Modeling and Maintenance of APC by Plant Operator

In oil refineries, operation utilizing model predictive control (MPC) has now become a standard. Since the MPC utilizes linear models, market fluctuation, changes in operating conditions or revamp of the plant may require not only tuning but also modification of the model to maintain the performance of the MPC. So as to carry out prompt maintenance of MPC under the circumstances with limited number of control engineers, plant operators seem to be the most suitable personnel for the task. Japan Energy has developed education and support system for plant operators to enable development and maintenance of MPC by operators. Operators join the development of MPC. Modeling for MPC is mainly executed by them. Performance monitoring support tools also have been developed. They judge the necessity of modification of the model in MPC and can rebuild it by themselves