Honeywell

Newsfront

Beyond
Plant
Design
Simulation software finds use in
plant optimization, energy reduction Figure 1. Process simulation software is quickly becoming an
and operator training projects important, multi-use tool for chemical processors, with application in
energy reduction, plant optimization and operator training projects

A
s chemical production shifts cally improved, a consolidation in the Institute of Standards and Technology,
to growth regions such as marketplace has led to decreasing soft- Gaithersburg, Md.) to integrate a ther-
China and India, and moves ware costs, making simulation more modynamics “expert” into a simulation
closer to areas like the Middle available and accessible, thus allowing package to provide access to data for
East, where there are less expensive processors to begin using simulation over 15,000 pure components (in ad-
sources of feedstocks, North Ameri- software for projects beyond its origi- dition to the 7,000–8,000 components
can and European chemical proces- nal role in new plant construction. before the NIST agreement) and es-
sors are under global pressure to run Improvements include integration timate the properties for an infinite
their plants more efficiently. Throw in with other software tools and the abil- number of organic components via an
the trials and tribulations associated ity to perform advanced calculations. expert system that uses thermody-
with a poor economy, and it creates an For example, the ProMax simulator namics to fill in the gaps. “The system
environment where management in from Bryan Research & Engineering automatically estimates all missing
both established and new facilities is (Bryan, Tex.), uses the ability to inte- properties in a consistent way so that
über-focused on running a very tight grate with Microsoft Visio, Excel and in a matter of minutes, users can have
ship. As a result, process simulation Word, as well as enhancements such the physical properties validated in a
software is quickly becoming an im- as the inclusion of new data for physi- model,” explains Tremblay.
portant, multi-use tool for the chemi- cal solvents, proprietary data for gly- Advanced technologies such as
cal process industries. col dehydration systems and thermo- these, along with the ability to inte-
In essence, process simulation is dynamic packages, and liquid-liquid grate with a variety of software tools,
mathematical modeling and has al- column sizing to help design and opti- has led to the recent use of simulation
ways been a part of the engineering mize processing facilities. in plant optimization projects.
workflow, says Laurie Wang, senior “Such enhancements are necessary “The latest trend around simulation is
product manager of the UniSim Design because there are fewer specialists that there is interest and business jus-
Suite with Honeywell (Morristown, in engineering so process engineers tification in linking simulation to plant
N.J.). Engineers used to do it on paper are becoming more generalists,” says operations and engineering data to ad-
and with a slide rule, but during the David Tremblay, director of product dress realtime operational challenges,”
last few decades, the tremendous value management with AspenTech (Burl- says Emon Zaman, vice president of
and potential that process simulators ington, Mass.). “As a result, customers Aveva Net, with Aveva (Houston).
provide have been embraced by many need more expertise built into their “In existing plants, we are seeing
and have led to a transformation in simulation software.” AspenTech offers simulation deployed to create a vari-
technology that was unimaginable less what they call “Expert in a Box.” One ety of options to help meet environ-
than a generation ago, Wang notes. example is the software AspenTech re- mental regulations, reduce energy
And, as the technology has drasti- cently worked on with NIST (National consumption, improve production con-
Chemical Engineering www.che.com February 2010 19
 Newsfront

ditions and other plant optimization Linking to modeling software line equipment and materials and the
projects,” agrees Anne-Marie Walters, Though simulators provide data, but exact cost of a project.
global marketing director with Bent- not line specifics, process flow dia- “Because we can automate the pro-
ley (Exton, Pa.). “Better links between grams can be generated by linking cess of moving from simulation to cost,
modeling, information and operational modeling software to simulators, ex- chemical engineers can run many
software tied into physical plant mod- plains Walters. The data from simula- more simulation cases for energy re-
els have allowed processors to easily tors (such as what’s going on inside a duction, optimization or environmen-
and cheaply test out different options pipe) can be processed with minimal tal projects and get a cost out very
for revamp projects,” says Walters. engineering to achieve a list of specific quickly with a good degree of accuracy
in terms of what’s needed physically
for a project,” she says.
This, Walters notes, allows manage-
ment and engineers to look at “any
and all” ideas so they can find the
optimal solution a lot faster and be
certain about the cost and return on
investment (ROI) of a project. “These
days everyone is so strapped for capi-
tal that they have to have a cast iron
business case for what they are going
to do, and the simulation and model-
ing tools really help here.”
L To assist customers interested in
MICA
E N CHE S this type of costing, Bentley offers
WILD P
PUM
WITH ANSFER Axsys.Process, which links to process
T R simulators and automatically gener-
ates process flow diagrams and pip-
ing and instrumentation diagrams
(P&IDs) and produces line lists and
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pump chemical transfer is another Bentley product applicable
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through 203 mm (8”) automatically lay out the plant in 3D.
It also works out how long pieces of
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in the industry tails, and then, with the push of a but-
ton, it costs the plant or project.
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Distribution System (ADS) Simulation meets operations
As products become more interoperable,
in the industry it is becoming easier to integrate simu-
• Superior containment lation products with operations sys-
tems that provide historical and asset
data. “This type of tie in improves anal-
ysis of energy efficiency, productivity
and product grade, and helps improve
safety and reliability,” says Zaman.
He says Aveva’s information-man-
agement solution (Aveva Net), can
assimilate technical data associated
with a particular asset from other
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Circle 16 on p. 54 or go to adlinks.che.com/29247-16
20 Chemical Engineering www.che.com February 2010
WildenChemicalAd_4.625x7.375.ind1 1 4/30/09 1:44:40 PM
 AspenTech
Integrated Process Development

