestofthe10.7valuescomefromtheprocess

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PerformanceImprovement

Benchmark
Frontier

Improvement
inoperation
Benchmarks

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 DashboardDisplay

Current
operation
Components
forEfficiency
Setpointsfor
controllers

Operating
Parameters

Effectively QBM is an operator guidance system

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Sequence
Quantitativerankingofhistoricaloperationsand
identificationofBestPracticeoperations
Indentifythebenchmarkedoperations(Operational
Efficiency=1)
DeterminehowwellamIoperatingcomparedtowhere
Ishouldbeoperating
AssociateeachinefficientoperationwithasetofBest
Practice operationsthataremostsimilartocurrent
operation shortestpathtoefficientoperation
UseofBestPracticeoperationstocalculatethe
operatingtargetstomakethecurrentoperation
Efficient

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PerformanceImprovementTechniques
APC Optimization Benchmarking QBM
Planttesttodevelop Significanttimeand KPIsarestatic DynamicKPIsor
model costtodevelop Nomethodologyto Targets
Modelmaintenance solution improveKPIs Targetsforoperating
Nodirectinformation Modelmaintenance Difficulttomake parameters
wrtKPIs Requiresexperienced senseofmultiple ConsidersallKPIs
Requiresexperienced optimizationengineer KPIs simultaneously
controlengineer Closedloop IndividualKPIs Targetsupdatedat
Closedloop Identifiesnew cannotdetermineif leastoncepershift
Identifiesnew significantoperating operationisefficient Structuredintheway
operatingregions regions Notspecifictothe theplantisbeing
unitbeingoperated operated
BenchmarksandKPI Solutionoperating
targetsareupdated regionfamiliarto
infrequently operators
ProcessEngineeruses
andmaintainsthe
system
Benefitslimitedto
thebestpast
operation

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ProfitImprovement

P3

P3 > P2 > P1

P2

P1

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 Benefits
Areas
Reduceenergyconsumptionandcosts
Increaseproductrevenues
Adherencetoqualitiesspecifications
Reducefeedstockcosts
Reduceenvironmentalimpactorcosts
Reducecatalystuse
Reducechemicals&additives
Mechanisms
Energytargetistheminimumeffectiveenergyuse,
minimizestheresourcetomakethespecified
outputs.Switchdrivesfromsteamtoelectricity.
Maximizeproductratesconsistentforagivensetof
inputs
Qualitiesareanoutputfromtheprocess,deviations
fromthequalities(positiveornegative)detract
fromtheoutputs.
Aswithenergy,QBMminimizestheamountof
resourcestoproducetheoutputs
Environmentalproductsareconsideredproducts
withanegativevalueandthusreducesthetotal
output.Assuchthecontributionfromthe
environmentalproduct(s)areminimized
Catalysts,chemicalsandadditivesareallconsidered
resourcesorinputstotheprocess.AssuchQBM
minimizestheamountofresourcestoproducethe
outputs
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ThankYou

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