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Columbian Chemicals Improves Process & Saves Energy

	The Challenge: Reduce energy costs and improve process variability across the company. The Solution: PlantTriage installed at plants worldwide. The Results Over $1,000,000 saved. Almost immediate return on investment.
Watch the Video Case Study. (3:50 minutes, WMV)

Customer Success Story:

Kruger Paper saves 1 million annually

Watch the Video Case Study. (12:06 minutes, WMV).

The Challenge:
Fast and efficient startup of new paper machine.

The Solution:
500 loop PlantTriage system.

The Result:

Solved many stability and startup problems resulting in:

• startup 4 months ahead of schedule
• 2% increase in efficiency 1 year before projected best-case startup curves. Results in an on-going savings of over 1 million dollars per year.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Smurfit-Stone saves $280,000 per year!

Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation produces paperboard/packaging products including virgin and recycled container-board, coated and uncoated recycled box-board and solid bleached sulfate and recycled cylinder-board, and consumer packaging.

The Challenge: Steam Dryers
The humidity on the dry end of a paper machine was cycling and causing high variability in the end product. The steam supply was also cycling. On the steam dryers there are 3-10 drums per section. Temperature is controlled by maintaining the pressure. Each subsequent drum has higher temperature and pressure to dry the paper further. If moisture in a section is high then you increase drum temperature to bring it back. The steam from the previous drum is re-used in the next drum to save energy.

The Solution:
ExperTune hysteresis and stiction test revealed bad response from the positioner because of hysteresis and stiction. Using ExperTune software, the service provider analyzed and diagnosed each valve, checked sizing, gain and stiction. Smurfit repaired the valve problems pinpointed by ExperTune and the service provider who then tuned the loops using ExperTune software.

The Result:
Smurfit Stone's profit increase was $280,000/year.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Petro-Canada saves over $500,000!

Offshore Oil Processing. An offshore oil field is being developed using a Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO). This facility is a ship-shaped vessel with integrated oil storage.

The Challenge:
A new 900 foot long ship with oil separators on the ship. The ship hooks up to the oil well, processes and offloads fuel to a tanker. This is a 3 billion dollar project that produces 100,000 barrels per day of oil. It is important to get the most out of this capital investment by getting the ship up and running quickly and out to sea. They did not want tuning to be a bottleneck in getting the ship started up. There is $3 million dollars a day in revenue from this ship.

The Solution:
Petro Canada purchased ExperTune software and trained 2 different crews in its use.

The Result:
ExperTune software conservatively saved at least 1/2 day of start-up time. It probably saved 3 days of start-up time. 4 hours of start-up time on this vessel is worth at least $500,000.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Petro-Canada saves over $330,000 per year!

Petro-Canada: Refiners of petroleum products, including gasolines, diesel oils, heating oils, aviation fuels, heavy fuel oils, asphalts and feedstocks for lubricants and petrochemicals.

The Challenge:
A crude unit was experiencing a persistent cycling problem. Because of the magnitude of the cost savings associated with stabilizing the unit, the plant installed and implemented an advanced model prediction control package. This model predictive control package was unable to get rid of the cycling problem.

The Solution:
Service personnel were brought in. The service provider trained the personnel on using ExperTune software. Then they tested the regulatory control loops. ExperTune software identified some valve problems (that were repaired) and ExperTune software tuned the loops. 9% hysteresis and improper tuning was found on a critical loop.

The Result:
The persistent cycling problem has been cured on the crude unit.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Multinational Chemical Plant Sees Five-Fold Increase in Productivity!

The Solution:
PlantTriage software.

The Result:
A five-fold increase in productivity and double the life of the plant's valves. ExperTune won the 2003 Plant Services Problem Solver Award for this site.

According to Plant Services magazine "A major multinational chemical processor with tens of thousands of instruments and valves is receiving the benefits of five times the manpower by using PlantTriage performance monitoring software. The system also helps double the life of the company's valves."

