Friday, May 16, 2008
Process Industry
Industry uses simulation for gained efficiency, increased production to meet regulation, oversight, economic conditions.
Source: Process and Control Today
Date: 15/05/2008
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, USA (May 2008) Soaring energy prices, global competition, and shortages of skilled labor is resulting in greater pressure on process plants.
Process industries across the board, from hydrocarbon production and refining to chemical, pharmaceutical and biotech, are looking for ways to remain profitable, more efficient, and green. Operations staffs, in all these industries, face increased competitive demand for skilled plant operators, government oversight, regulation, and fiduciary liability.
Competitive pressures from a global marketplace are compelling process plant managers to make investments in automation systems and new technology. In many process plants in North America and Western Europe, aging control systems and automation infrastructure restrict capacity and put operational goals at risk. In developing countries and new “Greenfield” plants, users are compelled to invest in the latest technology to remain competitive in the long term. However, in both cases, process plants have a zero tolerance for downtime, requiring that automation systems work correctly the first time.
Operations managers need to be able to train operators in a safe, off-line, realistic training environment, so that operator learning curve mistakes are not made on the production plant. Automation and new technology investments need to be tested thoroughly in a safe, off-line simulation environment, so that system errors can be found and fixed without danger to the process or to the operations personnel.
Posted by Ida Kubiszewski on 05/16 at 10:17 PM
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