Process Plant Optimisation and Debottlenecking
تحسين وحدات المعالجة وإزالة الاختناقات
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- Available in-house
- Fees from
- —per delegate
- Formats
- In-house training0 sessions
- Duration
- 5 daysCertificate
Overview
Most process plants operate below their true potential. Small constraints in columns, heat exchangers, pumps, compressors or furnaces limit throughput, while energy use, product giveaway and yield losses reduce margins. Optimisation and debottlenecking studies identify these constraints and find practical ways to remove them, often at a fraction of the cost of new capacity. However, without a structured approach, engineers may focus on the wrong equipment, overlook safety limits or invest in changes that move the bottleneck elsewhere without delivering the expected benefits to the business.
This course provides a structured and practical approach to process plant optimisation and debottlenecking in refining, gas processing and petrochemical industries. Participants learn how to gather and validate plant data, build mass and energy balances, and use performance tests to identify the real constraints in a unit. The course covers the capacity limits of columns, exchangers, furnaces, pumps, compressors and control valves, and practical debottlenecking options for each. It also explains energy and yield optimisation, the use of simulation and advanced process control, economic evaluation of projects, management of change and process safety, and how to implement and sustain improvements.
Objectives
- Apply a structured method for optimisation and debottlenecking studies
- Collect, validate and reconcile plant data and build mass and energy balances
- Identify capacity constraints in columns, exchangers, furnaces and machines
- Select practical debottlenecking options for each type of equipment
- Optimise energy use, yields and product quality in process units
- Use simulation and advanced process control to support optimisation
- Evaluate projects economically and manage change and process safety risks
Who should attend
Process and technical services engineers, operations engineers and supervisors, planning and economics staff, and project engineers in process plants.
Training methodology
The course is built around a practical debottlenecking study that participants develop step by step during the week. Using real plant data, they reconcile mass and energy balances, rate columns, exchangers, furnaces and pumps against their limits, and rank constraints by impact. Participants then develop debottlenecking options, estimate costs and benefits and present recommendations. Simulation demonstrations show how models support optimisation decisions. Case studies from refineries and gas plants illustrate successful and unsuccessful projects. Each day ends with a short quiz and discussion of improvement opportunities at participants' own units.
Programme outline
Day1Optimisation Fundamentals and Plant Data
- The business case for optimisation and debottlenecking compared with building new capacity
- A structured study method from objectives and data collection to final recommendations
- Collecting plant data from historians, laboratory systems and field measurements
- Data validation, reconciliation and the detection of faulty instruments and meters
- Building mass and energy balances around units and major equipment items
- Planning and running plant performance tests to confirm actual operating limits
- Practical exercise: reconciling a mass balance for a process unit from real plant data
Day2Identifying Constraints
- The theory of constraints and how bottlenecks move when one limit is removed
- Distillation column limits such as flooding, weeping, entrainment and downcomer capacity problems
- Heat exchanger limits: fouling, pressure drop, area and temperature approach
- Furnace and heater limits: firing, tube metal temperature, draft and heat flux
- Pump, compressor and control valve limits on flow, head and power
- Hydraulic limits in piping, relief systems and flare networks when throughput is increased
- Practical exercise: rating key equipment in a unit and ranking constraints by impact
Day3Debottlenecking Options
- Column revamps with high-capacity trays, structured packing and improved internals
- Heat exchanger options: cleaning, enhanced tubes, extra area and network changes
- Furnace upgrades, burner changes, air preheat and improved heat recovery
- Pump impeller changes, compressor rerates and the addition of parallel machines
- Control valve resizing, piping changes and relief system upgrades for higher rates
- Operational debottlenecking through better control, improved procedures and changed operating targets
- Practical exercise: developing and comparing debottlenecking options for a limited unit
Day4Energy and Yield Optimisation
- Energy benchmarking and identifying the largest energy losses in process units
- Heat integration, pinch analysis and the improvement of heat exchanger networks
- Yield optimisation, product giveaway reduction and other opportunities to improve unit margins
- Process simulation for evaluating options and predicting the effect of changes
- Advanced process control and real-time optimisation for sustained performance gains
- Monitoring key performance indicators to track and confirm benefits after implementation
- Practical exercise: estimating energy and yield benefits for proposed unit improvements
Day5Economics, Safety and Implementation
- Cost estimation, payback, net present value and the ranking of improvement projects
- Management of change, HAZOP and the process safety review of proposed modifications
- Relief, flare and equipment design limits that must be checked before increasing rates
- Planning implementation during turnarounds and limiting the disruption to normal production
- Sustaining improvements through clear procedures, operator training and regular performance reviews
- Group exercise: presenting a complete debottlenecking study with costs and benefits
- Final assessment and discussion of improvement opportunities at participants' own units
Dates and fees
There are no scheduled dates for this course at the moment. Request it as in-house training, or ask us about the next date.
Certificate
Every delegate who attends the full programme receives a Harfard Technology certificate of completion stating the course title, duration, dates and venue.
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