How the US oil, gas boom could shake up global order

How the US oil, gas boom could shake up global order

Interesting commentary on how the rise of US Oil could affect global relationships.

What do you think will be the most likely change?

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What are the units of Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP)?

What are the units of RVP?
Regardless of the pressure dimensions specified, Reid Vapor Pressure (RVP) will come out in PSI, not PSIA or PSIG, because it is a differential pressure.

Note: This is not consistent with D323-82 which indicates the final pressure should be absolute. Prior versions were analyzed as differential pressure and we decided to continue the older RVP reporting methods.

As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team.

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Eskom Lethabo Power Station Success Story – Power Generation

Lethabo Power Station, owned by Eskom Holdings, generates electricity for much of Africa. Eskom’s Lethabo Power Plant in South Africa has partnered with Invensys to improve profitability and performance in the workplace. Invensys’ product SimSci-Esscor has provided this plant with its Operator Training Simulator (OTS) solution. OTS helps improve operating costs by providing the proper training of operators. This solution aids this facility in its mission to provide affordable electrical power to an increasing percentage of the African population. To learn more, click here.



About Operator Training: Invensys offers a computer-based training method, Operator Training Simulators (OTS), to help give operators the skills they need to run a process or plant. Refineries and other plants are being forced to rely on inexperienced operators due to the aging workforce. Undertrained employees reduce performance and profitability in a refinery and may also risk the safety of other employees. The aging workforce is moving closer to the age of retirement, making it imperative to train younger, less experienced employees. Invensys offers an Operator Training System to aid refineries in educating inexperienced operators, who will soon be relied upon to operate the refinery and perform operational excellence.

Operators learn the ins and outs of a refinery in this virtual control room. DYNSIM is a model that controls the plant response. Trainees learn how to react appropriately when a similar situation occurs in the actual plant. DYNSIM Checkout is the first process dynamic simulation product designed specifically for control checkout. This solution can validate control system design before it is installed in the plant which eliminates many problems that occur during startup.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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From DowstreamToday: US Shale Boom: Downstream Picture Starts to Emerge

US Shale Boom: Downstream Picture Starts to Emerge

LONDON (ICIS)--A picture is slowly emerging of how petrochemical producers in North America intend to add value to their already significant local ethylene cost advantage through new derivatives capacities.

Read full article here

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How is feedforward control done in PRO/II?

How is feedforward control done in PRO/II?

 Use the DEFINE option to access and use flowsheet variables that have been calculated previously.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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The PRO/II LinkedIn group is almost at 1,000 member

The PRO/II LinkedIn group is almost at 1,000 member!

Are you a member? If not, join here!

When we reach 1,000 members, I will randomly select 1 person to receive a free 4 GB memory stick.

I will post the winner details on the blog and in the PRO/II discussions.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Study: Twitter Mobile Users More Engaged with Brand

Study: Twitter Mobile Users More Engaged with Brand

What is your opinion? Do you use Twitter? Are you more engaged in various brands - maybe SimSci-Esscor?

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Flash Stream Hot Key

How do I use the Flash Stream Hot Key in PRO/II?

Use this command to perform a Flash calculation on a selected input or feed stream This operation provides a quick and easy method to check the stream conditions, and can be extremely useful whenever you want to adjust the composition and/or stream conditions to meet certain requirements. When this command is selected, the stream is flashed under the given input conditions and the results are displayed in the editor as specified under the Options/Editor menu.

1.  Select a feed or input stream

2.  Go to the toolbar and click on Flash stream hot key  

3.  Result as shown below gets generated

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Refinery Performance Webinar recordings now available for viewing

Invensys Operations Management frequently offers live webinars to help viewers gain a better understanding of our solutions.These webinar recordings are now available for you to view on-demand.

This webinar series introduces ways to optimize performance in a refinery. The following webinars address two major issues in today’s refineries.

First, is “Reducing Material Losses with Better Yield Accounting”, which addresses the need for better yield accounting. In order to prevent major monetary loss, refineries must tighten control on their raw material, inventory, and products. Unaccounted for material loss may be due to a number of factors including inaccurate or inconsistent data, coming led ownership of processed materials, environmental (HSE) pressure to report yields and losses, or Joint Venture (JV) pressure to report transactions. Our new Yield Accounting solution has corrected these issues in order to provide refiners with an accurate means of accounting for material losses.

