Sterling Chemicals benefits from environmental compliance

Sterling Chemicals is a long-term user of Pavilion Technologies’ advanced control software for multi-variable model-based predictive production process control, but recently has also been buying the Pavilion 8 real time environmental system, notably for HRVOC (Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds) monitoring. But Dennis Yieh, Sterling Chemicals’ Control Systems Support assistant manager, says that it’s doing much more than that. “We are now complying with the state of Texas HRVOC rules requiring at least 95% uptime: we can detect errors, incidents or deviations from emissions instantaneously,” he says. “But the software is also reducing monitoring and compliance costs – and allowing us to generate reports on demand.” He makes the point that with many other non real-time environmental monitoring packages, monthly and annual reports take six weeks to generate. “But we are now monitoring in real time so we are maintaining integrity of data with the capability of substitutions if a sensor fail. Based on past experience we expect that to cut downtime by at least 50%.” And there are additional benefits. “For example on NOx Texas has a Cap and Trade programme, and we are able to sell our surplus emissions because we have a high degree of confidence in our real-time forecast. That’s very critical: HVROC may be going that route – and our environmental compliance system may allow trading these credits too.” And on the operational side, he says that, because the system is real time, it is helping the organisation to understand its processes better and thus how to improve them further, while also mitigating emissions. “Then we can forecast where we think we can schedule our productions better,” he says. As European process industry manufacturers need to comply yet also find and use alternative fuel sources Pavilion suggests that its systems will see increasing use over here – but again, not just for compliance but also cost reduction and ultimately operational and business benefit. Says Don Hart, Pavilion Technologies’ director of solutions marketing: “Europe is a little different to the US. The Environmental Protection Agency lags in UK with, for example, mostly monthly average reports rather than the US hourly records. But demand will increase in Europe. We predict quite a bit of interest in the next six to 12 months. Pavilion8 has just been launched at v2.0 with new modelling capabilities, enhanced web service integration and a new metadata warehouse. There are also two new Pavilion8-based applications: Real-time Environmental Management and Production Performance Management, complementing the existing process optimisation and control applications.