Energy performance monitoring

F
or heavy energy consum-
ers such as refneries, total
energy expenses represent
a considerable amount. On the
other hand, complex processes
require a certain minimal
amount of energy to guarantee
the desired production output.
The question that naturally
arises is how to use the given
energy in the most effcient
way or, in other words, how to
increase energy effciency.
There are several approaches
to tackling the vast challenge of
optimally using energy. One of
these is the implementation of
an energy management system
(EMS) for closely monitoring
and increasing energy perform-
ance. An EMS can be
interpreted in different ways.
Belsims conception of an EMS
is to prepare all process-related
energy information so that it is
reliable, centralised and easily
readable, and can be readily
used as support for intelligent
business decisions.
This information includes:
Energy performance indica-
tors (EPIs) of equipment, single
units or the whole site
Energy balances to determine
An integrated energy management system supports improvements to a
refnerys performance in energy consumption and emissions control
RobeRt ChARes, heRv Closon and hugues steFAnski Belsim
JeAn-ClAude noisieR SIR
accurately the energy consump-
tion of equipment and units
Monitoring of emissions
(CO
2
, SO
2
, NO
x
).
It is measured on a short-
term basis (hourly or daily) and
is accessible via customised
reporting tools. The results that
are reported through an EMS
are key to providing an insight
into process performance,
which is the basis for changes
in operating mode to improve
economic performance.
However, the quality of
business decisions depends
directly on the quality of the
data on which the decisions are
based. Therefore, an EMS should
have an additional component
that increases the quality of
measurement data. In particular,
EPIs are typically calculated
based on other measurements. If
those measurements are already
false, their errors will propagate
and amplify. Consider, for exam-
ple, an effciency defned as the
ratio between two quantities, A
and B. If A and B are both erro-
neous, it is possible that the
effciency would be calculated as
higher than 100%, which is
clearly impossible.
Advanced data validation
and reconciliation (DVR) is a
technology that uses measure-
ment data and process
information to correct measure-
ments as little as necessary so
that all process constraints
(such as material and energy
balances or thermodynamic
equilibria) are satisfed, while
taking into account the uncer-
tainty of measurement.
Belsims EMSs always include
a DVR component. There are
two major reasons for this
inclusion:
The reported information is
reliable and dedicated actions
can be taken to improve energy
performance
The impact of the corrective
actions can be seen directly,
since energy-related data is
cleared of any noise.
In that sense, an EMS can be
viewed as a tool that gives
continuous decision support to
tackle various energy-related
challenges arising in complex
systems, such as refneries,
leading to corrective actions
that have to be taken to amend
them. These challenges could
be, for example, energy imbal-
www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401 PTQ Q2 2011 1
ances (fuel, electricity) around
some process units or the
inexplicably high energy
consumption of some piece of
equipment. They are observa-
tions on the process level based
on measurement data.
The results supplied by an
EMS:help to truly understand
the process by providing
transparent and reliable energy-
related information that refects
the actual condition of the refn-
ery; are presented in a
transparent and easily readable
manner; can be exported and
used for further analysis; are
quickly accessible and updated
frequently to enable the right
decision to be made at the right
time.
Based on the results provided
by an EMS, dedicated actions
can be initiated at the manage-
ment level for example,
sensors, equipment and control
settings can be questioned and
causes of poor effciency can be
detected leading to a repro-
duction of better performances.
