Teesside, United Kingdom (April 9, 2003) - Emerson Process Management has issued a new video in which Huntsman Petrochemicals describes production improvements made by updating their Paraxylene plant on Teesside to Emerson's DeltaV(TM) digital automation system. Using DeltaV advanced process control, the Huntsman plant's Paraxylene refrigeration unit - a known bottleneck - was run harder; chilling capacity increased, and therefore the overall production output increased by areported 10 percent. Richard Brown, development officer at the plant described the improvement, "It's a chilling bottleneck, so the more chilling that we can get in, the more product we can make. It's a direct relation. Production increase has been about ten percent out of the refrigeration system." Additionally, historical trending was used to achieve smoother plant running by finding stable operating conditions and reproducing those conditions. Overall this smoother running also added plant capacity of several percentage points. Tom Liddle, Paraxylene plant manager, comments, "The DeltaV system has shown me that we can enhance the plant; the information that comes out of it is second to none, and just simply looking at the production rate since we installed the DeltaV technology speaks for itself. The add-on Model Predictive Control is pushing the plant to the boundaries of the next bottleneck." The Paraxylene manufactured at this plant is used as a raw material in the production of polyester fibers and resins: end use examples include clothing and soft drink bottles. The plant runs continuously, providing important feedstock for other plants in the area. Shutdowns are few and far between, maybe once in 3 to 4 years. The challenge with the upgrade was to switch control of the process from the original control panels to the DeltaV system, with the plant live, and without losing production. Liddle described the challenge and experience, "We couldn't take the plant down, so we had to cut it over online. Our combined task force of Emerson and Huntsman personnel made it happen. We cut over 1600 loops right across the plants. Without incident, without any hit on production." Part of Emerson's PlantWeb(R) architecture, the DeltaV system integrates all existing instrumentation and equipment in Huntsman's new control approach, and provides a stepping stone to pursue future operating efficiencies through use of intelligent field devices and PlantWeb digital plant architecture. A year after commissioning the new system, Liddle reflected on the improvement, "The new advanced process control allows us to maximize every minute of every day. We no longer need human intervention: the system isrunning the process for us." Andy Smith, Process Control Engineer, has since been responding to internal enquiries around the DeltaV system. Smith said, "I've basically told my colleagues that it is easy. It is very easy to pick up, very easy to implement. It's very easy to make small changes, big changes. It's just as the logo says, it's easy." Huntsman staff describe the experience and results in their own words on the new Emerson video available on CD, or downloadable from www.easydeltav.com/video/casestudies/huntsman.asp. This is just one of the "Case Studies on video" available for different industries on the Emerson websites. About Emerson Process Management Emerson Process Management (http://www.emersonprocess.com/), an Emerson business, is a leader in helping businesses automate their production,processing and distribution in the chemical, oil and gas, refining, pulp and paper, power, food and beverage, pharmaceutical and other industries. The company combines superior products and technology with industry-specific engineering, consulting, project management and maintenance services. Its brands include: PlantWeb(R), DeltaV(TM), Fisher(R), Micro Motion(R),Daniel(R), Rosemount(R), Ovation(R) and AMS. About Emerson St. Louis-based Emerson (http://www.gotoemerson.com/) is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to provide innovative solutions to customers in process control; electronics and telecommunications; industrial automation; heating, ventilating and air conditioning; and appliance and tools. Sales in fiscal 2002 were $13.8 billion. PlantWeb, DeltaV, Fisher, Micro Motion, Daniel, Rosemount, and Ovation are marks of Emerson Process Management. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.
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