Online optimisation can be applied to virtually any processing area in your refinery. However, optimisation projects are normally developed for units with high throughputs or upgrading margins, such as crude distillers, cat crackers, hydro crackers, cat reformers, or ethylene plants.

Projects include a unit-wide data reconciliation based on heat and mass balances. Besides input for the optimizer model, the reconciliation produces information for instrument monitoring and maintenance, as well as common plant mass balance information for oil accounting and scheduling purposes.

The optimizer is designed to run online in a closed-loop mode. A solution is calculated every four hours online and the results are downloaded to the (advanced) control layer after operator acceptance.

Online optimization recovers the investment made within months after the first closed loop implementation. The payback rarely exceeds one year, even for a relatively small unit. Depending on the complexity of the unit, it will take around one year to deliver a complete unit optimization project.

Besides the direct margin contribution, the optimizer is a powerful tool for online performance monitoring and decision support.