The impact of these actions can
be verifed with the help of an
EMS. In order to ensure a
2 PTQ Q2 2011 www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401
continuous improvement, there
should be a frequent interac-
tion between the EMS, situated
at the process level, and the
actions taken at the manage-
ment level. This concept is
illustrated in Figure 1.
implementation of an eMs
This conception of energy
performance monitoring has
been successfully implemented
at Socit Ivoirienne de
Raffnage (SIR) in Abidjan,
Ivory Coast. SIR refnes crude
oil to produce various products
for inland markets and for
export. At the moment, about
3.8 million tonnes of crude oil
are processed in the refnery
each year. Within the frame-
work of a complete revamp of
the refnerys information
system (Projet dIntgration de
lInformation PII), Belsim
implemented an EMS that meets
the following requirements:
Implementation and confgu-
ration of a completely
integrated solution that auto-
matically calculates energy
balances and EPIs with a high
precision
Accurate monitoring of air
emissions for environmental
reporting
Energy performance moni-
toring of equipment, several
units and the whole site
Gives everybody in the refn-
ery access to the results.
The overall objective of the
implementation of the EMS
was to improve the refnerys
performance and to make it
more competitive within the
West African area. This objec-
tive was to be achieved by
calculating reliable and accu-
rate EPIs and mass and energy
balances, leading to an
improved monitoring of fuel
consumption, steam usage,
electricity consumption and
fare, and to a decrease in over-
all energy consumption.
The solution that was imple-
mented at SIR is entirely
integrated in PII via a third-
party integration platform (m:
pro) that is the connection point
for the EMS and all of the other
modules. It links different types
of data and information coming
from various systems in diverse
forms and arriving at different
frequencies. It includes report-
ing facilities that provide the
requested information to the
right person at the right time.
The integration platform
combines different applications,
such as refnery material
balance, refnery unit perform-
ance monitoring, energy
management of utilities, with
databases and provides a single
user interface for engineers from
various departments all over the
refnery.
The EMS automatically fetches
measurement data from the
data historian (DAHS), which
retrieves input from the labora-
tory information management
Action
Management
Process
Insight into
processes
Verify corrective
actions
EMS
Challenge
Reporting
DVR
Figure 1 Belsims conception of an EMS
2 PTQ Q2 2011 www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401
system (LIMS) and the distrib-
uted control system (DCS). The
measurements can be modifed
by manual inputs. The results of
the EMS are stored on a Belsim
SQL database, which can be
accessed through a communica-
tion tool on PII by anyone and
any application connected to the
integration platform. The inter-
connection between the different
components is illustrated in
Figure 2.
The EMS is entirely integrated
into PII, and all other applica-
tions can access results
generated by the EMS (see
Figure 2). It is also completely
embedded in the daily business
workfow of the end users via
the integration platform to
ensure a continuous improve-
ment in terms of the
management of energy usage.
The end users review the results
and present them during meet-
ings where different business
units are present.
www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401 PTQ Q2 2011 3
Results achieved
The project yielded several
benefts for SIR. Some of them
are described below. More
benefts are to be expected as
soon as further corrective
actions are undertaken by the
management of the refnery.
gains in time and effciency
The integration of the EMS into
the daily workfow is the foun-
dation of a sustainable
improvement through increased
awareness of energy consump-
tion at the refnery. Running
the application takes only a few
minutes every day, which
means a signifcant gain in time
and effciency: engineers can
now spend time on analysing
data and not waste time on
collecting them.
The fow sheet-based report-
ing tools continuously provide
reliable information on the use
of energy at the refnery in a
transparent manner. Previously,
Integration
platform
Manual
encoding
Oracle
DAHS
Mass
balances
Performance
monitoring of
units
Production
scheduling
...
LIMS
User interface
DCS
Energy
management
Figure 2 Integration of an EMS at SIR
energy balances were estab-
lished on a monthly basis not
frequent enough to take action
in due time.
Since it is entirely integrated
through the integration plat-
form, the whole refnery can
gain from the information
provided by the EMS. For
example, the refnery produc-
tion balances are established
partially based on results
provided by the EMS. It turned
out that this helped to calculate
the balances more quickly, with
a 50% reduction in time.