Next is “Aging Workforce and Operator Training – Improve your bottom line with faster, more effective training techniques”.  This webinar explains how so much of the aging workforce is nearing retirement, leaving plant operation in the hands of less experienced, undertrained operators. SimSci-Esscor offers operator training that will optimize performance and improve safety in a plant. Watch this webinar to learn more about these innovative methods that will prepare your workforce in an efficient and effective manner.

In the “Using New Modeling Technology to Help Solve Heavy Oil Processing Issues” webinar, Invensys employees explain the importance of processing heavier feedstock. Today’s refineries were originally designed for lighter crudes.  Since there is an ever-increasing demand for oil and the amount of heavy oils on Earth is greater than twice the supply of lighter crudes, refineries are being forced to utilize them.  Conventional refineries find great difficulty in processing these “molasses-like” substances.  Processing the crude incorrectly leads to operational errors, like equipment failure and process downtime, which can risk operator safety.  This webinar offers insight on how to deal with heavy oils.

“Make better feedstock business decisions in real-time with Assay Knowledge Management” explains how to use this solution to make knowledgeable and profitable decisions based on your refinery’s needs. Invensys has paired up with Spiral Software, bringing you a new technology that properly determines the properties of feedstock, allowing a refiner to evaluate all available feedstocks in real time. This leads to better decisions and improves profitability.

The final webinar on demand is “How to improve refinery profitability with real-time, online, optimization”. Plant and operations managers should take an interest in finding out about the benefits of real-time online optimization. This Invensys solution can assist you in improving performance, making better business decisions, and increasing refinery profitability. If you are already interested in real-time optimization solutions but are not sure which solution is right for your refinery’s needs, this webinar can help!

In case you missed it, you can check out the recordings of the above mentioned webinars and others here: 

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Yield Accounting Infographic

Invensys Yield Accounting Solution


Guest Blogger: Kaylen McMullen, Marketing Assistant, Invensys Operations Management

 

 

 

About Yield Accounting: The Yield Accounting solution from Invensys addresses one of the most stressing issues of a refinery, petrochemical plant, or other processing facility: unaccounted losses. This solution improves the efficiency in a facility with data reconciliation, which finds errors in raw plant data and closes the mass balance and production accounting, which allows the plant to better account for feedstock and products. Material tracking and product yield tracking account for inventory and pinpoint losses.
Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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From Hydrocarbon Processing: Saudi Arabia to begin drilling for shale gas this year

Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude oil, will push ahead this year with exploratory drilling of shale and other unconventional gas reserves which could be twice the size of its conventional gas reserves, which total 286 trillion cubic feet, Minister of Oil Ali al-Naimi said.


Read full article here

That is a log of gas! That capacity should influence world prices right?

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Coming soon: PRO/II 9.2, DYNSIM 5.1 & ROMeo 6.1

PRO/II 9.2, PIPEPHASE 9.6, DYNSIM 5.1, and ROMeo 6.1 are set to be released in April 2013! Get ready for some new features.

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Current SimSci-Esscor Software Versions

I figured it would be valuable to provide you with the most up-to-date versions of our software
The product names are hyper linked to their product websites so that you can get more information if needed.

Design Software PRO/II 9.1 with patch 3 VISUAL FLOW 5.5 INPLANT 4.2 HEXTRAN 9.2 DATACON 3.2 PIPEPHASE 9.5 with patch 1	OTS Software DYNSIM 5.0 TRISIM Plus 2.2 FSIM Plus  4.7.1	Optimization Software: ROMeo 6.0 with patch 2 Connoisseur 15.0 with patch 2
Patches can be downloaded from the “Software Updates & Knowledge Base” site. Full versions can be downloaded from the “Electronic Software Distribution” site.

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What is relative tolerance vs. absolute tolerance?

What is relative tolerance vs. absolute tolerance?

- See the General data section.  Absolute tolerances are expressed as the difference between the current value and the specified value.  Relative tolerances are expressed as a ratio of the difference over the specified value.  

