Hydrocarbon Processing - September 2022 - 126

History of the HPI
were incorporated into plant operations
in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
During the late 1960s, French engineer
Pierre Bézier created the first 3D
CAD/computer-aided manufacturing
program while working at the French automobile
maker Renault. His invention,
the UNISURF CAD system, enabled the
design of vehicles to move from drawing
boards to CAD.283
This technology would
evolve over time and create different approaches
to 3D: surface modeling and object
modeling.284
During this timeframe,
computer-generated environments that
responded to the user started to take
shape. Myron Krueger coined this type of
technology system " artificial reality. "
In the 1970s, the creation of the distributed
control system by Yokogawa
(Japan) and Honeywell (U.S.) revolutionized
refinery and petrochemical
plant operations. This technology
moved process controls from board operations
(i.e., large instrument panels
that housed controllers) to a computerized
control system, enabling full automation
of plant operation.
Process automation continued to
evolve over the next several decades,
including the development of fieldbus,
ethernet-based networks, virtual reality
(VR), wireless systems and protocols, increased
cyber defenses, remote transmission
and many other advances to optimize
plant operations (e.g., the invention
of the internet enabled companies to take
advantage of cloud computing).
The advances in computing technolFIG.
4. Several of the scientists that attended the Dartmouth Summer Research Project on
Artificial Intelligence in 1956. Photo provided by Margaret Minsky.279
ogy, AI, VR, augmented reality (AR)
and other dynamic digital technologies
culminated in the age of digital transformation
of the 2010s-referred to as Industry
4.0 or the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
This era is revolutionizing the way
companies do business by using digital
technologies to build and run more efficient
and smarter operations and supply/
value chains. Within the processing industries,
the age of digital transformation
has provided refiners and petrochemical
producers with new digital technologies-the
Internet of Things (IoT), digital
twins, cloud computing, smart sensors
and networks, AI/VR/AR, predictive/
advanced analytics, drones, blockchain
and other devices and hardware/software
(FIG. 5)-to enhance production,
automation, supply chains, maintenance,
training, safety and profitability.
Inspiring future pioneers. This series
has detailed the major events, people and
technological advancements in the global
refining and petrochemical industries
over the past 170 yr. From the discovery
of kerosene as a lamp burning fuel in the
mid-1800s to the complex processes used
today to produce transportation fuels,
thermoplastics, fertilizers and many other
products used by billions of people daily,
this robust analysis has chronicled the
evolution of the global HPI.
This anthology has highlighted the orFIG.
5. New AR/VR technologies can combine IIoT data and AI-infused analytics to enable users
to interact with digital twins of their facilities. Photo courtesy of AVEVA.
126 SEPTEMBER 2022 | HydrocarbonProcessing.com
igins of refining; the genesis of synthetic
plastics and oils; the creation of the internal
combustion engine and jet engine,
thermal and catalytic cracking, different
types of polyethylene and resins, new catalysts
technologies (e.g., Ziegler-Natta)
and rocket fuel; how war necessitated advancing
technologies such as 100-octane
aviation gasoline, synthetic rubber and
silicones; the era of computer-integrated
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