Plant-wide utility disturbance management in the process industry

Utilities, such as steam and cooling water, are often shared between production areas at large-scale sites. A disturbance in the supply of a utility is therefore likely to affect a large part of a site, and cause great loss of revenue. This study focuses on identifying disturbances in utilities and estimating the economical effects of such disturbances. A general method for reducing the loss of revenue due to utility disturbances, the utility disturbance management (UDM) method, is presented. Modeling of the effects of utility disturbances on production is needed to complete all steps of the method. In this paper, a simple on/off modeling approach is suggested to quickly obtain key performance indicators that may be used for decision support for proactive disturbance management. A matrix representation of a site and its utilities is introduced to simplify the computations. The UDM method is applied to an industrial case at Perstorp, Sweden.

► A generic method for utility disturbance management (UDM) is presented. ► The UDM method is presented by step-by-step instructions and is easy to use. ► The UDM method is applied on a real industrial case study. ► The UDM method gives ordering of utilities according to the revenue loss they cause. ► A matrix representation of a site is introduced, that simplifies use of the method.