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CASE STUDY
Greenfield refinery starting on time thanks to a dynamic process simulation

The Company
A complex greenfield oil refinery was designed, planned and then ready to be built by major engineering procurement companies in Turkey. The refinery was made up of a wide variety of process units with various functions and it was crucial that the design process, the actual build and the start-up of the units was as smooth as possible. To be able to start up the refinery on time the process had to be flawless in order to optimise expenses. The team therefore planned to involve specialists for the creation of a simulator where the operators can be trained in advance.
The Challenge
The design team invited MaratON to create an Operator Training Simulator (OTS) for 11 refinery units. The OTS was required to be ready 6 month prior to the start-up date allowing enough time for the operators to practise the unit start-up, shut down and daily operations on the simulator. Our team of engineers worked very closely with the design and implementation team who were finalising the design of the units at the time. The design data, process flowsheet diagrams and piping and instrumentation diagrams were available ‘on paper’ at the time. Our Lead Engineer started to work on the Dynamic Process Simulation for the 11 units, with close collaboration of the other teams.
The Solution
The complex dynamic processes were created for 11 units following the plans, leaving enough time for the proper testing. The thorough testing phase involved all parties, including the customer, the procurement and construction companies’ engineers, process engineers and the future unit operators too.
During the testing phase of the OTS we discovered some improper configuration in the logic of the Distributed Control System sequences, and in the Emergency Shutdown (ESD) System as well. The improper configurations may have led to challenging and time consuming unit start-up. It would have been extremely difficult to pinpoint what caused such an error on the spot during the unit start-up. These errors were then reported to the design team who then corrected and re-designed the logic using and testing on the OTS. By finding these errors during the build, the team managed to correct them and reconfigure the database 6 months prior to the target date. This teamwork allowed a timely start-up of the refinery beside the original goal of training the actual operators and unit managers.
The Benefit
While for most OTS projects it is hard to monetise the actual benefits, in this greenfield refinery project it was loud and clear:
- By having an OTS for a greenfield investment prior to the start-up design errors were found using the custom OTS with Dynamic Process Simulation. By redesigning and correcting these, the overall project could be kept on time and no further unexpected expenses appeared. The improper logic configuration could have caused weeks of delays.
- Following the original goal, the unit operators had 6 months for learning and practicing on the simulator, allowing a smoother start-up and shut-down process, therefore increasing productivity from day 1.
- By having an OTS, operators have a way to practice the entire sequence of the operations which may not be possible in real life due to the different shifts. Daily operations can run smoother, equipment malfunctions and process upsets can be corrected sooner, by the operators having practice and confidence, also resulting in less risky or dangerous situations.
Case summary
Company
Oil refinery
Industry
Oil and gas
Location
Turkey
Solution
OTS
Project lenght
1.5 year
Outcome
Timely unit start-up
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Greenfield refinery starting on time thanks to a dynamic process simulation
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