Prevention of losses
Socit Multinationale de
Bitumes (SMB) is a company
that is located on the SIR site
and strongly integrated with
SIR in terms of energy
consumption among other
links. As a consequence of this
energy integration, SIR sells
SMB fuel gas and fuel oil to be
used for treating crude oil for
estimated fuel consumption
using raw measurements. One
can see that an average $60 000
of losses could be prevented
per month. This fnding alone
ensures a return on investment
of less than six months.
electricity imbalance detected
An imbalance in the electricity
grid has been identifed and
quantifed at 2 MW, represent-
ing about 10% of total electricity
production. This imbalance
represents an accumulated
monthly value of about
$235 000 based on western
European pricing. It is there-
fore important to properly
understand whether some
equipment is consuming more
electricity than is expected or
whether the difference is due
to measurement errors. As the
EMS is based on a data valida-
tion and reconciliation
technology, the electricity
balance is now closed. Table 2a
shows SIRs electricity produc-
tion on a particular day (14
October 2009) and Table 2b
shows electricity consumption
on the same day. In both tables,
the two columns on the right
indicate the measured and
reconciled values respectively.
One can see that the electricity
consumption is signifcantly
underestimated and the
production is slightly overesti-
mated, when considering
measured values only.
Moreover, the information
provided by the EMS helped to
pinpoint erroneous electricity
counters. The imbalance of 2
MW was partly due to the
counters at the electricity proc-
ess unit substation, which had
never been calibrated over the
past 30 years. The calibration
of these devices helped to
reduce the imbalance in meas-
urements to below 1 MW.
Supported by the EMS,
further actions will be taken by
4 PTQ Q2 2011 www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401
the production of road bitumen
and by-products. It turned out
that SMBs consumption of fuel
has been systematically under-
estimated by about 215 tonnes
of fuel oil equivalent each
month. As a result, the average
price for fuel per tonne of
crude was underestimated by
almost 20%. This underestima-
tion resulted in undercharging
for fuel over recent years. With
the help of the EMS, the true
energy consumption of SMB
has been determined with a
higher precision, and losses
have been prevented by invoic-
ing the correct amount of
energy consumed by SMB. The
losses that were prevented in
the frst six months of 2010 are
shown in Figure 3.
Table 1 shows the average
monthly invoiced amount
based on true fuel consump-
tion, as opposed to wrongly
table 1
unit Measured Reconciled
GTA5230 11.71 11.25
GTA5240 11.28 11.09
CIE 0.00 0.00
Total 22.98 22.34
electricity import/production, MW
unit Measured Reconciled
P10 3.72 3.91
P11 2.08 2.14
P12 3.75 3.94
P13 8.78 9.82
P14 2.45 2.53
Total 20.78 22.34
electricity import/consumption,
MW
table 2a
table 2b
item Amount, $
Jan-Jun 2010 average monthly invoice for SMB, using true energy consumption 321 000
Jan-Jun 2010 average monthly invoice for SMB, using underestimated energy consumption 261 000
Prevented losses due to energy consumption underestimation 60 000
effects on fuel invoicing of true and underestimated energy consumption
$l20 000
$l00 000
$80 000
$60 000
$40 000
$20 000
1anuary Pebruary March April May 1une
$0
Figure 3 Prevented losses in fuel invoicing, JanuaryJune 2010
the refnery to close the remain-
ing imbalance of the electricity
measurements, in particular by
checking the accuracy of elec-
tricity production. This will
help to distribute energy
correctly among the process
units in order to accurately
calculate their effective operat-
ing costs.
gas faring
Refneries have fare systems
for burning excess gas. The
burning of some gas might be
necessary because it could be
diffcult to transport it to other
places in the refnery, or to
release some pressure for secu-
rity reasons. A large amount of
gas being fared indicates non-
optimal operation of the
refnery.
The results of the EMS indi-
cate that 2000 tonnes of gas is
fared each month, correspond-
ing to about 24 000 Gcal. Figure
4 illustrates the average amount
of gas fared per hour on 1
March 2010.
