Customer Profile

Company
Name
S-Oil
Corporation
Crude Oiland
Production
Petroleum
Refining

Challenge:

Major Korean Refining Company

Becomes Region Leader in Energy
Efficiency and Saves Millions
without Cutting Production
S-Oils utilization of Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy
Analyzer, reduced the total energy load required in its refinery
by 102 MWsaving the company $39 million.
S-Oil Corporation is one of the largest producers of petroleum,
petrochemicals, and lubricants in the Asia-Pacific region. Named a
Fortunate Global 500 company, S-Oil operates an oil refinery with a
high daily production capacity.
Achieving maximal energy efficiency in its processes was deemed
critical by S-Oil. Specifically, the company wanted to be recognized as
one of the leading refineries in the Asia-Pacific region for energy
efficiency, requiring a reduction of its rating on the Solomon Energy
Intensity Index scale. In addition, the company set the goal to improve
refinery energy efficiency each year, despite witnessing an increase in
crude production in each of the 4 years prior.
Using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy Analyzer, S-Oil was able to
model its refining process, explore operating condition optimization, and
bypass cooling units to accomplish its energy efficiency demands. S-Oil
achieved the goals of improving refinery energy efficiency and lowering
its Solomon Energy Intensity Index, while ultimately identifying process
revamp ideas worth a total savings of $39 million throughout its
refinery.

The aspenONE engineering suite provided real

solutions that could be implemented to reduce energy
demand in the refinery and save a substantial amount
of money in operating costs.
J.J. Kim, Manager, S-Oil Corporation

Copy....S-Oils Solomon Energy

Lower
Intensity Index and annually
Solution:
observe an increase in refinery
Copy...
energy efficiency
Benefits:
Solution:
Copy..
Aspen HYSYS to explore process
parameter
Copy.. variation and Aspen
Energy Analyzer to create an
Copy.. heat exchanger network
optimal
Copy..
Benefits:
Copy..
Saves $39 million throughout the
refinery with a payback period of
under 1 year
Reduces energy consumption by
over 102 megawatts throughout
the refinery
Lowers Solomon Energy Intensity
Index and achieves enhanced
energy efficiency in refinery

Improving Energy Efficiency to Region-Leading Standards

Substantial rises in operating costs over a 4 year period led S-Oil to recognize
that becoming as energy efficient as possible in its refinery, without affecting
product output, would help to defray the operating cost increases, and lead to
a significant growth in profits. For that reason, S-Oil set an annual target goal
to improve its energy efficiency.
In addition, as a leader in the petroleum production industry in the Asia-Pacific
region, S-Oil deemed it necessary to also be a leader in energy efficiency for
the region. Accomplishing this required a reduction in S-Oils current Solomon
Energy Intensity Index, attainable through eliminating as much wasted energy
in its refinery as possible.

Process Optimization and Heat Recovery Drive Energy Reduction

S-Oil modeled its process in Aspen HYSYS, allowing for optimization of energy

AspenTech is a leading supplier of

software that optimizes process
manufacturingfor energy, chemicals, engineering and construction,
and other industries that manufacture and produce products from a
chemical process. With integrated
aspenONE solutions, process
manufacturers can implement best
practices for optimizing their engineering, manufacturing, and supply
chain operations. As a result,
AspenTech customers are better
able to increase capacity, improve
margins, reduce costs, and become
more energy efficient. To see how the
worlds leading process manufacturers rely on AspenTech to achieve
their operational excellence goals,
visit www.aspentech.com.

performance in the distillation columns by reducing the total column pressure.

The hot feed to the aromatics portion of the refinery was previously cooled in
a heat exchanger using cooling water before being allowed to proceed
throughout the process. Using Aspen Energy Analyzer, a better use for the
energy contained in this hot feed was developed. The solution involved
bypassing the coolers and transferring the hot aromatics feed elsewhere in the
process where heating was required. This drastically decreased the total
number of cooling units needed before the aromatics process section.
Additional heat from the hot aromatics feed was also able to be cascaded to
downstream units to further slash heating demand in the process.
Using Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy Analyzer helped generate more than
100 process revamp and optimization ideas. After screening for feasibility, SOil selected 35 of the ideas for implementation and the end results proved
fruitful for its energy efficiency venture.
S-Oil abated its energy requirement by over 102 MW throughout the refinery
and process revamps and optimizations saved S-Oil $39 million. The payback
period for all enhancements made in the refinery was under a year.
Implementing the changes developed in Aspen HYSYS and Aspen Energy
Analyzer led to a successful reduction of S-Oils Solomon Energy Intensity

Worldwide Headquarters
Aspen Technology, Inc.
200 Wheeler Road
Burlington, MA 01803
United States
phone: +17812216400
fax: +17812216410
info@aspentech.com

Index, positioning the company as one of Asia-Pacifics foremost leaders in

energy efficiency.

Regional Headquarters
Houston, TX | USA
phone: +12815841000

Looking Ahead
S-Oil continues to be a leader in the petroleum and petrochemical industry
and strives toward maximal energy efficiency in its refineries, while
AspenTech continues to help companies such as S-Oil achieve their process
energy goals.

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Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.
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