Alhéritière, Cyrille Henri; (1999) Cost-benefit analysis of refinery process data in the evaluation of plant performance. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D.), University College London.

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Abstract

This thesis addresses an industrial problem in the field of plant performance analysis (PPA). For improving process performance both in the refining industry and in the chemical processing industry, it is necessary to accurately measure process performance. This task is known as plant performance analysis (Madron, 1992; Howat, 1997). PPA usually involves using process measurements to develop process models which are used in turn to estimate performance parameters. The performance parameters are a mathematical representation of the plant's performance. Examples of performance parameters are tray efficiencies, yields and heat exchanger coefficients. PPA is therefore a procedure which maps process measurements to performance parameters which reflect a physical condition on the process. An important part of PPA involves gathering process measurements to be used in the analysis. This thesis focuses on the process measurements used in PPA and addresses an issue which follows from the following remark: improved process measurements yield improved PPA procedures, however they are also more expensive. There is therefore an industrial need to assess the cost-effectiveness of data collection procedures, and to optimise the trade-off between increased measurement costs and improved PPA procedures. This problem is referred to as the cost-benefit analysis of refinery process data in plant performance analysis. This thesis presents a methodology to address the cost-benefit analysis of refinery process data. The methodology assesses process measurements on a cost-benefit basis; that is, it shows how the trade-off between the costs and benefits of improved measurements can be evaluated. The work is of practical interest since it has, from the very beginning, been carried out in cooperation with the project sponsor, BP Oil International. This has ensured that the methodology developed is fully relevant for industrial applications. The methodology has been successfully applied to an industrial case study.

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