OC-17-01 Rigorous Refinery-Wide Optimization

Description:

The ability to use process models to model an entire refinery from crude distillation to product blending enables higher fidelity and accurate information transfer between various units, leading to improved planning and operation. In this context, process models include rigorous, first principle-based calculations for conversion units and detailed tray-to-tray calculations for distillation columns. The use of such rigorous models captures nonlinear responses such as the impact of feed and operational severity on catalyst deactivation, the impact of distillation overlap on product specifications, and pumparound duty or condenser duty constraints. This concept has been tested and proven by the development and use of several refinery-wide models using KBC’s Petro-SIM and SIM Suite tools. Many clients then use these models to develop base-delta vectors for use in their LPs. The rigorous models are often also used to identify constraints and debottlenecking opportunities so as to increase unit margins. The next step in maximizing profitability is to use the same, rigorous process models for refinery-wide optimization. This presentation will take a closer look at the ability of KBC’s Petro-SIM platform to optimize a highly-complex refinery-wide model. Furthermore, various real-world case studies and opportunities to complement the LP, particularly in cases where accuracy is valued over computing speed will be discussed.