Current Release: Version 4.3

The Material Balance Module (MBM) of ARPM is an intelligent, easy-to-use, scalable solution for mass and volume reconciliation. It turns real-time process data, subject to random error, bias, and/or gross error, into consistent and reliable information. MBM interfaces directly with your IT plant infrastructure to automate the reconciliation runs without routine input. It incorporates advanced reconciliation methodologies within a flowsheeting environment to provide an automated daily material balance around each major unit, identify bad flow instrumentation, and aid in pinpointing material loss locations.

Reconcile raw flowmeter measurements with MBM, taking into account the relative accuracy of each instrument. Provide a daily material and volume balance around a unit or the entire plant. It provides a low maintenance, automated solution for mass and volume balance that can be scaled later to perform rigorous heat and material balance, predictive simulation, and optimization.

Summary of Benefits

• Increase profitability through earlier detection of gross errors in meters and obtaining more consistent data for planning and yield accounting
• Increase reliability by pinpointing problematic meter for service
• Increase productivity by ensuring maintenance of problematic meters
• Reduce engineering workload through automation of all program features including: data retrieval, data reconciliation, and reporting functions.
• Improve safety by pinpointing material loss locations

Technical Highlights

• Seamless access to process data.
• Rigorous flow compensation for temperature and pressure.
• Unique drag-and-drop environment for scheduling and automation of tasks.
• Built in data validation, reconciliation, and gross error detection capabilities.
• Excel®-based reports.
• Integrated, graphical flowsheet platform, scalable to more rigorous monitoring and optimization applications.

Applications

• Producing daily material balances around major units in a process to identify bad meters.
• Operations and turn-around decision support based on accurate, consistent data.
• Accurate monitoring and managing of throughput as part of a loss prevention.
• Obtaining consistent data for LP updates and yield accounting.
• Accident and shut-down avoidance by identifying gross errors in instrumentation before they trigger any alarms.
• Efficiently setting maintenance schedules for flow instrumentation.

Scalable Solution: From Material Balance to On-line Optimization

MBM is the first step in the On-line Performance Suite’s scalable solution. Based on the ROMeo platform, it enables users to increase the fidelity of the model to match their application needs. The user can start with a simple material balance model of the plant with a simplified representation of streams and units using MBM. The same ROMeo platform can then be extended and enhanced to achieve more rigorous heat and material balance, on-line performance monitoring, and operations decision support modeling to closed loop optimization. The user does not have to familiarize with another platform as their needs to model the plant more rigorously grow.