(78d) Efficient Steps for Meeting Ethylene Process Sustainability Goals

With ESG becoming a ‘core’ performance goal, ‘minimizing’ emissions, maximizing yields and minimizing waste generation are key to achieving the KPI targets of the Chemical and Refinery Process Operations. Ethylene plant operations and Refinery operations operate on a plan developed by the Optimization group, to accomplish the business and ESG targets.

Constantly tracking ‘Plan vs Actual’ is an extremely important undertaking. Concurrently, gathering all the data and transforming it to meaningful information becomes part of the unique memory, that can be utilized to establish capabilities and constraints, during the current ‘run-length’ of the asset (between turnarounds). Developing such markers and utilizing it to achieve ‘best achievable performance’ has become critical.

Ethylene industry is looking towards sustainable solutions, the new technology options would take time to be commercial and profitable process. The major influence on the ethylene manufacturing plants sustainability in next few years would be through solutions which would drive lower emissions in current operation through sustainable improvements.

Use-cases will be presented to discuss the opportunities and challenges of meeting sustainability goals through technology improvements, smart modifications and utilization of power of data analytics through AI/ML.