Polyolefin Plants: Profitability Improvements from Advanced Control and Information Systems

Polyethylene and polypropylene plant owners have experienced a volatile business environment in recent years. Prices have fluctuated dramatically and operating margins have echoed this volatility. For many plants, the number of different polymer grades produced has increased and customers have become more demanding with respect to product quality. Developments in advanced automation and information technology have made significant contributions to meeting these challenges and improving plant profitability. In this paper, a summary of these developments is presented. The interaction with ERP systems is discussed. Expected benefits from installation of advanced automation and information technology systems are also presented. INTRODUCTION The production of polyolefins (polyethylene and polypropylene) is one of the most commercially important processes in the chemical industry. Total worldwide production exceeds 60 million tons per year. Individual plants range in capacity from 60 thousand to 600 thousand tons per year with wide variation in reactor types, process conditions, and product qualities. All polyolefins plants, however, face similar operational management problems including: • production of a variety of product grades requiring different operating conditions • coordination of the operation of reactors, extruders, blending, product storage, packaging, and shipping for the large number of product grades • inability to accurately measure on-line the important polymer product qualities • managing large product inventories of different grades on-site • preventing product and product grade contamination during materials handling and additive mixing