- Relative tolerances are given as positive values. 

- Absolute tolerances are given as negative values.
As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Prospects judging companies by how they're treated after the sale

Repost: Prospects judging companies by how they're treated after the sale

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What quantities does recycle loop converge on?

What quantities does recycle loop converge on?

Convergence for a recycle stream is defined as that point in the calculation cycle at which the values of composition, temperature, and  pressure for either recycle (tear) stream or all streams have not changed more than a prescribed tolerance from the previous calculation values. 

- PRO/II has default values for recycle tolerance which the user may alter if desired.  The defaults for convergence are described in the General Data section of the PRO/II Input Manual.

- To alter the recycle tolerances, in the General data section, use:

TOLER STREAM=0.01,-1.0,0.01,0.01,TEMP=-0.1,PRES=0.005

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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From DownstreamToday: Cheap, Plentiful US Energy Fuels Case for 'Reshoring'

Interesting story from DOWNSTREAMTODAY.


"Harry Moser is on a mission.

Having witnessed the exodus of skilled manufacturing jobs from the United States in recent decades, Moser is leading a crusade to encourage U.S.-based manufacturing firms that have "offshored" operations overseas to again make products in U.S. plants. A retired manufacturing industry executive, Moser launched the "Reshoring Initiative" campaign in 2010 that aims to inform American companies about the pitfalls of manufacturing their products abroad."

Read the full article

Do you care where the products you buy are made? The article makes some great puts that puts the global economy in perspective.

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Changing the Plot Setup in PRO/II

The default format for plots in PRO/II is SimSci format. Apart from this the user has two more options for plotting streams or unit-operation results which are Excel and GNU Plot.
To change the plot option the following can be done.

1. Go to Option > Plot Setup 

2. The default reads SimSci, change this to Excel

3. After this plots generated in PRO/II will now get displayed in Excel, the data for the particular plot also get transferred in Excel

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

 

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Dynamic Simulation, by Salt River Project's Ron Cisco at ARC World Industry Forum 2013

Dynamic Simulation, by Salt River Project's Ron Cisco at ARC World Industry Forum 2013
This is a great video of Ron Cisco's presentation at the ARC Forum. Check out the video below:


Listen to Ron Cisco, share how SimSci-Esscor’s DynamicSimulator helped SRP Coronado Generation Station successfully migrate to an Invensys I/A Series DCS.  He discusses:

• How the simulator ‘just paid for itself’ before any operator training took place
• Why they discovered how critical HMI familiarization is, even for experience operators, before a plant startup
• The benefits to integrated simulation that included DCS/PLC/SIS combined with a high fidelity process model
• Why simple loopback modeling was not enough to find critical logic errors
• How they discovered and resolved critical logic and graphics errors using the simulator, well in advance of the plant startup
• How they discovered and resolved cyber security issues, alarm flooding events, and nuisance alarms well in advance of the plant startup
• How they became experts in new applications 

Great video of the presentation!

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What are the Flash Point Calculation Methods?

This is a question commonly asked of Technical Support - so i figured we would post the answer here to help those that don't want to contact Technical Support. 

Flash point - The minimum temperature at which a liquid gives off a vapor in sufficient concentration to ignite when tested by the following methods:

1.Tagliabue Closed Tester (See American National Standard Method of Test for Flash Point by Tag Closed Tester, Z11.24 1979 [ASTM D56-79]).

2.Pensky-Martens Closed Tester (See American National Standard Method of Test for Flash Point by Pensky-Martens Closed Tester, Z11.7-1979 [ASTM D93-79]).

3.Setaflash Closed Tester (See American National Standard Method for Test for Flash Point by Setaflash Closed Tester [ASTM D 3278-78]).

Pensky-Martens (ASTM D93) is used for the flash point of fuel oils as well as viscous materials and suspension of solids.

Tagliabue (ASTM D56) is used for the determination of the flash point of all mobile liquids flashing below 200F except products classed as fuel oil. The Tag method is recommended for liquids having viscosities less than 5.5 cSt at 40C that do not contain suspended solids or do not have a tendency to form a surface film while under test.

