PTQ Q4 2022 Issue

Owner

Operation & monitoring

Conceptual study

Detailed design

FEED

Execution

Conectivity to process Historian & model calibration

Block ow diagram or conceptual model

Licensors

PMC

Feed

EPC

Digital twin ready for utilisation

Detailed simulation model

Preliminary situation model

OTA

Figure 2 Project organisation with integration of an OTA

Figure 3 Evolution of process digital twin during the project life

This includes analysing critical concerns in the early stages of the project; reviewing licensor packages and opti- mising all licensed units; optimising utility consumption of all process units; solving issues outside of the licensor remit, such as various operation scenarios and turnaround issues to protect the owner’s objective. The OTA provides a holis- tic view and develops an integrated approach using subject matter expertise for various technologies supplemented with rigorous simulation modeling tools. Additionally, the OTA integrates into the owner’s team, allowing seamless knowledge transfer to the owner’s project and operating teams for building long-term capabilities. The OTA’s critical insights run across unit and system boundaries to ensure proper integration at the different interfaces to minimise recycling work at later stages, which helps bring signifi - cant cost savings and schedule delays at later stages of the project. As an OTA, KBC employs an integrated approach based on three pillars: subject matter expertise, proven method- ologies, and robust tools, such as process digital twins. The KBC Petro-SIM process digital twin is a complex-wide rig- orous simulation model that builds kinetic reactor models for all process units across the enterprise. A digital twin is useful across the asset’s entire lifecycle, as shown in Figure 3 . Ideally, it should be created during the initial study to evaluate the feasibility and process model of the asset. During the design and EPC phases, the digital twin is used and further developed to facilitate the most opti- mal design of the asset as well as training its operators. Furthermore, it can be used to optimise and predict main- tenance during the bulk of a plant’s lifecycle, operation, and maintenance.

A complex-wide process digital twin is used for several key activities during the design stage of a project. Following are some key uses of a complex-wide digital twin during the project stage: Improved design definition Traditionally, linear programming (LP) models have been used to derive key stream flows and quality information to determine the basis of process unit design. The limitation of this method often results in inaccurate feed definitions and other critical information. A rigorous complex-wide digital twin can close this gap and ensure a robust foundation for process design by providing better stream property defini - tion for design. Updating the LP model The LP model at the feasibility stage typically marginalises the definition and is generally built with a fit-for-purpose approach using limited unit parameters in a sub-model representation. The same model can be upgraded with rel- evant parameters for each unit based on the selected licen- sor data. When the tuned digital twin model is calibrated using the licensor data, it can generate accurate LP vectors to predict the right response about feed quality or operat - ing parameter changes. The updated LP model can be used for various optimisa- tion sensitivity studies related to feedstock selection and operational mode changes. By conducting these sensitivity studies, the owner can identify unit operating and blend- ing constraints at the design stage and provide the required design cushion to process different operating scenarios and opportunity feeds.

Order of preference

SC High preference

Low preference

C C C

LPG

SC – Steam cracker MS – Gasoline ISOM – Isomerisation unit

SC SC SC SC SC

LPG

ISOM ISOM

MS MS MS

C P

CCR PX CCR MS

CCR MS

CCR PX – Naphtha reformer for p-xylene CCR MS – Naphtha reformer for gasoline ATF / HSD – Jet or diesel

C N and A

CCR PX CCR PX

ISOM

C C C

CCR MS CCR MS CCR MS

ATF/HSD

CCR PX CCR PX

SC SC

ATF/HSD ATF/HSD

C +

ATF/HSD

Figure 4 Typical feed preference and selection criteria

PTQ Q4 2022