PROF ROGER BENSON FREng MANUFACTURING

DIRECTOR – TECHNOLOGY, ABB UK

The future of chemical

and petrochemical
manufacturing

Over much of the twentieth century, the

chemicals and petrochemical industry was
one of the success stories of UK
manufacturing. Although now in decline, it is
still one of the country’s largest export
industries. There are major pressures for Introduction
change and several exciting technological The chemicals and petrochemical
advances made in recent years open up industry in the UK has been one of the
some radically different prospects for future successes of the twentieth century. The
responsive processing plants. Roger Benson early success was the result of a
outlines how these plants might develop and
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growing home market for new products

how distributed manufacturing environments such as plastics and later came further
could change the face of the industry. success with the discovery of North
Sea oil. This resulted in substantial
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improve their responsiveness and

Columns and stacks that protrude into the reduce their supply-chain costs as a

air and that from time to time emit steam percentage of sales. One result of this
is that working capital is driven out of
or flames are regarded as implicitly their supply chains, and moved on to
their suppliers, who in turn move it on
dangerous. The facts are rather different … to their suppliers. As the chemical and
petrochemical industries operate in the
early stages of the chain they are at the
point where this entire working capital
capital investment and the creation of Financial squeeze ends. They therefore either
many jobs in both the direct and The industry is no longer considered as need to improve the manufacturing
support industries. an attractive investment. This is ‘responsiveness’ of their processes or
In more recent years the picture illustrated by the average price-to- to maintain uneconomic amounts of
has changed. There is very little new earnings ratio of 11 for the chemicals working capital. Two recent
capital investment and many of the and oil sector on the UK stock market, publications 2,3 have confirmed that, at
supporting manufacturers have in August 2002. This contrasted with the present time, working capital is
closed. The UK chemical industry is in the pharmaceuticals sector, which, increasing.
decline. Although it remains one of the driven by the intensive research portfolio
UK’s most important and successful and future prospects, achieved an Global economy
export industries, it is at risk and any average price-to-earnings ratio of 20. Arrangements such as e-trading, swap
further decline would have a deals, etc subject the chemical and
significant effect on the country’s Supply chain petrochemical industries to all the price
balance of trade. Chemical and petrochemical processes pressures of buying from the cheapest
are often the first step in a supply chain location irrespective of the country.
that ends with the consumer. Industries Selection becomes a trade-off between
Pressures to change that interface directly with the manufacturing price and the distribution
There are at least four major pressures consumers, such as supermarkets, costs from the point of manufacture to
that could lead to decline if nothing electronics and vehicles, are striving to the consumer.
changes. Some of these have already
been reported in the 1998 DTI study,
Processing the Future.1

Image
The UK chemical industry is often
perceived in the media as unattractive
with large multi-plant sites such as
Wilton, Stanlow and Shellhaven.
Columns and stacks that protrude into
the air and that from time to time emit
steam or flames are regarded as
implicitly dangerous (see Figure 1).
The facts are rather different:

● figures confirm that these are

amongst the safest places to work in
the UK
● the majority of manufacturing plants
are run by small speciality chemicals
manufacturers throughout the UK.
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However, marketing tells us that

perception is reality and one challenge
facing the industry is to change that
perception. Figure 1: Typical historical manufacturing site
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improved and there is less waste.

Other developments include high
intensity heat exchangers and
Control and separators.
analytical unit ● Several major companies are

investing heavily in the conversion of

gases such as methane and liquified
Gaseous products natural gas (LNG) to liquids such as
Feeds oils of various types through the use
of gas-to-liquid technology. This was
Spinning disc stimulated by the apartheid
processing unit
Liquid products restrictions on South Africa.6 Since
sources of gas are widely distributed
around the world, this technology
opens up the possibility of the
distributed bespoke manufacture of
hydrocarbon oils at the point of use
in quantities matching local demand.
● Greater understanding of nano-

