Customer Profile
Company
Name
Sitech Services
Crude
Oil Production
Utilities
Provider
Challenge:
Full Steam Ahead: Sitech Services
Helps Utility Provider Optimize
Control and Increase Profits
Services team deploys aspenONE® Advanced Process Control
(APC) solution for a major European power plant, generating
greater efficiency and control of entire steam operation.
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
Copy....
Gain
control across power plant
controllers at the most cost
Solution:
effective level and handle rapid
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changes in steam demand
Benefits:
Solution:
• Copy..
Adaptive Process Control featuring
on two of the individual
•MPC
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boilers and a master Aspen
•DMCplus
Copy.. application to coordinate
•upgraded
Copy.. remote flow control on
other boilers
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Benefits:
• Take optimal control across power
plant with more accuracy
main EdeA power plant provides steam, electricity, water, and industrial
• Drive better results and react to
rapid changes in steam demand
quickly
gases to over 40 plants.
• Increase profits
Sitech was responsible for maintaining appropriate pressure for the
• Educate operators on controllers’
functions
utility supplier to operating companies in Geleen, Netherlands. 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.
Sitech used AspenTech’s Adaptive Process Control capabilities—
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.
“Adaptive Control is a powerful tool, shortening the
classic workflow. Hurray for this, it works very well.”
— Erik Debie, Process Control Engineer, Sitech Services
Taming the Beast
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
Remote
flow
control
X
Remote
flow
control
DCS
Vendor 1
Pressure control
Fixed control
Strategy
DCS
Vendor 1
4
5
Honeywell
DCS
Vendor 1
1
2
6
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.
3
7
Thinking Big, Starting Small
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 & boiler #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.
Worldwide Headquarters
Securing Buy-In from Operations
Gaining buy-in from the end users is critical in any APC project. Sitech used
DMCplus’ 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
Aspen Technology, Inc.
200 Wheeler Road
Burlington, MA 01803
United States
phone: +1–781–221–6400
fax: +1–781–221–6410
[email protected]
controller is doing and why.
Regional Headquarters
Achieving Self-Sufficiency & Sustainability
Houston, TX | USA
phone: +1–281–584–1000
With AspenTech’s Adaptive Process Control technology, 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 AspenTech’s APC solution.
© 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech®, aspenONE®, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen
Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
11-3794-1013
São Paulo | Brazil
phone: +55–11–3443–6261
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phone: +44–(0)–1189–226400
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phone: +65–6395–3900
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phone: +973–17–50–3000
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