How Chemical Plants Can Benefit from Digitalization in the Energy Transition

Digital technologies enable plant operators to measure their energy use and overall operations in real-time. While advanced data analytics enables plant managers to use this information to expose areas of wastage and opportunities for energy savings and production optimization. Of course, reaping such insights has not always been easy for complex chemical plants that must prioritize safety and regulatory compliance.

Innovative solutions can help plant managers to reduce energy waste, monitor the health of assets and deploy predictive maintenance to lengthen their lifespan, and to embrace demand response management where possible, making sure no energy is wasted. For example, the demand for water and the energy needed for heating can be minimized by adjusting where cooling and heating is required. In a large industrial plant even a one or two percent energy saving can have a huge impact on energy and emissions reductions and the operations bottom line.

For example, solutions such as the ABB 800xA control system, the asset management tool Field Instrumentation Manager, the predictive maintenance system SmartMaster, and the recent Ethernet-APL enabled instrumentation provide an integrated digital approach for streamlined commissioning, easy error detection, predictive maintenance and process improvements. This makes the operation of production plants more efficient.

Independent analysis by Accenture, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum found that digital technologies, if scaled across industries, could deliver up to 20% of the 2050 reduction needed to hit the IEA’s net-zero trajectories in the energy, materials and mobility industries. This has been ABB’s experience: smart technology is helping customers reduce their CO2 emissions. The data collected will also be vital for sustainability reporting–now mandatory in the EU.
 

Shoring up the future

In Europe, the chemicals sector employees over 1.2 million workers and has a €760 billion turnover. It’s a wealth creator and integral to modern life. Ensuring its sustainable and competitive future is paramount for all. It’s clear targeting energy efficiency is an important step to take when it comes to future proofing the sector amid the energy transition and more frequent macroeconomic shocks.