Uncovering Energy Savings in Process Plants

The keynote Speaker for the August 23 VLS meeting is Todd Willman, founder and director of EPCON. His talk is titled"Uncovering Energy Savings in Process Plants".  The meeting will start at 9:00 pm US Eastern Daylight time. Todd will discuss the use of flow simulation software can be used to identify energy and water savings for any processing facility. Case studies to be shared will include one petrochemical site that modeled 16 utility systems using flow simulation software that identified $12MM/yr in energy and water savings and a $10MM one time capital cost avoidance from the proper application of flow simulation software.

The use of flow simulation software has not yet become widely used in the chemical processing industries due to a lack of understanding of its application and benefit by chemical engineers. However, it will be shown with the example of off-gas, fuel gas systems, and other utility systems how significant of an impact that flow simulation can have on energy and water savings for any processing facility. Case studies to be shared will include one petrochemical site that modeled 16 utility systems using flow simulation software that identified $12MM/yr in energy and water savings and a $10MM one time capital cost avoidance from the proper application of flow simulation software.

Flow simulation software differs from process simulation software in that the streams are modeled to determine flow and pressure drop through the distribution system for systems without compositional change (no unit operations). The concepts of flow simulation software vs. process simulation software which will be explained in detail and are easily mastered by chemical engineers. Many opportunities are available to chemical engineers who properly apply flow simulation software at their jobs. This is because very little work is being done to identify the root-causes of flow and pressure drop problems in processing facilities and they are typically easily identified. A comprehensive overview of Flow Simulation software technology will be provided with specific case study examples to encourage those attending to fully utilize this technology to further your career while improving your company's bottom line.