This faring of gas amounts
to more than $1 million of
losses per month. The EMS
detected and identifed one
fow meter to the fare that is
systematically providing wrong
data. Despite this erroneous
fow meter, the EMS calculated
the reconciled fow rate to that
fare. A team was appointed by
the refnerys management to
analyse the possibility of
installing a compressor, with
the aim of transforming part of
the fare gas to fuel gas.
emissions monitoring
Emissions are now monitored
on a more frequent basis, daily
as opposed to monthly, on
several levels refnery-wide,
on a unit level and for each
www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401 PTQ Q2 2011 5
item of equipment and in a
more rigorous manner. The
emissions are calculated based
on the consumption of fuel and
its sulphur content, which is
measured four times per
month. Previously, the monthly
average of these values had
been used to determine the
sulphur content. The EMS
always uses the latest values to
precisely determine emissions
of CO
2
, SO
2
and NO
x
, which
are then reported directly to
the Ministry of Environment.
The daily availability of these
values has been acknowledged
by ISO 14001 auditors.
lessons learned
The implementation of an EMS
based on an advanced DVR
technology has clearly demon-
strated its frst benefts. It is
completely integrated into the
daily workfow at the refnery
of SIR. It is actively used for
providing continuously reliable
energy-related data. Business
decisions can now be based on
a trustworthy set of informa-
tion. SIR has acquired
ownership and therefore full
control of the application.
Awareness in terms of energy
consumption has been increased
and losses can be prevented
without installing new equip-
ment or instrumentation.
The management of SIR has
noticed a huge time saving in
the collection of reliable infor-
mation for both energy balances
and environmental indicators
as a result of the implementa-
tion of this project. The time
saved is available for engineers
to analyse in greater depth the
refnerys current situation and
to propose operating improve-
ments. In other words, SIR has
highlighted a noticeable
improvement in working
productivity.
Actions taken by the manage-
ment of SIR are steps towards
the improved competitiveness
of the refnery. Moreover, the
effects of corrective actions can
be detected more easily and
quickly as a result of the
removal of measurement noise
by the DVR technology.
success factors
There were three important
factors in the success of this
project. First, there was a strong
commitment to the project by
the management of SIR and a
positive attitude towards the
management of change. Second,
a dedicated, multi-disciplinary
team was established, formed
600
700
500
400
300
200
100
HSK2 SMB DHC Total
A
c
i
d

f
l
a
r
e

p
r
o
d
u
c
t
i
o
n
,

k
g
/
h
0
Measured
Reconciled
Figure 4 Amount of acid gas fared
by staff from SIR and Belsim,
working together towards the
defned objectives. Third, the
transfer of knowledge from
Belsim to SIR was provided by
training, on-site missions and
continuous support during the
project and following its
completion. These factors not
only guaranteed that the project
was successful for both parties,
but also ensured continuous
improvement after the project
was completed.
Robert Chares is Marketing Solution
Engineer at Belsim, Awans, Belgium,
specialising in energy management and
energy production. He has a masters in
mathematics from Chemnitz University
of Technology, Germany, and a PhD in
applied mathematics from University of
Louvain, Belgium.
Email: robert.chares@belsim.com
herv Closon is Director, Services and
Technology, at Belsim. He has a masters in
chemical engineering from the University
of Lige, Belgium, and in management
from HEC, Lige.
Email: herve.closon@belsim.com
Jean-Claude noisier is Performance and
Quality Manager at SIR in Abidjan, Ivory
Coast. He has a masters in engineering
and a PhD in physics and mathematics
from the French Petroleum Institute, part
of Paris University.
Email: jeanclaude.noisier@sir.ci
hugues stefanski is an Advanced Process
Engineer at Belsim. He specialises in
energy management, performance
monitoring and production accounting
for downstream applications and has a
masters in chemical engineering from
the University of Lige, Belgium.
Email: hugues.stefanski@belsim.com
6 PTQ Q2 2011 www.digitalrening.com/article/1000401

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