One of the reasons we’re proud to work at AspenTech is that part of our company’s mission is to help our customers design, operate and maintain process plants that are safer and have less of an impact on the environment.

Owners and their engineering, procurement and construction firms (EPCs) typically spend a few years conceptualizing and designing a new process plant or improvements to an existing plant. How well they perform that work impacts the safety and sustainability of that plant for the next 30-50 years of operation.

With constrained energy and feedstock resources, along with increased accountability for greenhouse gas and other emissions, it’s never been more important to come up with the best possible design.

 

Energy Use

In many instances, half of a plant’s operating expenses will go toward energy. It takes a massive amount of power to break down, separate and combine raw materials and intermediates into the valuable products we rely on every day.

Designs that achieve these outcomes while optimizing energy use are the goal. But that requires an understanding of the interplay of site conditions, feedstocks, equipment, available utilities and chemistry that is extremely complex.

Powerful simulation capabilities provided through AspenTech’s Performance Engineering applications consider and test many variables to determine the optimal approach to and configuration of processes, equipment and utilities. This can have a significant positive impact on our industry and society by lowering energy use and carbon footprints for decades.

 

Safety

Plant design also has an outsized impact on safety. Process and equipment behaviors that are well understood through simulation can be designed to properly manage through a wide range of conditions without safety incidents.

Our software can help achieve safe plant design without over-engineering of pressure management and flaring systems, thereby lowering the carbon footprint of construction. And dynamic simulation, coupled with operator training systems, can prepare operators to safely manage through a multitude of scenarios.

AspenTech’s Performance Engineering solution can enable personnel to prepare for safer and more efficient startups and operations, helping prevent the incidents that lead to adverse health, safety and environmental incidents.

 

Process Innovation

Finally, the very processes used to convert raw materials into finished products can be improved to be more efficient, more environmentally friendly and safer. With the largest, most comprehensive library of physical and chemical properties, AspenTech’s simulation, molecular and reactor-modeling tools allow for unparalleled exploration of potential innovations in chemical engineering that can help support the move towards a circular economy.

With our strong foundation in the energy, chemical and engineering segments, AspenTech is helping customer organizations lead the way towards a cleaner, more efficient and safer future. Our Performance Engineering solutions support a concurrent engineering approach to meet the needs of companies that are working to transform their businesses through digital initiatives. 

 

To learn how you can leverage this technology to achieve sustainability and operational goals, please read our executive brief Optimize Asset Design and Operations With Performance Engineering.