Hydrocarbon Processing - October 2021 - 9

P. MILLETTE, Honeywell Process Solutions,
Bracknell, United Kingdom
Business Trends
How to achieve industrial autonomy
in the refining and petrochemical industries
Driven by advances in digitalization,
For example, walking around a plant, a
the convergence of operations technology
and information technology and the
digital transformation of infrastructure
and industry, process industries are gradually
moving from automated to autonomous
operations.
Within refineries and petrochemical
complexes, the behavior of the material
inside pipes and equipment is governed
by five well-understood principles: conservation
of mass, conservation of energy,
conservation of momentum (fluid mechanics),
thermodynamics (equilibrium
operations) and chemical reaction (kinetics
and catalysis). Each of these principles
has been used by engineers for generations
to design and operate plants safely
and efficiently.
The tools used by engineers to undertake
this work have evolved considerably
over the years, from manual slide rules and
calculators to mainframe computers and,
finally, to purpose-built chemical engineering
design and simulation applications.
Likewise, in operations, we can observe
a historical and maturing technology set-
from manual processes (Level 0) to fully
autonomous operations (Level 5). These
levels are used industry-wide to track the
progression of operations (FIG. 1).
However, there are multiple domains
of governance in large, complex process
plants, ranging from the safety of people
and the environment to quality, logistics
and regulations. Each of these domains
has its own set of decisions and challenges.
A few of these will be examined in the
following section.
Cross-domain linkages. The key to
progressing performance is to look at
cross-domain linkages and ultimately
render these as intelligent, resilient and
autonomous.
noisy bearing in a rotating machine can attract
attention, particularly if the machine
is critical. Linking noise to equipment performance
can help anticipate problems.
Another example is an unexpected smell
that hints that something needs attention.
Making such links across the control
system can help drive more autonomous
operations. Additional indicators-such
as an interface level or water boot level-
can be observed by fixed or mobile cameras,
enabling operational decisions to be
made based on the observations.
To this end, there are plenty of sensing
methods to mimic sight, hearing and
smelling via cameras, gas detection and
acoustic sensors. Some of these sensors
can be combined with sensors that feed
directly to higher-level optimization.
Another example shows the linkages
functions. Switching crude oil
across
feeds to a crude distillation unit remains
an ongoing challenge at many sites (e.g.,
reducing disturbances to product qualities
and minimizing operational action).
A more autonomous approach would
identify key inputs such as accurate or
predicted crude tank contents-including
any mixing or layering effects-and
then link this information to unit controls.
More broadly, a direct link from
plant scheduling to the autonomous
start/stop of a crude switch-to meet
scheduling goals with little or no operator
intervention-would be beneficial.
Defined procedures that cut across
domains are key to achieving intelligent,
resilient and autonomous operations.
The primary goal is not eliminating human
operators, rather it is deploying
technology that allows those humans to
make better decisions.
Control to optimization. In the refining
and petrochemical sectors, progress
has been made in recent years to improve
plant outcomes in terms of safety, reliability
and efficiency. The application of technology
has played a key role in this effort.
Process control loops run in automatic
mode, continuously correcting deviations
in single process values. Alarms provide
warning signs of where the process is
at the current time, prompting operators
to try to understand the nature and cause
FIG. 1. The progression of operations.
Hydrocarbon Processing | OCTOBER 2021 9
Hydrocarbon Processing - October 2021

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