Transcript Cost Effective Pilot Plant Design and Construction

Cost Effective Pilot Plant Design and
Construction
R P Palluzi
ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co
CSR Research Support Services
Clinton, NJ
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Background
• PPLE is ExxonMobil’s center of excellence for pilot
plant and laboratory work
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Design
Construction
Operation
Start-up
Upgrades and modifications
Safety
Relocations
Consulting
Standards
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Background (cont’d)
• Provide services to ExxonMobil and its affiliates
worldwide
– From consulting to projects ($10,000-$65,000,000)
– New construction, relocations, upgrades, safety reviews, start-ups,
operation problems, etc.
• Located in Clinton Township facility
– 850,00 SF modern research facility
– Relocated from older Linden facility in 1981
– Specialty shops, engineering facilities and support areas
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Challenges
• Increased global competition demands more cost
effective and faster research effort
• Costs and time to design, construct and start-up a
pilot plant can be significant
• Reduced resources available due to downsizing
New approaches required
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EMRE’s Response To These Challenges
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Modular design and construction
PC/PLC based control systems
Pilot plant specific standards and designs
CAD/CAE
Improved S/H/E planning
Improved start-up planning and techniques
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Modular Construction
• Palletization of all new units
– Allows efficient shop construction
– Reduces relocation, modification and demolition costs (life cycle
costs)
• Specialized construction shop
– 20+% savings over field construction
– Improved safety
– Improved construction quality
• Standardized designs
– Reduces design effort
– Significant reduction in start-up effort (10+%)
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Modular Construction (cont’d)
• Standardized assemblies
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Reduces construction time
Promotes savings through bulk procurement
Reduced troubleshooting time
Reduced risk of failure to perform
• Experienced staff
– Engineering, design and craft
– Familiarity promotes efficiency
– Allows delegation of many tasks to lower, less expensive resource
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Modular Construction (cont’d)
• Improved wiring techniques
– Junction boxes on all pallets to allow relocation and facilitate
troubleshooting
– Multiconductor cable
– Spare wiring as part of initial construction
– Extensive use of lay in duct or cable tray to facilitate initial wiring
and modifications
• Improved utility piping
– Prefabricated manifolds
– Spare taps
– Multi-tubing bundles where appropriate
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Improved Control Systems
• Computer control of all new units
– Operational efficiencies far outweigh initial costs
– Reduced operating personnel
– Improved product quality (product and/or data)
• Personal computers (PC) or programmable logic
controller (PLC) based
– Standalone systems increase reliability
– Inexpensive to install, modify and expand
– Final selection usually driven by size
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Improved Control Systems (cont’d)
• Cost effective integration/isolation of control and
safety systems
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Standard: PC for control, PLC for safety interlocks
Alternate: high-end PLC for control, low end PLC for interlocks
Ensures safest cost effective separation
No recorded failure in 20 years
• Specialized programming
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Promotes efficient operation
Minimizes operator attention to routine tasks
Promotes efficient data collection, reduction and analysis
Allows integration of other data or transmission of unit data
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Improved Control Systems (cont’d)
• Unattended operation incorporated into all units
– 50+% decrease in operating staff since 1983
– Significantly improved product quality (70% in one case!)
– Allows further staffing reductions at low cost later
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Pilot Plant Specific Designs
• Pilot plant specific standards speed design process
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Reduces design effort
Encourages building block approach
Ensures tested, trouble-free installations
Reduces start-up time (50% since 1980)
• Standardized assemblies speed design and
construction
– Decreases construction time (10% since 1980)
– Reduced potential for error and rework
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Pilot Plant Specific Designs (cont’d)
• Assembly line construction of many common
elements
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Relief valve manifolds
Gas feed systems
Utility headers
Instrument cabinets
• Pilot plant specific construction management
– Reduces costs
– Improves quality control through better focus
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CAD/CAE
• Heavy investment in automated design
• State of the art CAD system decreases design time
– Automated bill of materials
– Standard drawing assemblies
– Ability to cut and paste from thousands of other units
• On-line estimating system
– Improved accuracy with reduced effort
– Better historical trending
– Improved validation
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CAD/CAE (cont’d)
• Numerous on-line design programs
– Many pilot plant specific
– Decreases expensive engineering effort
• Electronic transfer of information
– Eliminates wasteful duplication of information
– Ensures single source for all info reducing error
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Improved S/H/E Planning
• Conceptual safety reviews identify issues earlier
– Allows time to effectively address from start of design
– Improves evaluation of alternatives
– Often results in process or program shifts to avoid costly or timeconsuming issues
• Pilot plant specific risk assessments
– Improves realism
– Eliminates inappropriate concerns
– Reduces effort
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Improved S/H/E Planning (cont’d)
• Pilot plant specific standards
– Reduces review effort
– Ensures acceptable design
– Reflects actual operating experience
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Improved Start-Up Planning and
Techniques
• Start-up technical review conducted before finalizing
design
– Allows identification of potential problem areas early enough to
allow resolution
– Allows obvious problems to be corrected before construction
– Captures 70% of the obvious problems
– Utilizes experienced start-up team
• Start-up planning initiated shortly after unit approval
– Ensures start-up issues are addressed with adequate time for
resolution
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Improved Start-Up Planning and
Techniques (cont’d)
• Start-up sequence for all units
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Sequential listing of all start-up tasks
Includes estimate of resources and effort
Allows realistic start-up estimate and schedule
Allows identification of resource, skill area and/or specific issues
early enough to be worked
• Specialized start-up equipment and facilities
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Flushing carts
Leak testing equipment
Troubleshooting equipment
Calibration shop
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Abstracted from larger start-up sequence
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Cost Performance
Costs Per Equivalent Unit
Cost/ Equivalent Unit
Pilot Plants
Laboratories
1981-84
1986-87
1993-94
1992-94
1994-96
2000-2001
1999-2001
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Schedule Performance
Equivalent Units Per Unit Time
1999-2001
2000-2001
1994-96
1993-94
1986-87
1981-84
Time Per Equiv Unit
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