Real-time advisory control applications in the petrochemical industry

Abstract

The petrochemical industry has benefitted from expert system technology in many ways. It provides a tool for allowing companies to capture operational knowledge, distribute it over time and applications, and provide advice for predictive and corrective action in the plant. However, plants have found that to meet the demanding requirements of today's complex CIM environments they need more than what is available with current off-line and real-time expert systems. Major needs include full integration with existing and future control systems, real-time response, robust performance in a plant environment, and the flexibility to present advice on existing control system and information system screens throughout the plant. This paper discusses these industry needs and the limitations of current real-time expert systems and presents successful applications of RTAC, a real-time advisory control system. These petrochemical applications illustrate how real-time advisory control software helps customers meet their needs for both proactive and diagnostic on-line advice in an integrated CIM environment.