Arena in the petrochemical operations environment

The use of discrete event simulation within Sasol, an international petrochemical company, is fast becoming an important tool for supporting strategic decision-making in the continuous operations environment. Arena models are used specifically to investigate the feasibility of new undertakings for current expansions at the Sasol Secunda site. These include the use of new gasifier technologies, the possible expansion of existing gasification capacity, and the increase of the current natural gas intake. The value of the models lies in the fact that it is possible to assess the interactions between the integrated plants dynamically, taking into account the impact of reliability, scheduled maintenance and availability of utilities on throughput. This presentation examines the use of Arena to identify capacity constraints such as to reach future production targets by optimizing the intake of natural gas in relation to the gasification process and focusing on the optimal use of current and future oxygen capacity.