(1003 12/15 TLM:  Added D86 to the API method below)

(1312 12/15 TLM:  Added the edition and year to API Data Book below)

(1328 12/15 TLM:  Changed the spelling of Pensky-Martens below)

In PRO/II and in ROMeo:

Flash point can be calculated by the Nelson method (FLPOINT=NELSON) or by the Pensky-Martens method (FLPOINT=API).  Nelson is the default.
PRO/II keyword syntax:

METHOD SYSTEM=........,FLPOINT=NELSON OR API

NELSON is default.

The other is API 2B7.1(Penske-Martins Closed Cup) .

The Nelson method is described in "Petroleum Refinery Engineering" by W.L. Nelson, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill Book Company, p 131-133. The reference does not mention any restrictions on the range of applicability. I have copies of articles by Nelson in the 1944 Oil and Gas Journal in which he states his correlation is "probably not accurate enough to differentiate between diferent kinds of flash points".

For the Nelson method, set T= (IP + 2 x 5%pt + 10%pt)/ 4 and then the FP= 0.64 x T - 100. Note that T is an average T that may be defined differently by other implementations of the Nelson flash point distilled fraction equation. The temperature is in F and the percentages are volume percents of the ASTM D86 distillation. Since the initial point for simulated refinery streams is notoriously inaccurate, I am not surprised that inaccuracies are found in the Nelson method simulated results.

The API Procedure 2B7.1 is found in the API Data Book, 5th ed., 1992 (API 2B7.1). This is the Pensky-Martens closed cup method. The recommended range of applicability is between -15F to 325F flash points.

For the API method 1/FP = -0.014568 + 2.84947/T1 + 1.903E-03 ln(T1) where T1= ASTM D86 10% temperature for petroleum fractions or normal boiling point for pure compounds in degrees Rankine and FP is the flash point in degrees Rankine. There is a Figure 2B7.2 in the API Data Book that represents the equation written above.

A comment on the correlation of plant data to predicted results...

The best any simulator can do is to "simulate" a lab procedure. ASTM Lab tests are quite specific as to time and temperature handling of samples. Errors can creep into the results in taking and storing the sample as well as the actual lab analysis.  I do not know how close the simulated results are to plant data, but for the D93 lab test itself, answers for duplicate samples analyzed at different labs are acceptable within 6F.

As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team.

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Breaking through Heavy Oil Barriers

Have you checked out our page on heavy oil processing? SimSci-Esscor is pretty advanced with heavy oils.

Download the free brochure that gives more details.

Also, there is a free white paper available. It should be up on the site this week, but if you email me directly, I will email you a copy.

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What are the common problems with using multiple thermo methods in a flowsheet?

This is a question commonly asked of Technical Support - so i figured we would post the answer here to help those that don't want to contact Technical Support. 

The use of multiple K-value sets within a flowsheet will not usually create serious discontinuities; however, the use of multiple enthalpy methods can cause serious discontinuities and erroneous results if not properly handled. 

For  example, both the SRK and Curl-Pitzer methods are based on deviations from ideal gas values.  However, they predict different enthalpy values for a mixture at any given temperature and pressure.  Thus an adiabatic flash using the SRK method predicts an incorrect temperature value for a feed stream with a Curl-Pitzer enthalpy.

Therefore, when it is desired to feed a process stream to a unit operation for which a different enthalpy method is to be used, it is recommended that the stream enthalpy first be reset.  This may be accomplished with an isothermal, dew point, or bubble point flash (as is appropriate) using the new enthalpy method.  This will reset the enthalpy to the new base and avoid the introduction of discontinuities.

For more information on multiple thermodynamic sets see Section 20.5 of the PRO/II Keyword Input Manual.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

 

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Invensys Hospitality Suite TONIGHT at AFPM: Be Sure to Join us!

Invensys Hospitality Suite at AFPM: Be Sure to Join us!

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Do You Know About Wonderware's Software Asset Manager?

Do You Know About Wonderware's Software Asset Manager?