Plant Services continues: "By looking at the most important areas listed in the "Biggest Payback Loop" list, the same maintenance people can oversee 10 times as many controllers as before, since the controllers are prioritized based on importance to the business."

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Alcan saves $200,000 per year!

Alcan Aluminum Limited: Mines, processes, and refines bauxite.

The Challenge:
In the crushing plant sometimes 2 large rocks would be too much energy for the system. Mechanical parts were wearing out fast - bearings, motors, conveyors, etc. To overcome this, the plant ran at low flow, but the production rate was slow.

The Solution:
Service provider personnel helped them re-design the system the using constraint control. Now the feed flow control is based on the current limits to the motors. ExperTune software was used to tune the newly redesigned loops.

The Result:
Production rate is now faster, saving $200,000/year.

Profit and loss matrix:

Quebec Mining Operation saves $150,000 per year

The Challenge:
The temperature control on the kiln was not stable and was cycling. Because of this energy was being wasted and they often tripped the emergency shutdown (at 112 deg C), after which they would need to start-up, and go through a lengthy recovery procedure.

The Solution:
Service provider personnel worked to improve the control in their Allen Bradley Control Logix controller. The service provider made some adjustments to the PID block and PLC programming.

Using ExperTune software they re-tuned the loops.

The Result:
Because of stable control, the operation was able to reduce the operating setpoint. The average flow of natural gas was reduced from 875 Nm3/h to 831 Nm3/h—a 5% reduction. Now the operation experiences very few shut-downs.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

A Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania saves $50,000 per year!

The Power Station is a two unit power plant located on 500 acres in Pennsylvania. The two pressurized water reactors produced over 11 billion kWh in 2000.

The Challenge:
Running at low power, the plant loops were oscillating. The plant runs at low power during start-up and shut-down.

The Solution:
The plant had previously replaced 3 valves on the feedwater flow to steam generators. Using ExperTune, the service provider confirmed that valves were working properly and tuned the controllers.

The Result:
$50,000/yr based on saved startup time/year.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

United Technologies saves over $50,000 per year!

United Technologies (UTX): Provides a broad range of high-technology products and support services to customers in the aerospace and building industries worldwide.

The Challenge:
This facility manufactures and tests fuel cells. Hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas are blended in blending system that supplies gas used to test the fuel cells. The system was unstable in automatic.

The Solution:
Service provider personnel adjusted the PLC configuration, control system design, and re-tuned the loops.

The Result:
Stable control saving $50,000 per year.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Crystal Manufacturer saves over $75,000 per year!

Manufactures fluoride and oxide crystals.

The Challenge:
This crystal manufacturer high purity crystals. Crystal is pulled out of a molten solution at the edge of the melting point. Tight temperature control is critical. A cycling problem was causing the manufacturer to scrap product that took 3 weeks to grow. A 24 hour cycle was visible by looking at the side of the finished crystal.

The Solution:
The service provider trained the personnel. In the process of training the service provider analyzed and re-tuned the temperature controllers.

The Result:
Savings of $75,000/year

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Babcock and Wilcox user saves over $300,000 per year!

The Challenge:
This paper mill utility boiler was not meeting the performance requirement.

The Solution:
ExperTune software tests done by the service provider showed the gains were too high on a few critical valves. Resized the valves. Re-tuned loops using ExperTune software.

The Result:
Passed performance test of a number of hours running at certain variability at a certain pressure and under load changes.

Profit and loss matrix:

Customer Success Story:

Gas Plant Solves Long-Term Process Upset

The Challenge:
Gas Plant separations units had problems with stability. This had been a recurring problem for many years.

The Solution:
PlantTriage^® software was applied to the plant. Oscillation detection tools were used to determine the root cause of the upset. The root cause was found to be a safety relief valve, dumping to the Boiler Stack...very far away from the separations units.

The Result:
Cycling was eliminated at the source of the problem. Stabilized overall plant operations, allowing capacity increase.

Read the full paper as presented at ISA 2005, Houston

Profit and loss matrix: