Chemical Plant Owners Continue to Depend on Automation and Instrumentation Solutions for Efficiency Improvements

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The level of efficiency in everything from fired heaters to rotating equipment dictates or greatly influences emissions, reliability and the safety of chemical plants, and the ultimately profitability or bottom line of the plant owner. Manufacturers of advanced process controls and instrumentation have been filling the technological needs of plant owners in the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI) for decades and play an important role in emission compliance, extending equipment life, and similar priorities in day-to-day operations. Generally speaking the greater the level of measurement and process control a plant owner employs, the greater the level of accuracy they can expect for chemical reactions, reducing operating costs in many cases.

Traditionally, the cost of converting antiquated process controls in chemical plants has been a costly task requiring months of planning and millions in capital dollars. In recent years, technology providers have increasingly developed tools, instruments and software compatible with a larger number of generic applications and devices enabling plant owners to convert outdated instruments and hardware over a period of time and in smaller increments to avoid the complete 'up front' cost of converting to the next generation of distributive control systems (DCS) or advanced logical controllers.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $130 million in future CPI capital projects planned in the United States and Canada, in which process control upgrades or automation is the primary driver. Beyond these specific projects, almost every chemical plant where a major renovation, modernization, conversion or retrofit is planned includes an opportunity for process control additions or replacements.

Chemical project activity meeting these criteria equals another $400 million or more of future spending based on projects identified by Industrial Info as part of its North American Project Database. As the installed base of chemical plants continues to age, so does the installed technology.

Kraton Polymers LLC (Belpre, Ohio) is in the middle of a multi-year plant automation of its Belpre polymers plant that began in 2008. Completion is expected to occur in early 2012. Long-term projects with replacements planned over a period of time are increasingly the norm in the industry. Simply replacing outdated production equipment doesn't necessarily equal an increase in productivity. The integration of new process controls and instrumentation capable of integrating existing processes will lead to gains in process synergies, a reduction of redundancies, meeting emission compliance standards and increased efficiencies.

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