REALISING OPTIMAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION VIA ENHANCED iCON® UTILITY OPTIMISER (iUO 2.0)

Abstract

iCON® utility optimiser (iUO) was first introduced in PETRONAS in 2010, and it has been extensively utilised in energy review studies across PETRONAS’ downstream processing plants. The tool is the first in PETRONAS to use the first principal steady-state simulation with customised unit operations to perform mass and energy balance of a steam plant. An enhanced version of the optimiser, iUO 2.0, was released in 2019, offering much-improved robustness, accuracy, and flexibility. The software enhancements focused on three objectives: increased robustness, improved accuracy, and enhanced applications. Greater robustness and speed are achieved by auto-generating the property package and the migration from source original point (SOP) objects to script-based unit operations. Accuracy is enhanced by offering more specification handles for the user to benchmark against the actual operation. These include specifications for efficiency, energy loss, heat rate with a correction factor, compression/expansion ratio, vendor performance customisation for GTG, and a sectionalised section for boiler and HRSG. Enhanced applications of the unit operations include linking to historian data and plant monitoring of the specific equipment for modelled variables such as equipment efficiency. Efficient and timely utility equipment monitoring will allow improved productivity and operational efficiencies at the site. Plantwide steam network modelling allows a structured review of optimisation opportunities of the steam network system as a whole. The enhancements in iUO 2.0 promise a better realisation of the targeted benefit from desktop modelling to site implementation; and improve its readiness for future digital transformation and implementations. This paper showcases 3 example applications of iUO 2.0 using a gas turbine, HRSG, and a plantwide example case to demonstrate the robustness and opportunity evaluation for a utility plant optimisation.

Keywords: Simulation, modelling, steam system, industrial application, energy