(130b) Asset Optimization Software Suites to Drive Digitalization – from Process Modeling to Optimization to Asset Optimization

Process Simulation has undergone significant transformation over the past decades driven by innovations in engineering best practices catalyzed by chemical engineering, mathematical optimization and software innovations. It has come a long way from automating the design calculations and process modeling to an environment for process optimization accelerating collaboration across the disciplines and tackling optimization across multiple dimensions simultaneously. The use of Process Simulation has also expanded from the traditional design applications to operations and planning. This digital transformation has created significant value in the industry resulting in capital and energy savings combined with better yields and capacities, increased safety and dramatic improvements in engineering productivity and production. Rapid advances in machine learning, advanced multivariate analytics, high performance mobile computing, and equipment and sensor connectivity are playing a role in enabling a whole new generation of technological solutions. The paper will cover the vision for Process Simulation including expansion from Process to Asset Optimization with first principles-based models and data-based machine learning models for process engineering, operations and performance management.