Unified Production Energy Flow Model for Continuous Process Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional production energy management systems are inadequate for continuous processes, as they fail to accurately account for the complex energy flows and variations in product paths, particularly in industries like petroleum refining and chemical plants, where energy is often stored as potential heat and products are circulated or used as fuel.
Innovation Solution
A production energy management system that defines a production and energy flow model using directed lines to represent material and energy inputs and outputs between apparatuses, incorporating index values and treating potential heat as an energy amount, with a data collector, energy calculator, and data display to perform energy calculations and visualize results, including energy consumption, cost, and efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a conventional production energy management system uses separate energy flow model and production flow model, then the calculation is simple and clear for batch processes, but the system cannot accurately handle complex energy flows in continuous processes where products include potential heat and are circulated or used as fuel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the separate energy flow model and production flow model into a unified production and energy flow model. This integrated model simultaneously represents material flows (raw materials, products, intermediates) and energy flows (electric power, steam, potential heat) within a single framework, allowing accurate tracking of energy associated with each material stream throughout the continuous process.
Solution Approach 2:
The unified model serves multiple functions: it tracks material flows, energy flows, and their interrelationships across different process types (batch and continuous). The model can handle various energy forms including electric power, steam, and potential heat, and can accommodate different process configurations such as product circulation and fuel usage, making it universally applicable to diverse industrial processes.
2Ease of manufacture
If the system treats all energy flows uniformly without distinguishing potential heat in products, then the calculation method is simple, but it fails to accurately represent continuous processes where energy is stored as potential heat in circulating products
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different treatment to different energy forms within the unified model. Specifically, potential heat in products is distinguished from other energy forms like electric power and steam. The model tracks potential heat separately as it moves with material streams, is stored in circulating products, and can be recovered or converted, while other energy forms are accounted for through traditional utility input-output measurements.
3Device complexity
If the system uses traditional energy flow modeling for continuous processes, then the model structure is simple, but it cannot track the varied paths of products that are circulated, stored, or used as fuel
Solution Approach 1:
The unified model dynamically adapts to different product paths within continuous processes. It can represent material streams that are circulated back to previous process stages, stored in intermediate tanks, diverted as fuel to energy generation units, or proceeds directly to final products. The model structure remains consistent while the flow paths and relationships change based on actual process conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
A production energy management system is provided, including a production and energy flow model definer configured to define a production and energy flow model wherein the production and energy flow model represents, by directed lines, a flow with regard to an input and output of a production-related material between apparatuses disposed in a plant and a flow with regard to an input and output of energy and associates index values of the production-related material and the energy with a kind of metered data measured in the plant, a data collector configured to collect the metered data from the plant, and an energy calculator configured to perform an energy calculation for each apparatus based on the collected metered data and the defined production and energy flow model.