John Ward - Emerson Process Management
The Delayed Coking unit is one of the most complex units in the refinery due to the semi-continuous nature and severity of the process. There are significant reoccurring process disturbances which make controlling a Coker extremely challenging. This project was chartered to minimize the process disturbances from coke drum switches, improve distillate yield from the fractionator, and decrease operator intervention. We will present the strategies and methods used to evaluate unit performance and implement the APC that resulted in a significant return on investment.