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Dynamic Simulation, by Salt River Project's Ron Cisco at ARC World Industry Forum 2013

Dynamic Simulation, by Salt River Project's Ron Cisco at ARC World Industry Forum 2013 
This is a great video of Ron Cisco's presentation at the ARC Forum. Check out the video below:

• Listen to Ron Cisco, share how SimSci-Esscor’s Dynamic Simulator helped SRP Coronado Generation Station successfully migrate to an Invensys I/A Series DCS.  He discusses:
• How the simulator ‘just paid for itself’ before any operator training took place
• Why they discovered how critical HMI familiarization is, even for experience operators, before a plant startup
• The benefits to integrated simulation that included DCS/PLC/SIS combined with a high fidelity process model
• Why simple loopback modeling was not enough to find critical logic errors
• How they discovered and resolved critical logic and graphics errors using the simulator, well in advance of the plant startup
• How they discovered and resolved cyber security issues, alarm flooding events, and nuisance alarms well in advance of the plant startup
• How they became experts in new applications 

Great video of the presentation!

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General guideline to select the correct Thermo method

The below guideline can be used for selecting the right thermo method. To know more about the various thermo methods in PRO/II one can look-up in the Thermodynamics reference manual. If PRO/II is installed this reference manual can be found under Start > All Programs > SimSci > PRO/II > PRO/II Documentation > Thermodynamic Keyword Manual. This manual can also be found under C:\SimSci\PROII91\Manuals.

EOS:       Equation of State method

LACT:     Liquid Activity method

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Invensys Hospitality Suite Tonight at AFPM

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

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When should the shortcut column be used? What information is obtained?

The shortcut model is used to determine the number of equilibrium stages required at infinite reflux to accomplish a desired separation using the Fenske method.  This method assumes that the relative volatilities for the components are constant throughout the column or a column section.  This is a poor assumption for non-ideal systems particularly those modeled with LACT thermodynamics.  However, this is a reasonable assumption for hydrocarbon systems which are modeled by EOS thermodynamics.  Thus, for such systems useful information about the component splits may be obtained.  For two product columns, the shortcut method can compute minimum reflux at infinite trays using the Underwood method.  The Fenske and Underwood results are interpolated with the Gilliland relationship to produce a table of equilibrium trays versus reflux ratio for a practical operating range.  This feature is very useful in the early design stages for hydrocarbon systems because it helps the user determine the number of theoretical trays for the desired separation and estimates of the product molar flowrates for simulation of a rigorous distillation column model.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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What is the difference between MODEL=REFINE and CONVENTIONAL in the shortcut column?

These are the two shortcut models in PRO/II.  Both treat the separation of a feed into a group of products as a series of one feed-two product columns.

The CONVENTIONAL model assumes that the series of interlinked two product columns are connected by reflux.  This model is most useful for column design and analysis of columns with one feed and two products because for this configuration if the light and heavy keys are specified, many additional calculations will be performed such as minimum reflux, feed tray location, reboiler duty, condenser duty, and the reflux vs. trays curve.

The REFINE model assumes that there is no reflux between the individual column sections.  This is a good assumption for refinery multi-draw columns with total or nearly total liquid draws.

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From DownstreamToday:Cheap Oil to the Rescue, Economist Predicts

DENVER (MarketWatch) -- Economist Robert Z. Aliber didn't hedge his prediction on what a barrel of oil will cost one year from today.

“It will be at $56.65,” he declared, down sharply from its current level of about $90.

Read the full article here

Do you see this happening? How do you think it will affect the economy?

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How do I set up a column spec or variable that requires a mathematical operator?

How do I set up a column spec or variable that requires a mathematical operator in PRO/II?
Although not very large or intuitive, notice that the "=" sign is green (which means default).  The default operator is equal, but clicking on it reveals a plethora of other mathematical operators.  Note also that the = sign is underlined.  An underline means that there is more information below. Clicking on the "=" sign will allow you to choose other mathmatical operators.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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My first blog post - 9/27/2011 - CSAPR and APC

Funny - I know that CSAPR regulation has been stuck in the court system for quite a while - is it still relevant? Regardless, isn't reducing emissions anyways the responsible thing to do?

