A description of the experience of a Malaysian refinery in implementing advanced process control and the product inferential system.  The author describes lessons learned and recommends some problem-solving methods.
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On the premise that a single model is needed to cover the range of plant functions, a performance monitoring and real-time optimisation system has been installed at BP Oil Alliance's refinery, and indications are that projected profit increases will be achieved with better and more consistent performance.
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Continuous development of a Middle East refinery's process control system  is discussed, together with the results of the application of a DMC plus multivariable constraint controller to the refinery's crude distillation unit and ARD unit fractionator.l
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The authors report the results of a technology developed by Contas Process Control for estimating product composition, and its application to the naphtha splitting section at the Livorno refinery, Italy.
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Robust control technologies are reviewed in this article, together with a summary of real applications in the hydrocarbon process industries where results are already published.
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Gas processing operations face huge challenges to maximise production, and at the same time reduce operating costs.  Remote computing, available for a long time in its simplest form, has recently matured to become an "enabling technology", allowing processors to transform their operations.
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The control room's migration from analog panel boards to distributed control systems (DCS) solved many problems and created some new ones.  Was it worth the effort?  The transition to all-digital control rooms is discussed with an eye towards some technologies that are looming on the horizon.
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Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology is enabling processors to choose the most suitable software components for their applications, and to adapt it to develop rigorous simulation models, reflecting realistic plant behavious, in a shorter time than ever before.
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A new technology in the economic optimisation of gas processing has improved operations in a wide range of inlet conditions.  The approach has effectively reduced operator interaction and also achieves better results when placed under supervisory control.
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A review of the practicalities of using process spectrometers in the refining and petrochemical industries, including the available applications, the practical results from their use in the field, and the prerequisites for success.

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The authors highlight the benefits - potential and achieved - from applying advanced process control and optimisation at Hungary's Danube Refinery and which they say has strengthened their company's market position.

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There is value not only in improving the gathering and storage of process and laboratory data but also in enchancing methods of visualisation and analysis.  Parallel Coordinates, a two-dimensional method of viewing data, is described.

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A description of how rigorous models are being used for closed-loop real time optimisation at a refinery in Canada.  The authors show how combinations of rigorous models can quantify important non-linear relationship between units.

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A description of the vendor selection, requirements and actual status of a project to install a new computerised scheduling system at one of Germany's major refineries, with an outline of the complexity of its operations.

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Robust multivariable control and optimisation technology applied to an FCC unit in Italy has boosted operational efficiency and yielded financial benefits.  And in a short period of time it has paid back the cost of the entire project.

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