Unlocking Operational Excellence at Indorama Port Neches Operations with Digital Solutions

Indorama Port Neches Operations (PNO) is seeking to be at the forefront of the petrochemical industry, setting the bar for operational efficiency, safety, and sustainability. One of the key drivers of PNO's success is its Regional Digital Team, a group of dedicated experts, together with operations and other experts have implemented a range of innovative digital initiatives to optimize operations. This article spotlights the team's work and significant impact on the performance of the plant.

Dashboards for Data Visualization

Streamlining Logistics with NO Logistics Dashboards:

The logistics group, which included Brian Hurtado (Quality, Planning, & Logistics Manager), Brad Stone (Planning & Logistics Team Leader), and Richard Kramer (Traffic Team Leader), plus Bob Cooper (Six Sigma MBB), worked closely with the Regional Digital Team, led by Adam Van Pelt, to address the need for improved data visibility and sophisticated analysis in loading schedules. Together, they developed a comprehensive set of Tableau Dashboards that seamlessly integrated truck loading data and rail fleet information gathered from daily email reports by Railport.

This innovative solution offered valuable insights into rail fleet composition, current railcar locations, and estimated time of return for offsite railcars. The successful implementation of these dashboards has greatly enhanced the efficiency of PNO's logistics processes, with more work now planned for tank wagons and loading efficiencies. "The Tableau Dashboards developed in collaboration with the Regional Digital Team have greatly enhanced the efficiency of our logistics processes at PNO, providing valuable insights into rail fleet composition and current railcar locations. We look forward to building on this momentum to further enhance our logistics visibility." - Brian Hurtado

Enhancing Unit Performance with Data Visualization:

John McDowell spearheaded two projects to improve the performance of various units in the plant. The EO Selectivity and Catalyst dashboard, displays F8 unit's performance against targets for selectivity, catalyst, cumulative EO production, oxygen limitations, and ethylene concentration. This customizable dashboard caters to user requirements with daily, monthly, or full-term view options.

The MTBE Steam and Unit Performance Dashboard is an ongoing initiative that tracks F5's overall performance through temperature movement monitoring and a scorecard for key tags. The scorecard, updated hourly, highlights the metrics that fall outside their limits, ensuring timely intervention.

Automating Data Collection and Visualization with IntelaTrac Dashboard:

Micah Mosley (Manufacturing Excellence Manager), James Sells (Manufacturing Excellence Specialist), and Rudy Klucik (Manufacturing Excellence Specialist) requested an Operator Round Dashboard to automate data collection and streamline the visualization process for the data that comes from the tablets.

Madhulika Dashputre took the lead and generated a dashboard that provides a comprehensive view of monthly round compliance, exceptions in rounds, round status, and unit-level data to quickly monitor health of assets and drive improvements. This project has significantly improved the team's ability to generate monthly compliance reports and monitor round data on a daily basis.

Energy Day Ahead Forecasting:

Bruce Collins (Operations Manager - Utilities & Wastewater) and Justin Forse (Utilities Production Specialist), collaborated with Adam Van Pelt to develop a tool for forecasting daily electricity export. This initiative has financial benefits, as accurate forecasting to the utility company can result in savings. The tool uses a user input (# of days: 1-180) to generate a regressed prediction for hourly electricity export based on ambient temperature and humidity. Coupled with forecasted hourly weather data, the dashboard provides a quick and easy energy export prediction.?

Control Performance Monitoring (CPM) for Basic Process Control

Madhulika Dashputre led the implementation of CPM to monitor the health and performance of over 300 loops critical to APC across various units. This web-based platform displays 20+ metrics to monitor control utilization, performance and mechanical issues. It allows for quick issue identification and diagnosis driving optimal performance.

In March 2023, we observed 3 weeks of near perfect performance for the 300+ loops being monitored, thanks to the diligent efforts of Brian Tomb, Chris Bradley, Binh Nguyen, and Marty Novak!

Enhancing Operations with Advanced Process Control (APC)

APC uses plant step test models to do predictive multiple output and input controls to simultaneously manage multiple constraints. This technology enables consistent control across all shifts and improves the time and consistency of training new board operators. APC allows the unit to run consistently closer to constraints without jeopardizing safety integrity.

A prime example of APC's success is at Port Neches A3 ethylene furnaces. Utilizing APC simultaneously controls maximizing duty, maintaining furnace conversion, and managing the total flow to the backend which has resulted in increased production and profitability. It is simply unsustainable to manually manipulate 16 variables on 8 furnaces to achieve similar results. The collaborative efforts between the Digital Team – Bryce Conde and Tim Schroeder, with Operations - Marty Novak, Brian Tomb, and the operators, has played a crucial role in the successful implementation of APC at Port Neches. ?

The collaboration with operations and the commitment and expertise of the Regional team continue to drive PNO in a positive direction by helping the facility make better decisions faster.

Digital Team:

Adam Van Pelt - Manufacturing & Data Analytics Engineer

John McDowell - Manufacturing & Data Analytics Engineer

Madhulika Dashputre – Process Improvement Engineer

Bryce Conde - Advanced Process Control Engineer

Timothy Schroeder - Advanced Process Control SME

Hartmann NGuessan - Digital Transformation & Manufacturing Performance Manager

Bob Townley-Smith - Chief Technology Officer