1. Trends in Advanced Process Control in the polyolefin industry
Nordic Process Control Workshop, January 2009, Telemark by
Bjørn Glemmestad, Borealis
Thanks to colleagues:
Ketil S. Andersen
Staffan Haugwitz
Øivind Moen

2. Outline Purpose of presentation
Polyolefin industry, Borealis and a typical polyolefin plant
What is meant by APC (Advanced Process Control) in this presentation
Status and trends
MPC
Real Time Optimization (RTO)
Transition management
Planning and scheduling
Summary and suggested focus areas for further research
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3. Purpose of presentation
Background
Different industries develop differently with respect to Advanced Process Control
Purpose
Present status, trends and to suggest research needs within APC in the polyolefin industry
In addition: Recruitment
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4. Polymer (polyolefins)
Polyolefin chain
Monomer (olefins)
Polymer (polyolefins)
Ethylene or propylene
Polyethylene or polypropylene
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5. Providing solutions in Polyolefins
infrastructure
We focus on three specific market sectors:
Infrastructure – that’s pipes for utilities such as water, gas and sewage and for oil transport as well as power and communication cables
Automotive components that enhance safety and bring light- weight energy saving and corrosion-proof solutions
Advanced packaging –niche and specialised applications in rigid moulded and flexible film packaging as well as highly advanced medical applications
We are confident that our choice to focus on these strategic markets will continue to lead to profitable growth.
automotive
advanced packaging
Copyright © Borealis AG
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6. Borealis: where we are Borealis locations Borouge locations
Production Plants: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, United States
Innovation Centres: Austria, Finland, Sweden
Customer Service Centres: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Sweden, Turkey, United States
Head Office: Austria
Borouge locations
Production Plant: Ruwais (UAE)
Customer Service Centres: Abu Dhabi (UAE), China, India, Singapore
Sales Offices: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Australia, China, Lebanon, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia
Head Offices: Abu Dhabi (UAE), Singapore
Together with Borouge, we operate production plants, innovation centres, customer service centres and sales offices all over the world.
We are present in 20 countries and have customers in more than 120 countries from Brazil to New Zealand.
Copyright © Borealis AG
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7. Investment in innovation capability
Expansion at our International Innovation Centre in Linz, Austria
New facilities at the Innovation Centre in Porvoo, Finland
Borstar® PP pilot plant in Schwechat, Austria
Investment in a new Innovation Centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Continue to leverage capacities at our Innovation Centre Stenungsund, Sweden
This is underpinned by the ongoing development of our Innovation Centres and our desire to maximise the speed of bringing advanced solutions to market.
Borealis is currently investing substantially:
Over the next few years, we will invest EUR million into our International Innovation Centre in Linz, Austria where we develop solutions for automotive, film & fibre, moulding, base chemicals and polymer research,
We are currently investing EUR 9 million in new facilities and laboratories to create a single Innovation Centre building at our centre in Porvoo, Finland.
We are on the way to completing a PP Borstar® pilot plant in Schwechat, Austria that will help speed up the delivery of new products to the market
Our European innovation centres, which also includes an Innovation Centre in Stenungsund Sweden for wire & cable and pipe, will be complemented on a global scale by Borouge’s planned innovation centre in Abu Dhabi which is planned to open in 2009.
In order to provide further impetus to our step change innovation programme we announced the creation of a new Science and Technology Advisory Board in February which comprises well respected experts in the fields of plastics. They will further stimulate and challenge our own thinking so that we can go beyond the level of innovation we have today.
Copyright © Borealis AG
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8. Example of a polyolefin plant
2nd Gas phase reactor
Loop reactor
1st Gas phase reactor
Ethylene feed
Hydrogen feed
Propylene feed
Catalyst feed
Prepolymerisation reactor
To dry-end
part of plant
C2 feed
H2 feed
C3 feed
Monomer
Polymer
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9. What is meant by APC in this presentation
Plant
Regulatory control
Supervisory control
Real Time Optimization
Planning/scheduling
MPC
RTO
Transition management
Planning and scheduling
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10. Status and trends within MPC (PO industry)
Linear MPC only in limited use (and fading out?)
Nonlinear MPC used (50%?)
Control of production rate, reactor conditions and partly product quality
Mainly commercial MPC. Borealis use in-house technology
Trends
Increased use of nonlinear MPC in reactor area
APC/MPC in recovery area?
Challenges
Robust nonlinear MPC
Understanding product quality control
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11. Status and trends within RTO
What could it be?
Minimize production cost
Status
Practically not used, but probably some scarce tests
Trends
Hopefully some projects during the next 5-10 years
Possible that ‘simplified’ methods will be developed
Challenges
More complex modeling compared to MPC
Modeling of constraints and understanding of quality aspects
Recovery section
Gas losses
Feed
Product
Cost of monomer loss
Cost
Purge
Total variable cost
Catalyst cost
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12. Status and trends within transition management
Product B
Status
Commercial products for automated transitions exists.
(Semi-) commercial products to find optimal transition off-line exists.
Some industrial implementations, but not very common
Incentive to reduce transition costs, but this can be done in many ways H2
Intermediate product
Product A
Hours
Trends
Possible that specific systems for transition management get common
Challenges
To develop systems that are profitable
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13. Status and trends within planning and scheduling
E.g. production cycle optimization
Trends
Lot of general academic research
Little specific products for the PO industry
Challenges
Develop useful systems
Planning and APC in totally different organizations
4-6 weeks H2
Status
Little real optimization
Focus is to meet customer demands
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14. Summary (APC in polyolefin industry)
Nonlinear MPC has become common during the last decade
RTO, transition management and planning/scheduling: Commercial products and applications are much more scarce and development is needed
Further research to support improved operation in this industry can be:
Very robust nonlinear MPC and better understanding of quality control
Development of efficient methods for economic optimization of operation
Develop useful tools to optimize scheduling and planning
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15. We have one or more vacant positions for the right persons…
Thanks for your attention!
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16. End of presentation Presenter Name(s) Date
The information contained herein is to our knowledge accurate and reliable as of the date of publication. Borealis extends no warranties and makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein, and assumes no responsibility regarding the consequences of its use or for any printing errors.
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