technology and physical surfaces

has led to radical improvements in
catalyst performance which deliver
Figure 2: Intensified processing unit
better targeted and selected
conversion of chemicals and other
Recognising these pressures, the UK raw materials from product A to
What is happening to
Manufacturing Foresight Group 4 product B with the potential for no
manufacturing technology?
identified the need in the future to byproducts.
Over the last 20 or more years a
● As with all engineering, the rapidly
‘manufacture to a unit of one’. This
number of exciting technological
means that if the customer orders only increasing power and scope of
advances have been made, much of
one drum of product, the plant makes computing is having a major impact:
them at British universities, funded by
only one drum. The words ‘responsive’ – Automation – there is almost no
the UK research councils. These open
or ‘agile’ are often used to describe advanced control approach that is
up some radically different prospects
such manufacturing processes. not now possible on existing,
for future responsive processing plants.
Unfortunately, this is totally contrary computing platforms. Concepts such
Some of these are:
to the normal design mantra and as multivariable statistical control,
history of the majority of chemical and ● The concept of ‘intensification’, first dynamics multivariable control, soft
petrochemical manufacturing processes described by Professor Colin sensors, etc. may all be applied.
operating today. These were designed Ramshaw,5 offers the possibility of – IndustrialIT – this is intended to
for steady-state continuous operation at delivering the processing steps in a become the ‘office’ environment of
a fixed rate. The result is that the much more intensified environment. the industrial world (see Figure 3).7
majority of plants are large, built to last In this context ‘intensified’ means By the use of ‘aspects’, information is
and either produce at high continuous much higher performance in radically generated once and made available
rates or in large batches. Existing smaller plant. One such development across a complete industrial network
operators therefore find it hard to is illustrated in Figure 2. in a transparent manner. This
respond to these new market In this processing unit the approach will have a major impact on
challenges. It is difficult to justify reaction/separation stage is spun via the design, reuse, and maintenance
investment in different manufacturing an electric motor. With a 20 cm disk of documentation in the chemical and
processes for a fully depreciated plant the unit is capable of producing petrochemical industries.
450 tonnes per year of product with ● In off and on-line analysis, ‘no
where operating margins are already
poor. much higher selectivity than measurement – no control’ is an
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As the pressures become acute conventional plant. This is a very often used statement in the
something will have to change or such responsive unit: switching off the chemical industries. Lower cost high
operations will eventually have to close. motor switches off manufacturing. power computation makes
The result is that products are sophisticated data analysis
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The IndustrialIT building

