Aspen Technology Rolls Out Trio of New Developments

Burlington, Mass.—May 14, 2012—Aspen Technology Inc., a provider of software and services to the process industries, rolled out a series of new developments including a new release of aspenONE Advanced Process Control; enhanced search functionality in its aspenONE software; and new functionality in its AspenONE Petroleum Supply Chain software.

• The new release of aspenONE Advanced Process Control enables process manufacturers to operate units close to peak performance while simultaneously generating closed loop data suitable for calibrating APC models. The new functionality eliminates aggressive step testing while preserving the economic benefits of Aspen DMCplus applications. New configuration wizards make it easy to configure Aspen DMCplus controllers to calibrate APC models. The new release also upgrades the performance of Aspen Adaptive Modeling by automatically slicing out bad data resulting from problematic PID loop conditions—including valve saturation, PID mode changes, process upsets and bad measurements. This greatly improves control model fidelity. The new release of aspenONE APC is available immediately.

“This release makes it even easier for customers to optimize performance with Aspen DMCplus and the aspenONE APC product family—the gold standard for advanced process control software,” said Manolis Kotzabasakis, Executive Vice President, Products, AspenTech. “The new release revolutionizes plant testing, eliminating product giveaway while preserving the high value economic benefits of APC.”

• New functionality in its aspenONE software allows process engineers to compare simulation results to historical and real-time data on the simulation flowsheet. This makes it easier for Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS users to optimize and troubleshoot their manufacturing assets. Aspen Plus and Aspen HYSYS can now optimize data discovery and analysis to help make better decisions. They can find plant data based on characteristics including tag types and tag attributes. Search delivers the right information faster, with results organized by relevance and previews available for all historical attributes. Process engineers can find models, tags, documents and data in seconds, even if they have not used Aspen Plus or Aspen HYSYS software before. They can search by features, components, reaction, unit operation types and more.

 “After testing, this looks like the perfect application for process support people—they can quickly find relevant models and compare them with plant data to enable troubleshooting,” confirmed Salvador Aldrett, Research Engineer, Shell Global Solutions.

• New functionality in Aspen PIMS enables refinery planners to deliver more accurate plans and make better crude purchase decisions, yielding higher profitability. Aspen PIMS software helps petroleum and petrochemical companies optimize feedstock selection, operational execution and product slate. The new release makes it easier for planners to add, modify and re-cut assays. This streamlines workflow, makes updating assays faster, and reduces manual errors that require planners to re-enter or upload assay information. Enhanced parametric analysis enables planners to run more cases to analyze more crude scenarios quickly, delivering better insight for improved decision-making and performance.

“Three quarters of the world’s refinery feedstock is planned using Aspen PIMS,” said Kotzabasakis. “For years, customers have relied on PIMS to drive high levels of value by optimizing the integrated supply chain. Today’s release takes PIMS to a new level, with assay management and parametric analysis functionality that will enable customers to deliver plans that yield even higher levels of profitability.”