Customer Profile Company Name Petrofac Production OilCrude & GasOil Service Provider
Challenge:
Petrofac Improves Accuracy of Process Models, Increases Capacity 20% for Gas Plant Expansion Oil & Gas service se rvice provider achieves increased capacity requirements by integrating rigorous Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating models into Aspen HYSYS ® process simulation flowsheet. Petrofac is the largest UK-listed service provider to the international oil and gas industry with over 18,000 employees across the globe. Recognized as the top engineering, procurement, and construction contractor in the Middle East for the past three years by Oil & Gas Middle East, Petrofac is committed to excellence and strives for increased innovation by continuing to utilize a unique, holistic approach to process modeling. Petrofac was asked to determine a feasible way to increase the capacity of a gas plant with minimal changes to plant hardware. Using AspenTech products, Petrofac was able to validate the technical and economic feasibility of multiple process improvement schemes. For modeling the process, Aspen HYSYS—a process simulator for Oil & Gas applications—was utilized and Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating (EDR) files were incorporated into the design resulting in a revamp plan with a one month payback period. Petrofac integrated rigorous heat exchanger models into Aspen HYSYS process flowsheets to debottleneck a gas plant and meet 20% increased capacity requirements.
“The rigorous Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating models available within Aspen HYSYS have enabled us to solve debottlenecking problems in a way not otherwise achievable.” — Lakshmi Venkatesh, Petrofac
Copy.... technical and economic Evaluate feasibility of a gas plant expansion Solution: Copy... Solution: Aspen HYSYS and Integrated Benefits: Aspen Exchanger Design & Rating • Copy.. Benefits: • Copy.. • Simulate a complex system that • Copy.. was previously difficult to model standalone tools • with Copy.. • Significantly increase accuracy of Copy.. heat exchanger blocks • Improv Improve e understanding of process constraints and scale-up • Achieve 20% capacity increase with less than one month payback period
Rigorous Modeling Helps Debottleneck Gas Processes
AspenTech is a leading supplier of
The objective of the study was to revamp a gas plant with minimal changes to
software that optimizes process
the process equipment. The revamp evaluated a 20% increase in production
manufacturing—for energy, chemi-
due to the addition of a new oil processing train. In order to accomplish this with minimal CAPEX, the study focused on utilizing existing design margins and relaxing some of the design criteria. This highly economical approach
cals, engineering and construction, and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a chemical process. With integrated aspenONE® solutions, process
requires the use of accurate process simulation tools to ensure product
manufacturers can implement best
specifications and plant safety. Aspen HYSYS was used to develop simulation
practices for optimizing their engi-
models; however, the heat exchangers used in the flowsheet weren’t rigorous enough for the study.
neering, manufacturing, and supply chain operations. As a result, AspenTech customers are better able to increase capacity, improve margins, reduce costs, and become
Integration of Heat Exchanger Models Saves Capital Costs The study revealed that the conventional heat exchanger modeling approaches were inadequate—lacking accuracy in correctly predicting thermal and hydraulic performance, which is critical due to the interaction between
more energy efficient. To see how the world’s leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve their operational excellence goals, visit www.aspentech.com.
cold product streams and hot feed streams in the self-refrigerated process. The integration of heat exchanger configurations using Aspen Plate Fin designs (from the Aspen EDR family) in Aspen HYSYS improved the accuracy of the design and resulted in a realistic prediction of the sales gas specifications. Incorporating Aspen EDR within Aspen HYSYS revealed that only two of the three critical heat exchangers required replacement resulting in significant CAPEX savings.
Value to Petrofac The ability to integrate Aspen Plate Fin designs into the simulation flowsheet resulted in an optimal design that minimized CAPEX. This unique capability in Aspen HYSYS increases the accuracy of the simulation results with minimal additional input. Ultimately, the plant revamp costs could be recovered in less
Worldwide Headquarters
than one month of operation.
Aspen Technology, Inc. 200 Wheeler Road Burlington, MA 01803 United States phone: +1–781–221–6400 fax: +1–781–221–6410
[email protected]
Regional Headquarters Houston, TX | USA phone: +1–281–584–1000 São Paulo | Brazil phone: +55–11–3443–6261 Reading | United Kingdom phone: +44–(0)–1189–226400 Singapore | Republic of Singapore phone: +65–6395–3900 Manama | Bahrain phone: +973–17–50–3000 © 2013 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech ®, aspenONE®, the Aspen leaf logo, the aspenONE logo, and OPTIMIZE are trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 11-3827-0813
For a complete list of offices, please visit www.aspentech.com/locations