blocks take locally available raw materials
such as gas, water and air, adding
■ Proven, reusable 'knowledge'
other delivered raw materials and
components” from ABB and its
partners converting them into the products
that are needed for local use. For
■ Market-leading technologies example, in some circumstances it
for process, manufacturing, will be cheaper and safer to produce
and utility automation methanol locally than to transport
large volumes of the raw material,
■ Compatible new tools for total
asset lifecycle and liquefied natural gas, to a large
collaborative eCommerce manufacturing plant and then
subsequently distribute the product.
■ IndustrialIT enabled for This would open up the possibility of
seamless bundling with each methanol production in local villages
other and third parties
to power future cars
● Industry could exploit the potential to
make downstream products at the
Figure 3: Industrial IT point of use to reduce its supply
chain costs. This could involve, for
What might plants look like example, producing polymers at the
approaches such as topology
in the future? same location as the injection-
available at competitive prices.
moulding machine rather than
Applying these techniques to an A vision for the future is the possibility
making the polymer at a remote large
analyser which produces spectra that we could install chemicals and
plant and then shipping the polymer
allows accurate measurement of the petrochemicals plants ‘anywhere,
chips. This is very attractive from
properties of the components being anytime and of any size’. The author
many perspectives, including energy
analysed. This now makes it first suggested this in 1988. 8 This vision
use. Rather than make molten
potentially possible to measure leads to the concept of a distributed
plastic, solidify, ship, melt and inject,
almost every stream within the process manufacturing environment.
you would make only molten plastic
process industries. In many respects such a
and inject in one stage.
● We can now produce rigorous development is similar to the way in
● Technology is developing micro-
dynamic models of the whole which computers evolved. In the 1960s
processing plants on microchips that
process. The computing power is the only computers were large
can be used throughout the home.
available to solve rapidly the vast mainframes. Now in the 21st century
For example, a microprocessing unit
majority of models of process plants, there are distributed computers of
in a washing machine could recover
including a full kinetic study. Groups similar power to those old mainframes
unused detergents from the water. A
such as the Process System Centre on everybody’s desk. There are still
similar unit in the dirty house water
at Imperial College, started by servers, acting as hubs and there are
could be used to clean and recycle
Professor R Sargent FREng, are still mainframe computers doing the
the water.
world leaders and have developed very large computational tasks: the total
languages, such as g-proms, that market has increased dramatically with One result would be that chemical
make such analysis possible and the creation of the PC. manufacturing sites would be very
that enable us to use features such The same environment can be similar to other modern manufacturing
as continuous dynamic data foreseen in chemical and some plants as suggested below (see Figure
reconciliation. petrochemical manufacturing plants. 4). This would go a long way towards
● Biotechnology is beginning to offer a changing the image of the industry.
● There will still be large plants
wide range of novel manufacturing There are already some examples of
processing raw materials such as
routes that do not involve high the use of more distributed
crude oil and naphtha that require
pressures, high temperatures and manufacturing environments.
breaking down into their component
potential safety risks.
parts such as benzene, ethylene, ● One recent example has been the
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Integrating these and other supporting propylene, etc., which are then used rapid growth of home bread making.
technologies opens up a whole new by the downstream industry. That might at first sight seem a
vista for future chemical and ● In addition, however, there will be strange comment, but a bread maker
petrochemical manufacture. distributed processing plants that will is a processing plant where materials
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go through physical or chemical The potential for this distributed world industries. I personally find it a very
change. The evolution has moved of process manufacturing is endless. exciting opportunity, and one that will
from the small town bakery, to the Many of the future processing plants provide considerable stimulation for the
large central bakery that distributed will be invisible, just as the microchips future and for the engineers of tomorrow.
to the supermarkets, to the in-store throughout the house are now invisible. Fortunately the UK is well placed to lead
bakery, where it still is in many cases, This will help to change public this development on a global basis, but
and now to the home bread-making perception, increase the total market will it grasp the opportunity? ■
machine in many kitchens. It is a and provide a significant manufacturing
responsive process where you make opportunity for the country and References
bread only when you need it. This companies that take the lead. 1 DTI (December 1998) ‘Processing
may not be as economic as the the future’, URN 98/1016.
larger processes but the users prefer 2 ‘Competitiveness of the UK process
the flexibility of making bread on The role of engineering industries’ (April 2002) www.picme.org
demand to their own choice. Choice Engineers have a critical and exciting role 3 Ahmed, M. and Benson, R.S. (June
overcomes the economics. in this vision. Conversion of the basic 1999) ‘Benchmarking in the process
● Mini steel plants specialise in the science into this distributed process industries’, I Chem E, ISBN 0 85295
manufacture of specific grades and environment will require engineering and 411 5.
provide a more responsive service manufacturing at every stage. It will also 4 ‘Manufacturing 2020: we can make
by being close to the users. They are require engineers with vision and it’, http://www.foresight.gov.uk/
however part of a manufacturing innovative skills. Many engineers today 5 Ramshaw, C. (February 1983)
chain that starts with the blast still say that the process industries of ‘HIGEE – an example of process
furnace and includes the recycle tomorrow will look like the process intensification’, The Chemical
system that collects scrap. Break industries of today. The economic drivers Engineer, p.13.
the chain and the plants would be of performance and the supply chain 6 ‘What makes gas to liquid processes
difficult to operate. suggest that this will not be the case and viable’ (15–17 March 1998), Cavan
● Microbreweries have grown that the industry will change. Necessity is Hill, International Middle East
throughout the world. They have not the mother of innovation. Petroleum & Gas Conference, Dubai.
removed the need for large These changes will also impact 7 ‘IndustrialIT’, http://www.abb.com
breweries, but have created a new chemical engineering degree courses 8 Benson, R.S. (1988) ‘Process
market via ‘themed’ restaurants and and the whole concept of design. The systems engineering: past, present
niche beers. lessons come from the electronics and a personal view of the future’,
● Air separation plants are now industry where the design process for Computers in Chemical Engineering,
available in a wide range of sizes microchips is radically different now to 13(11/12).
that range from plants to supply the original process of using resistors,
large industrial complexes to those capacitors and diodes. The tools will Roger Benson is Technology Director
for small greenhouse operations. have to be adopted by the process of ABB UK and Global Program
Manager for
Refineries and
Petrochemicals.
Prior to that he
spent 30 years with
ICI in a wide range
of engineering roles,
including Chief
Engineer. He has been the DTI
nominated Judge of the UK Best
Factory Award for the last 8 years. He
is Visiting Professor at Imperial
College, London, and the Universities
of Newcastle and Teesside. Having
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graduated with a first class honours

from Swansea University he
completed an MSc and a PhD in
Figure 4: Modern manufacturing plant Process Control at UMIST.
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