DATA VALIDATION & RECONCILIATION
MIDSTREAM, OIL & GAS PROCESSING
Gas processing industry is the second pillar of the Belsim business portfolio, with implementations in more than a dozen plants, especially in the Middle-East region. Belsim’s gas processing applications are based on ValiEnergy and ValiProcessing solutions of the Vali Data Validation and Reconciliation software.
For gas processing plants, Belsim develops and implements energy performance monitoring and management systems, based on the ValiEnergy solution of the Vali software.
These applications consist of plant-wide detailed models for utility networks (i.e. steam, fuel, power) and all energy-related units and equipment (boilers and cogeneration units, heat exchangers, steam and gas turbines, waste heat recovery systems, compressor and pumps, reactors, convertors, and thermal oxidizers, etc.), application workflow parameter visualization and monitoring reports.
Plant wide gas plant models are built by Belsim based on detailed process description and documentation (including process flow diagrams, piping and instrumentation diagrams, and equipment datasheets) and unit operation principles knowledge, and adapted to the available plant instrumentation. Reconciliation of data is done with respect of all physical and chemical constraints of the process (respect material and energy balances, performance constraints, phase equilibrium constraints, thermodynamics, etc.).
The models calculate automatically performance parameters, soft sensor values, and reconciled values for instruments, all with their derived uncertainties ranges.
Vali applications for gas processing plant are usually run automatically, by means of a customized workflow, on a configurable and customizable pseudo-real time basis (i.e. usually on hourly basis, with averages of instrument measurements for the previous hours). Data is collected automatically from the data archiving and historian system of the plant, it is validated, and then it is inputted into the model before launching the reconciliation calculations. The reconciliation calculations are done with respect of a series of statistical principles, by solving simultaneously the minimization problem under constraints defined by means of the developed model. The reconciled results are stored in a dedicated Microsoft SQL database and can be sent back to data archiving and historian system from where they came from, as tags storing reconciled values.
Reconciled data as well as input data and all calculations involving these data can be visualized as reports and trends inside the graphical user interface of the software or outside the software, in customized Excel sheets.
ValiProcessing solution focus preponderantly on the detailed modeling and monitoring of the performance of the physical and chemical transformations occurring on the process side, as opposed to utility side monitored by an energy performance management system. Parameters calculated and monitored include but not limited to separation efficiencies, unit throughput, product yields, ethane, propane, butane, and/or NGL recovery efficiency, C1/C2 ratio in residual gas, C2, C3, C4 loses in residual gas, sulfur recovery, emissions, etc.
ValiProcessing solution runs in a similar way to ValiEnergy applications and is often integrated with these.
As for refineries, Belsim also proposes to gas plants audit services for energy performance evaluations, hydrocarbon accounting, hydrocarbon loss management. A gas side material balance can as well be delivered at the same time with one of the above applications or under a separate scope.
Application results exploitation and optimization studies are also offered as services by Belsim to gas plants.