The downstream industry is currently operating in a difficult environment of shifting demand patterns caused by volatile crude prices. Allison McNulty, AspenTech, USA, explains how advanced planning, in combination with scheduling software, can help refiners to successfully navigate the fluctuating economic storm.

Is it really possible to bring the benefits of the Internet of Things to older systems? Yes, according to one edge/IoT company.

This operating company used process models to find solutions to poor separation performance

Advancements in refinery product blending

The right tools can improve refinery APC applications

Dow to use AspenTech engineering software on petrochemical projects

Narrow the gap between refinery planning and scheduling

A European refiner opts to apply embedded multivariable predictive controllers as part of an advanced process control system

Optimization of Ethylene Oxide absorber

As scheduling has become more sophisticated, maintenance processes have evolved and improved. However, as Michael Saucier, Product Manager at AspenTech discusses, recent studies indicate that most equipment fails on a ‘random’ basis no matter how many assets are inspected. In other words, failures cannot necessarily be correlated to how maintenance was performed.