Theoretical research and application of petrochemical Cyber-physical Systems

Abstract

A petrochemical smart factory is a green, efficient, safe and sustainable modern factory that combines cutting-edge information and communication technology with petrochemical advanced technology and equipment. A Cyber-physical System (CPS) is the infrastructure of a petrochemical smart factory. Based on the future challenges of the petrochemical industry, this paper proposes the definition, connotation and framework of a petrochemical CPS and constructs a CPS system at the enterprise, unit and field levels, respectively. Furthermore, the paper provides theoretical support and implementation reference of a CPS in the petrochemical industry and other industries by investigating the construction practice of a multi-level CPS in the China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC).

System Structure and Network Computing Architecture of Petrochemical Cyber‐Physical System: Overview and Perspective

“…Multiple nodes form a complete production chain, and multiple production chains form a production base, i.e., a petrochemical factory. However, the technical strength, production capacity, and management level of petrochemical factories vary differently, and are affected by the local market environment and international market environment and policies in different regions, so the regional development difference of the petrochemical industry is more obvious . Taking the petrochemical production situation in Eastern China as an example, Sinopec has petrochemical production bases such as Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Sinopec Shanghai Gaoqiao Petrochemical Co., Ltd., Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical Co., Ltd., and Sinopec Zhenhai Refining & Chemical Co. in Eastern China.…”

“…However, under the historical background of big data and cloud computing, it is necessary to further improve the production efficiency, resource allocation, and management coordination ability of the petrochemical industry, so as to realize the leap from digitization to intelligence in the petrochemical industry. Sinopec Group (hereinafter referred to as Sinopec), took the lead in the construction of a smart factory since 2012, and put forward the petrochemical cyber‐physical system (PCPS) for the industry, took PCPS as the infrastructure of the petrochemical smart factory, and carried out the pilot construction in four enterprises; they thereby promoted the transformation of enterprise production mode and management and control mode, improved the level of safety and environmental protection, cost decreasing and benefit increasing, and green and low carbon, accelerating the improvement of labor productivity, and accumulating valuable practice experience …”

Challenges and Opportunities for Achieving Operational Sustainability of Boilers in the Context of Industry 4.0

“…Boilers are used in various industries for generating steam to drive turbines, heating and processing in chemical plants, sterilization and pasteurization in the food and beverage industry, heating and finishing in the textile and leather industry, providing heat in hospitals, schools, and other buildings, heating and humidification in paper mills, and many more (Bari et al, 2022;Rahman et al, 2022;Wang, 2017). They also produce hot water in hotels, resorts, and other commercial facilities.…”

“…While there have been numerous studies on boiler operations, none have specifically addressed the challenges and opportunities for achieving operational sustainability in the era of advanced technologies and automation. For instance, several recent studies have illustrated different aspects of boiler operation and maintenance strategies in an Industry 4.0 environment with a depiction of various industries like the manufacturing industry (Hardy et al, 2021;Harjamulya et al, 2019;Jha et al, 2022;Lim et al, 2021;Olkiewicz et al, 2021;Tsai, 2018;Urgese et al, 2021), power generation industry (Arakelyan et al, 2021;Kluczek et al, 2021;Muhammad Ashraf et al, 2020;Munsamy and Telukdarie, 2022;Toit & Laubscher, 2018), urban heating system (Warsokusumo et al, 2020;Woon et al, 2022), petrochemical industry (Wang, 2017), and so on. However, none of these studies have explored the topic of this current research, which seeks to provide further insights into the area of industrial management.…”

Process Digital Twin and Its Application in Petrochemical Industry

“…The essential characteristics of petrochemical manufacturing are: The process is large in scale and complex in structure, composed of multiple closely connected and interacting operational units, and has a multi-scale hierarchical and functional structure in space and time [5]. Viewed laterally, the process is a nonlinear, dynamically coupled process of a series of related, heterogeneous physical or chemical processes, such as mass transfer, heat transfer, momentum transfer and reaction process; viewed vertically, it is a nested-coupling system between these processes across time and space scales, and a petrochemical cyber-physical system (HCPS) consisting of material flow, energy flow, and information flow networks that integrate complex physical input/output [6] [7] [8].…”