(429a) Keynote Talk: Online Measurements for the Petrochemical Industry: Industry 4.0 Trends and Unmet Needs

The primary objectives of the petrochemical manufacturing industry are to operate plants safely, profitably, and reliably. To achieve these objectives, several constraints need to be managed – such as raw material yield, manufacturing costs, and utility requirements. Online measurements via instruments that measure the physical properties and analyzers that measure the chemical properties of the process are critical to the optimized management of these constraints.

Globally, Dow owns and supports > 1 million instruments and > 20,000 online analyzers. Data from these measurements are indispensable to the operation and control of our plants. In this talk we will discuss some of our key requirements for both classes of online measurements, share examples of meaningful advances afforded by Industry 4.0, and articulate key challenges that remain – a call for continued innovation.