Separation
Solubilitythe
Develop Simulation
Modeling
Recipe
Figure 2. Enhancements allow
simulation software to be used
Drug Solubility in Water mixtures in a myriad of new applications.
This image shows the latest
2M-THF 1-Pentanol 2M-Butanol enhancements to aspenOne
V7-7, which now features recipe
18.00
development, batch distillation,

Drug Solubility (g/100g solvent)

16.00 reaction modeling and solubil-
14.00 ity modeling for application in
12.00 chemical processing and phar-
10.00 maceutical production
8.00
6.00
comes to safety and optimiza-
4.00
tion,” he says.
2.00
Products such as Aveva Net
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 are available to connect these
WATER Mass Fraction different silos of information
in a common platform, allow-
ing interoperability of infor-
mation so it doesn’t need to be
allow them to perform “what if” sce- run different scenarios to see if mak- replicated. “The person looking for in-
narios and safety reviews to ensure ing changes will assist with optimiza- formation has only one place to look,”
that if the conditions change, the asset tion without creating safety risks. notes Zaman.
can handle it. In a similar vein, it can “People now realize that you can’t AspenTech has enabled, through
also be used to track energy use, plant just look at operations and simulations recently developed technologies, the
productivity and product quality to separately from the physical asset. ability to make a connection between
find areas that need improvement and They need to go hand in hand when it plant information systems and its own

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Circle 15 on p. 54 or go to adlinks.che.com/29247-15
CAS-176A.indd 1
Chemical Engineering www.che.com February 2010 21
11/24/08 4:02:57 PM
 Newsfront

simulation software so it’s easier to continuously at each shift, allowing support with Chemstations (Houston),
update models frequently, making it operators to tweak their utility opera- agrees that using simulators in this
possible to do realtime “what if” stud- tions by shutting down a boiler when way can provide a substantial savings,
ies to help improve operations. the plant’s energy demand is lower or noting that many of his company’s cus-
“Processors have begun to leverage to change from one fuel to another. tomers have identified energy savings
the knowledge that’s embodied in sim- Another method of savings via op- in the five-figure-a-year range by mod-
ulation software to advise operations timization would apply if there’s an eling their processes and utility usage.
staff on how to run things better, how existing energy supply contract where
to select better feedstocks, how to op- the price per kilowatt varies depend- Taking control with simulation
timally respond to disruptions,” says ing upon the time of day. “Using Another creative use for the newest
Sanjeev Mullick, director of product simulations in this case would allow generation of simulation software is
marketing with AspenTech. However, operators to make timely decisions tying it into the plant control system,
he says, this requires a tuned model, regarding those contracts and what which sends information to a model of
which is a model that represents the equipment is used based on the time the plant in the simulator, permitting
plant’s current capabilities and con- of day,” explains Mullick. “And with calculation of values that are expen-
straints as the plant is running right this sort of power, the decision mak- sive or difficult to measure.
now, making AspenTech’s ability to ing is driven down to the operators, so “If you link a process simulator to
import this type of data into models it’s no longer someone in a senior engi- your control system, the control sys-
key to optimization. neering role at a later date looking at tem itself can see what is a predicted
From there, processors can use the where action should have been taken calculation from engineering thermo-
combined information to improve day- on a unit,” he says. “Operators can now dynamic models and decide what is a
to-day operations. For example, when use the power of models to make real- realistic expectation for the behavior
it comes to energy efficiency, proces- time decisions that can have a larger of a process right now,” explains Hill.
sors can save as much as 2%/yr on impact on costs and margins.” “That can tell you how profitable you
energy costs by running simulations David Hill, manager of technical are at any given moment.”

