News and media releases

Spot the margin benefits

26/03/2008

The Alliance Refining Company Limited, Thailand, an alliance between Star Petroleum Refining Company Limited and Rayong Refinery Public Company Limited, undertook a feasibility study with Shell Global Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd to establish the benefits of a real-time optimiser at the Star Petroleum refinery in Rayong, Thailand.

The feasibility study quantified a potential increase in margins of an estimated $780,000 per annum for the Star Petroleum refinery’s fluidised catalytic cracking unit. After applying the proposed optimisation tool (known as Shell plant optimisation technology, SPOT), a post-implementation review revealed an actual benefit improvement at the plant of $1.2 million per annum.

The SPOT tool uses a model that shows how a refinery should run when working at optimal efficiency within the defined constraints limit. Once the model has been run and the set points have been downloaded to the controllers – all in real time – users can then review the unit’s performance.

As a consequence, real-time optimisation is helping to maximise the contribution of the fluidised catalytic cracking unit to Star Petroleum refinery’s gross margins. In addition, it is facilitating unit reliability, process understanding, active constraint tracking and focused debottlenecking.

Sam Parino, Deputy Chief Executive Officer (Operation), Alliance Refining Company Limited, says, “I was very impressed with the execution and deliverables of this project. The team did an excellent job delivering the desired benefits and executing the project on time and within budget.”

Since deploying the SPOT tool, Star Petroleum Refining Company Limited has signed up with Shell Global Solutions (Thailand) Limited for model and system maintenance services.