Invensys has an answer with APC

A recent ruling by the EPA, The Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR),which went into effect in July of 2011 mandates that power producers achieve much stricter emissions of pollutants such as NOx, SOx, etc.  As a result of this requirement 27 states, mostly east of the Mississippi, are affected.  Power producers in the affected areas are required to reduce their emissions of NOx, SOx, and other components beginning in 2012.

In many cases, we expect power producers to install or expand the use of pollution reducing equipment such as scrubbers or selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems; however, significant progress toward compliance can be made quickly and at a fraction of the cost of other solutions with the application of Invensys’ proven APC technology. Additionally we can help reduce ammonia consumption where SCR’s and especially SCNR’s are installed.

We have many reference sites such as Entergy, GenOn (formerly Mirant), Public Service of New Mexico, South Mississippi Electric Power Association (SMEPA), Wisconsin Public Service and Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) have successfully applied our APC for Power solutions to reduce NOx and O₂ levels and at the same time increase the efficiency of the plant as measured by overall heat rate. 

Moreover, we have additional differentiated capabilities such as our Smart Fire Control system which continuously adapts the boiler operation to compensate for a variety of changes to ensure the benefits are sustained.  Steam Temperature control and Smart Soot Blowing are other applications that can be added for increased boiler reliability leading to a reduced forced outage rate and lower maintenance costs.

About Connoisseur: Connoisseur is advanced process control (APC) software developed by Invensys to improve process profitability and control. The quality improvements that result from using Connoisseur model-based predictive control software are also met with considerable economic improvements. RBF neural nets, a key feature of this solution can be mixed with step test derived models. The standard deviation of key product parameters from target specification is significantly reduced, leading to increased throughput and significantly reduced material and/or energy consumption, providing a total payback in three to six months or less. Applications of Connoisseur include mining, power, chemicals and refining, among others.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Invensys Hospitality Suite at AFPM: Be Sure to Join us!

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What are the differences between the three tray efficiency methods? Which is easiest to use?

The three tray efficiency models are Murphree, Vaporization, and Equilibrium.  The easiest to use is vaporization.

Vaporization efficiency is a multiplier applied to the equilibrium K-values.

Murphree efficiency is defined in textbooks and some values may be available in the literature.

Equilibrium efficiency is a combination of vaporization and Murphree.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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Are there any more questions on distillation in SimSci-Esscor Simulation software?

We will still have answers to commonly asked questions this week, but please let me know if you have any specific questions?

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Here are the answers to your distillation questions

Hi Rosmer, Here are the answers to the questions from your comment the other day. Thank you for your questions, and please check back this week for more tips on the blog. If you, or anyone has any other questions, please let me know.

How many interactions are necessary for one simulation? 
Are you talking about the column iterations in the main data entry window when you first double click to open a column? If so, then it all depends on your model. Some processes may call for more iterations, while others might not need as many. The default within the software is 15 iterations, but it is often smart to increase this to anywhere between 30-50 iterations. Anything higher than that is usually not necessary and if the column is calculating more iterations than that, there are usually other issues with the column design that should be looked at and corrected.

The damping factor, how should be defined and what values are correct for one simulation? (have you one table for that?) 

Damping factor values can range between 0.0 and 1.0. The damping factor limits the step size that the column’s algorithm takes when determining a new initial estimate for its calculations. A value of 1.0 means that it takes a full step size, while a value of 0.5 means that it only takes half of the full step size. This helps the column algorithm in converging problems due to oscillation and divergent behavior in the calculations. There are no set guidelines as to what damping factor value to use. It is trial and error to determine which is the best value to use. The first step you should take when determining whether or not to apply damping is to figure out if there is oscillation or divergence occurring in your column calculations. If there is not oscillation or divergence, then damping is probably not necessary and you should focus on other aspects of the column’s set up to fix convergence issues. If there is oscillation or divergence, you should start with a value of 0.9 and go down by increments of 0.1 to see if any value of the damping helps. If you achieve a solution by applying damping, you could try other values, but it does not mean that a lower value will give better results or easier convergence. A value of 0.6 could result in a solution, while a value of 0.4 could result in no solution. That’s why it’s trial and error to figure out what works best.

