CASE STUDY
UTILITIES
Full Steam Ahead:
Sitech Services Helps Utility Provider Optimize Control and Increase Profits
UTILITIES
“Adaptive Control is a powerful tool,
shortening the classic workflow.
Hurray for this, it works very well.”
– Erik Debie, Process Control Engineer, Sitech Services
Sitech Services is a spin-off of DSM, a global science-based company
active in health, nutrition, and materials. Sitech has more than 700
employees providing services for DSM, SABIC, Borealis, and other
industry-leading companies. One of Sitech’s clients, EdeA, is a major
utility supplier for operating companies in Geleen, Netherlands. The
main EdeA power plant provides steam, electricity, water, and industrial
gases to over 40 plants.
Sitech was responsible for maintaining appropriate pressure for the
power plant in multiple steam headers, while keeping costs as low as
possible. Accelerating the plant’s response time to sudden changes in
steam demand was an additional challenge. The fact that there were
Distributed Control Systems (DCS) from multiple vendors installed on
the different steam headers, as well as older boilers without remote flow
control further complicated this project.
Services team deploys aspenONE® Advanced
Process Control (APC) solution for a major
European power plant, generating greater
efficiency and control of entire steam operation.
CASE STUDY
CUSTOMER PROFILE - Sitech Services – Utilities Provider
CHALLENGE
Gain control across power plant controllers at the
most cost effective level and handle rapid changes
in steam demand.
SOLUTION
Adaptive Process Control featuring MPC on two
of the individual boilers and a master Aspen
DMCplus application to coordinate upgraded
remote flow control on other boilers.
BENEFITS
• Take optimal control across power plant with
more accuracy
• Drive better results and quickly react to rapid
changes in steam demand
• Increase profits
• Educate operators on controllers’ functions
Full Steam Ahead:
Sitech Services Helps Utility Provider Optimize Control and Increase Profits
UTILITIES
Sitech used Adaptive Process Control capabilities from AspenTech —
including Aspen DMCplus® — to streamline the project and quickly
develop accurate models for the process. The solution included
implementing Model Predictive Control on two of the individual boilers,
upgrading the basic boiler controls to enable remote flow control, and
implementing a master model predictive controller that covers all of
the boilers and coordinates control of the complete system. Adaptive
Process Control enabled automatic background step testing, automatic
slicing of bad data to remove bad values, and automated model
identification.
THINKING BIG, STARTING SMALL
TAMING THE BEAST
Gaining buy-in from the end users is critical in any APC project. Sitech
used Aspen DMCplus for its built-in simulation capabilities to illustrate
how the new control scheme would function. This type of simulation has
proven to be very effective in gaining the confidence of operators and to
help them understand what the controller is doing and why.
Sitech had several challenges during implementation. Existing DCS
systems were from different vendors, resulting in wrong setpoint
mapping, difficulty in communication between units, and inconsistent
behavior. Two of the boilers had no flow control, so adding the control
was part of the remedial engineering for the project. One boiler was
dedicated to one customer specifically, requiring extra attention and
restricting use. Only partial remote was control enabled, but full remote
control was desired.
Dedicated
X
CASE STUDY
Remote
flow
control
X
Remote
flow
control
DCS
Vendor 1
Pressure control
Fixed control
Strategy
4
6
SECURING BUY-IN FROM OPERATIONS
ACHIEVING SELF-SUFFICIENCY & SUSTAINABILITY
With Adaptive Process Control technology from AspenTech, Sitech
developed an effective solution. Fluctuations in process variables were
minimized and optimal control of steam production was achieved.
Notably, the standard deviation in steam flow production was reduced
from 1.309 to 0.8024. These improvements led to an increase in profits;
an overall success and prime example on the benefits of the APC
solution from AspenTech.
Honeywell
DCS
Vendor 1
DCS
Vendor 1
5
Part of Sitech’s solution to maintaining steam balance was to give
the older boilers flow control. Controllers were applied so the
pressure control drove steam production to the desired load. This was
accomplished in three steps. First, model predictive control was applied
to the two boilers with no existing control (boiler #2 & #3). Second,
remote flow control was implemented on all other boilers. Finally, a
master DMCplus controller was developed to coordinate control across
all of the boilers and headers.
1
2
3
7
Full Steam Ahead:
Sitech Services Helps Utility Provider Optimize Control and Increase Profits
UTILITIES
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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