Process Integration Limited (PIL) put up an exhibition stand at the AIChE Spring Meeting 2018 (held in Orlando, Florida between 22 – 26 April) to showcase its portfolio of technology solutions and services. In addition, PIL’s consultant Mr Kokil Jain delivered presentations on two of the latest developments within PIL and acted as a co-chair for two technical sessions (‘Data & Operations’ and ‘Revamps, Operability & Reliability’) organised within the conference.
The first presentation entitled ‘Retrofit Strategy for Heat Exchanger Networks (HEN)’ shared the outcome of a long-standing research undertaken by Dr Mary Akpomiemie, Dr Kexin Xu, Prof. Robin Smith and Dr Lu Chen. The presentation revealed a new systematic approach developed to work towards cost-effective and flexible HEN retrofit designs. The approach follows a systematic methodology to generate key system insights about the network and helps in answering the key questions on why particular retrofit design is the right one for the site. Also, the methodology helps in avoiding ‘regret decisions’ on HEN revamping which could limit future revamp potential. PIL has applied this approach to a European refinery and the case study results were shared to highlight the effectiveness of the new approach.
The second presentation entitled ‘Optimizing Productivity and Energy Consumption in CDUs with Investment-free Solutions’ shared the latest insights from the latest industrial implementation of i-CDU™ technology (contributing authors: Dr Lu Chen and Dr Lluvia Ochoa-Estopier). i-CDU™ uses a powerful combination of advanced data analytics, machine learning and robust optimisation algorithms to simultaneously optimise pre-heat train and heat integrated distillation columns. The technology has been proven to yield superior practical designs to improve heat recovery and/or increase yield of more valuable product streams. PIL shared the outcomes of site implementations for two refineries wherein significant economic benefits (in several millions of dollars per year) were achieved without needing any capital investment on hardware changes.
Process Integration Limited (PIL) provides software, consulting and training services to help clients identify cost and efficiency improvements in existing and new processes. Here at PIL, we develop and implement emerging and innovative technology for operational optimization and retrofit engineering in the refining, petrochemicals, and chemicals industries. For more information on PIL’s services and how we can help you achieve operational and capital excellence, please click on the Contact Us Page.
