Advanced Process Control and Online Optimization

The Advanced Process Control (APC) and Online Optimization market research study delivers current market analysis plus a five year market and technology forecast. The study is available in multiple editions including worldwide, all regions, and most major countries.

Sustainability and ESG Drive the  Advanced Process Control and Online Optimization

During this current period of market volatility due to the onset of the Coronavirus, energy demand destruction, and slow consumer spend, asset owners have pivoted from large capital, asset-intensive new builds and plant modifications to meeting sustainability objectives through energy optimization and operational safety projects. The focus of industrial investments is on sustainable operations, production improvement, and reducing maintenance costs. Sustainability and green initiatives are becoming increasingly important to industrial companies. Improving operational safety also plays a vital role, since for many companies this is part of the license to operate. Advanced process control and online optimization technologies reduce process variability, minimize costly product giveaway, optimize processes against constraints, and support autonomous operations.

Advanced Process Control and Online Optimization Strategic Issues

In addition to providing a five-year market forecast, the Advanced Process Control and Online Optimization market research provides detailed quantitative current market data and addresses key strategic issues as follows.

Sustainability Is a Driver

Most energy-intensive operations, such as those found in a refinery or petrochemical plant, experience considerable variability in the consumption of energy due to changing operating conditions, equipment degradation, fluctuating market conditions, and inefficient control strategies.  The result is that plants typically are using more energy than necessary, yet are unable to improve efficiency because they lack the means to collect and analyze real-time performance information.  Instead, they have access only to historical performance data and cannot take corrective action until it is too late.  

Companies that are able to accurately measure, monitor, predict, and control their energy usage have many other ways to lower their energy consumption, wastes, and costs.  There are many energy management strategies, functions, and solutions available today.  Energy efficiency begins with energy-efficient process and equipment design.  Advanced process control and optimization play an important role in meeting Sustainability goals and objectives of asset owners.  Historically, APC projects have been focused mainly on throughput and margin improvement or product quality.

Target Smaller Scope Optimization Projects

Over the past several years, users have had limited success implementing large-scale multi-unit real-time optimization projects.  Risk-averse users with limited resources to maintain complicated solutions began to shy away from multi-unit optimization projects altogether.  Recently, users’ interest in optimization is returning with acceleration.  Many end users are looking to implement optimization projects across their enterprise and are therefore addressing small highly scalable smaller advanced process control projects across a wider variety of process applications.  They are just being far more cautious about the scale and implementation process.

Tiered Level Support Augments Users’ Technical Staff

The global advanced process control and optimization market have traditionally been enjoying a phase of growth due largely to strong demand from oil and gas and refining companies.  Now these companies are challenged to work harder at justifying the effort to deploy APC and optimization when skilled engineering resources are available.  Many “APC experts” have moved to other ladders of progression within their company, and gaps currently exist with skills and talent at the site level.  This in turn highlights the importance of supplier offerings to improve the deployment and sustainability of APC and optimization. The availability of on-site APC gurus has led to the need to improve model accuracy and shorten the time to value. Many suppliers already offer enhanced support and service offerings by remote and on-site, however the future of advanced process control belongs to solutions that provide the lowest risk in deployment and ability to update models.  Features like “self-tune and unattended model calibration are in demand from owner operators and practitioners. Below are some key strategies to enable suppliers to remain competitive, position themselves for continued success, and moderate the effects of the anticipated economic downturn.

With the decrease in qualified APC engineers or “gurus” at operating companies, suppliers and system integrators are taking on more and more model and application remote maintenance to ensure that users sustain the value of their applications.  By providing the more basic services on-site, remote specialists can assist with higher level more detailed APC and optimization model functions to a greater number of systems for a more efficient and cost-effective and sustainable model.  Suppliers and system integrators guarantee that users achieve the maximum benefit from a high-performance application.