EVALUATION OF REFINERY CONTROL-SYSTEMS

Technical and economic feasibility studies were conducted for two high ly integrated refineries containing petroleum refining and petrochemic al operations. Field surveys and an examination of operating data in o ver 20 process units for each refinery were used to understand process operations, equipment constraints, and control problems. Potential sa vings through advanced control, control room consolidation, and improv ed operations were compared with the capital cost of a new control sys tem, on-line analyzers, and a centralized control room to determine pa yback time. The study included recommendations for process modificatio ns, advanced control strategies, and control system architecture to ac hieve state-of-the-art Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) capable of meeting the corporate goal of managing crude oil slates in several refineries in order to satisfy company-wide product demands.