Acelan adds stronger links to the refinery’s value chain

The dog may not want to, but it turns out you can teach an old refiner new tricks.

For example, Brazil’s Mataripe refinery has been in operation since the 1950s and is currently the second largest in Brazil at 300,000 barrels per day (bps). In 2022, Acelan acquired the Petrobras refinery and formed its Autoride 4.0 team for automation and advanced solutions for business process control (BPC) and process optimization, which was to assess a large, 17-year-old part of the refinery for digital transformation. and establish a roadmap for the overall Plant of the Future program.

“We developed services and performed modeling for the refinery’s linear programming (LP) systems, and did the same for planning and related services,” said Rafael Araujo, value chain optimization and competitiveness manager at Acelan, who shared the refinery’s transformation journey during YNOW2024 of this week. conference in Houston. “This allowed us to see the benefits of having value chains within the processes,”

“However, the search for value optimization cannot be done in silos, as it exists as a holistic way to support integrated asset and supply chain optimization, with value at its core,” he added. “This means a shift from a focus on local results that do not maximize overall business value, to strategic, end-to-end margin optimization. When optimizing refinery production, this means closing margin gaps with integrated coordination at every operational level.”

After comparing how other refineries worldwide are optimizing their operations and assets, Acelan leadership began developing their vision and developing an automation master plan that included eight primary programs to drive optimization, efficiency and safety. These programs include:

• OptimzAcelan uses digital tools to create intelligence and optimize industrial activities
• SafeAcelan applies technology to improve the safety of people and processes
• AcelanBot uses unmanned vehicles to increase efficiency and safety
• OperAcelan makes fieldwork and operations digitally possible
• ConfiAcelan uses predictive insights to maximize asset reliability
• IntegrAcelan integrates activities to optimize the efficiency of the entire value chain
• MonitorAcelan monitors wastewater, leaks and emissions to minimize the refinery’s impact on the environment
• ProAnalise maximizes the refinery’s analytical capabilities and laboratory efficiency with new tools and techniques

Break old, weak chains to forge new, stronger ones

Araujo reported that Acelan’s vision and plan for manufacturing and value chain optimization also included working from the plan itself on the factory floor, and working from the factory sensors and controls that serve as the basis for what the plan trying to achieve. .

“We also needed an advanced process control plan (APC),” he said. “There is also the challenge of unbundling processes that have created silos. Many business changes can be very difficult. How do you connect to APC systems? How do you merge the logs of two operators? That’s what we needed to work on, but many employees resist change because they can’t see the positive impact these efforts will bring. At first they only see change or loss, so we need to understand their concerns and then help them learn new tools and how to sync with the overall initiative.”

Tracking the benefit flows

Once it eliminated the disconnects in its systems and segregations in its data, the value chain at Acelan’s refinery began to generate more and more solid benefits. Most notably, it is expected to save $19 million and reduce CO2 emissions by 14 kilotons (kt) per year by 2024.

Acelan’s value chain project included seven APC controllers, as well as Yokogawa Energy Real-time Optimization (ERTO) and heat exchanger monitoring functions, saving 13% on energy consumption by reducing steam, natural gas and electricity consumption. ERTO balances energy consumption in the refinery and provides online recommendations on the best operational point that minimizes energy costs. It is also integrated with an emissions monitoring tool. HX is a process predictive tool that simulates heat exchangers and uses maintenance costs and downtime data to identify and prioritize key bad actors to improve energy efficiency. ERTO and HX are based on Yokogawa’s Visual MESA software and KBC’s Petro-Sim software, respectively.

Additionally, Araujo reported that planning for Acelan’s asset optimization project started with the crude oil processes and will then be extended to the refinery’s other products. In total, the company expects savings of $1 per barrel after it completes the second phase of its asset optimization project around September 2025.

“Many users are still working with spreadsheets, but we’re excited about trying to do more advanced analytics and the gains they can bring,” concludes Araujo. “We also plan to expand this project in 2025-2027 to improve reliability. There are several critical success factors for all these efforts. In all of them, technology gives us the power to carry them out, but it is the human element that determines the results. Once people understand the objectives and see the value in them, it will motivate them and we will succeed.”