In the simulations I do of one column, I don´t know if for more or better separation can I considered the hydraulics of the column? I have used the simulations packages KG-TOWERS and Sulcol, the results are very different in comparison with the PRO/II results. (flooding factor, velocities in the plate, pressure drop, others)

If your column has packed sections or tray hydraulics that you need to consider, then yes, you will need to add tray hydraulics to your column to get a better representation of the behavior of the column. This may or may not result in better separation within the column. It’ll all depend on the case.

The hydraulics, is it very significant in simulation of a column? 
Tray hydraulics are only significant if you need to take the hydraulic calculations into consideration. Otherwise, if you are only looking to achieve a specific separation, you could probably not use them and design the column to achieve your main separation goals. It all comes down to what’s most important for you and what it is that you are trying to accomplish with your column and your model.

I know the important to the thermodynamics and the feed composition, but do you don´t have any tips or simulation troubleshooting for the moment to do simulation of distillation columns?
I’m not exactly sure what you’re asking. Are you asking for thermodynamic tips for distillation columns? If so, it’s all going to depend on the process. With any unit operation (distillation column or not), your choice of thermodynamic method comes down to a few factors –

i. What components do you have?

ii. What compositions do you have of these components?

iii. What’s your operating temperature and pressure?

Those factors determine which thermo method is best suited for your process. You can get more thermo recommendations by going to our thermodynamic reference manual. That is accessed by going to Help à Reference Manual from within PRO/II, then selecting “Volume I: Component Data and Thermodynamic Methods”. You could also call your local tech support hotline for advice. To find your local office, click here

Theoretical tray efficiency recommended for Invensys? Do you have some paper, table or similar?
Tray efficiencies are not necessary in PRO/II unless you are using the actual amount of trays for your column. If you have already converted your column to a theoretical number of trays and are using that value as the number of trays for the column, then you have already taken into consideration any efficiencies you may have.

The algorithm used for default is good, but depending for the evaluate case, some recommended for this cases
There are several algorithms available to you within the column. The default is Inside-Out. This is a very good algorithm because it is widely applicable to both mechanically complex columns as well as thermodynamically complex columns, it’s forgiving of bad initial estimates, and it solves very fast. This method does not take into account free water on trays (i.e. – water not in equilibrium), but the Enhanced Inside-Out method does. That is the main difference between those 2 methods. The Sure algorithm is good for mechanically complex columns and the Chemdist algorithm is good for thermodynamically complex columns. The rest of the algorithms available are all for special types of column calculations and are not generally suggested for use unless you have a specific process that they are applicable for. If you have further questions about when to use each algorithm, you can refer to the Help menus in PRO/II.

For the absorbers, liquid-liquid extraction, I have some questions for technical support. 
What questions do you have? You could also call your local tech support hotline for advice. To find your local office, click here

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What are the major differences between the rigorous distillation column algorithms?

Table 2.4.1-1 of the Reference Manual gives an overview of the features of each algorithm.

The SURE algorithm employs a Newton-Raphson technique which uses a matrix-partitioning method developed by SimSci.  It can perform both VLE and rigorous VLLE calculations.  This algorithm is PRO/II's most generally applicable distillation algorithm.  For instance, it can be used to solve hydrocarbon/water systems where liquid hydrocarbon and water form on trays other  than the condenser.  Water can be decanted off any tray on up to four trays, and SURE is the only algorithm which can be used to simulate columns with either total liquid pump-arounds or total vapor by-passes.  However,  SURE is limited by its sensitivity to initial conditions and slow computation times when compared to the other algorithms (IO and CHEMDIST).  SURE also handles columns with side-strippers with recycle logic that increases computing time and limits the type of product specifications that can be used as compared to the IO algorithm.

The IO algorithm employs a solution technique based on partitioning the column into two loops, an inner loop and an outer loop.  In the inner loop, the heat, material, and design specifications are solved based on simplified thermodynamic models for the enthalpies and K-values.  In the outer loop, rigorous thermodynamic calculations are performed and  the simplified models are updated based on the new compositions.  For closure of the outer loop and solution of the column, the thermodynamic calculations must match in both loops.

