Six Ways to Improve Process Operations with PlantTriage®
- Stabilize the Operation!
- Better uptime, production rates, energy costs
- Close the Opportunity Gap for Bottom-Line Savings
- Focus the Efforts of Operations, Maintenance, & Engineering
- PlantTriage is Measuring the Right Things, 24 x 7
- Measurable
- Meaningful
- Actionable
- Find True Root Cause of Process Problems
- Tuning vs. valve vs. load
- Sensor failures
- Equipment problems
- Color coded, Drill-Down
- Easy to Get Started
- Problem-solvers built-in
- Web interface
- Customizable by Each User
- By area of plant
- By type of loops
- For your job responsibilities
- Reports
- Alerts
Biggest Payback Loops—Problem Solver
With the Biggest Payback Loops, PlantTriage looks at your entire plant, and prioritizes all of the control loop problems. The top 10 loops are shown in a web browser interface. Loop ranking includes economic significance, so if 2 loops with different economic importance have the same health, the one worth more bubbles to the top. They can also be scheduled to be emailed daily, weekly, or monthly, so you get the information you need, when you need it.
Like everything else in PlantTriage, the Biggest Payback Loops is being updated all the time. When equipment starts to fail, you can be notified right away.
"I have a PlantTriage report that I check every morning. Overnight,
PlantTriage said there was a problem with a repulper valve. Within an hour,
there was a sheet break, and the repulper valve stuck fully open, causing a
machine shut down. PlantTriage saw that problem before the operators
did."
—Maintenance Engineer on a Paper machine
Opportunity Gap—Problem Solver
With some loops the closer you can control the PV to the spec limit, without going over it, the more profitable you will be. The Opportunity Gap gives a measure of the opportunity of moving the setpoint closer to the specification limit. Also, the Real Time Savings Advisor provides a monetary value for the process improvement.
This problem solver report shows those loops that are most likely to generate additional value through a setpoint adjustment.
For example, you need to add an expensive ingredient called MTBE to a gasoline so that the final concentration of MTBE is 2%. Adding more than 2% MTBE is giving it away.
But you need to add enough MTBE to reach 2%. So, typically you would have a set point of slightly higher than 2% MTBE. The better the control and lower the IAE, the closer to 2% you are able to set your loop and the less MTBE you will use.
Service Factor—Problem Solver
The Service Factor Problem Solver shows List of control loops that are not being used to their full potential. To have Service factor of 100, loop must have a good sensor reading, loop must be in a normal mode, and control valve must not be limited. Corrective actions to consider:
- If Low Availability—investigate sensor & communications
- If Not in Normal—discuss with operations
- If Valve at limit—consider valve or pump size.
- If Sensor at Limit—troubleshoot, or consider re-ranging.
Process Constraints—Problem Solver
Process constraints limit production, and limit your ability to effectively control the plant. This Problem Solver Report summarizes some constraints in your plant. It also gives suggested corrective action to specific problems.
Quality Report - Problem Solver
The quality report provides information on unit product quality performance. Loops that have been configured with 6 sigma parameters will show up in the table. Drill down from the unit operation to identify loops that are having trouble meeting specifications.
Possible causes and solutions are also given in the report. For a unit operation, the report lists:
- Time off spec
- Minimum quality
- Average quality
- Maximum quality
Specific Operational Assessments
PlantTriage contains specific metrics, called "assessments" that are targeted to the needs of operations and management. Learn more.
Develop Your Expertise
The way to improve your career is develop yourself. ExperTune's training programs provide a mix of theory and practice to help you to solve problems quickly. Join one of our training sessions or schedule one for your site. More on training.
Get a Demonstration of PlantTriage
There is so much to see in PlantTriage. Get a private guided tour. Demo can be accomplished over the web, and takes about 1 hour.
Request a demonstration on-line or Contact ExperTune at +1 (262) 369 7711.