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Sustainability continues to be a huge demand for APC customers. And as you’ll see, we’ve built significant, long-term value in our APC products, including AspenWatch™, Aspen PIDWatch™, Aspen Smart Audit™, and Aspen SmartStep Advanced™. The newest features address a wide range of issues related to sustainability including improved monitoring, KPI management, and adaptive modeling. In addition, you can expect major performance enhancements to our APC workhorse, Aspen DMCPlus®. You’ll benefit from an increased number of modeling coefficients, a prediction horizon with up to 64 moves, and a higher resolution of move calculations. For our Polymers customers, we’ve also made improvements to the Apollo non-linear controller, including adding extensions for larger applications and new features for dealing with variable response dynamics. We’ve been on the road talking to customers about the new release—and all of its value-added features—and the feedback has been extremely positive. That’s key because it’s your input that helps drive our product development. As we look ahead to 2008, make plans to meet us in April at the AspenTech AC&O User Conference where you can network with your peers, participate in workgroup sessions, and share ideas to further advance APC. Look for more details coming soon, including a complete agenda. In the meantime, enjoy this latest issue of Aspen APC Insights. Bill Canney, APC Product Director, Aspen Technology
Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training
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by Andrew McIntosh, Ed MacNeel, Denis Martin, and Ron Bray, AspenTech As long-time practitioners of APC will attest, a common challenge is being able to do more with fewer resources. To accomplish this feat, it’s important that you maintain existing APC applications at peak performance. You need to detect performance degradation early, rapidly diagnose the problem, and correct the situation in an efficient manner. And you need to do that across potentially large numbers of controllers of varying complexity and configuration. Smarter Features Drive Sustainability
The new features in Aspen SmartStep Advanced simplify and shorten the task of collecting data for accurate modeling. Aspen Smart Audit’s model analysis and repair features address problems with maintaining model consistency and greatly simplify the process of dealing with issues like process co-linearity. Adapting to Changes with Ease
In version 2006.5 there are a number of improvements in Aspen PIDWatch to simplify monitoring, performance assessment, process model identification, and optimal loop tuning. The reporting capabilities provide five separate metrics and associated plots for evaluating loop performance quickly and accurately. Proven Solutions by Design
Look for the release of aspenONE 2006.5 in January 2008. Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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Mark your calendar now to attend the AspenTech User Conference: 2008 Aspen Advanced Control & Optimization (AC&O) Americas Conference The Woodlands Waterway Marriott • Houston, Texas, USA 2008 Aspen Advanced Control & Optimization (AC&O) European Conference
Estrel Berlin Hotel • Berlin, Germany As a member of the AspenTech AC&O user community, you don’t want to miss this valuable
conference where we’ll cover the hottest industry topics and latest technology enhancements—
and the impact on your business. You’ll also have the opportunity to network and share best
practices with your peers, as well as meet with AspenTech executives, services engineers, and
our R&D team. Look for more information coming soon, including a program agenda and how to register. Call for Papers
In addition to the customary full-length papers, we’re also adding a mini-session section. Papers
in this section will be half-hour in length and should cover tips, tricks, best-practices, and other
items of general interest to the community. This type of information is one of the most asked
for by our users. If you are interested, please send an email to UGM2008@aspentech.com. Indicate the Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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By Scott Mello, Senior Marketing Manager, Programs, AspenTech AspenTech’s “Sustained Value for Advanced Process Control” Seminar Series brought together APC professionals from all over to network with their peers, learn about new product innovations, and meet with our own industry experts. The one-day events were held in Houston, Princeton, San Francisco, and Amsterdam—and judging by the response, we may need to add several more dates next year. These valuable, interactive events provided attendees the unique opportunity to view new enhancements in control applications, participate in hands-on workshops, and get a “first look” at the new release of aspenONE Advanced Process Control v2006.5. Presenters included Charles Rieb, senior vice president of product management, who kicked off the sessions with an insightful look at the aspenONE roadmap and how APC plays a critical part in delivering a fully integrated end-to-end plant solution. Bill Canney followed with a popular “Miracle Cure” presentation, highlighting the benefits and value differentiators of AspenTech’s APC product portfolio. At the US seminars, other APC experts, such as Blaine McIntyre, Andrew McIntosh, Ron Bray, Doug Amos, Denis Martin, and Ed MacNeel, demonstrated the new performance monitoring and adaptive modeling features of aspenONE—and presented a new services methodology that leverages features to deliver a sustained value platform at the start of APC projects. At the Amsterdam event, our European colleagues Rob Howard, Francois van Niekerk, Jose Maria Ferrer, Roger Barrett, and Sebastien Osta led the new feature presentations and demonstrations. The key objective of the seminars was to share industry best practices and discuss the most current tools that enable APC engineers to deliver optimum solutions while working in the most efficient and productive ways. The feedback from all those who attended was very positive, with most expressing a desire to sign up for the next seminar series. Look for news in the coming weeks about more APC events. Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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aspenONE™ for Polymers nonlinear control solution delivers quicker grade transition times, increased production, and reduced usage of consumables. In the last issue of Aspen APC Insights, we reported on the success of PetroChina in deploying an APC solution at its Mitsui high density polyethylene (HDPE) unit in Daqing, China. The company realized annual savings of $640,000—equivalent to $8 per tonne—through increased yield and reduced usage of key reactor consumables. Now with the solution still running at peak efficiency, PetroChina is documenting significant performance benefits including optimized transitions involving a parallel-to-series reactor configuration change. The measured improvements include:
“We are delighted with the performance improvements achieved using the aspenONE advanced process control solution,” said Mr. Cao Jingliang, Chief Engineer of the PetroChina Daqing polyolefin plants. “AspenTech’s unique control technology coupled with the domain expertise of its polymers specialists were key contributors to the success of this project. Being able to automate even themost complex of transition strategies, such as a reactor configuration change, is a significant breakthrough and has enhanced our competitive position.” Overcoming Difficult Product Transitions
“China is now a major producer and consumer of polyolefins, and PetroChina is investing in innovative technology to maintain its position as a leading player in this highly competitive marketplace,” said Blair Wheeler, Senior Vice President at AspenTech. “With its unique ability to optimize even the most complex product transitions, the aspenONE for Polymers solution is delivering significant operational benefits and a fast return on investment for a rapidly growing number of polymer producers worldwide.“ Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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Aspen Technology received a Highly Commended Award in “The ABB Engineering Services Environment” category at the iChemE awards ceremony in London, UK. The award was given to AspenTech in recognition of its aspenONE APC for Polymers solution, and was accepted by Dr. Paul Turner, APC Practice Manager for AspenTech. The annual IChemE Awards program encourages, celebrates, and rewards innovation and excellence. The awards aim to recognize and promote organizations that make an outstanding contribution to safety, the environment, sustainable development, and other aspects of the chemical and bioprocess industries. The ABB ENGINEERING SERVICES ENVIRONMENT AWARD places particular emphasis on the impact on environment, including resource use, recycling, and water reduction. The industrial specialist judging panel concluded that the AspenTech submission warranted a “Highly Commended” award. The awards are given in the general context of sustainable development, defined as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. ”Winners are recognized for advancing economic development without damaging the environment by over-exploiting natural resources. Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
 IChemE award presented |
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There are several significant advantages to building project files with general lists. First, it is easier for other users to understand the work process that was used to generate the model(s). Second, it saves time since there is no need to “hunt” around, looking for related objects; they are already added to the project file. General lists can contain objects of different types: vectors, vector lists, cases, case lists, models, model lists, and predictions. If you double-click on a general list a report view will display, showing details of the objects in the list. The process of creating a general list is similar to that of creating a vector or case list. As with other types of lists, you can drag objects onto an existing list to add them to it. Once a general list contains one object of a specific type, right clicking on that object brings up the standard pop-up menu, allowing other objects of that type to be created. These objects are automatically added to the general list. In this way, general lists can be built as work progresses. Modeling work is documented with no additional effort! Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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APC Training Classes Would you like to maximize your potential for greater efficiencies and profitability using AspenTech’s APC solutions? Our worldwide Training Centers provide an opportunity for you to learn from experienced instructors and to network with peers. For added convenience, classes can also be held on-site. Currently scheduled classes worldwide include:
Click here to view to view the full course catalog. Focus On | Expert View | User Perspective | In The News | Tips & Tricks | Events & Training |
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© 2007 Aspen Technology, Inc. AspenTech®, aspenONE™ and the Aspen leaf logo are registered trademarks of Aspen Technology, Inc. All rights reserved. 1219-01-1007 |
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Welcome to the second edition of Aspen APC Insights. This issue
provides a “sneak peek” at the January release of aspenONE™
2006.5—specifically enhancements to our industry-leading APC
products. You’ll also find helpful tips & tricks, information about
upcoming APC events, and other articles that highlight the real value
of deploying AspenTech solutions. We remain committed to innovation
and improving your business. And nowhere is this more evident
than with the new release of aspenONE.