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Circle 17 on p. 54 or go to adlinks.che.com/29247-17 Circle 18 on p. 54 or go to adlinks.che.com/29247-18

22 Chemical Engineering www.che.com February 2010
 Process Simulation
Service Providers
Ansys www.ansys.com
AspenTech www.aspentech.com
Aveva www.aveva.com
Bryan Research & Engineering www.bre.com
For example, a Chemsta-
Bentley www.bentley.com
tions’ customer linked the
Chemstations www.chemstations.com
company’s ChemCAD model
Curvaceous Software www.curvaceous.com
of a plant that was making
chlorine dioxide to its control Emerson Process Management
 www.emersonprocess.com
system. “The control system
Honeywell www.honeywell.com SuperBlend 2-PacTM
uses the simulation software
to predict purity coming out of Intergraph www.intergraph.com The most unique innovation
the plant and to predict an op- ProSym www.prosym.net in random tower packing
timized feedrate of steam and PSE www.psenterprise.com
in more than 25 years
water. It also allows operators Simsci-Esscor www.simsciesscor.com
using the control display pan-
els for guidance, to determine when of using simulation for operator train-
they should change the feedrates and ing. The company takes the dynamic
automatically shows them how much process modeling environment of its
their group is costing the company UniSim Design and adds regulatory
per hour per ton,” says Hill. “They can control simulations for training pur-
calculate profitability instantly based poses. Combining industrial control SuperBlend 2-PacTM Packing is a mixture of 2
on sensor data taken and fed through configuration at the operator station, adjacent sizes of Amistco’s high perfomance
the simulator model and back into the allows the introduction of plant pro- packings. Independent testing verified the
decision making program.” duction scenarios that are simulated to process & hydraulic benefits of our blending
Linking the simulator to the control allow operators to conduct plant start- technology. An engineered blend of 2 adjacent
system provides benefits because the ups and practice the use of Honeywell sizes yields the higher efficiency of the smaller
simulator becomes a software sensor, control systems, says Peter Henderson, packing and the throughput of the larger one.
giving a predicted value for some- senior product manager for Honey- (U.S. Patent 6,666,436 licensed exclusively
thing that was previously difficult or well’s UniSim Operations Suite. Oper- to Amistco by Beco Engineering).
expensive to measure, says Hill. Run- ators can also practice procedures for The performance of existing packed towers
ning the simulator in this vein, but normal and abnormal conditions. can be improved without field modifications
into the future based on current data, “This means that the process simu- to the vessel. Depending on the process
can also permit the simulator to ob- lation is behind the scenes creating all objectives, the efficiency or capacity (& P)
serve a glitch that might become an the dynamics you would normally see could be improved 20% by just replacing
alarm situation before an operator in the plant,” explains Henderson. “It’s the existing random packing with Amistco’s
might spot it. connected to a Honeywell automation SuperBlend 2-PacTM Packing.
“The simulator model will recognize system as a way to provide operators
a dangerous situation before opera- with a dynamic station and control Let our process engineers show you how to
tor’s intuition, which will lead to faster system, making it difficult to perceive apply this technology in your plant.
reactions and spending less time off the difference between operating the
spec,” notes Hill. actual plant and operations during a
simulation,” he says. “This introduces
Simulated operator training a world of industrial scenarios that an
Operator training simulators are be- operator can be exposed to years be-
coming widely popular, as well, says fore he may ever see them in actual
Robin Brooks, managing director with control situations, giving him time to
Curvaceous Software Ltd. (Gerrards learn to respond and deal with normal
Cross, U.K.). “Using dynamic simula- and abnormal situations.”
tions gives process operators the op- “The beauty of using simulation
portunity to practice procedures, such for optimization and training is that
as responding to an equipment fail- you can play games — view different
ure or a unit startup that they would scenarios, run different feed constitu-
only infrequently encounter without tions, different feed tray locations, try
simulation,” he explains. “This abil- to operate the unit differently and see
ity to practice infrequently performed that there might be a better way with-
process procedures and explore and out taking any risks,” Hill says. “It
practice plant operations (such as makes it so much easier and cost ef-
reacting to a simulated equipment fective to find the optimum way to run
failure, which would otherwise be too a unit or group of units to reduce costs
dangerous to try in a real plant) is in- such as energy fuel and feedstocks and
valuable.” to train personnel.” n
Honeywell, too, believes in the power Joy LePree Circle 19 on p. 54 or go to adlinks.che.com/29247-19

Chemical Engineering www.che.com February 2010 23