The IO algorithm is very efficient for hydrocarbon systems and mildly non-ideal chemical systems.  Problems may result with systems with  highly non-ideal thermodynamics because the simplified models used in the inner loop may not allow closure of the outer loop.  The most unique feature of the IO algorithm is how it merges complex columns with side-strippers into one matrix.  This results in faster solutions and does not limit the type of specifications that can be used for the overall system.  Also the IO algorithm is less sensitive to initial conditions than the SURE algorithm.  However the IO algorithm is limited to VLE calculations only with the exception that it can decant water at the condenser.

The CHEMDIST algorithm is a SimSci developed technique which employs a full Newton-Raphson method with complete analytic derivatives.  It was designed to solve highly non-ideal chemical systems and allows two liquid phases to form on any tray in the column.  CHEMDIST supports several special condenser/reflux options for two liquid phase systems, as well as reactive distillation.  However, the algorithm is limited in that it does not support side strippers or pump-arounds, although sidestrippers could be modelled as multiple columns in recycle.  Also there appears to be some restriction on the size of column that can be solved in terms of number of components and number of trays, but this varies with the hardware platform's buffer size and has not been absolutely quantified.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

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White Paper Sneak Preview: Processing Heavy and Extra Heavy Oils

Processing Heavy and Extra Heavy Oils
Problems and Solutions

Author: Joseph McMullen, Product Marketing Manager, SimSci-Esscor


1. Introduction
The world’s energy industry has followed the availability of easily attainable and economically feasible supplies for the oil segment that has moved towards heavier feedstock. The earlier extraction, accessibility, transport and processing centered around lighter crudes with characteristics that could be uniformly and reliably processed in refineries using a stable of proven technologies is no longer possible. As those lighter crude supplies have become exhausted or more difficult to obtain, demand from emerging nations such as India and China has strained the supply chain. Because of their explosive growth, these and other countries experiencing economic growth are usurping an increasing amount of the existing supply of conventional crudes while investing in supplies of heavier sources as well. Heavier crudes have unique physical properties that often present costly refining challenges. Efficient processing solutions require a thorough understanding of the crude’s characteristics and operating behavior. Those involved in heavy or extra heavy oil refining must decide what they have and how they should process it.

If you want to read the whole paper - just email me before Friday 3/15 and I will send you a copy.
After Friday, it will be available on our promotional website.

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What are the differences between the Initial Estimate Generators (IEG) (CONV, REFI, SIMP, CHEM) ?

Initial conditions in terms of temperature and vapor or liquid molar flowrate profiles may be provided directly by the user or may be generated internally by the PRO/II initial estimate generator (IEG).  Four different models are available for the IEG.

SIMPLE - The vapor rates are calculated from simple mass balance.  Temperatures are determined by estimating the product compositions and determining the bubble points or dew points as appropriate.  The resulting profiles are linear.

CONVENTIONAL - Uses the Fenske shortcut model for conventional columns or flash for absorber/strippers.  This method is the most general and generally applicable IEG, and is recommended for most two product distillation problems.  CONV will use product specifications (if applicable to shorcut model) and/or product rates to get a Fenske model for initial profiles.

REFINE - Uses the Fenske shortcut model for multiproduct separations normally found in refinery units like crude units and FCC main fractionators.  REFI will use product specifications  (if applicable to shorcut model) and/or product rates to get a Fenske model for initial profiles.

CHEMICAL - Uses a multiflash technique (series of L/F flashes up and down colum) to bring the temperature, flow, and composition profiles closer to the final solution before the column algorithm takes over.  This method is CPU intensive and is recommended for difficult, highly non-ideal distillation problems.

About PRO/II: PRO/II is the major product in the Process Engineering Suite (PES). This process simulation software optimizes plant performance by improving process design, operational analysis, and performing engineering studies. It is designed to perform rigorous heat and material balance calculations for a wide range of chemical processes. PRO/II allows users to evaluate the use of heat integration with case studies, rigorously evaluate process improvements with the help of a process flow diagram (PFD), or model crude distillation units. PRO/II offers a wide variety of thermodynamic models to virtually every industry and is incredibly cost effective, decreasing both capital and operating costs.

Technical Support: As always, feel free to reach out to your local technical support team for more information.

Read More