Process Systems Enterprise Limited
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Modelling Technology Forum

18 May 2008: Engineering Building, Education City, Doha

Advanced process modelling (APM) is increasingly used by refining, chemical and petrochemical companies in order to base important design and operation decisions on accurate quantification.

Related Model-Based Innovation (MBI) techniques are helping to integrate R&D with engineering design, to ensure optimal designs and save development time and cost.

TAMUQ, Imperial College London and Process Systems Enterprise Limited have combined to present a one-day seminar aimed at senior management and technologists that provides an overview of the technologies and their application in accelerating innovation and managing risk.

Prof. Costas Pantelides

Keynote speaker – Prof. Costas Pantelides

Prof. Costas Pantelides is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London and the Managing Director of Process Systems Enterprise Ltd.

He holds BSc (Eng) and PhD degrees from Imperial College and a Masters degree from MIT. Prof. Pantelides’ research has focused on development of tools and techniques for modelling and optimisation of complex systems at process design, supply chain and more recently molecular chemistry levels.

Programme

09:00 – 09:30

Registration

09:30 – 09:45

Welcome and introduction

09:45 – 10:30

Keynote:
Advanced Process Modelling (APM): the technology and its benefits
Prof. Costas Pantelides, Imperial College London CPSE
An introduction and overview: how APM differs from traditional process simulation; typical applications and benefits. The relationship between process modelling, innovation and risk; modelling across the process lifecycle; model-based automation; and integration of modelling and experimental R&D.

10:30 – 11:00

Design of high-performance multitubular reactors
Zbigniew Urban, PSE
The application of APM to the design of Fixed-bed Catalytic Reactors can bring significant advantages. This is particularly true in the case of multitubular reactors where advanced hybrid modelling techniques are used to eliminate hot-spots and prolong catalyst life.

11:00 – 11:30

Refreshments

11:30 – 12:00

Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) – pushing Fischer-Tropsch design boundaries
Zbigniew Urban, PSE
High-accuracy modelling techniques make it possible to perform detailed analysis of the diffusion-limited fixed-bed catalytic reaction – with big implications for F-T reactor design and operation.

12:00 – 12:20

Model-based synthesis of novel processes
Dr Patrick Linke, TAMUQ

12:20 – 14:00

Lunch

14:00 – 14:30

Polymerisation processes: designing for product quality
Zbigniew Urban, PSE
Increasingly polymerisation processes are being designed for manufacture of products with tightly-specified end-user properties, and to allow seamless change between different product grades. APM provides the means to do this with unprecedented accuracy and confidence.

14:30 – 15:00

Model-Based Safety Engineering – accident analysis
Prof. Costas Pantelides, ICL
Model-based techniques are increasingly being used both to engineer safety into process design and operations, and to investigate the cause of accidents such as the Texas City Refinery explosion.

15:00 – 15:30

Refreshments

15:30 – 15:50

Advanced modelling for environmental impact assessment of seawater cooling systems
Dr Patrick Linke, TAMUQ

15:50 – 16:20

Modelling of gas-liquid reactors to enhance product purity
Zbigniew Urban, PSE
APM can bring new levels of product quality to petrochemical production. An example is the reduction of 4-CBA impurities in purified terephthalic acid (PTA) through model-based design.

16:20 – 16:30

Wrap-up and conclusion

16:30 – 18:00

Reception

Advanced Process Modelling

Advanced process Modelling

Advanced Process Modelling (APM) combines first-principles mathematical representation (in the form of equations describing the underlying physical and chemical phenomena of a process) with observed laboratory or plant data.

This combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application provides advanced process models with unprecedented predictive capability.

Advanced Process Modelling is increasingly used to:

accelerate process innovation
quantify and manage risk
improve process and equipment designs
optimise and troubleshoot operations
improve the effectiveness of R&D experimentation
integrate experimentation and engineering design
generally, enhance profitability while ensuring better compliance with health, safety and environmental requirements.