Process Optimization

Award winning consulting & technology delivers real results across many industry verticals with over $28 billion in increased profitability for the industry. KBC’s expertise rose from within the industry over 40 years ago and has earned the reputation as the world’s most trusted partner to deliver a wide range of process optimization solutions. First-class Automation & Advanced Process Control solutions from our parent company Yokogawa help sustain these gains. KBC has the knowledge, technology and automation systems to deliver.

Businessman analyzing growing 3D bar chart floating above digital tablet
Engineer working with tablet PC near power plant with digital graph overlay Delivering value through engineering, (Image showing Client onsite)

Delivering Value

Integrate and optimize Oil & Gas assets from reservoir, through wells, gathering systems, processing facilities (offshore, onshore, FPSO)  to gas plants, export pipelines and LNG plants through KBC’s proven expertise and technology. From offline Integrated Asset Models to online Digital Twins of an Oil & Gas asset and from start up and shut down to dynamic flow assurance surveillance, continuous value is gained from KBC solutions.

In Refining & Petrochemicals, KBC is a world leader in profit improvement programs, yield and energy studies and reliability and maintenance, offering a wide range of consulting expertise and technology solutions including the world’s only full refinery wide simulator that now includes carbon intensity and decarbonization capability.

In Chemicals, Power, Renewables and other vertical industries KBC is able to leverage its knowledge in process optimization to offer innovative and novel solutions to process optimization challenges.

Industries Served for Process Optimization

Oil & Gas

KBC has a rich capability for Process Optimization in Oil & Gas including: well flow monitoring, production back allocation, gas lift optimization, virtual flow metering, field development planning, gas turbine & power-production balancing, hydrate avoidance, flow assurance and process facility optimization.

Refining

The Profit Improvement Program® methodology and world-leading solutions result in adding an average of 66 cents a barrel to profits for refiners worldwide from crude selection to refinery wide optimization and everything in between. KBC’s domain knowledge in distillation, reaction conversion, catalysis, separation and blending helps us fuse consulting expertise and technology together to sustain essential benefits for clients.

Petrochemicals

KBC’s applied knowledge and technology in the Petrochemicals supply chain are second to none. Yield significant results in reduced operating costs, higher yields, lower specific energy demand and decreased CO2 emissions through KBC’s process optimization capability in aromatics, ethylene, polymers and solvents. KBC is involved in new and novel technologies to drive sustainability into Petrochemicals.

Power

KBC is a world leader in reducing specific energy demand in processes and then matching power generation requirements to that loading. Whether it’s a single gas turbine or a combined cycle unit, fired heaters, traditional power generation or renewables, KBC has the knowledge and technology to supply game-changing solutions to the industry.

Polymer

Striving for excellence in polymer production, we pursue the fine balance of achieving precise density and MFI in new polymer grades while minimizing grade transition time. Our Petro-SIM® Predici-SIM polymerization reactor software meticulously fine-tunes kinetic parameters, optimizing critical operating conditions to attain desired KPIs. Additionally, the integration of unit monitoring and digital twin technology enables real-time optimization, fostering harmony between product quality, operational efficiency, and sustainability.

FPSO diagram

Integrated Asset Model on an FPSO

A single process optimization environment to boost FPSO production by 9,000 b/d and deliver incremental profits of $180 million per annum. The KBC Integrated Asset Model provides a single source of truth across the full stream for how molecules and operating conditions behave at the unit- and asset-wide level, thereby providing actionable insights into production activities that can drive convergence in decision-making and process optimization across organizational silos.

PIP benefits chart

Refinery Profit Improvement Programs

KBC’s modern Profit Improvement Program (PIP) is now a Digital PIP (D-PIP) built on a foundation of Digital Twins. Refinery and Petrochemical clients can take the offering from a one-time program (set of recommendations to implement) to a real-time, sustainable, optimization to evolve with their own digital & process optimization strategy.  Yokogawa’s ownership of KBC accelerates the transition to a Digital Profit Improvement Program bringing several solutions and automation technologies and skills to the solution including process automation, process control and data management. Yokogawa solutions enhance the sustainment value proposition of the D-PIPs with increased opportunity identification and sustainment stages.  Adding integral Yokogawa solutions and KBC’s own consulting and process & energy optimization technology adds more dimensions in data connectivity, analytics and real time optimization to our value.

Process Optimization in the Verticals

KBC has over 40 years of unique experience in process optimization across many industry verticals, combined with award winning asset wide simulation models, measurement, advanced process control and automation capability. With a proven track record of generating value, KBC supports your process optimization needs. The Profit Improvement Program methodology of processes, optimization technology, and specific industry vertical knowledge make us your perfect collaborative partner to help reach essential process optimization goals with you and use automation and advanced process control to sustain those gains.