Cayuga Partners’ Solutions

Analytics – Process unit troubleshooting and optimization; process control unit display limits; alarm rationalization

Tools – Geometric Process Control (GPC): C-Visual Explorer, C-Process Modeler; Ultramax® Advanced Process Management™; GPC – Honeywell PHD Interface

Learning – GPC and Ultramax® User Training

Project Description

Benefits delivered:

• Alarm and unit operating limits for the primary mode of operation resulting in higher Clean Board Rates than obtainable by conventional means; improved “No Alarms Present” status from 0% (never, in some cases) to 90% of the time and better for most units. Identified process optimization opportunities to improve unit flexibility and increase throughput.
• Significant productivity gains in Alarm Rationalization projects . Expedited unit alarm rationalization studies, reducing time required by 40% or more with faster, easier, more productive rationalization sessions.
• Used sequential optimization to facilitate start-up of a new process unit suffering intermittent analyzer signal failures, quality swings and control transients. Advised where to move control settings to achieve on-test behavior.  Having attained this objective, demonstrated an 18% reduction in energy consumption per barrel of feed with two optimization moves.

What we did:

Cayuga Partners assists this multinational refining company’s cross-functional alarm rationalization teams in establishing alarm limits that keep manufacturing processes safely within normal operating boundaries.  The same methodology is used to set display limits on Honeywell Experion® consoles being deployed across the enterprise and to provide operator guidance that improves operating efficiency.  Using sequential optimization techniques, we helped bring a troublesome, newly-commissioned process unit on-line by finding control settings to establish and maintain its specified operating zone.

How we did it:

We use an innovative, holistic  approach to alarm rationalization and display limit-setting with Geometric Process Control (GPC), perform sequential process unit optimization using Ultramax® Advanced Process Management™ and provide training in the use of these tools to effect sustainable skills transfer to refinery personnel.

Cayuga Partners’ Solutions

Analytics – Process analytics, modeling, monitoring and Supervisory Control

Tools – Geometric Process Control (GPC): C-Visual Explorer (CVE), C-Process Modeler (CPM)

Learning – AiChE Paper 098D

Project Description

Benefits delivered

The application of Geometric Process Modeling in Event Prediction and Mitigation (EPM) to an ethylene plant’s ethane cracking furnace has proven quite successful.  In its first 8 months of operation, the H109 model predicted 3 significant events:

• Ethane feed preheat exchanger outlet temperature fluctuations
• Convection section exchanger running hot
• Air preheat temperature running poorly

EPM has been actively notifying the console operator of any abnormal process conditions to the furnace with an on stream time of 99.9%.  Also, during the last 3 months of normal operation, the number of alerts has been less than one per day, with the alert usually being a small transient process disturbance with the process coming back to normal within a few minutes.  The console operator can easily see how far away the plant is operating from normal, and exactly which variable is not behaving normally.

How we did it:

Michael Bell, Yoel Sanchez and Mike Koselek of NOVA Chemicals, together with our business partners Alan Mahoney and Robin Brooks of PPCL, developed and implemented the CPM models and interfaces.  For project details see: AiChE Paper 098D

Cayuga Partners’ Solutions

Analytics – Alarm rationalization

Tools – C-Visual Explorer

Learning – C-VE User Training

Project Description

Benefits delivered:

• Alarm limits for the primary mode of operation resulting in higher Clean Board Rates; improved “No Alarms Present” status from 7% to 90% of the time. 

• Significant productivity gains were realized in Alarm Rationalization projects.  Expedited unit alarm rationalization studies, reducing time required with faster, easier, more productive rationalization sessions.

• Project results were presented at Emerson’s 2014 Global Users Exchange by Ashland’s John Rezabek.  

What we did:

Cayuga Partners’ Associate Bob McCafferty  assisted Ashland Chemicals in establishing alarm limits that keep manufacturing processes safely within normal operating boundaries.  

How we did it:

Bob used an innovative, holistic approach to alarm rationalization with Ashland Chemicals using PPCL’s C-Visual Explorer technology.