Page 425 - Design of Simple and Robust Process Plants

412 Chapter 10 The Efficient Design and Continuous Improvement of High-quality Process Plants
1. The work process covering for process design, engineering, construction and
start-up of the process.
2. The quality of the design.
The work process concentrates on the organizational aspects of the design process.
It defines what should be done, in what order it needs to be done, and which disci-
plines need to be involved. The quality aspects are concerned with how these activ-
ities are performed to achieve a quality result regarding process performance.
The aspects of continuous improvement of a process plant and the efficient
design are discussed in this chapter.

10.2
Continuous Improvement of a High-quality Plant

In today's global markets, it is competition that forces process plants to stay compe-
titive. Presently, a plant needs to be ± and remain ± competitive, more than in the
past where markets were more local and often protected. Therefore, on-going activ-
ities are necessary to improve the plant performance (Bascur and Kennedy, 1996).
These improvements can be achieved in different areas, and include:
. Process capacity performance
. Process reliability and availability
. Quality of operation
. Optimal operation
. Opportunities for design improvements.
Each area demands a specific approach, which is discussed in the following subsec-
tion.

10.2.1
Process Capacity Performance

From the early days of its operation, the performance of a production plant is mea-
sured in terms of cost, capacity (if applicable for more products), raw material and
utility utilization, expressed in unit ratios. The frequency of the measurements was
increased over time, most companies perform such monitoring on a daily basis. An
exception is that of the cost calculations which, depending on the company, are exe-
cuted on a weekly, monthly, or even quarterly basis. Due to severe competition, one
currently has to up-grade performance on a continuous basis. Therefore, more and
different measurements are required, and these generate the stimulation to improve
production. Realistic target setting is a proven methodology to realize this latter
effect. Bench-marking also offers a means of measuring, as well as a stimulation to
upgrade performance (Ahmad and Benson, 1999).
The process capacity performance measurement is an additional instrument to
measure process capacity expressed in terms of capacity at quality, over fixed time