THE MIRROR PLANT for plant safety operation
A few years ago, when I first time heard the term MIRROR PLANT, I was astonished. Operator Training Simulator (OTS) is now well-known. But what is MIRROR PLANT? For which purpose is the MIRROR PLANT?
Challenges during production and operation phase
Generally, the life span of a plant is approximately 40 – 50 years. The production and operation phase is the longest in a plant life cycle. During production and operation phase, technologies advance and economic and social environments can change greatly. To keep up with these changes, plants have to be run in different conditions from those assumed during design stage. To overcome these challenges, an advanced plant operation support tool would be useful.
MIRROR PLANT is the right plant operation support tool
Unlike OTS which covers operations of a plant from start-up to shut-down, MIRROR PLANT focuses on the production phase in the plant life cycle. MIRROR PLANT is an online dynamic simulator which can keep adjusting the plant model to correspond with the actual plant’s parameters as closely as possible. In this sense, MIRROR PLANT builds a live mirror image of a real plant and transfers a virtual plant from an offline to an online environment. This enables optimal operation by use of new indicators, while also aiming for a stable and safe operation of the plant. It includes production with changes in raw materials or fuels, and the production of new products requiring plant modifications.
Visualization of the Inside of Plant
Based on real-time manufacturing process information and using a physical model for adjusting model parameters, the simulator precisely simulates the state of a plant. It calculates all the state variables in the model and gives therefore a clear picture of the internal conditions which are not measurable.
Prediction of Plant Future Conditions
MIRROR PLANT visualizes not only the current state of the plant, but also the state several hours in the future. Thus, this technology facilitates early detection in processes and prediction of future plant behavior. One possible usage of this function is to repeat predictive calculations periodically in order to establish operation guidelines or to take actions in advance with upcoming alarms.
Estimation and Monitoring of Performance Parameters (KPI)
Performance parameters such as catalytic activity and the heat-transfer coefficients of exchangers can be estimated and the performance or status of equipment can be monitored. So it can achieve optimal operations even in processes with temporal changes.
The MIRROR PLANT enables a quicker release of new products by reflecting changed conditions into the model and concurrently designing more optimal operating conditions.
Conclusion
MIRROR PLANT is an online dynamic simulation support tool for establishing competitive plant operating technologies. MIRROR PLANT offers several useful applications. It enables achieving stable and safe operation while also improving the quality of operation. See clearly – Know in Advance – Act with Agility: MIRROR PLANT supports you to fulfill all the requirements.
Further possible Applications of MIRROR PLANT?
Are there further possible applications of using the MIRROR PLANT? Are there advantages of using current plant conditions for operator training? Can MIRROR PLANT contribute to improving controllability too?
