Khurais Central Processing Facility Journey toward Excellence in Energy Efficiency

Abstract

Abstract This paper shares Khurais Central Processing Facility success journey in carrying out various energy optimizations as part of the Saudi Aramco operational excellence initiatives that have resulted in significant value creation to the company. It has achieved five years in a row annual reduction in energy intensity index (EII) performance and this is achieved through various energy initiatives that spanned throughout those years following its startup in 2009, and resulted in winning two international awards. The team adopted a systematic approach that unleashed creativity and pragmatic solutions to all identified opportunities. The process started by developing the internal guidelines for the facility Energy management system that is aligned with the corporate targets, and set the baseline for the journey. Identifying opportunities for optimization cannot be done without a monitoring tool, and the team created its in-house performance monitoring tool and deploying it in its day-to-day operations. Generally, the basic frame work of the tool is the comparison of performance between actual and target performance indicators (KPIs). Any deviation of performance from the intended target will be alerted and called for attention. The bigger the gap, then the bigger the opportunity for the engineers to clear this performance gap and realize the benefits. What is unique about Khurais performance monitoring tool lies in the advisory features that guide the improvement efforts effectively. The advisory element provides the plant personnel with the required actions for carrying out the improvement work. In addition, the monitoring tool incorporates features of prioritizing improvement efforts to help them focus on key efforts. And only recently, Khurais is awarded a US patent for its unique performance tool. The monitoring tool and close follow up resulted in generating major initiatives that leverage internal facility capabilities, by clearly exploiting low hanging fruit initiatives that require in many cases low capital investment. Such initiatives include; maximizing the oil train capacity so that any lower train load is shut down and hence minimizing power consumption; maximizing heat recovery steam generation utilization to minimize dependence on auxiliary boilers; and focusing on major equipment (compressors) efficiency enhancement by reducing the recycling while maintaining a reasonable safety margin. After implementing such initiatives, sustaining the benefits prove to be the greatest challenge, and again Khurais utilized its monitoring tool to do so. These initiatives and monitoring led to encouraging results, where from 2010 to 2015, the facility has improved its energy efficiency by 15%. As part of the continuous improvement journey, KhPD is exploring opportunities for deploying proven energy efficiency technologies, such as LED lightings and absorption chillers that will exploit any waste heat available in our facility.