With the Union Government focusing on twin-objective of expansion in refining capacity and energy conservation, AspenTech expects to see a rise in demand for its asset optimization software solutions.

 

Refining sector is buzzing with activity as companies are putting in all their efforts to meet the government’s April 1, 2020 deadline of shifting to BS VI grade fuel. At the same time, refineries are identifying energy efficiency opportunities in operations and their utilities to reduce costs and negative environmental impacts. Helping refineries achieve their goal is the US-based Aspen Technology Inc (AspenTech), a leading software supplier for optimizing asset performance in process industries.

 

“AspenTech products thrive in complex, industrial environments where it is critical to optimize the asset design, operation and maintenance lifecycle. By combining its decades of process modeling expertise with big data machine-learning, AspenTech helps companies in capital-intensive industries to maximize uptime & push the limits of performance, and run their assets faster, safer, longer and greener,” said Ron Beck, Industry Marketing Director, Engineering & Construction, Aspen Technology Inc.

 

Changing market dynamics in downstream market

There are few changes that are impacting the downstream industry. First, there is growing demand for electric vehicles & high efficient hybrid cars and renewable energy. Second, the government regulations are forcing refineries to produce low-sulfur fuels not just for vehicles but also for shipping (marine) industry. “These developments will have big impact on refineries with the demand for gasoline expected to go down. The demand in some markets (such as Japan and some parts of Europe) is going down much faster than in others. On the other hand, demand for plastics is going up primarily driven by China, South East Asia and India,” opined Beck.

 

To mitigate these challenges, refining companies are looking at changing their product mix by integrating refineries with petrochemical (chemical) operations. For example, in Middle East, Saudi Aramco and Sabic are planning for integration between their refineries and chemical plants. Similarly, in Japan, some refineries are looking to switch to chemical production. But, making the switch to chemicals is not an easy decision to make as it involves millions of dollars of investments. Refining companies have to do thorough analysis about the products to make, process to choose, equipment/technology to use, etc. “Refineries are looking at strategic planning tools to help them make these decisions faster and more accurate. Our refining planning tools help refineries make these strategic decisions,” added Beck.

At the same time, there is an increasing focus on energy conservation in India and other Asian countries. In India, the government has mandated refineries to produce BS VI standard fuels and increase energy efficiency. Refineries across the world follow Solomon Energy Intensity Index (EII) benchmark system which defines the complexity of any refining process. Most of the Indian refineries have Solomon EII in the range of 100-105 (value below 100 indicates a more efficient plant, while a value above 100 indicates a less efficient plant). Now, the government has mandated these refineries to reduce Solomon EII to 80-85. 

 

“AspenTech is helping these refineries to reduce energy consumption. Recently, we worked with BPCL to improve energy efficiency at their refineries in Mumbai and Kochi. Now, they are rolling out this solution to other refineries,” said Sunil Patil, Director, Business Consulting (Engineering) – APAC, AspenTech India Pvt Ltd.

 

Energy efficiency can be achieved through complete process changes (which are also needed to meet the new BS VI fuel norms) that are capital intensive. In addition, energy consumption can be reduced by reconfiguring the existing refinery. Thirdly, process optimisation can also help in achieving energy efficiency goals. “AspenTech focuses on process and utility optimisation solutions. Typically, when refineries are built, operational efficiency is the primary driver with energy efficiency taking the backseat. We help refineries reduce energy consumption through reconfiguration and process optimisation at a reduced capital cost,” explained Ron Beck. 

 

Refineries require more hydrotreaters to remove sulfur from the fuel to meet BS VI standards. “Our solutions help refineries to reconfigure the plant to meet BS VI requirement. While we do not offer the hardware (process equipment/refining technology), we do offer tools to companies which can help them choose right technology and operating conditions to increase efficiency and productivity of the plant,” added Patil. 

 

To meet the stringent requirement of reducing sulfur content in fuel, sulfur recovery units are used by almost every refinery and gas plant processing high sulfur feeds. With AspenTech’s Sulsim Sulfur Recovery functionality in Aspen HYSYS software, process engineers can model the reaction furnace, reactors, incinerator, and other related operations of sulfur recovery plants accurately. Because this is the last step in acid gas cleaning, accurate modeling is essential since any disturbance will bottleneck the process flow causing reduced throughput and heavy losses. Beck said, “In partnering AspenTech, refineries can predict sulfur emissions, maintain reliable operations and adhere to regulations by modeling the entire plant. Potential benefits for refiners include improved efficiency, capital savings, safer operation, and minimised operating costs.”

 

PSUs have been traditionally into refinery and are now moving into petrochemicals. AspenTech is working with PSUs such as HPCL and BPCL to help them in integration and to optimise their refineries and downstream plants.

 

Prescriptive maintenance

Recently, AspenTech launched asset performance management solution, which is an advanced tool to improve reliability of plants. “We bought three companies in last few years to bolster our present offerings in asset performance management. Last year, we acquired San Diego (California) based Mtelligence Corporation (Mtell), which has done some pioneering work in machine learning for predictive and prescriptive maintenance for asset performance optimisation. Mtell prescriptive maintenance solution can detect problems in processing equipment much in advance than any other software,” said Beck.

 

Mtell uses advanced analytics to make predictions about maintenance. Prescriptive maintenance software not only shows what and when a failure is going to happen, but also explains the reasons behind it. The software can analyse and determine different options and the potential outcomes to mitigate any risk to the operation.

 

“We look at historical data and patterns of the past. We do the early detection of failure so that the operators can take right steps earlier on to stop failure and that saves them money,” stated Patil. 

 

AspenTech is witnessing lot of interest from companies in India and Southeast Asian countries for Mtell software. It has some pilot programs running on this software in India and other countries. In India, Aditya Birla group is testing this software in its carbon black plant. The company is also exploring opportunities with Indian refineries (private as well as PSUs) to roll out this solution. 

 

Beck said, “Worldwide, we see prescriptive maintenance as a big opportunity for us in future. In India, it will be more balanced approach. While we will continue to grow our engineering and operations businesses, there is a clear demand for prescriptive maintenance and reliability modeling tools from Indian companies.”

 

Optimising growth With plastics consumption in India expected to increase significantly, companies are looking to increase their petrochemicals output. “India has lots of advantages. It has huge domestic market for finished products and it is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. This is leading to rise in demand for technologies which can help companies to integrate their operations cost-effectively and meet product requirements in the ever-changing marketplace. Hence, we see a huge potential for our tools in India as refineries gear up to face the new market reality and gain an edge over their competitors,” opined Beck.

 

Similarly, with the Union Government focusing on twin-objective of expansion and energy conservation, AspenTech expects its tools to be in demand in the country. Companies are increasing investments in refining and petrochemical sectors. PSUs are adopting an integrated approach to maximise return on investment by optimising processes, increasing productivity and profitability. We are committed to support India’s growth through collaborative approach with our customers,” said Patil.