CASE STUDY
PETROLEUM & REFINING
Major Korean Refining Company Becomes Region Leader in Energy Efficiency
and Saves Millions Without Cutting Production
PETROLEUM & REFINING
“The aspenONE® Engineering suite provided real
solutions that could be implemented to reduce energy
demand in the refinery and save a substantial amount
of money in operating costs.”
– J.J. Kim, Manager, S-Oil Corporation
S-Oil Corporation is one of the largest producers of petroleum,
petrochemicals and lubricants in the Asia-Pacific region. Named a
Fortune Global 500 company, S-Oil operates an oil refinery with
a high daily production capacity.
Achieving maximal energy efficiency in its processes was deemed
critical by S-Oil. Specifically, the company wanted to be recognized
as one of the leading refineries in the Asia-Pacific region for energy
efficiency, requiring a reduction of its rating on the Solomon Energy
Intensity Index scale. In addition, the company set the goal to improve
refinery energy efficiency each year, despite witnessing an increase in
crude production in each of the four years prior.
S-Oil targeted improving refinery energy
efficiency annually, while concurrently
increasing crude production.
CASE STUDY
CUSTOMER PROFILE - S-Oil Corporation – Petroleum & Refining
CHALLENGE
Lower S-Oil’s Solomon Energy Intensity Index and
annually observe an increase in refinery energy
efficiency.
SOLUTION
Aspen HYSYS® to explore process parameter
variation and Aspen Energy Analyzer to create an
optimal heat exchanger network.
BENEFITS
• Saved $39 million throughout the refinery with a
payback period of under one year
• Reduced energy consumption by over 102
megawatts throughout the refinery
• Lowered Solomon Energy Intensity Index and
achieved enhanced energy efficiency in refinery
Major Korean Refining Company Becomes Region Leader in Energy Efficiency
and Saves Millions Without Cutting Production
PETROLEUM & REFINING
Using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy Analyzer, S-Oil was able to
model its refining process, explore operating condition optimization and
bypass cooling units to accomplish its energy efficiency demands. S-Oil
achieved the goals of improving refinery energy efficiency and lowering
its Solomon Energy Intensity Index, while ultimately identifying process
revamp ideas worth a total savings of $39 million throughout its refinery.
IMPROVING ENERGY EFFICIENCY TO REGION-LEADING
STANDARDS
Substantial rises in operating costs over a four year period led S-Oil to
recognize that becoming as energy efficient as possible in its refinery,
without affecting product output, would help to defray the operating
cost increases and lead to a significant growth in profits. For that reason,
S-Oil set an annual target goal to improve its energy efficiency.
CASE STUDY
In addition, as a leader in the petroleum production industry in the
Asia-Pacific region, S-Oil deemed it necessary to also be a leader in
energy efficiency for the region. Accomplishing this required a reduction
in S-Oil’s current Solomon Energy Intensity Index, attainable through
eliminating as much wasted energy in its refinery as possible.
Using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy
Analyzer, S-Oil generated more than 100
significant process revamp and optimization
opportunities.
S-Oil abated its energy requirement by over
102 MW throughout the refinery and additional
process revamps and optimizations saved S-Oil
$39 million in the first year.
PROCESS OPTIMIZATION AND HEAT RECOVERY DRIVE
ENERGY REDUCTION
S-Oil modeled its process in Aspen HYSYS, allowing for optimization
of energy performance in the distillation columns by reducing the total
column pressure. The hot feed to the aromatics portion of the refinery
was previously cooled in a heat exchanger using cooling water before
being allowed to proceed throughout the process. Using Aspen Energy
Analyzer, a better use for the energy contained in this hot feed was
developed. The solution involved bypassing the coolers and transferring
the hot aromatics feed elsewhere in the process where heating was
required. This drastically decreased the total number of cooling units
needed before the aromatics process section. Additional heat from the
hot aromatics feed was also able to be cascaded to downstream units to
further slash heating demand in the process.
Using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy Analyzer helped generate more
than 100 process revamp and optimization ideas. After screening for
feasibility, S-Oil selected 35 of the ideas for implementation and the end
results proved fruitful for its energy efficiency venture.
Major Korean Refining Company Becomes Region Leader in Energy Efficiency
and Saves Millions Without Cutting Production
PETROLEUM & REFINING
S-Oil abated its energy requirement by over 102 MW throughout the
refinery and process revamps and optimizations saved S-Oil $39 million.
The payback period for all enhancements made in the refinery was
under a year.
Implementing the changes developed in Aspen HYSYS and Aspen
Energy Analyzer led to a successful reduction of S-Oil’s Solomon
Energy Intensity Index, positioning the company as one of Asia-Pacific’s
foremost leaders in energy efficiency.
LOOKING AHEAD
S-Oil continues to be a leader in the petroleum and petrochemical
industry and strives toward maximal energy efficiency in its refineries,
while AspenTech continues to help companies such as S-Oil achieve
their process energy goals.
AspenTech is a leading supplier of software that optimizes process
manufacturing — for energy, chemicals, engineering and construction,
and other industries that manufacture and produce products from
a chemical process. With integrated aspenONE® solutions, process
manufacturers can implement best practices for optimizing their
engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations. As a result,
AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve
margins, reduce costs, and become more energy efficient. To see how the
world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their
operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.
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CASE STUDY
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Major Korean Refining Company Becomes Region Leader in Energy Efficiency
and Saves Millions Without Cutting Production