Next-Generation Simulation Platform for Sustainable Process Design and Operation

Global sustainability and net zero imperatives are driving process industries to embrace tools to reduce emissions and improve their overall process sustainability. The transition towards sustainability will be implemented through near-, medium-, and long-term initiatives that may require significant modification to long-held processes and substantial capital investment. In the near-term, companies will look towards optimization of existing processes to reduce carbon emissions. Medium- and long-term projects will focus on the switch to renewable energy, development of new products that meet the demand of the circular economy, and production processes with improved energy efficiency. As Owner-Operator and EPC companies prepare to make this transition, they will be reliant on process simulation tools to help drive innovation with accelerated schedules and limited capital.

Traditional process simulators are well-suited for modeling standard processes but will struggle to meet the demands of today’s digital transformation and energy transition. Their conventional architectures mean they are not ideal for modeling emerging technologies in the hydrogen and low-carbon economy. Limited integration points also create challenges for engineers who require a Digital Twin for the entire lifecycle of a process.

This presentation focuses on how a next-generation simulation platform can address the challenges faced by traditional single-purpose simulation tools to meet these global sustainability imperatives. The new simulation platform should provide:

1. An open modelling approach to shorten the development time of new process equipment models for wind and solar power generation, water electrolysis, and biodiesel production.
2. Methods for calculating greenhouse gas emissions and sustainability metrics (energy intensity, carbon efficiency, water intensity, and others) to enable optimization of existing processes.
3. Integrated tools for multi-objective optimization of operating cost and process sustainability.
4. One simulation model for steady-state and dynamic process design for understanding the impact of variable wind and solar resources on the process.
5. Connectivity to process historians and distributed control systems for real-time plant optimization using an engineering Digital Twin.

This presentation will introduce AVEVA Process Simulation as an example of a simulation platform that can simultaneously model new sustainable processes and accelerate their engineering design.