Distributed Control System Assessment and Optimization: Enhancing Process Efficiency for a Global Specialty Chemical Company
Project Understanding:
Global Specialty Chemical company asked Wunderlich-Malec to explore the status/maturity of their current DCS implementations across the North American sites with the intent of identifying and executing improvements on designated sites in the US.
Scope of Work includes:
- Explore the status/maturity of current DCS implementations:
- DCS support such as DCS information extraction, control-loop configuration/re-configuration
- PID tuning
- Historian
- Analyze data and produce a report that includes:
- Control-loop(s) with either (or both) poor setpoint tracking or regulatory control performance that requires further tuning
- Observed instrument/control valve issues
- Alarm Classifications
- Control-loops that are candidates for future APC implementation (MVs).
- The outcome of interviews performed with site personnel.
Outcomes:
Some of the outcomes as identified by the customer:
- Before and after comparison for this particular process T/25 (with 2nd and 3rd additions) batch. In summary (between 2nd and 3rd addition), improvements are:
- Time reduced by 56 minutes.
- Temperature drop reduced by as much as 85 degF.
- Eliminates the need to switch between cool-on and heat-on.
- These are the initial results for 1 product
- New temperature cascade control implemented in process drying.
- Drying time (for the same product) reduced by ~50%
- Other examples:
