# US 2021/0240175 A1 · Methods and systems for performing transient processes

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- Number: US 2021/0240175 A1
- Document ID: US20210240175A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/148,697
- Filed: 2021-01-14
- Published: 2021-08-05
- Earliest claimed: 2020-01-30
- Assignees: ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering Company
- Applicants: ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
- Inventors: Onur Onel; Jitendra V. Kadam; Apostolos T. Georgiou; Michael G. Tribo; Benjamin J. Ohran; Yunfei Chu; Christopher W. Graham; Tyler A. Soderstrom
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20210240175A1

## CPC

- G05B 13/041: {in which a variable is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance}
- G05B 23/024: {Quantitative history assessment, e.g. mathematical relationships between available data; Functions therefor; Principal component analysis [PCA]; Partial least square [PLS]; Statistical classifiers, e.g. Bayesian networks, linear regression or correlation analysis; Neural networks}
- B01J 8/0496: {Heating or cooling the reactor}
- B01J 19/0006: {Controlling or regulating processes (controlling or regulating in general G05)}
- G05B 13/042: {in which a parameter or coefficient is automatically adjusted to optimise the performance}
- G05B 19/0426: {Programming the control sequence}
- B01J 2219/00193: Sensing a parameter
- B01J 2219/00225: stopping the system or generating an alarm
- B01J 2219/00227: modifying the operating conditions
- B01J 2219/00243: Mathematical modelling
- G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G)
- B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS

## Abstract

Methods and systems for performing transient processes may include: providing a path and path thresholds for an operational condition as a function of progress of a transient process based on historical data of previously performed transient processes; performing the transient process in a chemical reactor using operational parameters; measuring the operational condition of the transient process as a function of the progress of the transient process; and adjusting one or more of the operational parameters during the progress of the transient process to maintain the operational condition within the path thresholds.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
providing a path and path thresholds for an operational condition as a function of progress of a transient process based on historical data of previously performed transient processes;
performing the transient process in a reactor using operational parameters;
measuring the operational condition of the transient process as a function of the progress of the transient process; and
adjusting one or more of the operational parameters during the progress of the transient process to maintain the operational condition within the path thresholds.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
adjusting the path and the path thresholds during the progress of the transient process based on a real-time value of the measured operational parameter and the historical data.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
displaying a plot of (a) the measured operational parameter, (b) the path, and (c) the path thresholds each as a function of the progress of the transient process.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
triggering an alarm when the operational condition is outside the path thresholds.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
predicting a future value of the operational condition based on a real-time value of the measured operational parameter and the historical data.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 further comprising:
triggering an alarm when the future value of the operational condition is outside the path thresholds.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
performing said method for two or more operational conditions of transient process.

### Claim 8 (depends on 7)

The method of claim 7, wherein the two or more operation conditions comprises one or more selected from the group consisting of: temperature, pressure, concentration of a chemical, a physical property of a chemical, a dew point, a flow rate, an injection rate of a chemical, a reaction rate, a change or rate of change in any of the foregoing, and any combination thereof

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the progress of the transient process is time and/or vessel cycles.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the path thresholds are based, at least in part, on a standard deviation.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the path thresholds are based, at least in part, on a fixed percentage.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the transient process is a start-up cycle for the reactor.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the transient process is a transition cycle for the reactor.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the transient process is a steam-air decoking process.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

A computing device comprising:
a processor;
a memory coupled to the processor; and
instructions provided to the memory, wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to perform the method of claim 1.