Key Factors for A Successful and Sustained Application of DMC at Dow's Central Germany Ethylene Plant

摘要

Implementing an APC (Advanced Process Control) and RTO (Real Time Optimization) system in an ethylene plant is widely accepted to bring major benefits typically having a pay-back time of less than a year. Implementation of APC significantly affects the way a plant is operated in a number of ways. Operator interfaces typically change as do operating conditions, these are typically driven closer to process constraints: e.g. trip settings or product specifications. As with any other project that affects the way people work on a daily basis, one of the most (if not the most) important critical success factor is to ensure that thesystem is widely accepted throughout the organization in which it is implemented. Only when the organization accepts the APC system as being easy to use and sees the value it brings, will the system be capable of achieving what is was designed for, i.e. generating continuous benefits for the customer for many years to come. This paper looks at the practical application of an APC system at Dow's Central Germany Ethylene plant and focuses on how the team responsible for the implementation approached these challenges to establish successful and sustainable benefits generation from DMC applications.