(215c) Advances in Abnormal Situation Prevention in Refineries and Petrochemical Plants

This paper highlights advances in technologies, techniques and concepts used in abnormal situation prevention (ASP) algorithms in the refining and petrochemical industries. Abnormal situations can be defined as ?undesired? situations or behaviors of process variables or process equipment that can cause the process to deviate from its design or normal operating state and may lead in some instances to catastrophic consequences. Those situations usually cannot be detected or predicted by conventional process automation/control devices. The proposed ASP algorithm extracts real time plant data using plantweb components and applies on-line statistical techniques to diagnose this data and identify any abnormal situation or behavior in the plant. ASP alerts are used to notify operators/engineers so they can deal proactively with the abnormal situations. The capabilities of the proposed ASP technology will enable plants to run safer and cleaner while achieving higher economic benefits. The authors will illustrate the various components of the ASP algorithm and will present various examples on how ASP will benefit refineries and petrochemical plants.