A common theme amongst refiners is the collective desire to avoid unnecessary costs. Exchanger and equipment fouling leads to increased maintenance costs, reduced energy recovery and lower throughput capacity degrading the refiners bottom line. Sonic and ultrasonic technologies are a relatively new tool available to refiners to reduce the energy and cost impact associated with fouling induced performance degradation. Review of multi-year case studies from global refiners will elucidate the energy and cost saving benefits of properly applied ultrasonic technology.
Moderator:
Mark Cox, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Speakers:
Darin Foote, CHS Inc.
Chuck Johnston, Marathon Petroleum Corporation LP
Vidyashankar Kuppuraj, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Johnny Serafin, Phillips 66
Nic Tognetti, CHS Inc.
Advanced process control (APC) has been employed in FCC applications for 40 years. Despite the similarities of FCC Technology and APC platforms the success of these applications varies widely. In this session we will discuss common threads that lead to poor outcomes and how to build a successful APC program on a modern FCC.
3. Preheat Train Monitoring Methods
How do you reprocess slop oil in your refinery? Join us at this Town Hall session to discuss how others in the refining industry handle slop and best practices for success. Come share your experiences with the group and learn from industry experts about effective slop oil reprocessing techniques.
Pyrophoric materials pose significant safety risks during unit shutdown and maintenance activities, and pyrophoric incidents continue to occur across the refining industry. Effective strategies for prevention and mitigation of pyrophoric activity are critical aspects of turnaround planning and execution. This presentation will explore the underlying mechanisms of pyrophoricity and discuss best practices for managing pyrophoric risk, including chemical treatment, engineering, and procedural solutions. Additionally, the presentation will dig into a real industry incident that occurred in 2017, the root causes and the steps taken in the past seven years to prevent recurrence. By providing a comprehensive overview of pyrophoric activity prevention strategies, this session aims to equip refining professionals with the knowledge and tools to mitigate safety hazards and enhance operational integrity in high-risk environments.
Moderators:
Diana Cheek, Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
Katie Marshall, Refined Technologies, Inc.
Presenters:
Diana Cheek, Chevron U.S.A. Inc.
Katie Marshall, Refined Technologies, Inc.
Dan Wood, HF Sinclair
In this session we will discuss in detail the continuous improvement in plant profitability achieved by having a holistic approach for advanced automation where applications such as procedural automation, Artificial Intelligence Plant Control (AIPC), control strategy in distributed control system and safety instrumented system all work together in harmony. AIPC, leveraging Reinforcement Learning (RL), offers a transformative approach to process plant optimization, addressing key limitations of traditional Model Predictive Control (MPC).
While MPC has been a cornerstone of advanced process control for decades, its reliance on linear models and manual tuning often struggles to effectively handle complex, nonlinear process dynamics, particularly in scenarios with frequent disturbances or changing operating conditions. AIPC overcomes these limitations by continuously learning and adapting to the plant's behavior. We will share our motivation to develop this product in-house and how easy it is to maintain the application and sustain the benefits by existing operations staff without the need of any AI or MPC expertise.
Participants will:
Understand the benefits of using AIPC over conventional MPC
Learn how Linde has successfully implemented AIPC on their Air Separation Units that include cryogenic distillation and very complex heat integration and recovery process.
Realize the importance of embracing this cutting-edge technology for improving profitability and safety of their plant and also for their personal and professional growth.
What is basic process control?
How is it done? Why is it important for the refinery engineer to be familiar with the basics?
In this foundational session, the discussion will focus on the workings of everyday loops and instrumentation that a refinery engineer is likely to encounter.
Moderator:
Sriram Ramaganesan, Phillips 66
Speakers:
Joe Boyce, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Scott Flanagan, Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Tim Olsen, Emerson Automation Solutions
This session covers the complete spectrum of process optimization methods at a refinery or petrochemical plant. From models predictive control to real time optimization via process models and onto machine learning methods via neural networks. The attendee will gain an understanding of when to apply these methods in practice and the organizational support needed to succeed long term.