I am excited to share some good news from the Asia-Pacific region on a recent successful training initiative between PetroChina Petrochemical Research Institute (PRI) and AspenTech. Our two organizations collaborated in September on an advanced series titled “Utilization of Carbon Capture Technology for Sustainable Development.”

PRI is headquartered in Beijing with ten research laboratories and is the only directly-affiliated research institute in the downstream of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). As China's largest supplier of oil and gas production, PetroChina has incorporated green and low-carbon emissions into its development strategy and aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. According to its corporate Environmental, Social and Governance report, PetroChina continues to explore new low-carbon business models, vigorously develop new energy and materials, promote emission reduction and decarbonization of traditional businesses, as well as accelerate the completion of carbon dioxide capture and Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) projects.

In preparation for the September training, AspenTech worked with PRI to integrate real-world examples with their specific sustainability development objectives and strategies. Using the Aspen Competency Development & Sustainment program framework, the collaborators created an organizational competency program to address PRI’s needs, meet key business goals (including sustained long-term talent development throughout the enterprise) and give PetroChina an advantage over competitors.

The training was held at the PRI-AspenTech Training Center on AspenTech Product Knowledge. A joint establishment between PetroChina PRI and AspenTech, the center provides training on our software for users across the asset lifecycle, including phases such as design, operations and maintenance. The six-day training series with PRI focused on carbon capture techniques and the application of general simulation features provided in Aspen Plus^®.

 

At the opening ceremony, Mr. Jingwei Hou, associate director of PRI’s Process Engineering Division, extended a warm welcome to the training participants. Mr. Hou emphasized that carbon peak and carbon neutrality are significant components of China’s policy to secure sustainable development and build a community with a shared future for everyone. As a large state-owned energy enterprise, CNPC undertakes the crucial task of nationwide energy supply and low-carbon transformation. PRI expected their engineers to improve knowledge and skills in process simulations to apply AspenTech’s carbon capture solution from this training. Meanwhile, Mr. Hou encouraged the students to seize the opportunity to promote digital transformation and realize the technology industrialization goal for PRI.

AspenTech is enabling our customers to meet their increasingly urgent sustainability goals through software innovations and sustainability-focused competency programs. The carbon capture training delivered to PRI is an excellent example of a sustainability-focused competency program tailored to the customer's organizational needs. With our recent aspenONE^® V12.2 version release, AspenTech introduced more than 50 sample models that can help identify how to reduce emissions across the entire organization, reduce energy and water usage, optimize feedstock selection, transition to new energy sources like biofuels and hydrogen and enable the circular economy through processes such as plastics recycling and waste-to-chemicals. The sample models help accelerate digitalization efforts in support of sustainability initiatives, regardless of where you are in your digital journey.

 

 

More than thirty senior engineers from PRI’s Beijing headquarters and two centers in Daqing and Lanzhou attended the carbon capture training onsite. Attendees said their training experience was fruitful and they look forward to applying their newly-acquired expertise into their daily work. In addition, candidates who passed the Aspen Plus certification exam received their certificates, showcasing this successful joint competency program between PetroChina and AspenTech.

AspenTech offers comprehensive training programs that your teams can use as well, leveraging the latest technologies to help you maximize business performance and achieve sustainability goals. Guided by experts or self-paced, these organizational competency programs cover asset performance management, performance engineering and manufacturing and supply chain and sustainability. For more information, contact a training advisor or visit the AspenTech University Web Portal.