Braskem Reduces Energy Usage by 20% with Aspen DMC3
Company Size
1,000+
Region
- America
Country
- Brazil
- United States
Product
- Aspen DMC3
Tech Stack
- Adaptive Process Control
- Aspen DMC3 Builder
Implementation Scale
- Enterprise-wide Deployment
Impact Metrics
- Energy Saving
- Productivity Improvements
Technology Category
- Analytics & Modeling - Process Analytics
- Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
- Chemicals
Applicable Functions
- Process Manufacturing
Use Cases
- Energy Management System
- Process Control & Optimization
Services
- System Integration
- Training
About The Customer
Braskem is the largest petrochemical company in Latin America, the leading producer of polypropylene in the United States, and the eighth-largest resin producer worldwide. The company is positioned between extraction and plastic resin manufacturing, responsible for transformation from naphtha, natural gas, ethanol and salt into basic petrochemicals for polymer plants. The main final products Braskem produces are polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and PVC. Among basic petrochemicals, Braskem also produces solvents, aromatics and fuels. Since its founding in 2002, Braskem has been a major player in the international petrochemical market.
The Challenge
Braskem, a major player in the international petrochemical market, was facing challenges with variability in product quality, high energy usage, and excess reflux in their operations. The company had around 210 AspenTech advanced process control (APC) controllers installed among four Brazilian cracker sites. However, up until 2015, advanced process control was only installed on furnaces. The lack of an optimization algorithm on distillation columns resulted in lost potential benefits and unnecessary excess spending. There were frequent composition peaks and an excess of reflux, meaning excess utility spent on refrigeration compressors that use high pressure steam. Braskem decided to implement an optimization strategy using Aspen DMC3 to improve product quality and reduce project costs.
The Solution
Braskem implemented Aspen DMC3 on cold end units of ethylene site to reduce variations in quality and energy usage. The Adaptive Process Control technology in Aspen DMC3 allows simultaneous optimization and data collection with no interruptions to the process. Plant test data is used to build and update models which predict process response to manipulated variable moves and measured disturbances. That information is used to calculate the best moves to apply to the manipulated variables to stabilize production and push the process to the optimal point. Models are continuously adapted to represent unavoidable changing plant conditions. Braskem was able to implement Aspen DMC3 on their own with existing internal resources. In total, there were three engineers working on this project, all with less than five years’ experience.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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