Case Study - Online Energy Management and Optimisation of Utility Generation Assets on Industrial Sites

Abstract

The provision of adequate and reliable supply of utilities (fuel, steam and power) represents a significant operating cost for many industrial companies. Refinery, petrochemical and utility companies can address the key issues associated with the purchase, supply and usage of such utilities within environmental constraints through the use of a single Energy Management tool to optimise energy business processes and substantially improve financial performance (typically equivalent to 2 to 5% of total energy costs). For many industries, the energy/Utilities cost is the largest operating expense after the purchase of raw materials. Many large companies are focusing on reducing the costs of energy, and the deregulation of the energy supply market in both the USA and Europe has made “intelligent” purchasing of Utilities very important. Industrial companies have used various tools in an attempt to monitor and optimise the supply and use of energy; these include spreadsheets, monitoring and targeting, simulation and expert systems. To-date, most companies do not have a single tool that allows the economic integration of all the business processes associated with the purchase, supply and use of Utilities . This article describes a case study of an online energy management and optimisation system that has been installed at a petrochemical complex in China (Shanghai SECCO Petrochemical Co). SECCO embarked on the development of an Energy Management System (EMS) with its chosen partner AspenTech. The objective of the EMS project is to provide SECCO with an integrated advisory tool to be used by operators. The EMS is an online, open loop optimisation solution used to lower operating costs and monitor energy performance. The EMS identifies actionable cost saving opportunities in real time and empowers operators to take immediate action. This project identified significant, continuous real-time operating cost reductions. Annual benefits of >1% are being achieved.