1 / 29

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. Background. PPLE is ExxonMobil’s center of excellence for pilot plant and laboratory work Design Construction Operation Start-up

kele
Download Presentation

Cost Effective Pilot Plant Design and Construction

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Cost Effective Pilot Plant Design and Construction R P Palluzi ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Co CSR Research Support Services Clinton, NJ

  2. Background • PPLE is ExxonMobil’s center of excellence for pilot plant and laboratory work • Design • Construction • Operation • Start-up • Upgrades and modifications • Safety • Relocations • Consulting • Standards

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. EMRE’s Response To These Challenges • 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

  6. 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+%)

  7. Modular Construction (cont’d) • Standardized assemblies • 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

  8. 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

  9. 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

  10. Improved Control Systems (cont’d) • Cost effective integration/isolation of control and safety systems • 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 • 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

  11. 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

  12. Pilot Plant Specific Designs • Pilot plant specific standards speed design process • 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

  13. Pilot Plant Specific Designs (cont’d) • Assembly line construction of many common elements • Relief valve manifolds • Gas feed systems • Utility headers • Instrument cabinets • Pilot plant specific construction management • Reduces costs • Improves quality control through better focus

  14. 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

  15. 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

  16. 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 time-consuming issues • Pilot plant specific risk assessments • Improves realism • Eliminates inappropriate concerns • Reduces effort

  17. Improved S/H/E Planning (cont’d) • Pilot plant specific standards • Reduces review effort • Ensures acceptable design • Reflects actual operating experience

  18. 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

  19. Improved Start-Up Planning and Techniques (cont’d) • Start-up sequence for all units • 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 • Flushing carts • Leak testing equipment • Troubleshooting equipment • Calibration shop

  20. Abstracted from larger start-up sequence

More Related