SimSci-Esscor introduces flowsheet-based material balance module for on-line performance suite

SimSci-Esscor introduces flowsheet-based material balance module for on-line performance suite

Scalable software automatically turns error-prone process data into consistent and reliable information

The SimSci-Esscor unit of Invensys Process Systems has introduced simulation and modeling software that converts raw process data into consistent and reliable information to support today’s asset performance management strategies. The new Material Balance Module (MBM) for SimSci-Esscor’s Advanced Real-time Performance Modeling (ARPM) suite, is an easy-to-use, flowsheet-based solution that uses advanced mass and volume reconciliation to reveal sources of random error, bias, and gross error that jeopardize the accuracy of real-time plant data.

“Consistent and reliable information from plant data is essential for both operations and maintenance activities. But raw process data as gathered directly from plant devices can be subject to routine error that can go unnoticed. By reconciliating the mass and volume of process streams, our Material Balance Module can easily identify errors or material losses so that these can be eliminated through tuning, maintenance, or other corrective measures,” said Harpreet Gulati, SimSci-Esscor product director at Invensys.

The MBM software interfaces directly with a plant’s IT infrastructure to automate data reconciliation without additional routine data entry. It combines advanced reconciliation methodologies within a flowsheeting tool to automate creation of daily material balance reports for each major unit, identify bad flow instrumentation, and aid in pinpointing material loss locations.

The module is highly scalable. A user can, for example, create a simple material balance representation of plant streams and units and then extend the platform later to achieve more rigorous heat and material balance, on-line performance monitoring, and operations decision support modeling that may be needed for advanced closed loop optimization or real-time enterprise control. Key benefits that process manufacturers can attain from the new module include:

• Easy calculation of the mass and volume balance of a process or a unit, which can increase plant profitability through earlier detection of gross errors in meters.


• Higher quality of process data for improved operations decision support, debottlenecking, simulation analysis for turnarounds, and better planning and yield accounting.


• Improved flowmeter reliability through targeting of maintenance efforts on the most problematic meters


• Improved safety, through timely identification of leakage or problems that may result undesirable build-up of harmful material

The new Material Balance Module (MBM) is part of SimSci-Esscor’s On-Line Performance Suite, the industry’s only solution that provides a common scalable modeling platform for material balance, data reconciliation, simulation, and optimization. It takes advantage of ARPM’s External Data Interface (EDI) that enables direct drag-and-drop retrieval of process information from a variety of sources, including the DCS, LIMS, and data historians with direct embedded interfaces to PHD and PI historians, as well as Invensys’ own InFusion Historian.