Chemical company to roll out control software through 25 plants

By Control Engineering Staff January 24, 2007

Hartland, WI —Chemical giant Lyondell is launching a major software rollout to monitor and analyze real-time data from their plant control systems. The company has signed an agreement with ExperTune Inc. to license the software developer’s PlantTriage Performance Supervision software at up to 25 of its manufacturing facilities. Data will be used in determining and prioritizing plant improvements, including identifying instrument and valve failures and maintaining control of tuning issues.

“Lyondell places a strong emphasis on continuous improvement,” said Lothar Lang, consulting engineer for the chemical firm. “A key aspect is the reduction of unnecessary operator workload, so the operator can focus on optimization of production and quality. An important step in this direction is improvement of our base control performance. Based on my experience [with ExperTune and the software], “we know we can achieve significant improvements and expect to leverage this experience at all our sites.”

ExperTune defines its PlantTriage software as combining real-time data with engineering expertise to deliver savings by improving control, eliminating bottlenecks, and pinpointing faulty equipment. The package is commonly applied in such industries as oil and gas, metal and mining, chemical, pulp and paper, and utilities.

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— Control Engineering Daily News DeskEdited by Jeanine Katzel, senior editor, jkatzel@reedbusiness.com