Profit Maximization Techniques for Operating Chemical Plants. Sandip K. Lahiri

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Profit Maximization Techniques for Operating Chemical Plants - Sandip K. Lahiri


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X., He, G., Xu, J., and Guo, Y. (2016). Study on the mode of intelligent chemical industry based on cyber‐physical system and its implementation. Advances in Engineering Software, 99: 18–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advengsoft.2016.04.010.

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      3.1 Implementing a Profit Maximization Project (PMP)

      In the following sections, each of these steps is discussed.

      3.1.1 Step 1: Mapping the Whole Plant in Monetary Terms

      The aim of a profit maximization project is to maximize the profit generation in dollar per hour terms and sustain the profit at its peak value. Hence the first step of a PMP project is to calculate how much USD/h profit is generating from the plant in every hour on a real‐time basis. As a first step this is done by considering the whole plant as a big black box and mapping it as raw material and utilities as input to the black box and product waste and vent losses as output from the box. The value of each of these inputs and outputs are then calculated as a USD/h term. This gives an overall idea of how much profit is generating from the whole plant. In a second step, a more detailed calculation was done to estimate the USD/h generated or consumed in each major process equipment for the whole plant. Mapping the whole process in USD/h terms makes it easy to view where the actual loss of profit is occurring and to focus on that. This also combines different performance parameters usually used in process industries, like energy efficiency, yield, selectivity, specific consumption of utilities, etc., in a single cost framework and in order to make it easy to visualize the whole process in a single unit of measurements. This will help to access the current operation of the plant and gives an indication of where to focus in order to increase profit.

      3.1.2 Step 2: Assessment of Current Plant Conditions

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      3.1.3 Step 3: Assessment of the Base Control Layer of the Plant

      The regulatory proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) control loop forms the base layer of a control system. It is of the utmost importance to assess the performance of the base control layer and improve upon it before trying to build a PMP application over it. In this step an overall assessment of the base control layer was performed scientifically and corrective steps were taken to rectify limitations, if any. This essentially means identification of any problems in control valves (like hysteresis, stiction, valve oversize, or undersize phenomena), measuring sensors (like noise, range of instruments, calibration, etc.), PID controller tuning, oscillation in process parameters, etc., and application of various techniques like controller tuning, maintenance of control valves, calibration of instruments, etc., to rectify the problems (Lahiri, 2017a). Enhancement of control performance actually reduces the variations in key economic parameters of a process and then the DCS panel engineer is able to push the process further near to its constraints. Using only this step, a 1–5% increase in profit has been reported in various literatures by various global chemical companies.

      3.1.4 Step 4: Assessment of Loss from the Plant

      3.1.5 Step 5: Identification of Improvement Opportunity in Plant and Functional Design of PMP Applications

      Before building a PMP application for a process, the concerned chemical engineer must understand all the relevant aspects of the process, its various limitations, how it makes profit, and what area can be exploited to increase profit. As a starting step, the PMP engineer usually surveys PFDs and P&IDs of the process under study, meets with operations engineers and a specialized work force, and finds all the opportunities


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